Cheng Minxin could tell that she was unwilling, and her face darkened. She said, "Zhou Zhou, I think I've been pretty good to you. I didn't blame you for quitting 'Su Hai Yuan' and even thinking about leaving the entertainment industry. But think about it, it's been almost half a year since your last drama aired. If you don't hurry up and increase your exposure, are you planning to rely on scandals to stay on the trending topics list to maintain your popularity? If you want to go down this path, I can help you."
This was a threat. Zhou Paihuai had no choice but to compromise, saying, "That's not what I meant. Sister Cheng, you can arrange it however you want. I'll listen to you."
"That's right! Don't forget your original wish: to become the most popular female star. I'm still waiting for the day you achieve your dream!"
Chapter 10 Guest Appearance
Ji Anxi managed to refrain from checking Weibo for a day, but on the second day, she finally couldn't resist the urge to do so. However, before opening the trending topics, she checked the forum first.
Huh? The trending posts on the forum are different from what she saw before. It seems like no one is talking about Zhou Paihuai and Lu Xuanzhu anymore. What's going on? She quickly opened Weibo to check, and the trending topics really were gone. They had only been gone for a day, and the gossip forum was completely beyond her comprehension. Zhou Paihuai's backer had helped remove the trending topics. Now, any post that dared to mention Zhou Paihuai bullying his juniors on set was being blocked.
Who is Zhou Paihuai's sugar daddy? Does she have a sugar daddy? Veteran hater Ji Anxi expressed doubt about this. Admittedly, Zhou Paihuai is indeed much luckier than the average person, because the senior management of Genesis and that very powerful agent seem to like her very much and give her a lot of resources. But to say that she has a sugar daddy is probably unlikely.
Weibo was unusually quiet, so Ji Anxi chose to post on the forum. After all, she had a very famous supporter on the forum, and her posts would get a huge response. She prepared the title: "From Zhou Paihuai slapping a newcomer on set to her sugar daddy, what exactly are she and her team's motives?" The title was long and eye-catching, typical of her style. Ji Anxi silently reviewed it and then clicked the option to post a new thread with satisfaction. Only then did she start writing the content. In her eyes, neither Zhou Paihuai nor Lu Xuanzhu were good people, so she wrote a long analysis of their motives, openly and subtly satirizing both of them. Just as she was about to post it, she found that she had received a notification that her account had been temporarily locked for seven days because of posting false information on the forum. During these seven days, she could only view messages and could not reply to or comment on other people's posts.
"What?! She only posted a title, and there was no content below it. How is that spreading false information?" Ji Anxi angrily slammed the keyboard next to her.
With such a commotion, Ji Anbo and Aunt Wen rushed in together.
"Anxi, what's wrong?" Aunt Wen asked anxiously. This child usually has a good temper, so for her to get so angry now, someone must have upset her.
Ji Amber also asked, "Yes, little sister, who made you angry? Your second brother will help you get revenge!"
"Damn it, my forum account got banned! I was so sure she didn't have any sugar daddies backing her. Damn it, isn't it confirmed now?" Ji Anxi cursed under her breath, her head throbbing with anger. It wasn't like she hadn't had her account banned before; which anti-fan hadn't had their account bombarded by celebrity fans? She had several alternate accounts on Weibo; if one got banned, she'd just switch to another—it was all the same. But this was the first time she'd been banned for no reason.
Ji Anxi's words were incoherent, and Aunt Wen couldn't understand them, so she could only look to Ji Anbo. In fact, Ji Anbo was also confused. Although he had instructed his subordinates to do this, he had only said to delete the messages, and didn't know that his subordinates would not only delete the messages but also ban the sender's account, so he had no idea how to connect the dots. He had no choice but to ask again, "What sugar daddy? Whose sugar daddy? Which account of yours was banned?"
"Oh dear, you wouldn't know even if I told you. It's Zhou Paihuai, the one I hate most in the entertainment industry." Ji Anxi had no one to confide in, so she poured out her heart. "I trusted her so much before, thinking she definitely didn't have a sugar daddy! Now it seems she's been hiding her true feelings."
Ji Anbo was taken aback and said, "You hate Zhou Paihuai? Then what's this sugar daddy all about?" What the heck? Could it be that he misunderstood?
"Second brother, don't you know what a 'sugar daddy' means? Like the sponsors of your game, they're all rich and stupid. A few days ago, all the trending topics about Zhou Paihuai were completely removed. I don't know who has such great power."
"Cough cough cough—" Ji Anbo almost choked to death. He had inexplicably become that—Zhou Paihuai's sugar daddy. Luckily, his little sister didn't know he had done such a stupid thing, otherwise she would have laughed at him for a whole year. "If... if you really hate her that much, your second brother will help you." It wouldn't be difficult for him to make someone disappear from the entertainment industry.
"No, please, Second Brother, don't get involved." Ji Anxi knew her Second Brother's abilities, but that wasn't what she wanted. Besides, she was Zhou Paihuai's biggest hater. If the main character was gone, wouldn't she lose a lot of fun?
Ji Anbo was increasingly confused. This person was someone he clearly disliked, yet he searched for him every day. He remembered checking his younger sister's search history before; it was strange if Zhou Paihuai didn't appear at least ten times a day. Now that he wanted to deal with Zhou Paihuai, his younger sister wouldn't allow it. "Alright, alright, your second brother isn't as free as you think. If you don't need it, I won't interfere." He didn't care anymore; he didn't want his younger sister to find out about his stupid actions.
... ...
Cheng Minxin was very efficient. She had just said she would find Zhou Huaihuai a good role for a cameo, and within two days she arranged for her to join the crew. Of course, only Tang Xiaole accompanied her.
On the way, Tang Xiaole repeated Cheng Minxin's instructions to Zhou Huahuai: "Sister Cheng said that although this role doesn't have many scenes, it's especially suitable for you. If you play it well, you might become the white moonlight in the hearts of the audience."
"Yeah, if I act well..." Zhou Paihuai wasn't as optimistic as them. She wondered if she could use the excuse that she'd been unfairly criticized lately, which had triggered her dramatic drop in acting skills. She hoped the director and the rest of the crew wouldn't be too angry later.
They arrived at the film set quickly. As she got out of the car, Zhou Paihuai subconsciously clenched her fist, only to find her palms were sweaty. She didn't appear afraid, but in reality, the thought of facing so many people and having to act in front of them made her want to back down.
"Zhou Zhou, what's wrong?" Tang Xiaole asked, noticing that she hadn't moved for a long time after getting out of the car.
Zhou Paihuai took a deep breath and said, "I'm fine, let's go."
Zhou Paihuai was a guest star with very few scenes. According to Cheng Minxin, she could only stay for a day or two at most, so the entire crew set aside a day specifically for filming her scenes. When she and her assistant entered, the director and the rest of the crew were welcoming them.
The scene was quite grand, and Zhou Paihuai immediately cowered. The smile that had been forced onto his face disappeared without him realizing it, leaving him expressionless and looking like he was in a bad mood.
That's true. After all, he's a big star, while my show is just a low-budget web series. It's understandable that he's looked down on. The director knows this, but he still put a lot of effort into the show, so it's understandable that he feels a bit resentful.
"Welcome, Miss Zhou." Even though she was unhappy, she still had to put on a good show.
Zhou waved to the director and said, "You're too kind. Please take good care of me." She thought to herself, "This director looks really young."
Seeing that she was being quite polite, the director kept his prejudice to himself and began to give her a brief introduction to the production team. He then asked, "The script was sent over a long time ago. I wonder if Ms. Zhou has read it?"
I did read the script; after all, Zhou Huaihuai dealt with words every day, so I was interested in the two or three pages of lines that Sister Cheng sent me. Although it was only two or three pages of lines, only two or three sentences were actually her lines, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
Zhou Paihuai nodded and said, "I've seen it before." She had even memorized it, but how she would perform it was beyond her control.
The director was relieved and arranged for the stylist to change Zhou Huaihuai's clothes and do his makeup. After that, he went to discuss the camera positions with the cameraman.
Half an hour later, Zhou Paihuai came out of the dressing room. Tang Xiaole saw Zhou Paihuai's current appearance and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, Zhou Zhou, you are so beautiful and ethereal! Putting everything else aside, this look alone is enough to make you the white moonlight in the hearts of the audience."
Zhou Paihuai didn't speak, but she felt that the assistant's statement was too exaggerated. The original owner had always looked like this. She had acted in so many dramas over the years and her appearance had always been the same. She hadn't gained any fans before, and it was impossible for her to gain any now.
A hint of amazement flashed in the director's eyes. He had seen Zhou Paihuai's TV series before, but he didn't expect her to be so beautiful in person. This was the Gu Changning he had envisioned. It seemed that agreeing to cooperate with Cheng Minxin this time would be a win-win situation.
In the drama, Gu Changning is an older sister that the male lead met when he was young. Her name is Changning, but her surname is Gu Fu, so she died young. She has very few scenes and no scenes with the male and female leads, but she does have one scene with the young male lead.
The first scene was Gu Changning, wielding a long sword, appearing before the young Chu Haochen in the snow and saving him. This scene wasn't too difficult; the director gave her a brief explanation and then told her to get ready to film.
The longsword Gu Changning was about to take was very beautiful, and quite heavy. If the original owner of this body hadn't had decent arm strength, she might have thrown the sword away the moment she got it. Luckily, she managed to hold onto it. Holding the longsword, she took a few steps forward and slashed at the air a few times haphazardly.
"Cut—" the director suddenly yelled.
Zhou Paihuai immediately stopped what he was doing, turned around, and looked at the director with a slight frown. He didn't say anything, but it seemed as if he was asking him why he called "cut".
Facing those seemingly expressive eyes, the very young director blushed slightly and said apologetically, "Teacher Zhou, the sword dance wasn't particularly good. It was my oversight that I didn't have the martial arts director explain the scene to you first."
Zhou Paihuai thought about the few sword swings she had just casually made, and realized they weren't very impressive. She handed the sword to the martial arts instructor who had come over and began to carefully learn from him.
Looking at her serious face, the director thought to himself, "Isn't this quite dedicated? It's not as exaggerated as the rumors circulating in the industry lately."
Chapter 11 Disastrous Acting
Putting everything else aside, Zhou Paihuai is quite intelligent. He learned several moves in a short time from the martial arts instructor and even demonstrated them on the spot.
Filming continued, and this time Zhou's sword-wielding movements were very beautiful, but the director quickly yelled "Cut!" This time, before anyone could even ask, the director said, "No, no, this expression is wrong."
Gu Changning has an extremely cold personality. During the first take, Zhou Paihuai was expressionless. Although it wasn't perfect, it was acceptable. But now, when she's wielding the sword, she seems to be subconsciously thinking about the movements, and her expression has changed to one of contemplation. It just doesn't feel right.
"..." Zhou Paihuai felt that her acting was alright, but she didn't expect the director to nitpick so much. So this path is indeed difficult. She is not a professional, so why should she suffer like this?
In fact, if it were any other character, the director might have let it slide if the performance was like this. However, Gu Changning only has two scenes in the entire series, and this character is crucial because all of the male lead's subsequent struggles against fate are due to this encounter. If he is not performed well, it will cause the entire male lead's storyline to collapse.
"Again!"
This time, Zhou Huahuai deliberately kept her expressionless face, but she was yelled "Cut!" again while practicing her sword dance. The director didn't say why, but Zhou Huahuai knew why: her sword dance movements weren't graceful enough. But that wasn't something she could control; you can't do two things at once, and she was currently focused on one thing at a time.
"Again!"
... ...
"Again!"
After several attempts, Zhou Paihuai's arm was almost too heavy to lift, and her face turned pale.
Tang Xiaole felt sorry for Zhou Zhou watching from the side. Why didn't the director let Zhou Zhou take a break? He kept repeating the same mistakes, and Zhou Zhou's condition wasn't good either.
However, the director felt that Zhou Paihuai's current state was more in line with Gu Changning herself. Gu Changning, upon her first appearance, could wield a sword with her bare hands and instantly kill a near-max-level magical beast, but her body was extremely weak, which is why she died so young. Zhou Paihuai's current appearance does indeed resemble someone nearing the end of their life. The only problem is that Zhou Paihuai is currently unable to combine her expressions and movements, which is a challenge.
After pondering for a moment, the director slapped his thigh and decided to change the script: "Forget it, since Gu Changning's combat strength far exceeds that of ordinary people, you don't need to use those fancy tricks to fight the monster. Just strike with your sword. That should be enough, right?"
The director had already lowered the bar so much, Zhou Huipai would feel embarrassed if she still couldn't meet it, so she could only nod and say, "No problem."
Then it will happen again, and this time Zhou Huaihuai only needs to unleash a powerful sword strike.
"Cut!" the director called again. "That's a wrap, Mr. Zhou, take a break now!"
Hearing that she had finally passed, Zhou Paihuai breathed a sigh of relief. She handed the sword to the props team and then took a moment to rub her wrist, which was now completely sore. Thank goodness she had passed; otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to lift the sword. If someone with ulterior motives posted this, she might end up trending on social media again for being dramatic.
Seeing her movements, Tang Xiaole tenderly rubbed her wrists and said, "I thought you'd have an easier time with only two scenes, but I didn't expect it to take so long to film just one take."
Hearing her protective attitude, Zhou Paihuai wasn't upset. Instead, he comforted her, saying, "It's also my problem. If I hadn't been acting so badly, it wouldn't have taken so long."
"No, I think Zhou Zhou's acting is already very good. It's just that the director is nitpicking."
Uh, this praise made Zhou Hei Pai cringe so badly she almost had cancer. She was quite self-aware; she didn't know how her assistant could make such an outrageous claim. "Shh, this is a film set, lots of people talking, don't say that..."
Tang Xiaole immediately shut up; she really couldn't cause trouble for Zhou Zhou. Zhou Paihuai, having nothing to do, freed one hand to browse her phone for a while, but before she could even read a few messages, the director walked towards the two of them.
Despite his young age, the director was surprisingly shrewd and mature. Seeing Tang Xiaole's displeasure, he immediately came over to inquire, "Teacher Zhou, are you injured?"
"No, no," Zhou Paihuai denied repeatedly. Did she really look that delicate? Was it because her assistant was giving her a massage? Her hands were indeed sore, but she was definitely not injured. Otherwise, wouldn't all the celebrities in the entertainment industry be sickly?
"What about this afternoon's filming?" Actually, what the director was really concerned about was the production schedule. Zhou Paihuai was only making a cameo appearance, and the director planned for her to film all her scenes in one day, which would cause her and the crew to travel back and forth.
"Of course, no problem!" Zhou Huaihuai hurriedly said. She only had two scenes to film. She had already finished filming the first scene in the morning. The second scene couldn't be any more difficult than the first. She could finish it in an afternoon. She would be crazy to do it again.
The director was relieved and said, "Then you should rest well and we'll continue this afternoon."
Zhou Paihuai nodded and said, "Then you don't need to worry about me, Director. Go and do your work. I see they are all waiting for you."
Watching the director leave, Zhou Paihuai asked softly, "What do you think he meant by that?"
"Huh?" Tang Xiaole was dumbfounded by her nonsensical words.
"Exactly, doesn't the crew usually provide boxed lunches at noon? He just told us that he'll continue this afternoon, so is he going to take responsibility for lunch or not?" If there was anything Zhou Paihuai was looking forward to coming to the film set today, it was only the crew's boxed lunches.
Tang Xiaole stared at her in shock, and after a long while said, "Zhouzhou, you've been acting really strange lately. I remember you've never liked the crew's boxed lunches." You always ordered takeout in advance and picked it up yourself when it was time to eat.
One sentence sent a chill down Zhou Paihuai's spine. Because she hadn't realized that she wasn't the original Zhou Paihuai, she had become much more relaxed recently. But once she relaxed, she could easily reveal her flaws at any time, just like now.
She chuckled twice and said, "This... this is different. Before, when I was the lead actor, I would basically stay on set for months at a time. I definitely couldn't eat the same thing every day, but this time it's just today."
"Oh, I see. Shall I go ask her in a bit?" Tang Xiaole believed this explanation and, seeing how curious she was, decided to ask her on her behalf.
"No, no, no!" Zhou Paihuai quickly stopped her. "Then... that would be so embarrassing. It's not that I absolutely have to eat it. What if they didn't prepare any for us? Wouldn't it be a bother for you to ask them?"
"That's true. Before we came, Sister Cheng specifically told me to keep a low profile."
... ...
The director had prepared lunch boxes for the two of them, so Zhou Paihuai didn't have to do anything and fulfilled her wish. The lunch boxes were very plentiful, with meat, vegetables, and soup. After Zhou Paihuai finished eating and drinking, she was about to rest for a while when Cheng Minxin called.
"Sister Cheng, what's wrong?"
Even through the microphone, Cheng Minxin could tell she was in a good mood, so she asked, "Did you have a good day on set?"
"I guess so." Actually, the food was quite good.
"You're joining the crew today, and the production team has already promoted it. Remember to retweet it on Weibo." That was the purpose of Cheng Minxin's call. Originally, this kind of thing could be left to Tang Xiaole, but now that the two of them were together, it didn't matter who she called.
"Okay, I got it!" This was simple. While listening to the phone call, Zhou Paihuai searched for the official Weibo account of the production team. The first post on the official account was a Weibo post that tagged her. She didn't know when they took the photo, but they had already posted it with her. She clicked to forward it and added a cheering emoji.
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Paihuai felt something was off, but before she could figure it out, the director walked over with a seven or eight-year-old actor.
Zhou Paihuai knew that the young actor was the male lead, and that he would be acting opposite him later. He stood up to greet them as they approached. After the director introduced the two to each other, he asked them to stay and get to know each other, while he and the other staff members made preparations before filming began.
The young actor, Yuan Yuan, is only eight years old this year. His chubby baby face makes people want to reach out and pinch it. Zhou Paihuai resisted for a long time, but finally couldn't resist and gently pinched his cheek: "Little guy, you're so cute!"