CHAPTER 75

After Zeng Li finished this scene, his voice became completely hoarse. He found a quiet place to sit and rest, slowly drinking water. The audience was left in utter shock, and no one approached to disturb him.

Huo Bijun watched from behind the monitor for a while before walking over to pat his shoulder gently, saying softly, "I've seen it, there's no problem. You acted so well just now."

"Just a few more shots to capture the cigarette box on the table... You can just sit and rest."

Zeng Li took a sip of water, about to speak when Huo Bijun stopped him, saying, "Don't say anything."

Zeng Li smiled and nodded.

During the filming, they had been at odds, but now there was a sense of mutual appreciation.

Xiaoyuan saw this scene and showed a hint of a smile.

Cai Juan also chuckled and whispered, "There's a bit of 'gay' vibe going on."

"Look at him, once the camera rolls, he transforms back into Zeng Li."

Zeng Li was an academic type within the acting community. He had studied abroad in the 1990s. His personal demeanor was refined and reserved, but once in front of the camera, he transformed into an ordinary worker from real life.

Watching him act provided many learning opportunities, but unfortunately, Xiaoyuan had few scenes and even fewer lines to interact with him.

Ji Hongfeng was summoned again for questioning. and under Detective Huo's suggestion, Detective Zhou also called Meng Xiaozhou over.

Meng Xiaozhou claimed not to know Ji Hongfeng, answering in a way that left no room for doubt.

"We're from the same county town, I might have run into him, but I don't know him."

Detective Huo made another move, positioning the two interrogation rooms opposite each other, so they would immediately come face to face upon exiting. This would conclude the questioning, allowing Meng Xiaozhou and Ji Hongfeng to leave at the same time.

This scene was actually quite interesting.

They had to act like they knew each other without showing it too obviously, yet they couldn't act like complete strangers either. They couldn't avoid their eyes and ignore each other, as they needed to give the audience the hint that they knew each other, having conspired together.

It was a subtle hint of familiarity.

It was a real test of subtlety.

They filmed this scene more than twenty times.

Even without dialogue, Xiaoyuan could feel immense pressure.

When Zeng Li acts, he is completely uncompromising, even towards his juniors. He is very professional, willing to rehearse with young actors, doing it over and over again without complaint. However, he doesn't explain the scenes to the younger actors or offer to teach. When he rehearsed with you, how much you learned depended entirely on yourself.

The scenes between Xiaoyuan and Zeng Li have no direct lines, like the tip of an iceberg beneath the dark waters, revealing just a small part on the surface.

She can only rehearse the scenes repeatedly, going back to flip through the script over and over again.

The script for "Huo 3" was the most realistic in the series, and the acting skills of the selected cast were exceptional. The atmosphere in the crew became increasingly heavy as a result.

The creative team noticed this and decided not to shoot on New Year's Eve. Instead, they gathered for a grand dinner to lighten the mood.

During this period, Xiaoyuan's quality of sleep was poor. By late January, the temperature in Bincheng dropped to minus twenty degrees, causing her chilblains to flare up again.

On New Year's Eve, Xiaoyuan caught a cold and didn't attend the crew's dinner gathering. Tiantian watched her fall asleep before quietly leaving the room.

She and Xiaoyuan shared a room, while Cai Juan stayed in the room across from them. She walked in and said, "Brother, let me help you."

In the living room were piles of red gift bags and a stack of shopping cards on the table. Cai Juan pointed towards the gift bags and asked, "Is she asleep?"

"She took her medicine and, yes, she's asleep. She has a slight fever. I'll check on her later." Tiantian replied.

Tiantian knew he wanted to count the items himself, so after answering, she focused on that.

"How about I just go deliver the gifts myself later? I'll take a little cart." Cai Juan suggested.

"You won't manage that alone, I'll come back later." Tiantian replied.

Aside from those on leave, there were about one hundred and fifty members of the crew remaining in Bincheng City, including Teacher Zeng Li, who was celebrating the New Year with his friends.

The ladies received SK-II skincare sets as New Year gifts, while the men got shopping mall cards of equivalent value, with the option to choose. This was a New Year gift presented on behalf of Xiaoyuan to the crew.

Cai Juan and Tiantian personally delivered each gift to the staff, exchanged New Year greetings, chatted, and shared food. Everyone was in high spirits, drinking and calling each other brother and sister.

When they returned to the hotel, it was already two and a half hours later, and Xiaoyuan was still asleep, covered in sweat.

Tiantian carefully wiped her face and refilled the thermos with water.

Cai Juan waved at her, "Come over here first, I have something to tell you."

"This is a New Year red envelope." Cai Juan stuffed a thick envelope into her hands.

"Ah, brother, the company has already given me one, and I also have a holiday subsidy." Tiantian declined.

"Take it, this is from Brother Zhishi," Cai Juan insisted, handing her a black gift bag. "And this too."

When Tiantian saw the white Camellia on the bag and the brand name in English at the bottom, she was a bit startled and hesitated to reach for it.

"Take it. I know you save every penny just to support your family and don't dare to buy more clothes," Cai Juan said gently. "But we're in a big city, and sometimes, how you dress is also a part of your image."

TianTian's eyes welled up a bit, and she rubbed them with her hand.

Cai Juan smiled, "Open it and take a look. I picked it out for you."

Cai Juan had chosen a medium-sized black Chanel backpack, suitable for young girls. "I picked the classic black, something versatile. Do you like it?"

Tiantian's eyes were teary as she hugged the bag tightly and nodded vigorously.

Cai Juan chuckled.

"This must have been expensive, and the gift from earlier..." Tiantian hesitated for a moment before asking, "Brother, is the money from the company enough?"

Feiyi did provide a small amount of funding, but Tiantian knew that the SK-II gift set she mentioned earlier had a market price of around 2,500. With about 150 people in the crew, that would come to nearly 380,000, not to mention the need for extras. It was definitely more than the funds provided.

And this bag in her hands...

It was definitely beyond what Feiyi covered.

Cai Juan scratched his head, "...Anyway, you don't need to worry about money matters."

Tiantian still felt uneasy, "Brother, do I need to mention this bag to Sister Ruan Qing?"

Cai Juan shrugged, "It doesn't matter. You can mention it or not, Sister Ruan Qing won't say anything."

Tiantian's heart was still a bit unsettled. "Really?"

Cai Juan smiled to reassure her, "Really."

Because Ruan Qing and Yang Qiao also received gifts yesterday, when they went to deliver gifts, Yang Qiao called Ruan Qing.

"I've been thinking, I might as well tell you first. I received the gift from Xiaoyuan."

"I received one too."

"Oh, what did you get?"

"A Platinum Bag, size 30, in Togo leather."

"... Me too, mine is in elephant gray."

"Mine is in sky blue." After saying this, Yang Qiao let out a slight sigh of relief. "If you got one too, then I'll keep mine. I was thinking about returning it at first."

"Ah, just keep it..."

"Is she really that well-off now? Or...? Hey, you're not hiding anything from me, right?" Yang Qiao asked.

"... To be honest, I'm also puzzled. Her worth has skyrocketed, but we know about the recent projects she's taken on, including the pay for 'Huo 3.' These two gifts are really a bit extravagant."

"I was thinking she might be with Liang [Liang Yuesheng or Jim Leung- who held the largest share of Feiyi.], but you said that's not the case. Now I really have no idea who it could be, because as far as I know, Xiang Zhishi wouldn't spend this much."

Ruan Qing sighed, "Jim doesn't either."

"There's quite a bit of money involved..."

"Who says it isn't?"

These two female bosses were amazed by the generosity, while Tiantian was hesitant, not daring to accept a bag worth tens of thousands., "Brother, it's really a large sum of money, I'm not sure..."

Cai Juan said, "Ah, don't worry about it. It's just a small amount."

Tiantian vaguely understood the meaning behind his words, but Cai Juan couldn't be blunt with her, for him, the bag really was a small expense.

About half a month ago, someone suddenly invited him out. It was an unfamiliar woman, elegant and pleasant, dressed in light gray professional attire.

She smiled lightly at him, friendly in demeanor. "hello, Mr. Cai. We haven't formally met before. My surname is Gao, I'm President Wei's personal assistant."

Cai Juan was taken aback and unconsciously straightened up. "Hello, hello, I've heard a lot about you."

When a film crew encounters holidays during filming, artists usually give red envelopes to the staff, and Feiyi naturally provided a budget for this.

Assistant Gao told him, "President Wei has gone to the United States, but she asked me to handle this matter."

Seeing that she wanted to hear his arrangements first, Cai Juan explained his plan, "... but it shouldn't be too extravagant, Yuan'er prefers to keep things low-key."

He had discussed this with Feiyi as well.

Assistant Gao nodded, "Of course, but we can add a little more."

She handed Cai Juan a bag of shopping cards. "These can be used at any Tonghua Plaza nationwide."

Tonghua Group has plazas all over the country, featuring large commercial centers, pedestrian streets, department stores, cinemas, game arcades, and dining options.

"This..." Cai Juan hesitated.

"They're all small values, just a little token of appreciation." Assistant Gao said with a smile.

"There's also something else. Miss Xiang's two agents and her personal assistant, President Wei also wanted to show a little appreciation to them."

The two platinum bags for Ruan Qing and Yang Qiao were ordered by him personally because it was urgent, and the matching ratio wasn't low. However, the materials chosen weren't particularly rare, so strictly speaking, they weren't especially valuable.

It seemed President Wei was being "lenient."

As they were parting ways, he couldn't help but say, "As far as I know, there's a clause in the contract between Yuan'er and President Wei that says..." He paused and lowered his voice, "... she can't accept any gifts from President Wei, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Assistant Gao nodded, then seemingly puzzled, added "But President Wei didn't actually buy any gifts for Miss Xiang, did she?"

Cai Juan: "..."

That made a lot of sense, and he couldn't refute it.

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