Chapter 14: One of Our Own

Jiang Qinqin's performance really made Wu Yuchen look at her with new eyes.

The words she said all had a sense of imagery, and some of the swear words she said casually also highlighted the character's personality.

"Did you have a prototype for your performance just now?" Wu Yuchen asked.

Jiang Qinqin admitted with a smile: "The long-distance bus female driver I took from my hometown to Beijing."

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but nod, thinking she observed quite carefully; although it was a bit deliberate in imitation, it was considered not bad.

Jiang Qinqin was just about to retreat after performing, when she suddenly heard Wu Yuchen open his mouth:

"I ask you, if you were the female driver, and you met robbers halfway, would you obediently hand over the money to the robbers?"

Jiang Qinqin thought about it and asked back: "Are the robbers powerful?"

Wu Yuchen nodded:

"Powerful, tall and big, not someone to be trifled with at a glance, fierce-looking, holding a knife."

"Then I would definitely give in and give him the money," Jiang Qinqin laughed heartily, directly admitting to being cowardly.

Wu Yuchen laughed, not saying anything more, but stared closely at Jiang Qinqin's face at this time.

Although Jiang Qinqin was called the "most beautiful classical beauty," her face wasn't the round goose-egg face of classical beauty, but had edges and corners. This facial feature was also suitable.

"You guys hurry up and eat; wait for my news~" Huang Lei smiled and greeted the group of girls he brought.

After these girls walked away laughing and chatting, Huang Lei walked to Wu Yuchen's side and patted his shoulder:

"How is it? Your senior sisters are not bad, right?"

"So-so, just barely."

"Alright, alright, don't be arrogant in front of me; if you pretend again, I won't speak for you!

I ask you, did you fall in love with Qinqin?"

Huang Lei wasn't stupid; Jiang Qinqin indeed showed the temperament most in line with the female driver temperament in the script just now, having that kind of rouge horse fierceness that could die together. And Wu Yuchen only asked her questions alone, so he could naturally see his attitude.

Wu Yuchen didn't answer immediately, carefully recalling Jiang Qinqin's acting experience in his mind.

*The Return of the Condor Heroes* casting, her votes for Little Dragon Maiden were far ahead of other actresses, but he didn't expect to be played by Zhang Da-huzi... No, not this part.

First was the ruthless Gu Manlu in *Eighteen Springs*, a performance at the level of a Best Actress, proving her acting skills to people. Carina Lau also acted in a version of Gu Manlu, but compared to Jiang Qinqin, she was completely defeated.

Later was the female lead in *Qiao's Grand Courtyard*, winning the Flying Sky Award and the Golden Eagle Festival double Best Actress as she wished.

After Jiang Qinqin acted in quite a few Qiongyao dramas, she wasn't willing to be a vase, had high aspirations, wanted to prove herself, and finally really did it.

Wu Yuchen combined his performance just now and her development trajectory in his past life, showing she had inspiration, was moldable, and was willing to work hard for it, not the kind of actor without pursuit.

Wu Yuchen looked at Huang Lei again, thinking of him helping so enthusiastically. He thought about Gong Beibi from the Central Academy of Drama he originally planned to find, who was also a sophomore this year, and might not necessarily be better than Jiang Qinqin.

Wu Yuchen smiled and gave Huang Lei a thumbs up:

"As expected of Senior Huang, my thoughts were seen through by you at once."

Senior sister Jiang Qinqin is indeed not bad; sorry to trouble you~"

Huang Lei also showed a proud smile at this time; after all, she was a student he personally taught:

"Don't look at Qinqin being so watery; in fact, she has that kind of spicy girl temperament from the mountain city in her bones, and her temper is quite stubborn. She has also been diligent and enterprising in school. So many boys chased her in the past year, but she didn't pay attention to them.

Let me tell you, there are many boys who want to invite her to act in plays; if it weren't for your senior brother me, you might not necessarily be able to invite her into the crew."

Wu Yuchen nodded honestly; he also admitted this point.

Jiang Qinqin had already starred in a popular TV drama, *Xi Shi*, before entering school. The director was the director of *Journey to the West*, Yang Jie, who filmed Jiang Qinqin like a fairy in it.

Therefore, Jiang Qinqin was already a famous person before entering school; last year, as soon as she entered school, she directly squeezed out Xu Jinglei and was publicly recognized as the school beauty of the Tao Jingying Academy, so it was indeed not easy to invite her.

These campus gossip about beauties were chatted about by boys in the dormitory after the lights were turned off at night, so Wu Yuchen naturally wouldn't not know.

"Alright, I'll tell Qinqin about this today; she should agree."

"Thank you, senior!"

Wu Yuchen and Huang Lei walked out of the classroom smiling,

"By the way, wait a moment." Wu Yuchen was called to stop when he was about to part, and he looked at Huang Lei.

Huang Lei took out a bulging envelope from his bosom and directly stuffed it into Wu Yuchen's hand.

Wu Yuchen knew roughly what it was as soon as he touched it, and looking at this thickness, there were at least a few thousand yuan!

"Senior, this won't do; you've helped me so much, I can't take your money again..."

Seeing Wu Yuchen still wanting to return the money, Huang Lei directly blocked it back:

"You were quite close to me when you came to find me yesterday; why are you being polite with me now?"

"Senior, it's too much..."

"Your senior brother me is someone who takes pay; do I lack this bit of money?

And isn't your crew short of money?

This isn't much, 5,000 yuan, which is enough for you to buy 4 rolls of film.

Use it sparingly and just shoot the film well!"

Wu Yuchen was really moved by Huang Lei this time; he originally came to Huang Lei to sell misery, saying the crew didn't even have 20,000 yuan. He hadn't expected Huang Lei to really keep it in his heart and pay 5,000 yuan out of his own pocket to subsidize their crew.

Actually, according to Wu Yuchen's budget, after solving those devices, 30,000 yuan should be enough. However, thinking that in case something happened, this 5,000 yuan could also be used for emergencies, and having more money prepared made him feel more secure, so he didn't decline again.

Huang Lei was willing to invest this money primarily because he was moved by the *Bus 44* script; although he didn't act in it himself, he also hoped such a good story could be shot.

And he was indeed optimistic about Wu Yuchen, who had talent and super strong execution; being able to pull up a crew so quickly, the potential he showed was worth his investment—at least this money wouldn't be thrown into the water; just treat it as helping the school cultivate talent.

Then Huang Lei hugged Wu Yuchen's shoulder and said earnestly:

"Also, remember we are all fellow disciples of the Tao Jingying Academy; in the future, our own people should take care of our own people!"

Wu Yuchen understood the intention of Huang Lei's words; without this relationship of fellow disciples, who would help him? It was also educating him to give back to his alma mater more with practical actions.

Wu Yuchen nodded sincerely, and at the same time, he was also sighing in his heart that the relationships in schools in this era were really much stronger than in later generations.

In the dormitory, watching Jiang Qinqin, who had just been called out by Huang Lei, return, Chen Shasha leaned over and asked:

"Hey, Qinqin, did Senior Huang talk to you about the short film?"

"Hmm," Jiang Qinqin nodded.

"Did you agree?"

"Not yet; I want to see the script first."

Jiang Qinqin shook the script in her hand. Although she trusted Huang Lei, she still wanted to see if the script was the type she liked.

"If it were me, I would have rejected him; he's just a freshman, and he put on airs when he came to find us to act, and his attitude wasn't good..." Chen Shasha pouted and said.

"Shasha, he wasn't targeting you~" Jiang Qinqin said with a smile.

Jiang Qinqin spoke for Wu Yuchen because of the previous matter, feeling a bit guilty in her heart. She felt in her heart that if the script was about the same, she would help him act; anyway, Senior Huang said it was only a weekend thing. ===== CHAPTER 15 =====