Chapter 117: More Than Generous
On the set of Crime and Fiend.
“That’s a wrap, time for lunch!”
The moment the director called cut, all the cameras stopped rolling.
Jiang Su had filmed his first scene today, and it went fairly smoothly.
Xu Mocun twisted open a bottle of water and handed it to Jiang Su. “Not bad, you’re adjusting well.”
The late April weather was pleasant, not too cold and not too hot, with an occasional gentle breeze.
Jiang Su just smiled, taking the water and drinking it.
Xu Mocun glanced outside and said, “Sit tight, I’ll go get our food.”
Just as Jiang Su sat down, Bai Mu walked over.
“Teacher Jiang.”
Jiang Su scooted over, making a little space for Bai Mu to sit.
Bai Mu asked him, “Have you ever worked with Gao Xinlin before?”
Gao Xinlin was the male lead of Crime and Fiend. He started as an idol and had a very powerful fanbase.
Jiang Su had a scene with Gao Xinlin in the afternoon.
“No.” After answering, Jiang Su looked at Bai Mu with a questioning gaze.
Bai Mu surely wasn’t asking this for no reason.
Bai Mu moved a little closer and whispered to Jiang Su, “Gao Xinlin’s team loves to guide his fans to start fan wars and put down other actors. No artist who has worked with him has been spared.”
Hearing this, Jiang Su chuckled lightly. “I’ve heard rumors.”
Xu Mocun had mentioned this to him.
Gao Xinlin came from a well-off family. In the early days of his career, his family spent a fortune to get him resources. He was hardworking enough himself and eventually became genuinely popular.
Now, Gao Xinlin was constantly booked with acting roles and appearances, his schedule filled up for the next two years.
“Teacher Jiang, you should be careful,” Bai Mu said with concern.
“I know, you too…” Jiang Su remembered that Bai Mu had a scene with Gao Xinlin that evening.
“Su Su.”
Xu Mocun came over with their lunch. Seeing Bai Mu there, his smile faded slightly. “Bai Mu?”
“Brother Xu,” Bai Mu greeted him.
Xu Mocun nodded. “Where’s your assistant?”
Bai Mu pointed in the direction behind Xu Mocun. “He’s coming.”
Xu Mocun turned around and, sure enough, saw Bai Mu’s assistant approaching with food.
As soon as Bai Mu’s assistant arrived, he greeted Jiang Su and the others, then said with a look of amazement, “The production team is so generous. Today’s lunch boxes are from a five-star hotel…”
As he spoke, he handed the lunch box to Bai Mu.
Jiang Su glanced over and saw a familiar hotel logo on the box.
It was the logo of the five-star Granda Hotel, where he had stayed before.
This was the third day on set, and the crew had ordered lunch boxes from this five-star hotel every day, with a different menu each time.
Jiang Su was also shocked.
Was the production team treating a five-star hotel as its personal kitchen, making it their daily caterer?
This was more than generous.
This was practically burning money for fun.
Xu Mocun also opened a lunch box and handed it to Jiang Su, muttering under his breath, “This is too extravagant. We have to film this for two months…”
Jiang Su found it strange, too. This crew was insane.
He remembered that Huo Qingyan was the main investor for this drama.
Did Huo Qingyan know the crew was squandering his money like this?
At the thought of Huo Qingyan, Jiang Su’s expression cooled.
The main investor, Huo Qingyan, was also having a meal at a restaurant.
He had just ordered, and the food had yet to arrive.
Zhou Fu, sitting opposite him, was reporting on the situation.
“President Shen has withdrawn from the bidding for the land in the west district…”
“Vice President Li has been dismissed.”
“There’s a business gala tonight. Should I cancel?”
As Zhou Fu spoke, he looked up at Huo Qingyan, waiting for a response.
But as he looked up, he realized Huo Qingyan was staring out the window, his gaze unfocused. He didn’t know if he had been listening at all.
Zhou Fu’s lips moved, about to call out to him, but Huo Qingyan turned to look at him.
“Has everything been arranged for the film crew?”
“Huh?” The question was such a leap that Zhou Fu didn’t react for a moment.
Zhou Fu quickly searched his memory and knew what Huo Qingyan was talking about.
“It’s all been arranged. We’ve ordered two months of meals from the Granda Hotel.” He had consulted with the director beforehand, who said Crime and Fiend should wrap up in about two months.
“Mm.”
Huo Qingyan gave a faint response, indicating he understood.
Zhou Fu asked tentatively, “So… what about the business gala?”
Huo Qingyan’s expression faltered slightly. “What business gala?”
Zhou Fu: “??”
So he had been talking to himself this whole time. President Huo hadn’t been listening at all.
Zhou Fu had no choice but to repeat himself. “There’s a business gala tonight. Should I cancel?”
It seemed President Huo would probably just cancel it.
But unexpectedly, Huo Qingyan asked him, “Who will be there?”
“President Shen.” After thinking it over, Zhou Fu realized that the person President Huo was most familiar with was still President Shen of Huangsheng Entertainment Media.
Huo Qingyan’s long fingers tapped twice on the table. “Then let’s go.”
Zhou Fu was a little surprised. “Okay.”
He felt that President Huo and President Shen were becoming less and less like sworn enemies…
The crew was rushing to release the film during the summer, so the shooting schedule was heavy and tight.
After a half-hour break for lunch, filming for the afternoon began.
The first scene of the afternoon was between Jiang Su and Gao Xinlin.
Jiang Su had only seen Gao Xinlin on the day of the opening ceremony. Gao Xinlin hadn’t had any scenes these past two days, so he hadn’t shown up.
After all, Gao Xinlin was at the peak of his popularity, a prime time to make money. It was understandable that he was busy with other engagements and wouldn’t stay on set when he didn’t have scenes.
Who doesn’t love money?
Jiang Su could understand all of that.
But being late was something he couldn’t understand.
It had been almost an hour since the scheduled filming time, and Gao Xinlin still hadn’t appeared.
The other actors and staff members didn’t look too pleased.
The director was on the phone with Gao Xinlin’s manager.
“Didn’t you say he’d be here in ten minutes? How many ten minutes has it been?”
Whatever Gao Xinlin’s manager said, the director’s expression softened slightly. “Fine, we’ll wait another ten minutes.”
The director hung up the phone. Seeing Jiang Su walk over, he said with a helpless look, “Teacher Jiang, sorry to keep you waiting. Gao Xinlin should be here soon.”
The director was in his early thirties and had some fame, but he had no powerful backing, so he didn’t dare to offend anyone easily.
He couldn’t afford to offend Gao Xinlin, and he couldn’t afford to offend Jiang Su either.
Jiang Su was actually fuming inside.
But seeing the director’s helpless expression, his anger subsided a little. He ended up comforting the director instead. “It’s okay, I can wait a little longer.”
It wasn’t just him waiting; the entire crew was waiting with him.
It was a sunny day. The morning had been pleasant, but now with the sun high in the sky, everyone standing under it was starting to feel the heat.
Jiang Su had memorized another page of lines from his script by the time Gao Xinlin finally arrived late.
“I’m so sorry, something came up at the last minute. I’ve made everyone wait.” Gao Xinlin bowed a full ninety degrees to apologize to everyone, looking extremely sincere.
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