Chapter 24
"Uh, but..."
Zhu Yu wasn't a stranger to the theater, so she was well aware of the surrounding facilities. The nearest of the cafes they mentioned as "very close" was more than a 15-minute walk away!
"No buts, are you unwilling to buy coffee for everyone?"
The boy playing Zhou Ping interrupted Zhu Yu's explanation. His real name is Zhang Yu, and he is also a minor star in Zhou's company.
I just received a message from my agent while waiting backstage. Their young master Zhou said he's going to mess with Zhu Yu.
If you want to get good resources, you have to perform well!
Thinking that Young Master Zhou might still be hiding backstage watching their performance, Zhang Yu's face showed a hint of urgency, and his eyes looked at Zhu Yu like a hyena seeing its prey.
"I was just a walker..." He blurted out without thinking, and was then stabbed hard in the waist by the person next to him, causing him to bend over in pain.
"Why did you hit me!" The person who elbowed him ignored his shouts, and simply pushed up his glasses politely. "There are so many people's coffees, you can't carry them all back by yourself. I'll have my assistant go with you."
Zhou Fanyi is a complex character in the play, not exactly a kind one, but the actress who plays her, Ms. Yuan Xiangmei, is a very intellectual and elegant person.
She doesn't socialize often. When she's not filming, she sits in a brightly lit place with her script in hand, always with a cup of hot tea beside her.
Her hair was styled in a neat bun, with not a single stray hair.
Professionally, she is always the least troublesome one. Unlike television and film, there are no retakes in stage plays. When others rehearse, there are always problems here or there.
Or perhaps the pronunciation of this sentence is unclear, or the emotion in that sentence is not full enough.
Only Ms. Yuan consistently delivers outstanding performances, which also inspires her co-stars to perform exceptionally well.
Therefore, people are still willing to listen to what she says.
Seeing that they could no longer make things difficult for Zhu Yu, the group of people who had been trying to intimidate him dispersed.
Ms. Yuan's assistant was a very young woman. She hurriedly twisted open the thermos cup in her hand and handed it to Ms. Yuan, then ran towards Zhu Yu.
"Hello, I am Teacher Yuan's assistant. You can call me Xiao Li."
"Hello, I'm Zhu Yu... Shall we set off now?"
Zhu Yu felt somewhat helpless. She was very grateful to Ms. Yuan for speaking up and helping her, but having one more person didn't seem to solve the current predicament.
The play doesn't have many actors, but with everyone's assistants and makeup artists, there are dozens of people both on and off stage.
So much coffee...
"No need, I have the phone numbers of all the coffee shops around here. For such a large order, we can have them deliver to our door!"
The girl waved with a smile, then took out her phone and went to make a call.
Incredibly, they still allow in-store delivery... But they don't allow takeout orders?
Thinking this through, Zhu Yu asked the question.
"The store delivers itself, so how can it be considered takeout? It's neither a full meal nor a group deal."
Zhu Yu fell into deep thought, and then suddenly realized.
"Sister, you're so smart!!"
"I've seen plenty of these petty tricks to make things difficult for people. Are you still a newbie?"
The girl didn't look any older than Zhu Yu, but her speech revealed a mature and steady demeanor.
"Mm," Zhu Yu nodded, following closely behind the girl as if he had found a powerful backer.
"That's how it is in this industry. Not being famous is the original sin, but once you're famous, everything is right."
The girl led Zhu Yu out of the theater without stopping, then turned and went through a slightly ajar door.
"This rehearsal hall is rarely used because of its old facilities. We usually come here to rest for a while."
Several people were sitting in twos and threes by the mirror in the hall, and some were even lying on the floor.
They were all assistants brought by the actors.
"I'll have the coffee shop deliver the coffee to the door, and then I'll borrow a trolley from the security guard to push it in."
After saying that, the girl found a corner to curl up in, preparing to take a short nap.
Zhu Yu looked around and found that no one was paying attention to her.
She's not so helpless that she needs someone to tell her what to do.
But Zhu Yu is, after all, an actress... Logically speaking, even if she was sent away, she should have been very motivated and tried every means to go back.
Although the director didn't let her perform, the actress's resume was indeed truly outstanding, so being able to learn from her master wasn't a loss for Zhu Yu.
But can she get in now?
The answer to the question is clearly no.
Shi Ru was unaware of Zhu Yu's experiences and felt that the heir of the prestigious Shi family was only given a stage play as his first business venture.
Although Shi Yaqian was pleased that her uncle was taking the initiative to train her nephew, she actually looked down on such a small sport.
So Shi Ru was taken to Shi Fangyue's office.
"It's perfectly normal for an uncle to personally take care of his nephew."
Thus, Shi Fangyue was forced to have a beautiful but male assistant.
The uncle and nephew looked at each other, but due to the Queen's intimidation, Shi Fangyue couldn't even secretly let Shi Ru escape.
As is well known, bosses at Shi Fangyue's level rarely handle business personally anymore.
His secretary is much busier than him.
For three consecutive days, Shi Ru followed his uncle around, having morning tea, afternoon tea, and attending business banquets in the evening, followed by a long talk about the origins of alcohol at a drinking party.
Shi Ru, who understood but was unwilling to respect, couldn't hold back any longer. He asked his uncle for a big project and then quickly ran away.
Two years ago, Shi Fangyue spent over ten million yuan to buy a major IP book. Shi Ru had learned that the book was quite popular, and even though it had been completed for two or three years, it was still a top-tier topic of discussion online.
However, for some reason, my uncle never intended to start the project, so he simply took advantage of the situation and took over the project.
How are the stage play rehearsals going lately?
The moment the plane landed, Shi Ru sent a message to Zhu Yu.
At that time, she was with the assistant of the actress who played Zhou Fanyi, distributing coffee to everyone during the intermission.
Special thanks to the assistant, who not only provided a quick way to order food, but also generously shared the dietary restrictions and preferences of all the main cast members with her.
Sipping their coffee, which was at a perfect temperature and tasted just right, the actors, who had only a few lines in this bullying drama, softened their gazes.
When he looked at Zhu Yu, he was finally able to show a slight smile.
"Not bad. You're back in China?"
These past few days, Shi Ru has been traveling all over the country with his uncle, and the two of them have even stopped their usual nightly games.
"I just landed, and I was thinking of inviting you to dinner tonight. Are you free?"
She glanced at the crowd who had finished getting their coffee and then dispersed as if Zhu Yu were invisible, and said, "I should be free; I don't have any scenes to film today."
"Today? Aren't you rehearsing a play?"
A stage play isn't a TV series, so why differentiate between what to film today and what to film tomorrow? Isn't Zhu Yu the main character?
"It's a stage play, but I'm just an understudy, so I don't have to go on stage yet."
Even for understudies, necessary rehearsals are still necessary. In fact, in normal productions, actors are usually used in rotation as lead and understudies.
Unfortunately, the film crew that Zhu Yu was in was no ordinary one.
"Broker?" Realizing something was amiss, but mindful of Zhu Yu's feelings, Shi Ru didn't intend to ask her.
This is still a project under his management, so we can ask the person in charge about it tomorrow.
It should just be a misunderstanding. After all, Zhu Yu has already been formally recognized by her uncle, so who would dare to make things difficult for her?
"Okay... I've reserved a table not far from your theater. Shall I come pick you up?"
"OK!"
-
It was already late at night when the SAP treatment was finished. After being woken up by the technician, Tan Lingling originally planned to stay in a room for the night and leave the next day.
In my drowsy state, I was particularly concerned about the sound.
That was a notification sound she specially set for Zhou Ye so that he could be available whenever she called.
"Come to the 6th floor."
Zhou Ye certainly didn't come here specifically for Tan Lingling; he was hosting a party here today, and the attendees were all from the same circle.
We should share the good times and make money together. We should also bring out the brothers we've played with so that everyone can recognize their faces.
If you mind, avoid it later; if you don't mind, try it while it's still fresh.
As Tan Lingling walked toward the elevator, she noticed something was wrong; she had taken off all her clothes while doing her SAP treatment.
Even now, she's only wearing a bathrobe.
Tan Lingling asked the waiter leading the way for clothes several times, but he brushed her off each time with a half-hearted excuse.
She can't just go to see Zhou Ye like that, can she?
She felt that these waitresses were looking down on her because of her status, so they deliberately embarrassed her in this way.
So Tan Lingling stomped her foot angrily and glared at the waiter's retreating back, saying fiercely, "What kind of work is this beauty salon doing? Can't you see I'm not dressed yet! Give me back my clothes right now, or I'll make sure you can't continue working here, believe it or not!"
The waiter who was being criticized stood there silently, bowing slightly in humility, his hands clasped in front of his waist, not even changing the curve of his lips.
“Miss, this is Mr. Zhou’s intention.”
The waiter was neither servile nor arrogant; even with his back bent, his upright posture revealed his unwillingness to be subservient to others.
"..." How dare a lowly waiter try to intimidate me?
As long as she's not in front of Zhou Ye, Tan Lingling is actually a very opinionated and rebellious person.
In terms of academics, she received scholarships for two consecutive years and consistently ranked among the top three in her class.
In terms of her career, although her career luck has been somewhat sluggish, according to the law of conservation of flow, what she has lost will be replaced by something much better.
"What are you dawdling for? A whole roomful of people are waiting for you!"
Tan Lingling stared at the waiter, who stared back at her blankly. The emotions behind that look were too complex for Tan Lingling to decipher.
The waiter held up his phone to show her that the message was indeed sent by the person in question.
Reluctantly compromising, Tan Lingling could only tighten her belt a little more before stepping onto the elevator.
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