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Chapter 11
Zhu Xinyue was, of course, joking. She couldn’t help but tease Ji Linyu when she saw his serious expression.
Adult emotions can be so effortlessly controlled.
Shortly after returning to Lishan, Zhu Xinyue received a notification that she had passed the audition and was asked to prepare to fly to M Province for closed-door training.
She also received a schedule from the staff.
Goodness, the schedule was even more packed than her college schedule. It seemed like she was going to school rather than filming a movie.
“Peach Blossom Spring” was a major production with a strong cast. The main actors were impressive enough, but even the key supporting roles were filled with actors who could carry a show on their own.
The actor Zhu Xinyue would be interacting with the most was the “Second Elder” in the movie, a significant role in “Peach Blossom Spring.”
The actor playing the Second Elder was Liang Yuyu, the lead in the director’s previous film, “Butterfly Dream.”
The entertainment industry in this world was completely different from Zhu Xinyue’s original world.
After receiving the list of actors, Zhu Xinyue searched each name to find their photos and resumes, to avoid the embarrassment of not recognizing her colleagues when she met them.
However, Liang Yuyu was an exception. She had come across his name in the novel.
Liang Yuyu started his career as a child star at the age of ten and had been in the industry for twenty years, consistently working but never achieving major fame. He was the typical case of an actor whose work was well-known but he was not popular. After “Butterfly Dream,” the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor at a foreign film festival. Although it did not win the awards in the end, it was still commendable since no Chinese film had won at that festival. However, the discussion about him remained low in the country.
In the novel, Liang Yuyu gained attention when a video of Ji Qingyuan getting injured during the filming of “Peach Blossom Spring” was leaked. Liang Yuyu was standing next to Ji Qingyuan at the time, and fans criticized him for not reacting in time to help Ji Qingyuan, thus preventing the injury. As a result, Liang Yuyu was cyberbullied by Ji Qingyuan’s fans and had his accounts on all social media platforms deleted.
Later…his name appeared in the novel as an obituary.
He had committed suicide.
All the actors who had worked with him shared the obituary, and almost half of the entertainment industry reposted it. It was only then that the public realized he had appeared in so many dramas. They revisited his old works and once again criticized Ji Qingyuan for the incident.
He had little impact while alive but made waves in the industry after his death.
How ironic.
Zhu Xinyue checked Liang Yuyu’s Weibo account. He had fewer than a million followers, and his posts were infrequent, usually just casual photos with brief greetings like “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” and “Good evening,” almost like a daily check-in.
His reposts and comments rarely exceeded a thousand, usually just a few hundred. Occasionally, when comments did exceed a thousand, it was because of a new project or an advertisement featuring another actor, drawing in fans for control comments.
Zhu Xinyue followed Liang Yuyu and then switched back to her own homepage to check her follow list.
The first person she followed, of course, was her big boss, followed by her agent, the official account of her studio, and the director of “Peach Blossom Spring.” As for her “senior brother” Ji Qingyuan? Following him was too risky. She didn’t want to be speculated about maliciously by his fans before even making an appearance.
After a while, she gained a new follower.
Zhu Xinyue checked and found it was the official account of her family’s company, “Zhu Chang Group.”
The official account followed her, so the next ones to follow would likely be “Zhu Shilang” and her father, “Zhu Hengnian.”
Each time she refreshed, she gained a new follower, mostly collaborators or family friends, all with verified yellow or blue v under their profile pictures.
Refreshed again.
A new follower had a red v! Wow!
Zhu Xinyue widened her eyes and saw the “mutual following” badge beside it. She was stunned and moved to the name—Ji Linyu.
The big boss followed her back!
What did this mean? It meant… the big boss valued her greatly! Promotions, salary increases, becoming the leading lady of Jinhuan, reaching the pinnacle of her career, were all within reach!
Sure enough, getting familiar with Ji Linyu paid off! Zhu Xinyue was so excited that she threw a series of punches in the air.
According to the schedule given by the crew, the actors needed to train at the base for three months.
New actors like Zhu Xinyue, who were inexperienced, had minor roles, and no significant engagements, were the first to enter the training base for learning.
The training base had two buildings: one for training and the other for dormitories. The dormitories had double rooms, but since Zhu Xinyue was an artist under Jinhuan, she got a room for herself.
After moving in, she noticed Jinhuan-branded products everywhere—mineral water, quick-drying T-shirts, and more. She later realized from a documentary filmed during the main actors’ training that this was all part of Jinhuan’s advertising.
“Peach Blossom Spring” had many fight scenes, and since Zhu Xinyue played a bodyguard, she spent her mornings learning horseback riding, afternoons learning martial arts, and evenings attending acting classes. Additionally, she had courses in physical training and ancient etiquette.
Before the main actors arrived at the training base, their phones could only be used in the dormitory and were not allowed in the training building to ensure focus during lessons.
When Zhu Xinyue first entered the training base, she returned to her dorm each day exhausted and sore, with no energy left to play with her phone.
“Xinyue!” As Zhu Xinyue finished her archery class and headed to the cafeteria, a round-faced girl caught up with her and linked arms.
Su Miao leaned in close, looking around cautiously before whispering, “Today is Linlin’s birthday. I got my agent to send some food over. Let’s have a hotpot in the dorm before the acting class instead of going to the cafeteria.”
Hearing the word “hotpot,” Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
For the past two weeks, they had been under strict dietary control, with the cafeteria mostly serving leafy vegetables, making her mouth taste bland from all the “grass.”
“But… can you go to the security office with me to sign for it?” Su Miao hooked her finger around Zhu Xinyue’s and looked at her pleadingly.
Since Zhu Xinyue was a Jinhuan artist, the staff managing them often turned a blind eye to her “violations.” For example, one day she brought her phone into the training building, and when the alarm went off, the staff and teachers pretended not to notice.
Many artists asked Zhu Xinyue to help them get their packages from the security office since her packages were never checked.
Over time, Zhu Xinyue got to know the artists at the base well, and even some male artists secretly passed her notes of confession, all of which she politely declined.
“Sure!” Zhu Xinyue was also craving the hotpot, so she followed Su Miao to the security office.
Normally the gate of the training base was closed, but today it was half open, as if someone was coming.
Su Miao, the most gossip-savvy girl at the base, whispered excitedly, “The main actors are coming! I saw Ji Qingyuan and Jiang Rui’s schedules from their fans. I’ve never seen Ji Qingyuan in person. They say his family has a strong background!”
Only a few people knew that Ji Qingyuan was the second son of the Jinhuan Group. His grandfather did not acknowledge Ji Qingyuan as a member of the Ji family. It was not until his grandfather passed away that his father brought him back to the Ji family from Nancheng.
Zhu Xinyue, thinking about the hotpot, glanced at the half-open gate and then turned back to have Su Miao report the last four digits of her phone number to the security guard.
To their surprise, Su Miao’s agent had really gone all out, sending a large box filled with not only ingredients but also specialties and a big cake for the birthday celebration.
“Miaomiao, isn’t this a bit too blatant?” Zhu Xinyue pointed at the large cake in the transparent box.
Su Miao scratched her head awkwardly, “Uh…”
The agent probably wanted her to get along well with the other artists and overdid it.
While the boxes with ingredients and specialties were not easily identifiable, the cake was hard to smuggle in.
“I’ve got it! I’ll take the boxes in first, have Linlin and the others distract the staff, then you bring the cake in.” The cake was risky, so it was best for Jinhuan’s artist Zhu Xinyue to handle it.
Zhu Xinyue, eyeing the cake she hadn’t had for a long time, agreed with a craving sigh, “Alright.”
Su Miao zipped up her sun-protection jacket to cover the lower half of her face, donned a hat, and, only showing her eyes, sneakily carried the box into the base.
Zhu Xinyue watched Su Miao, who was very stealthy, walk into the base. Zhu Xinyue kept an eye on the clock in the security office, planning to wait ten more minutes before going in to avoid drawing too much attention.
Suddenly, the automatic gate opened.
Turning around, Zhu Xinyue saw a black business car drive by with tinted windows, hiding its passengers.
Probably the main actors, she thought.
Main actors…
She wondered if the novel’s heroine, Jiang Rui, was in the car.
Feeling it was about time, Zhu Xinyue carried the cake toward the base.
Reaching the dormitory building, she saw Su Miao being caught by the staff.
The staff were inspecting the contents of her box while Su Miao, on the verge of tears, signaled desperately to Zhu Xinyue.
Realizing it was not a good time to return to the dormitory, Zhu Xinyue turned to leave but felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Xiao Zhu, you two got into trouble as soon as the director and others entered the base today. I’m sorry.” The staff patted Zhu Xinyue on the shoulder and confiscated the cake in her hand.
While losing the cake and ingredients was one thing, the key issue was that, to set an example, they placed signs in front of Zhu Xinyue and Su Miao with their “confiscated goods” and made them stand in front of the dormitory building for fifteen minutes.
Su Miao, who had been a good student, was now an adult being punished and couldn’t hold back her tears, hiding behind the “I was wrong” sign to rub her eyes.
Zhu Xinyue opened the cake box, cut a piece, and handed it to the thin-skinned Su Miao.
“We’re already being punished anyway. Not eating the cake would be a waste. Hurry up and eat it while they’re off eating.”
Tears streaming down her face, Su Miao began to eat the cake.
Zhu Xinyue stood beside Su Miao, keeping watch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of people approaching from the cafeteria. She couldn’t tell if they were artists returning to the dormitory after a meal or someone else.
“Ahem.” Zhu Xinyue gave a warning cough to alert Su Miao.
Su Miao quickly hid the cake, stuffed the plate into the box, wiped her mouth, and stood up straight, looking like she was seriously reflecting and obediently accepting her punishment.
The group of people drew closer.
Zhu Xinyue kept her eyes straight ahead, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a familiar figure and turned her head.
“This is our dormitory building…” The base staff was introducing the area to the visiting director and others.
At the front of the group were Ji Linyu and the director, with an esteemed veteran actor from the cast beside them. Ji Qingyuan, partially obscured by others, was at the back talking with some young actors.
Ji Linyu stopped in front of Zhu Xinyue, and the group halted as well.
The director asked, “What’s going on here?”
Staff member: “Base rules stipulate that during training, artists can only eat meals from the cafeteria. They brought in food without permission.”
Ji Linyu’s gaze shifted from Zhu Xinyue’s face to the half-eaten cake on the box beside her.
“Is it your birthday?” he asked.
Zhu Xinyue shook her head, “A friend’s birthday.”
“Did you eat any?” Ji Linyu asked again.
Su Miao tugged at Zhu Xinyue’s sleeve, afraid their secret cake-eating would be exposed.
“No time to,” Zhu Xinyue replied.
Ji Linyu said something to the director, who nodded and signaled for the staff to continue the tour.
Zhu Xinyue watched as the large group moved on, leaving only Ji Linyu standing in front of her.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” Ji Linyu gestured for her to come closer.
Su Miao recognized the man as the young, talented, and handsome boss of Jinhuan Group. Her eyes darted between Zhu Xinyue and Ji Linyu, piecing things together, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She covered her mouth and gave Zhu Xinyue an exaggerated wink.
“Sister, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your relationship!”
Zhu Xinyue quickly walked down the steps to Ji Linyu’s side and followed him away.
As the sky grew darker, Zhu Xinyue joked with Ji Linyu, “Maybe by tomorrow, there will be rumors about us being together.”
Ji Linyu raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl beside him.
“Aren’t we?” he asked.
***
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Ayalee[Translator]
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