Chapter 49: Are These People Seriously Filming a Movie?

The morning sun shone upon this land.

In the shade of trees lining the streets, summer cicadas chirped in waves.

Sunlight illuminated the script in her hand...

This was a ghost film.

Thriller, absurd, desperate, yet revealing a thick sense of desolation.

Inside the recording studio...

Zhang Muxue did not know how she had entered the state.

She only knew that at first, she had simply been singing along with the melody.

But as she sang, the story of Chu Renmei in her mind echoed again and again.

The infatuation in the story, the sorrow in the story, the despair in the story, and that faint trace of resentment gradually flooded her entire body.

Then, that sorrowful melody paired with lines of desolate lyrics seemed to condense into a knife, stabbing fiercely into her chest...

Perhaps...

The Chu Renmei in the film was her future self!

"Can I do it?"

"You can!"

After coming out of the recording studio, Zhang Muxue remained immersed in that emotion, unable to extricate herself.

After reading the entire script, she looked at Zhou Yang in a daze and asked again uncertainly.

Zhou Yang stood in the sunlight, still in a suit and leather shoes, looking exceptionally gentlemanly.

She saw Zhou Yang nod and give her a reassuring look.

"Alright, then I will go handle the resignation procedures today."

"Do you need my help?"

"No need, I can do it!"

"..."

She shook her head, carefully put the script away, and then walked toward the direction of the Yue Lai Hotel.

Ten-odd minutes later.

A phone rang.

It was a phone number from her hometown.

Seeing this number, Zhang Muxue's body trembled involuntarily.

A sense of grievance surged in her heart, and her eyes instantly turned red.

But...

In the end, she gritted her teeth.

"Mom, I will transfer money to you right away..."

"But, I am not coming back!"

"Do you really want to resign?"

"Don't get fooled!"

"You can act in a movie? What a joke..."

"Others just see that you are a bit good-looking and want to scam you! I find it strange that you would rather believe these movie-making scammers than be willing to accompany drinks at a KTV, truly..."

"Do you know how much money one night at a KTV can earn you?"

"..."

The evening wind brushed against Zhang Muxue's hair.

Zhang Muxue dragged her luggage and walked out of the Yue Lai Hotel.

The firm determination at the beginning gradually became confused by now.

However, in the end, amidst the looks of fools from the boss and fellow villagers, she resolutely boarded that minivan.

After boarding the minivan, she suddenly felt a bit uneasy, a feeling like the people she saw when she first came to Yanjing a few years ago.

The minivan drove slowly to the Fei He Cinema, and amidst unease and nervousness, Zhang Muxue met everyone in the film crew.

However...

The imagined scene of big stars gathering and media swarming did not appear.

The imagined scene of a spacious office and countless professional staff working in a tight rhythm did not appear either.

In fact, the entire project team had only four people.

Besides the male and female leads, there was only a prop master and Mr. Zhou himself...

No cameraman, no lighting technician.

It was heard that the cameraman and lighting technician had gone to work on another film shoot.

No stagehand; the stagehand Ding Rong had transitioned to become the male lead...

There wasn't even a director...

Looking at the shabby office inside the Fei He Cinema.

And the few main actors...

Zhang Muxue instinctively hugged her luggage and stared uneasily at Zhou Yang.

"Mr. Zhou, are we really making a movie?"

"Do you think we're running a scam?"

"I... no, no..." Zhang Jiali's sense of unease grew stronger and stronger.

She subconsciously moved to the spot by the door, sat down cautiously, and kept recalling the path she had taken to get here.

"Let's familiarize ourselves with the script. This film, like the others, has heavy tasks and high artistic value..."

"..."

The old electric fan in the office went whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Ding Rong, once a stagehand and now the lead actor, subconsciously glanced at Zhang Jiali beside him, whose face was flushed with embarrassment.

If he were Lu Zhishen...

Then Lin Daiyu was probably her?

Lu Zhishen and Lin Daiyu...

He remembered that the premiere of this film was set for midnight...

A film shown at midnight—what kind of decent film could it be?

Besides, given Mr. Zhou's track record with his previous work, "Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2"...

This film was probably...

Damn it!

Do you have to be so stimulating?

Outside the window, a gentle breeze blew.

Looking at the modest-looking Zhang Jiali, for some reason, Ding Rong felt more and more aroused the longer he looked; he cleared his throat lightly, but a surge of heat rose in his heart.

"Mr. Zhou, I, I actually have principles. This film can't be filmed too, too excessively... At least, I, I can't dress too scantily..." Ding Rong glanced at the title "Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen" and finally looked at Zhou Yang.

"That's fine..."

"Mr. Zhou, actually, it's not that... I'm actually quite willing to make sacrifices for art, but after all, Young Lady Zhang is so young; I don't know if she..."

"Don't worry. We already discussed it yesterday and finished the dubbing. She is also willing to make sacrifices for art..." Zhou Yang smiled and nodded.

"The dubbing is already done?"

Ding Rong's spirits lifted, and he subconsciously looked again at Zhang Jiali, who was sitting by the door with her head down and her face completely red.

At that moment, a series of soul-stealing moans from the Island Nation, slightly erotic, involuntarily floated into his mind...

Accompanied by these sounds, a series of thrilling artistic blockbusters automatically played in his mind!

He was utterly excited!

Until...

With a mix of expectation and moral condemnation, he opened the script for "Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen."

Immediately, his expression stiffened slightly.

"Mr. Zhou, is our new film called 'Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen'?"

"Yes!"

"Where is Lu Zhishen?"

"You shaved your head bald, playing the lead role; doesn't that look like Lu Zhishen? Cinema is an art, and art naturally employs metaphorical techniques. Don't you agree with that logic?" Zhou Yang said with a serious face.

"Wait! Then where is Lin Daiyu?" Ding Rong opened his mouth; for some reason, his expression was somewhat aggrieved.

"Look at Young Lady Zhang's fragile appearance; doesn't that look like Lin Daiyu?" Zhou Yang pointed to Zhang Jiali beside him, who was clutching her bundle and looked somewhat uneasy.

"What about the 'versus' in 'Lin Daiyu vs. Lu Zhishen'?"

"She turns into a ghost and comes to kill you; doesn't that count as a battle? If you feel it doesn't count as a battle, we can also call it 'Lin Daiyu's Minor Battle with Lu Zhishen.' If you feel the hierarchy isn't clear enough, we can also call it 'Lu Zhishen's Minor Battle with Lin Daiyu'... Or it could be 'Lin Daiyu's Night Battle with Lu Zhishen.' Isn't that reasonable?"

"???"

Reasonable my ass...

Damn it!

Aaaaaah!

I was already prepared to make sacrifices for art!

You...

You say you suddenly decided to make a decent film?

"Mr. Zhou, don't tell me you are the director of this film yourself?" Ding Rong swallowed hard and finally widened his eyes.

"I said I would direct this film. If the director isn't me, could it be you? Do you want to usurp my position?"

"I... I didn't mean that, I..."

"Read the script properly!"

"Oh, wait, Mr. Zhou, I want to ask, are there other actors?"

"I was just about to discuss this matter with you..."

"Me? Discuss?"

"Yes. As a script supervisor before, you should know quite a few people, right?"

"Yes..."

"Are there any actors, or perhaps crew members, who are very persistent about their dreams but look... well, look 'down-to-earth' and 'reliable'?"

"There are many who are down-to-earth and reliable. Which kind do you want?"

Zhou Yang fell silent briefly, looked at Zhang Jiali who was secretly peeking over here, and then looked at Ding Rong.

"Preferably someone like Young Lady Zhang, pure and innocent, with little social experience..."

"Easy to fool?"

Ding Rong blurted it out the moment he heard this.

"What do you mean 'easy to fool'? I said she's pure and innocent, with little social experience. That's not the same as being gullible. Those are two different meanings..." Zhou Yang said sternly, staring at Ding Rong to emphasize his point.

"..."

Not far away.

When Zhang Jiali heard this remark, she clutched her bundle even tighter.

Looking at this shabby office...

she instinctively shuffled a step closer to the door.

Why did she feel like she'd stumbled into a scam gang?

What are these people planning to do!

Are these people really making a proper movie!

Just at that moment, Zhou Yang's phone rang.

Zhou Yang glanced at the call; it was Director Shen Long.

"President Zhou, our film might need an investment of three hundred thousand. I've calculated it, and our current funding still isn't enough..."

"Send me the bill to look at..."

"Alright. Not a single cent of this money can be cut; we've already squeezed every last drop."

"Fine!"