Chapter 16: The Fallen Child Star (16) part 2

From this brief exchange, it was clear their new shareholder was a reasonable person. Even after they had offered thirty-five percent, she still only took the initial thirty percent.

Pei Rou produced a lollipop from nowhere, chewing it noisily while quickly replying: 「Alright, Sister Yao! We’ll fax you the contract right away!」

Yao Rong immediately noticed the change in how she was addressed. She chuckled softly and closed the chat window.

To be honest, Tiangong Vision was merely a side venture for her. Thus, the difference between thirty and thirty-five percent shares didn’t matter much to her.

However, the more shares the other party held, the greater their influence and motivation to work hard. In this virtuous cycle, her thirty percent share might yield profits comparable to thirty-five percent.

Besides, what she truly desired wasn’t money, but advancements in special effects technology.

Tiangong Vision quickly sent over the contract. After reviewing it and confirming there were no issues, Yao Rong signed her name without hesitation.

She then promptly transferred ten million to Tiangong Vision’s account and sent them the model design approach they had been eagerly anticipating.

「Yao Rong: It’s all there. Go ahead and study it, and if you have any questions, let me know.」

Pei Rou and his team didn’t respond for a long time.

Understanding their excitement, Yao Rong closed her laptop and stood up to stretch.

Suddenly, a can of red Wangzai milk appeared on the windowsill.

Yao Rong was startled but reached out to take it.

After opening the can and taking a couple of sips without seeing Xu Weiheng appear, she remarked, “Why are you still hiding?”

Xu Weiheng tilted his head, tentatively revealing half his body from behind the window, also holding the same drink, biting hard on the straw.

Meeting Yao Rong’s gaze, he released the straw: “I’m not hiding. I just wasn’t sure if you were done, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“I’m all done now,” Yao Rong replied. She had been very productive lately. “That ten million, I really did invest it all.”

“Oh.”

Xu Weiheng acknowledged without even raising an eyebrow. His emotion was flat, even less excited than when he was drinking the milk.

Yao Rong felt defeated by his reaction: “Aren’t you curious about what I invested in? Seven hundred and fifty thousand of that ten million is yours.”

Xu Weiheng followed her lead and asked, “What did you invest in?”

Yao Rong: “…Thanks for giving me face and asking that question.”

Xu Weiheng laughed heartily: “You’re welcome.”

Yao Rong found herself both amused and warmed by this exchange.

“By the way, isn’t the show supposed to start filming tomorrow? Has the production team arrived yet?” Xu Weiheng changed the subject, glancing towards the door.

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of cars braking suddenly came from outside.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, according to the address.”

“Looks pretty ordinary, just a regular guesthouse, right?”

“The door’s not locked, let’s knock and see.”

The conversation of several people outside drifted into the courtyard. Then, someone knocked on the door, gently pushing open the wooden door weathered by time.

When the scene inside the courtyard came into view, they were so shocked they nearly dropped their jaws.

The ivy at the entrance was lush and green, and under the grape trellis, a sea of roses swayed gracefully.

Between the osmanthus and longan trees, a swing had been set up. If one didn’t look closely, it might be mistaken for an oddly shaped tree.

The decorative stones, as well as the stone benches, tables, and well, were all engraved with exquisite patterns. Even the originally unremarkable upturned eaves were carved with guardian beasts. Most amazingly, the beasts had been deliberately aged to look as if they had withstood a thousand years of weathering.

At first glance, this place didn’t look like a guesthouse, but rather an ancient, time-honored residence, or perhaps a secluded paradise stumbled upon through winding paths.

“Are we sure we’re in the right place…” someone muttered sheepishly, almost wanting to slap themselves.

Ordinary?

If this was considered ordinary, then nothing could be called special.

In comparison, the modern luxury homes where the other guests were staying seemed plain and unremarkable.

“You’re in the right place,” Xu Weiheng jumped down from the steps, shooing away Ping’an who had come to see what the commotion was about, and said to the group, “Come in.”

“You, you’re Xu Weiheng!?” The assistant director looked Xu Weiheng up and down, surprise evident on his face.

The assistant director had originally thought that Xu Weiheng and his mother were living in a small county town and had recently gone through many unpleasant experiences, so their condition wouldn’t be very good. Even with a month’s transition period, there wouldn’t be enough time to recover fully.

But the assistant director felt that the barefaced Xu Weiheng before him looked even better than in his retouched photos.

When the assistant director and his team entered the house and saw Yao Rong standing in the courtyard to welcome them, the surprise they had just suppressed bubbled up again.

Is this really Xu Weiheng’s mother?

She looks so young.

The assistant director had actually visited the Xu family once before and met Xu Yiyuan’s mother.

Xu Yiyuan’s mother was meticulously maintained, wearing light makeup and slightly curled hair, looking every bit the pampered rich lady.

But her carefully crafted elegance paled in comparison to Yao Rong’s natural, unadorned beauty.

“Hello,” Yao Rong greeted, wearing sportswear.

“Ah, hello, Ms. Yao,” the assistant director responded.

He temporarily put aside his other thoughts and began discussing filming details with Yao Rong: “We’ll set up cameras at specific spots in the courtyard for 24-hour live streaming. This was mentioned in the contract.”

“No problem, we’ll cooperate fully.”

“Oh, and about accommodation… I discussed this with you earlier, you said you could provide us with some places to stay.”

Yao Rong’s lips curved slightly: “That’s right, there are several empty rooms on the second floor, enough for all of you. However, I don’t provide meals or lodging for free here. Your accommodation fee will be charged at normal guesthouse rates, and meals will be provided by the neighbor. Is that okay?”

One shouldn’t forget their original profession.

Taking this opportunity to run a guesthouse business and earn extra money from the production team along with Grandpa Chen – isn’t that delightful?

“That’s fine,” the assistant director agreed without hesitation.

Their production team might not have much, but they did have a generous budget.

Besides, how expensive could the normal rates of a guesthouse be?

However, while thinking this, the assistant director overlooked a very serious problem – that this renovated guesthouse was no longer an ordinary guesthouse.

Looking at the price list Yao Rong handed over, the assistant director’s heart bled: “…”

Was it too late to change his mind?

Closing his eyes and signing his name, the assistant director urged the others to quickly find good spots to set up the cameras. He himself stormed up to the second floor, determined to see why this guesthouse dared to charge so much.

He arrived at the innermost room on the second floor and swiped the card to open the door.

When the scene inside fell into his eyes, the assistant director was dumbfounded, and the slight discontent in his heart dissipated.

They certainly hadn’t cheated him; the price was fair.

‘Ding.’

The assistant director’s phone suddenly rang with a notification.

He took out his phone to look.

It was people chatting in the work group.

‘Dear Family’ had invited a total of four groups of guests for this season.

A popular young actress and her father, a reigning film queen and her mother, Xu Yiyuan and his father, and Xu Weiheng and Yao Rong.

Among these four groups of guests, Xu Weiheng’s group had the lowest popularity.

The other three follow-up directors were sharing photos of luxury homes in the group chat, discussing the highlights and explosive points of the three groups of guests.

The follow-up director with Xu Yiyuan’s group, Xiao Xi, even specifically @’ed the assistant director at the end: 「How’s the environment on Xu Weiheng’s side? It’s a rural place, so conditions are probably just so-so. If there’s anything inconvenient, you’ll just have to bear with it.」

The assistant director gave a fierce middle finger.

His relationship with Xiao Xi was very bad, so bad that their conflict was out in the open.

This time, they were assigned to follow Xu Yiyuan and Xu Weiheng’s groups respectively, adding an extra layer of gunpowder to their chats.

The assistant director replied: 「The environment is especially good.」

Xiao Xi:「 Tch, keep pretending.」

The assistant director couldn’t be bothered to engage in a war of words with Xiao Xi. He responded with a noble and aloof “Hehe,” deleted the photos he had just taken, and quickly turned to go downstairs. He needed to remind his other colleagues not to leak photos of the guesthouse prematurely.

“Brother Xi, how is it? Did you find out anything?” At the Xu family home, Xu Ji handed Xiao Xi a cigarette.

Ever since finding out that Xiao Xi was the follow-up director for his family, Xu Ji had been trying to get close to Xiao Xi, sending good wine and cigarettes to his home by the case.

After all this socializing, Xiao Xi was also willing to do Xu Ji a favor.

Xiao Xi had just been trying to gather information at Xu Ji’s request.

Xiao Xi took the cigarette, let Xu Ji light it for him, took a puff and said, “He says the environment is especially good. I know him, he’s just being stubborn.”

Xu Ji agreed with Xiao Xi’s words while thinking about something else.

Ever since learning that the production team was going to invite Yao Rong and her son, Xu Ji had felt an inexplicable worry. Although he and Xu Yiyuan’s mother looked down on Yao Rong, it was undeniable that during this period, their family had been on a downward spiral, stumbling from one setback to another. And all these setbacks were related to Xu Weiheng and his mother.

This made Xu Ji particularly vigilant.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have contact information for Yao Rong’s neighbors, and he wasn’t willing to fly to D City himself to gather information, which was why he had asked Xiao Xi to help inquire.

The environment is especially good?

How good could the environment of a guesthouse in a poor small county town be?

It seemed that the other party was just saying that to save face.