CHAPTER 18

In the past six months, Xiang Xiaoyuan has been through a tough time, but it has been immensely fulfilling.

Wei Jiabao was very ruthless. "Their Little Affairs" is not an investment by Tonghua. His approach involved personal investment in the project, absorbing the losses. Instead of simply "writing her off," he directly replaced her role and reshot her scenes with someone else.

As expected, she couldn't land good female roles anymore. The film opportunities had long been cut off, and now even TV drama roles were out of reach. Either she was politely declined or didn't even get a chance to audition.

Fortunately, there are still opportunities. With her status as a top graduate from Huaxi and her appearance, she can still land some roles.

However, those roles are not exactly what she hoped for.

"This film doesn't need a script. Here, let me tell you. Our male lead is a talented but frustrated individual, constantly facing setbacks. His family looks down on him, his friends avoid him, and only his childhood teddy bear accompanies him. And you will be playing this teddy bear!"

In the scorching April daylight of Yangcheng, in a temporary rented warehouse, a burly director in oversized shorts, fanning himself with a handheld fan, pointed to the side. The producer held up a light brown teddy bear costume taller than himself. "Here, this is your costume."

It was indeed a furry, plush bear, a large teddy bear toy that looked quite realistic. The head was large enough to fit inside, with a smiling mouth and bright brown eyes. It wore a red-striped shirt, red basketball shorts, and a pair of Converse shoes.

Xiaoyuan took a deep breath. "This bear..."

"This costume costs a fortune. It's where most of the production budget is going." the producer said with a grimace.

Xiang Xiaoyuan took another deep breath and changed the subject. "Director, what's the next part of the plot?"

It couldn't be that the bear comes to life, could it?

"The costume is exactly like what a real person would wear, so full of youthful energy!" The director stood up, touched the puppet costume, and praised, "The texture is amazing!"

The producer nodded. "Exactly, director, you get what you pay for! It costs three thousand!"

The director said, "Absolutely, we're a small production, every penny counts, ah! Three thousand! Ah, it hurts to spend that much!"

Xiaoyuan cleared her throat. "Director, spending so much budget on a costume, does that mean the bear is the main character?"

"The main character!" the director exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Of course! He feels unloved and contemplates ending it all. At that moment, the male lead dreams that the bear comes to life, and they embark on an adventure together in the dream. The bear takes care of him, accompanies him, and protects him from danger, navigating through fire and water..."

Xiang Xiaoyuan listened with her heart racing, but the director became more and more absorbed in his narrative. "This bear is the only one in the world who is good to our male lead. Oh no, the bear teaches the male lead how to love and how to embrace life..."

"In the end, the male lead wakes up, realizing it was all a dream, with tear stains still on his face. But the bear... will never be alive... just a big teddy bear! Waaaah! It's so touching!"

"Although the world the male lead wakes up to is still one where no one cares about him, the warmth the bear gave him in the dream is real. He won't forget, he finally has hope to continue living!"

"Waaaah! Producer, I wrote this script! What do you think? It's making me cry!"

"It's making me cry too! Director, you're so talented!"

"Yes, I'm a freaking genius! How can such a great script not get any investment? This world is so unfair to me!"

"Director!"

"Producer!"

The burly director and the tall, thin producer became increasingly emotional, unable to help but embrace each other and weep!

Xiang Xiaoyuan suddenly felt a headache coming on, while Cai Juan had been gaping since the director started telling the story.

The director and producer were still wiping away tears, encouraging each other, "Don't be like this, director, online movies are still movies, you need to be more optimistic. Many people can't even afford to make movies."

"Yes, yes, that's right."

Cai Juan kept his eyes fixed on them and whispered to Xiang Xiaoyuan's ear, "Where did you find this director?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan replied, "He posted on Douban, I thought I'd come take a look when I had time."

"This sounds so unreliable, like 'blocking swords and spears, going through fire and water.' Should we just leave?"

Before Xiang Xiaoyuan could respond, the two suddenly turned to her and said, "Fortunately, we've already found one of the main characters!"

"Ahem, what about the male lead?" Cai Juan asked.

"She is the male lead!" the director and producer said in unison.

"Huh?" Xiaoyuan and Cai Juan exclaimed in unison.

"Although this is a teddy bear, but! It's a male bear!" The director gestured up and down at the puppet's clothes. "Look, it's wearing a basketball jersey, and it doesn't even have any other decorations on its head, like a bow!"

Xiang Xiaoyuan and Cai Juan exchanged glances: "..." If you put it that way, it really is a male bear.

"As for the other male lead inside, um, I originally wanted to play the role myself, but I..." The director glanced down at his belly. "So, I have no choice but to..."

The producer stepped forward. "Then I'll play the role!"

Xiang Xiaoyuan, at 1.68 meters tall, was about the same height as the teddy bear, while the producer was half a head shorter than the bear and very thin, at a glance, his cross-section seemed to be only half that of the teddy bear.

The director sighed, "We're family, let's save some money!"

The producer replied, "I'll do whatever it takes for the director's career!"

"Producer!"

"Director!"

The two looked at each other with tears welling up in their eyes.

Cai Juan felt a sting in his eyes. "Yuan'er, I think we should really think twice about this!"

The two turned to him with panic on their faces. "You're not backing out, are you?"

"Actually, the puppet costume isn't the main cost, your salary is what matters!"

Cai Juan thought to himself: It's only ten thousand...

A typical white-collar worker in Shencheng makes more than that in a month!

So Cai Juan spoke up, "I'm really sorry, but our Xiaoyuan..."

"Hey hey hey, don't, don't, we were having such a good conversation!" The director got flustered, even dropping his fan on the floor.

"If the pay isn't satisfactory, we can add a bit more, another three thousand." the producer also panicked, "five, five thousand... five thousand five as well..."

Cai Juan shook his head. "It's not just about the pay, it's also about the script..."

The director slapped his hefty hand against his chest. "The storyline is all in my hands! Don't worry!"

Cai Juan struggled to say, "What we're worried about is the plot. Is it possible to make some changes...?"

The director took a deep breath, looking pained. "The plot is my life! If you want to change my plot, aren't you trying to take my life?"

The producer, with a serious expression, said, "This is the dignity of the creator! Please respect that!"

Cai Juan replied, "Then there's no way to proceed like this..."

"Alright, I'll do it!" Xiang Xiaoyuan interrupted their conversation.

The warehouse was quite spacious, with sunlight streaming in at an angle, casting a warm glow on her not-so-high-pitched voice as it echoed.

"Yuan'er, have you really made up your mind?" Cai Juan asked as they left the warehouse.

Unexpectedly, the April sunlight in Yangcheng was so dazzling, casting a golden light on the leaves of a seemingly inconspicuous plant by the road, growing unassumingly but emitting a peculiar fragrance.

"What's this?" Xiang Xiaoyuan crouched down. "The scent is familiar, did we have this in Yangcheng before?"

"Basil. The people from Chaoshan call it 'jiucengta.' We had a Chaoshan dish, stir-fried thin shells, which had it in it." Cai Juan crouched down as well.

"Oh, you can also fry eggs with it, I remember now." Xiaoyuan plucked a leaf and sniffed it.

Cai Juan glanced at her.

One has to say that the food benefits of Wei Jiabao's film crew were really good, they enjoyed quite a bit of delicious food while filming.

A few days ago, the trailer for "Choice" was released, and the original cast started promoting it. According to the script, Xiang Xiaoyuan was initially the third female lead, but her name was missing from the poster, she had no chance to appear in the trailer, only a fleeting figure, and she was absent from the promotional events. When media reporters asked about the actress playing the eldest sister role, the questions were artfully redirected, as if she had never been involved in the film.

Cai Juan didn't dare bring up this topic, nor did he dare to ask her about it.

It was evident that this film wouldn't make it to the big screens, at most it would be streamed on online platforms. This is what a web movie is.

In China, web movies had low costs, rough production quality, low script standards, and the actors were mostly from the bottom rungs of the entertainment industry. Cai Juan felt sorry for her.

Xiang Xiaoyuan smiled. "I've never played a bear before!" Her voice was soft and gentle, but her eyes were bright.

"We don't need to resort to acting in these types of films." Cai Juan said seriously. "We haven't reached that point yet."

"Cai Juan, Brother is working too hard..." Xiaoyuan whispered softly, "I can't keep avoiding acting and not working."

Two days later, they started filming. The director and the producer (male lead) were afraid they might change their minds, so they hastily signed contracts and showered them with compliments, "Thank you so much, we can't find another actress as beautiful as Miss Xiang!"

Cai Juan silently rolled his eyes, she was playing a bear, wearing a bear head costume, and the audience probably wouldn't even know whether it was a male or female. Being a heavenly beauty was pointless...

The entire crew, including the creators, consisted of less than eight people, and they hadn't even decided on the title of the movie yet.

The director really didn't want to change his storyline, and that wasn't an exaggeration at all.

The male lead was in a state of despair, contemplating suicide, and even dreaming of it.

When he went out and encountered a building on fire, he didn't hesitate to rush in, not just to play the hero, but to die "heroically." His teddy bear was supposed to rush in to save him.

Cai Juan nearly went crazy upon hearing this. A plush costume, and they expected her to enter a fire scene!

"Ahem, Cai, you don't need to worry. We won't have a big fire, just some smoke bombs. There will be a lot of smoke, but not much fire."

"That's even worse! She's already struggling to breathe with the headpiece on. What if she gets choked and something happens? Have you guys bought accident insurance for the actors?"

The producer murmured weakly, "...Not enough money."

Cai Juan was furious.

"That fire will only be a small area, just for effect..." the director said in an even weaker voice, "We don't have that much money..."

"It's okay, Cai Juan, you don't need to watch. Step back, I'll do it."

Cai Juan was ushered out by Xiaoyuan.

After this scene was filmed, Xiaoyuan cut her long hair that fell over her shoulders. Wearing the headpiece in the hot weather made her hair sweat quickly, making it even harder to manage.

There was also a water scene where the male lead jumped into the sea. Once Xiaoyuan's costume got wet, she had to repeat the scene over a dozen times. By the end, her legs felt like they were weighed down with lead, and she couldn't move. The crew only had one costume, and she didn't have a replacement. After an urgent drying, she had to wear it the next day with a musty smell.

It was inconvenient to use the restroom while wearing this costume, so she didn't dare drink much water. One time, while filming, she fainted. Cai Juan rushed onto the set, removed her headpiece, and saw that Xiaoyuan couldn't focus her eyes, her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were as pale as paper.

"Water, water, drink some water, call a doctor..." Cai Juan supported her head, his eyes reddening with urgency.

"Wait, wait..." Xiang Xiaoyuan's dry lips moved.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, drink some water, where's the doctor? Has the doctor been called?"

"Let me remember this feeling..." Xiang Xiaoyuan felt like she was seeing gray and white dots in front of her. She tried hard to see clearly, to speak, but couldn't see or speak clearly, her consciousness blurred.

"You silly girl!" Cai Juan's tears flowed freely.

'I'm fine, I'm fine.' Xiaoyuan wanted to say this.

She would remember this, next time she could act out this feeling of exhaustion. This is wealth, this is accumulation.

She couldn't control the environment, she could only keep trying, moving forward.

This was the only thing she could do.

The only thing she could do.

She couldn't fall, she couldn't give up.

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