Isn’t money good?

Chapter 38

In August, Yan Shiqiu’s wrap-up scenes had also arrived.

The last two scenes were both night shoots. One was a group scene filming Chu Yuexuan’s death by arrows, and the other was in the mass grave, where Chu Junyan searched through corpses in the rain.

The first scene was tonight’s main event, with Zuo Tan as Yan Shiqiu’s primary scene partner.

Zuo Tan played the Left Chancellor and was also a veteran actor, though he hadn’t appeared much on screen in recent years. His focus had shifted to theater, and he’d organized over thirty theater tour performances and theater festivals.

This time he’d been invited by Chen Hangsheng, and in terms of screen time, it was essentially a cameo.

The two sat in a quiet corner, rehearsing their scenes together.

Zuo Tan always wore a smile, with kind eyes and gentle features, just like any ordinary elderly person you’d see in a park.

A few days ago after filming, Yan Shiqiu had even played several rounds of Go with him using the props team’s set. He’d gotten his fill of the game and had a very good impression of Yan Shiqiu.

After running through their scene once, he started chatting with Yan Shiqiu.

After talking for a while, he suddenly asked, “After ‘Rivers and Mountains in Chaos’ wraps, do you have other work arrangements?”

Yan Shiqiu was taken aback and replied, “I have one thing.”

Zuo Tan asked again, “Joining another production?”

“No.”

Yan Shiqiu looked at him, puzzled. “Do you need something?”

“Oh.” Zuo Tan smiled and said, “I’m doing theater, you know. Watching you act this past month, I think you’d be quite suitable for a role in one of my plays. I wanted to ask if you’d like to give it a try.

But you know, doing theater generally takes a lot of time and energy, but the returns are low. For artists in the rising phase of their careers, there aren’t many benefits.”

He knew about Zuo Tan’s theater work. He’d specifically looked it up before.

Thirty-five performances in four years, with each show reaching eighty-something percent capacity, the highest being sold out. It was the peak of recent theater IP.

The actors in his plays might seem unfamiliar, but when you mentioned their names, every single one had long Wikipedia entries and award histories. It was truly a gathering of big names.

Now, Zuo Tan was inviting him to participate.

Taking a deep breath, Yan Shiqiu suppressed his excitement and confirmed, “You’re inviting me to perform in your theater production?”

Zuo Tan nodded. “Yes.”

Seemingly noticing his somewhat excited state, Zuo Tan said gently, “Don’t rush to answer me now. Think it over carefully, consider both the benefits and drawbacks.

Can you make this decision yourself? Also discuss it with your agent.”

He picked up his water cup and took a sip. “After you’ve thought it through and discussed it, if you’re truly interested, come find me at the theater in half a month, or you can keep my number and contact me by phone.”

Yan Shiqiu pondered for a moment, then nodded solemnly. “I understand. I’ll consider it carefully. Thank you for being willing to give me this opportunity.”

Zuo Tan waved his hand. “No need to be polite. It’s because you’re excellent enough.”

After saying this, he recited a string of numbers, his private phone number.

Yan Shiqiu added it to his contacts.

With their side conversation finished, they returned to discussing the scene they were about to film and ran through it once more.

Before long, Chen Hangsheng’s assistant came to call them over for blocking.

At nine PM, official filming began.

After planning for so long, the opportunity Chu Yuexuan had been waiting for finally came.

Every summer, the emperor would bring his concubines and princes to the summer palace. After the hottest months of July and August passed, they would return to the main palace. The summer palace’s security wasn’t as tight as the imperial palace, so it was the perfect opportunity.

So Chu Yuexuan assembled a group of men, planning to force the palace coup.

But he hadn’t expected this to be a trap set by the emperor.

When he killed the crown prince, he had mercifully spared a woman who had been violated by the prince. That woman was actually one of the Left Chancellor’s people.

After leaving the palace, she secretly passed information to the Left Chancellor.

After receiving the news, the Left Chancellor had remained inactive, waiting for the right moment. When he discovered troop movements, he guessed what Chu Yuexuan intended to do and notified the emperor in advance.

After a battle that was essentially walking into a trap, almost everyone Chu Yuexuan brought was dead, leaving only the severely wounded Lu Shi still protecting him.

The emperor didn’t even show his face, leaving everything entirely to the Left Chancellor’s command.

The Left Chancellor gave Chu Yuexuan no chance to survive.

When only Chu Yuexuan and Lu Shi remained, a general came to ask whether to stop the attack and capture them alive. The Left Chancellor toyed with his thumb ring and casually dropped two words: “Continue.”

With that order, arrows rained down again. Lu Shi couldn’t protect Chu Yuexuan at all. Chu Yuexuan was struck by dozens of arrows and fell.

After his death, the Left Chancellor walked to his side, confirmed he was no longer breathing, then entered the room. When he emerged, he brought the emperor’s cold decree: throw Chu Yuexuan’s body into the mass grave.

Suddenly, it began to rain.

Chu Junyan and Yao Xue finally escaped Xu Yang and rushed to the summer palace, but it was too late.

Learning that Chu Yuexuan’s body wasn’t even properly buried but carelessly thrown into the mass grave, Chu Junyan could barely contain his murderous impulse. Yao Xue gripped his hand tightly, calling back his rationality.

They went to the mass grave in the rain.

With red eyes, Chu Junyan ignored Yao Xue’s attempts to stop him and searched through the corpses one by one. Heavy rain washed over his face, making it impossible to distinguish whether the traces were tears or raindrops.

He pressed his lips tight, saying nothing, only continuing his search.

Finally, he found Chu Yuexuan wrapped in tattered straw matting.

More than a dozen broken arrows still protruded from Chu Yuexuan’s body.

He was covered in blood, lying quietly on the grass. The torrential rain washed the blood from his body, and the bloody water seeped into the ground, dyeing the nearby soil a vivid red.

Kneeling beside Chu Yuexuan, Chu Junyan gently lifted his upper body and buried his head in his shoulder.

Heart-wrenching sobs were masked by the sound of rain.

After a long while, he moved, standing up while holding Chu Yuexuan. Yao Xue wanted to help, but he avoided her. His voice was hoarse: “I’ll do it myself.”

Holding Chu Yuexuan, he walked down the mountain step by step.

…

Yan Shiqiu got down from Xie Zhaoli’s arms and said earnestly, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Everyone else did princess carries with female leads, but when it came to Xie Zhaoli, it became having to “princess carry” him, and since he was playing a corpse, he had to completely relax his body.

That meant all his weight was pressing down on Xie Zhaoli.

Xie Zhaoli immediately understood what he meant and smiled, “No problem.”

Just then, Chen Hangsheng finished watching the playback and called Xie Zhaoli over to reshoot two shots. He responded and said to Yan Shiqiu, “I’ll head over first.”

Yan Shiqiu smiled at him. “Okay.”

He also turned and returned to the car to change out of his costume.

When Yan Shiqiu returned to the set, Xie Zhaoli had finished his reshoots. Chen Hangsheng was talking to his assistant, and seeing him return, walked over with a bouquet of flowers.

“Congratulations on wrapping.” Chen Hangsheng said.

Seeing the familiar roses again, Yan Shiqiu couldn’t help but be curious. “Director Chen, do you really like roses?”

Hearing this, Chen Hangsheng laughed. “Not particularly, I just think they look nice.”

He asked again, “Don’t you like roses?”

“No, I do like them.” Yan Shiqiu took the roses and held them in his arms, his expression gentle as he looked down at the flowers.

This was the first wrap bouquet he’d received since transmigrating to this world. It was very meaningful.

“Good that you like them.” Chen Hangsheng raised his hand and patted his shoulder, saying earnestly, “You’re excellent. As long as you take it step by step with your feet firmly planted, your future will definitely get better and better.”

He smiled and added, “My eye for talent has always been accurate. When I say you’ll become popular, you definitely will.”

Yan Shiqiu’s lips curved upward slightly. “Alright, I’ll take that as a good omen.”

Fu Baiqing and Xia Linqiu nearby called him over for group photos. He bowed to Chen Hangsheng. “I’ll go over there first.”

Chen Hangsheng waved his hand. “Go ahead.”

After Yan Shiqiu walked away, he took out his phone and replied to Ji Yunnian’s WeChat message.

[Chen Hangsheng]: Yan Shiqiu wrapped today. The wrap bouquet was roses as you requested, and he seemed to really like it.

Ji Yunnian immediately replied: [Thank you.]

[Chen Hangsheng]: You’re still awake?

[Ji Yunnian]: At the airport waiting for my flight.

[Chen Hangsheng]: I don’t quite understand why you specifically asked me to choose roses for Yan Shiqiu’s wrap bouquet.

[Ji Yunnian]: Isn’t it good marketing material for you?

[Chen Hangsheng]: …Didn’t you say you didn’t want to do fan service?

[Ji Yunnian]: Being too deliberate backfires. Sugar that CP fans dig up themselves is sweeter.

Chen Hangsheng shook his head, turned off his screen, and decided to pretend he didn’t understand anything. After all, he still had to continue working in this industry.

Returning from the set to his hotel, Yan Shiqiu took a comfortable hot bath, then had a good sleep. When he woke up, it was already 5:30 PM.

This time, despite getting caught in the rain, he didn’t get sick.

Well-rested, Yan Shiqiu got up from bed, shuffled to the living room in slippers, and drew open the curtains. The blue-purple sky in his view was beautiful.

He went into the open kitchen and took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator.

Returning to the living room, he found a comfortable position leaning against the sofa. Yan Shiqiu took out his phone, selected several group photos from his album, and posted them on Weibo. Before long, cast members led by Fu Baiqing began reposting.

[@Fu BaiqingV: Little Qiuqiu, don’t have too much fun and forget you still need to help me fly high!]

[@Xia LinqiuV: Brother Yan, can I still ask you about problems?]

[@Zuo TanV: Waiting for your reply.]

[@Xie ZhaoliV: First day without Second Brother, missing him.]

[@He QianV: First day without my benefactor, missing him.]

…

Yan Shiqiu was amused by their team building and replied to each one:

[@Fu Baiqing, Got it, little Qingqing.]

[@Xia Linqiu, Sure, just send me the problems with pictures on WeChat.]

[@Zuo Tan, I’ll consider it seriously.]

[@Xie Zhaoli, Be good.]

[@He Qian, You be good too.]

Later, the official “Rivers and Mountains in Chaos” account joined in, and their interactions quickly made it to trending topics. Netizens unanimously picked up on the “group favorite” vibe.

[I can tell their relationship is really good.]

[Little Qiuqiu, little Qingqing, such cute nicknames.]

[Has Yanyan wrapped filming? Ahhhh congratulations on wrapping!]

[What does the conversation between Teacher Zuo and Yanyan mean? Consider what? Could Teacher Zuo be inviting Yanyan to perform in theater?!]

Anti-fans also seized the opportunity to surface:

[No way, no way, still daring to maintain the academic genius persona, too funny, doesn’t even have a college degree lol.]

[What’s this about? Building a group favorite persona?]

[Adding too much drama to himself, want to puke first.]

[Yan fans’ faces are so thick it’s hilarious. Do you know what level of actors perform in Zuo Tan’s theater? What qualifications does Yan Shiqiu have?]

Yan Shiqiu saw these mocking comments while browsing trending topics but remained unfazed, automatically skipping over them without taking them to heart.

He switched back to his own Weibo, replied to a few fans with interesting comments, noticed it was about time, and should head to the airport, so he went offline.

At 10 PM, the plane landed at B City airport.

Coming out of the tunnel, he looked up to see a group of fans there for pickups.

Unlike the chaotic pickup fans in his impression, they weren’t causing trouble for others. Instead, they were lined up in orderly fashion, with several big fans at the front maintaining order.

Such organized, disciplined fan pickups weren’t common. Curious about whose fans they were, he took a closer look.

But before he could figure it out, they got excited and erupted in unified, extremely excited screams: “Ahhhhh, Teacher Ji—”

…Well then.

The answer was clear. They were Ji Yunnian’s fans.

To avoid being discovered and causing unnecessary misunderstandings, Yan Shiqiu quickly found a mask in his bag and put it on, then said to Liu Xi and Zhou Yu, “Let’s go quickly.”

Liu Xi was confused. “Aren’t you going to wait for Ji Yunnian?”

Yan Shiqiu looked puzzled. “Why would I wait for him?”

They weren’t going the same way.

Liu Xi glanced at him and shrugged. “Alright then.”

At the parking garage, Fang Yuhua hadn’t arrived yet, so they had to wait there.

Before long, Ji Yunnian and his assistant Lin Yang also came over.

Ji Yunnian saw him.