CSGM - Chapter 103
Chapter 103: The Crew Wraps Up
The career-focused Cheese fans just couldn't understand how certain people could be such clout-chasers.
Stop getting all emotional over nothing. It's just one word, no need to over-interpret it.
【Ren Zhi is the one and only top-tier female star in the entertainment industry! Top-tier by a landslide! The universally acknowledged top-tier! An unsurpassable top-tier! Absolutely deserving! Our sister is beautiful and strong, flourishing in both music and acting. Certain people, stay away~】
The meaning was clear: their sister was the number one in the entertainment industry, the woman who occupied the throne alone.
Certain third-rate nobodies, stay away!
Some Cheeses vigorously held up their idol's promotional banners, fiercely swatting at the fans of the clueless nobody who dared to approach.
However, this was the story the CP fans heard—
I Am the Top-Tier Star's Secret Lover (Chu Xi's Version)
【It must be so hard for Zhizhi to drop hints without revealing everything, right? We get it! /[Licking the screen]】
【My wife is the center of attention in front of the cameras, but when she comes home, she only has eyes for me. /[Lecherous]/[Lecherous]】
【A real-life version of "Me and My Top-Tier Wife." Xixi is eating well! /[Licking the screen]】
【Certain drama-only CPs, stay away. Zhizhi is already taken. We all know who her wife is! /[Cheering]】
Ren Zhi's career-focused fans, upon seeing these blissfully ignorant comments: "¥#@%!...%#..."
It always felt like punching cotton.
The attacks were passive-aggressive, but ineffective!
Brainless vs. Unhappy, round two was over.
The CP fans, seen as idiots by the career fans, had won again.
The Three Kingdoms crew completed the final month of location shooting.
The filming schedule for the plot was completed successfully, almost exactly within the originally planned timeframe.
The only regret was that Ren Zhi, who was both an acting instructor and a major investor, couldn't attend the wrap party before everyone parted ways because she was busy filming with another crew.
However, this was no big deal for Chu Xi. After all, she would be able to go home soon too.
Towards the end of the wrap party, even the director couldn't help but twitch his lips at her. "Were you a starving ghost in your past life?"
Everyone else ate so elegantly, but Chu Xi would just grab her bowl and start shoveling food down. She was still devouring the leftovers even after everyone else had finished eating and stopped.
She really wasn't very refined.
Chu Xi shot him a glance, completely disagreeing with his comment.
"Do you have any idea what my life has been like on this set? It's not easy to finally get a decent meal."
She was implying that the nutritional meals the director usually made the actors eat were not normal.
They had clearly left the training camp, yet they still had to endure days where the food tasted like wax!
That was because the director needed the actors in this film to maintain their figures at all times.
This was especially true for Chu Xi. Towards the end of filming, for the Dancer's scenes, he didn't dare let her have a single extra bite of oily food.
The director was afraid her slender, graspable waist would disappear, affecting the film's aesthetic.
Chu Xi was unconcerned.
"My brain consumes a lot of energy every day. I'll get dizzy if I don't eat enough."
Only after such strong protests was Chu Xi's on-set diet supplemented with two bottles of electrolyte water per day.
To her, this wrap party, with its table of proper stir-fries, braised dishes, and meat soups, was a gluttonous feast.
Seeing her like this, the director finally felt a pang of pity for her.
"Filming is tough. We all make sacrifices for the camera. You've worked hard."
He patted Chu Xi comfortingly.
Chu Xi let out a "Heh."
The director scratched his nose. "Oh, right, and the wounds on your body. Remember to change the dressings on time when you get back..."
Chu Xi was covered in a bunch of scrapes and scratches from this month.
Besides the ones that broke the skin and bled, her body was also covered in bruises and lumps.
When she took a shower at home, she looked at her body and wondered if the director and the stunt team even saw her as a woman. Looking back, the filming was sometimes so realistic it was brutal.
The stunt coordinator had nearly shoved her head into the sand, while the director was shouting from behind the camera, "Yes, yes! More bloodthirsty!"
Chu Xi: Damn...
Thinking of this, she quickly rejected another historical action wuxia drama that Yu Yixue had planned for her after the New Year.
Don't @ me, thanks. She still needed to recover!
After her shower, Chu Xi put on her bathrobe and changed the gauze on her forehead in front of the mirror.
She had scratched her forehead again a few days ago, leaving a cut, so she was now basically walking around with a piece of gauze on one side of her head.
Because of this, Yu Yixue had agreed to let her rest for a while and temporarily halt all public appearances.
Yu Yixue had basically given up struggling.
Chu Xi hadn't released any new work for nine months. Adding the upcoming Spring Festival break, she would be silent and out of the public eye for a long ten months.
By the time she returned, she'd probably be a nobody!
If she wanted to slack off, let her slack off!
The dismal state of her various online metrics had already made Yu Yixue's heart go numb!
At this moment, she was not yet aware of the saying, "One who crouches for a long time is bound to fly high."
Chu Xi, this bird resting in her nest, didn't get to enjoy her leisure time for long.
Half a week later, the director of Three Kingdoms came looking for her, clearly not for a casual visit.
Although filming had already wrapped, the director's request this time was for Chu Xi to come back and assist the post-production department with the 3D special effects.
Squeezing every last drop of use out of her? Wringing her dry?
Chu Xi found this director to be quite the exploiter.
But in truth, the director was also very embarrassed and awkward.
【Could you put that clever brain and your spatial mapping skills to use? We're short-staffed, and we can't hire anyone before the New Year... /[Awkward]】
【Um, we'll definitely calculate a salary for you, but we won't pay it out. How about we convert it into an investment in the film's production costs?】
【We'll give you a share of the profits after it's released.】
Can't hire anyone? More like can't afford to hire anyone!
Chu Xi had a rough idea of the crew's financial situation. Now that they had reached the post-production phase, which burned through money, the director was so strapped for cash that he could only ask for friendly labor.
Chu Xi, who had been resting, thought about it and agreed.
But it wasn't because of her friendship with the director.
It was mainly out of consideration for the major investor.
If the movie turned into an unfinished project and was delayed indefinitely, wouldn't Ren Zhi, who had invested two hundred million into it, be furious?
The next day, Chu Xi went to the post-production studio to work as a volunteer. When the director saw her, he was moved to tears, rushing forward to shake her hand and calling her a good person!
This time, he even excitedly told her that from now on, there would be plenty of food.
A low-paid lead actress who was also capable of helping with post-production—where else could you find such a high-quality, low-cost actor besides Chu Xi!
One of a kind!
However, what moved the director even more wasn't just that.
Just as the crew was agonizing over their tight budget, Zhang Yuxue happened to pull some strings and find the place where Chu Xi was working.
She was sitting in a Maserati parked by the roadside. The moment she saw Chu Xi, she got out and ran over, launching a sincere offensive.
Chu Xi felt like she was hearing a little bird that had just woken up in early spring, chirping in her ear—
"Sister Xi, I've seen the variety shows you were on. You're even more amazing than I imagined! Last time, I failed to recognize your greatness. At least I'm a master's graduate from Cambridge, so I'm not bad either. You should get to know me... I'm really not stupid, please teach me. You can name the tuition fee, I have money... Next time you have a drama out, I can even get you a homepage recommendation on Peach Video! Are you busy? My schedule is flexible, you can set our tutoring times whenever... If I win the next season of Brain King, I won't forget you! I'll be good to you for the rest of my life!"
Pfft...
Chu Xi, who was walking, almost spat out the peach-flavored water she was drinking.
Be good to her for the rest of her life... That's really not necessary.
After being pestered five times in one day, what finally swayed Chu Xi was when the little rich girl replaced the braised pork rice the director had bulk-ordered for the post-production department with a lunch delivery from a six-star hotel.
So thoughtful.
Chu Xi waited for the hotel staff to clear the plates, wiped her mouth, and walked out the door. She said to Zhang Yuxue, who came running from her car:
"I'll teach you for half a month, six hours a day. I'll charge fifteen million. If you agree, we can start now."
Zhang Yuxue was wearing a long down jacket with her neck bundled in a scarf. After getting out of the air-conditioned car, she was hit by a few gusts of wind, making her pale face flush slightly, but her eyes instantly lit up with excitement.
"Okay, okay! What level can I reach in half a month?"
She asked, looking at Chu Xi, already wondering which card to use to transfer the money.
"The Brain King championship, if there are no surprises. If someone unexpectedly snatches it, I'll personally go on the show and snatch it back for you."
Chu Xi had briefly watched that show.
Aside from a few genuine geniuses who appeared in the first two seasons, the big fish had all been caught by now. The current contestants were basically just hardworking ordinary people.
When Zhang Yuxue was about to transfer the money, Chu Xi gave her the public account number for the Three Kingdoms crew.
"Just send it here."
Although it wasn't a huge amount, it was enough to solve the crew's urgent financial problems.
The director, moved, sent Chu Xi an investment agreement, saying that once the movie was released and made a profit, she would definitely get a share.
He never expected that Chu Xi, who usually seemed cold and aloof and loved to slack off at work, would be so reliable when it mattered!
When the director received the money, he looked at her as if he wanted to become sworn brothers with her on the spot!
Chu Xi said with disgust, "Don't look at me like that."
The director: "Oh, okay."
Heavy snow began to fall in the city.
For students, the New Year lasted fourteen days; for office workers, it was seven. But for a busy film crew, some only got a three-day New Year.
The snow on the roads gradually slowed and stopped so quickly that Chu Xi was in a daze, wondering if the New Year had even happened this year.
Zhang Yuxue was, in a way, an overachiever. She was ready for lessons after just three days of the Spring Festival. Seeing Chu Xi every day made her happier than receiving a big red envelope from her relatives!
Over time, Chu Xi found herself somewhat defeated by her enthusiasm.
After the seven-day New Year holiday, Yu Yixue started sending her work offers one after another, including a hard-won script for a second-female-lead role, hoping she would pick one quickly and join a new crew.
Yu Yixue: 【If you don't join a crew soon, you're going to be bored to death. /[Crying]】
Chu Xi: 【Who says I'm idle?】
Making some extra cash. Not idle, do not disturb.
In front of her phone, Yu Yixue fiercely tugged at the baby hairs on her forehead. What a hopeless case!
She was heartbroken, her eyebrows were on fire with anxiety, and her heart felt like it was being cut by a knife!
The way Chu Xi was slacking off, when would a good script ever fall into her lap?!
In her dreams!
The malls and street-side shops reopened after the New Year, and songs from Ren Zhi's new album could now be heard in many places.
They were played on every street and alley, as if declaring that Ren Zhi's career should also have a good start in the New Year.
However, it seemed that wasn't the case.
This year, Ren Zhi unexpectedly encountered a rare accident.
Her new drama, which the entire internet was betting on, had been filming for a month and a half when the other female lead—a famous and promising A-list actress with a significant number of scenes—was suddenly arrested for tax evasion.
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