Chapter 8

“He Han, who plays a palace maid, her boyfriend is now investing in our web drama.”

“We work so hard, and she just gets a boyfriend and wins over us.”

“Her boyfriend is already an investor; her role either gets more scenes or is swapped for a different role.”

“He Han and her boyfriend will be here soon.”

The crew was discussing how He Han’s boyfriend had invested in the role of Consort Chen. Some were envious, some indifferent, and some jealous—there were all sorts of emotions.

After Shen Yan had breakfast, she sat in the set waiting for her scenes while also browsing audition news online.

Shen Yan made the assistant director feel inadequate, but at the same time, he thought that Shen Yan must have confidence. If she didn’t have it, how could she be so calm? With that thought, the assistant director’s expression toward Shen Yan changed again.

When Shen Yan was filming, He Han walked into the set, linking arms with her boyfriend. Director Li Jun immediately called for a stop, and Shen Yan’s scene was halted.

He Han’s boyfriend was quiet, with a gloomy expression. Whatever He Han said, he just nodded in agreement, never taking his eyes off her.

Because of her boyfriend, He Han acted as if she were the queen.

The assistant director, who didn’t know when he’d moved next to Shen Yan, whispered, “He Han’s boyfriend used to work in IT, but then he made money by buying stocks with others. Have you heard of Yuran Industries?”

When it was mentioned, Shen Yan furrowed her brows slightly. She had heard of it. The stock of Yuran Industries had skyrocketed, and many people had made a lot of money, but those who hadn’t sold their stocks ended up losing everything. Eventually, Yuran Industries was acquired.

The assistant director continued, “I heard the stock might go up again. The director and I are planning to buy some.” He winked at Shen Yan. “If I make money, I’ll invest in this drama and add more scenes for you. After all, I’m your benefactor.”

The assistant director was good to Shen Yan, and… probably thought of himself as her benefactor, which made him a bit biased toward her.

For example, when distributing lunch boxes, Shen Yan’s box always had extra chicken legs, and for breakfast, she’d get an extra fried dough stick.

With that thought, Shen Yan said, “Assistant Director, don’t buy it.”

Assistant Director: “Why not?”

Li Jun, who had been chatting with He Han’s boyfriend, looked over at Shen Yan, and everyone else also turned their attention to her.

Shen Yan: “That stock will drop soon. You could try buying some Chen’s Enterprises stock instead.”

Shen Yan remembered that while Chen’s Enterprises didn’t experience a huge boom, it was steadily growing, so buying it could yield a profit.

If it weren’t for He Han, Shen Yan might have forgotten all about making money through stocks.

As an actress focused on her craft, Shen Yan wasn’t interested in these things. However, in her past life, Shen Yan always wanted to reconcile with Meng Yi’an. To have something to talk about with him, she would often read financial magazines and learn about business. Now, Shen Yan knew which stocks would rise, which companies might become dark horses, which technologies could make money, and which lands could double in value.

The assistant director was surprised, “You know about stocks?”

At this moment, He Han let out a chuckle. She walked over to Shen Yan, still linking arms with her boyfriend. “Don’t mislead others. If you know about stocks, then you should be the one investing in this drama today, not the producer,” He Han said with a mocking tone. “Everyone, my junior here is just saying random things, so don’t believe her. If you buy stocks based on her advice and they drop, how would we handle that, right?”

Some of the extras in the crew, eager to please He Han, quickly chimed in.

“Yeah, He Han’s boyfriend made his money from stocks, so if anyone understands them, it’s He Han and her boyfriend.”

“Too bad I don’t have money. If I did, I’d buy Yuran stock too.”

“Chen’s Enterprises? Never even heard of it.”

“I’ve never heard of it either.”

Listening to the flattery, He Han became even more pleased. She changed her mind and decided to make Shen Yan shoot her scenes in the drama, then have Shen Yan bow to her in the show. She even wanted to slap Shen Yan and make her jump into a lake.

Feigning kindness, He Han said, “Junior, if you keep telling others that Chen’s Enterprises stock will go up and they buy it, what will happen if it drops? They’ll come looking for you.”

Because He Han was so focused on putting Shen Yan down, she didn’t even notice that her boyfriend, Zhang He, was staring at Shen Yan, his eyes locked on her.

Dressed in her costume, Shen Yan slowly stood up. Her tassel pin swayed slightly before settling. At that moment, she spoke up, “I’ll return your words exactly as they were said to me, and I advise you to think carefully.”

With so many people in the crew, if they bought Yuran stock and lost money, they would definitely blame He Han. As for her advice to buy Chen’s Enterprises stock, she had already told them. It wasn’t her fault if they didn’t listen.

An extra couldn’t take it anymore. “Shen Yan, what do you mean by this? He Han is telling us which stock will make money, and you’re not letting us buy it? Instead, you want us to buy something we’ve never heard of? What are you trying to do?”

The assistant director, still on Shen Yan’s side, shouted, “What are you all doing? What do you mean by ‘Shen Yan won’t let you buy’? Buy whatever you want! Shen Yan can’t force you to buy it, and anyway, she just told me to buy it, not you!”

The extras didn’t know the relationship between the assistant director and Li Jun. They just thought Li Jun disliked the assistant director, because if Li Jun didn’t, he wouldn’t let the assistant director hand out lunch boxes on set.

Immediately, one of the extras mocked Shen Yan, “Since Shen Yan told you to buy it, why don’t you? Why are you standing here defending her? Why don’t you buy it, huh?”

The assistant director, young and stubborn, immediately took out his phone. “Who said I’m not buying it? If it weren’t for you guys holding me up, I would’ve bought it already!” Even as he said this, his hand trembled while holding the phone, and he instinctively glanced at Shen Yan.

Li Jun hurried over and grabbed the assistant director’s hand. “What are you doing?!”

Assistant Director: “Buying stocks!” After speaking, he shuddered and bought 100,000 worth.

Assistant Director: “………”

Still trembling, the assistant director held up his phone for the extras to see. “Look, I bought it! Now just wait for this stock to rise!”

Li Jun wondered if the assistant director had gone a bit crazy lately from handing out lunch boxes.

Shen Yan smiled and said, “Assistant director, you should accompany me to open an account later. I’ll buy 100,000 worth too.” After buying it, Shen Yan would go eat pickled vegetable noodles, because that’s all she could afford after years of living frugally in the entertainment industry. But at least she still had some salary left from filming Consort Chen, and once that settled, she could upgrade from pickled vegetable noodles to noodles from a proper restaurant.

Yuran’s stock would likely drop by the time Shen Yan finished filming and continue to fall.

Chen’s Enterprises stock, on the other hand, would steadily rise, earning more and more.

The assistant director felt a bit more confident. Though he thought Shen Yan was just saying things off the cuff, as her benefactor, he would play along!

“Alright, alright. After your scene, I’ll go with you to open an account and buy stocks.”

Li Jun gave the assistant director a glare. He planned to buy more Yuran stock and then help out the assistant director, though he really didn’t like Shen Yan.

Zhang He, who had been silent until now, smiled at Shen Yan before saying, “I don’t think you understand stocks very well. Yuran will definitely go up. And assistant director, even though you bought into Chen’s Enterprises, you can still sell it off.”

Upon hearing her boyfriend’s words, He Han pinched Zhang He, prompting him to stop talking.

Shen Yan remembered that much later, He Han’s boyfriend ended up with another artist from Zhou Ruo’s agency, Chu Chu. She wasn’t sure if it was this same boyfriend.

Everyone was more convinced that Yuran’s stock would make money after hearing Zhang He, and they started gathering in small groups to discuss opening accounts.

Shen Yan said, “I think Chen’s…”

Before she could finish, Li Jun interrupted, “Alright, let’s get back to filming.” He then smiled at Zhang He. “Let’s have lunch together later and talk more about these stocks.”

He Han quickly added, “But my boyfriend’s a bit busy. We’ll talk next time.”

The director seemed like he wanted to say something, but He Han wrapped her arm around Zhang He’s. “You said you had business to discuss, so go ahead. I’ll handle the shoot and chat with the scriptwriter.”

Zhang He didn’t actually have any business to attend to. He had made money from stocks and convinced He Han to come along as an investor. With the rest of the money, he bought more stocks, hoping they would continue to make money. But since He Han had said so, he could only agree.

Director Li Jun had some issues with Shen Yan and tried to find fault with her while filming. However, since Shen Yan’s character, Lan Fei, was similar in temperament, he couldn’t really find anything wrong. Shen Yan’s acting always passed in one take.

Shen Yan was filming her last scene for the morning: she sat in a pavilion while the palace maid told her that the emperor had suffered a stroke. Shen Yan thought she performed well and would pass on the first take, but Li Jun called for a stop.

Li Jun: “Shen Yan, the emperor had a stroke. You and the emperor are close friends, so you need that kind of expression!”

Shen Yan sat still and looked up at Li Jun.

Li Jun: “Do it again!”

Shen Yan coldly replied, “Maybe the director could find an actor with good skills to teach me how to perform it properly. If you can’t find anyone, then my acting is at this level. Director, you could always replace me with someone else, hmm?”

Li Jun: “Shen Yan!”

Shen Yan: “How about uploading the footage from this scene online and let the netizens judge whether my acting is good enough?”

The set fell silent, and no one dared speak. They all watched the confrontation between Shen Yan and Li Jun.

After a long pause, Li Jun didn’t say anything. Shen Yan stood up and said, “I’m done for the day.”

Not wanting to be wronged, Shen Yan didn’t mind walking away from the shoot. The crew was so poor they probably wouldn’t replace her and reshoot the scenes she had already done.