Chapter 734: The Stepmother (38)
At this time, a script was delivered to Wen Wan, and she immediately took a liking to it. She asked her agent to accept it quickly, and the agent acted swiftly, signing a contract in no time. Wen Wan then packed herself up and joined the film crew.
Furthermore, they investigated and found that the production team already had sufficient investment and did not lack funding.
To eliminate any possibility of Gu Qian's involvement.
This script is a fantasy drama, and it's quite unique. It's still told from the female lead's perspective, and unlike typical fantasy dramas, this one is actually about cultivating immortality.
The female protagonist is not the reincarnation of any god or immortal, nor does she possess any special bloodline of gods or demons; she is just an ordinary person.
The protagonist journeys from a small village to a larger world, gradually growing stronger until finally achieving immortality. Unlike the current Xianxia (fantasy/martial arts) stories on the market, where the main characters are reincarnations of gods who have lived for tens of thousands of years or immortals who have lived for thousands of years, possessing top-tier bloodlines, they are unlikely to be ordinary people.
The female lead, Chen Qing, is also a very good character. She is kind but not a saint, decisive, resilient, and daring.
The male lead is her childhood sweetheart.
However, the male lead doesn't have many scenes. He grows along two storylines, leveling up by defeating monsters, and eventually fights alongside the female lead.
There are no mistresses or concubines, and no competition among women.
The plot twists and turns all revolve around the career storyline, which is why Wen Wan likes this script. Moreover, because the script is very long, the filming time will start from a year. This is the first time Wen Wan has filmed such a long TV series, and she is prepared for a long-term project.
She can play the roles she likes and avoid the male lead at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.
Director Qin Qi is a fairly well-known director who has directed several films before, all of which received positive feedback.
The screenwriter, Pianran Xuexue, is the original author, and the adaptation was personally overseen by her.
The other actors were quickly assembled as well. After all, with Wen Wan in the cast, finding other actors was naturally easy. Although it was hard to admit, Wen Wan's ability to select scripts was highly trusted, built up from one high-quality work after another.
Then filming began.
This was Wen Wan's first time acting in a fantasy drama. Her initial costumes weren't very fancy; they were made of coarse linen. She even learned a local dialect for the role, since the female lead was originally from a remote village.
The initial filming focused on rural scenes.
The film crew found a beautiful, untouched, primitive village without even internet access, which Wen Wan didn't mind at all; it was exactly what she wanted.
Filming conditions were quite harsh. The food was so-so, and the climate was hot with rampant mosquitoes. Wen Wan didn't know why she was so prone to mosquito bites. She wished she could cover her whole body with mosquito repellent, but she still got bitten several times.
But aside from those things, I'm quite happy most of the time.
There weren't many people in the village, but they were all quite simple and honest. The children followed them around curiously, and some even became extras on the film set. They were provided with meals and paid extras. The villagers also helped the film crew with odd jobs or acted as extras.
Their wages aren't high for extras, but for the people in these villages, it's a considerable income, making them very popular with film crews.
Moreover, the village also has many local specialties.
Wen Wan knew that these local specialties would not sell, and even if they did, the price would be extremely low.
So Wen Wan carried a lot of local specialties, went to a place in town with internet access, and then started a live stream, listing these local specialties directly on the shared bikes.
The village chief agreed. Although he didn't know what live streaming was, Wen Wan told him that it would allow them to sell the villagers' local specialties at a higher price than they had sold them before.
The village chief will certainly give it a try.
But I was still a little nervous.
Wen Wan disappeared from the public eye as soon as she joined the film crew. This time, she suddenly started a live broadcast, and her fans spread the word and quickly entered the live broadcast room, which quickly exceeded two million people. Wen Wan also gained a deep understanding of her popularity.
Well, I'm quite happy.
Wen Wan first chatted with her fans, drew a few autographed photos and gift packs, and then explained that she was helping the villagers sell local specialties.
She certainly wouldn't let her fans suffer losses. She personally tried everything, and she ate all the local specialties sold in the live stream. Moreover, the prices were very reasonable, much cheaper than those sold in supermarkets or even farmers' markets.
In just thirty seconds, the first wave was completely sold out.
Many fans still missed out.
—Sister, please add more stock, but we couldn't get any.
—Even with my 30 years of single-life speed, I couldn't snag one; it was gone as soon as it went on sale.
—You people, didn't you say you didn't want to buy it? Why are you being so insincere?
—Surprisingly, some haters managed to snag it. Are you guys secretly closeted?
The haters have posted it.
—I just want to see for myself what she's selling. If the quality is bad, then I'll criticize her.
Wen Yan: "..."
Okay, as long as I buy it.
The village chief's eyes reddened. "They're all sold out just like that? More than three thousand portions gone?"
When Wen Wan started listing other local specialties, they were all sold out as soon as they were put on the shelves.
The village chief gradually became dazed.
So much, gone in just like that?
"Village chief, is there any stock left?"
The village chief nodded. "Yes, I'll go and discuss it with the villagers right away."
Several thousand more orders were placed quickly. After the live stream ended, Wen Wan gave away several thousand more portions of snacks from her own brand before closing the live stream.
Wen Wan also asked the village head to contact the town mayor, who was also very happy, as this was a great thing. He then contacted the courier company to send all the items out as soon as possible.
Wen Wan also donated all of her more than 10 million yuan salary from this drama to help the village build roads and install internet access. She also donated 3 million yuan to the town's school to build a school so that all the children could go to school and leave this place.
They even hired professionals to teach them how to do live streaming, and the town mayor naturally cooperated. With all of this left to the professionals, Wen Wan got back to filming.
Because of Wen Wan's actions, many actors in the crew also spontaneously donated money, but Wen Wan stopped them.
Because she donated enough.
So these people donated the money to other impoverished areas. Although their donations weren't as extravagant as Wen Wan's, they still added up to a considerable sum.
Because of Wen Wan's live-streaming sales, many people online have criticized her for exploiting consumers, for becoming arrogant, and for being obsessed with money. After all, as she becomes more and more popular, more and more people want to bring her down.
Wen Wan didn't care much at first, but the town mayor directly posted a list of the things she had done, and to her surprise, she was actually praised by the higher-ups.
Although Wen Wan only wanted to help the villagers improve their lives, she had already earned enough. Although she loved money, she could not spend that much in her lifetime and would not have any descendants. Therefore, donating money to charity did not bother Wen Wan.
She even started donating as soon as she earned her first paycheck.
The hater was completely dumbfounded, but still stubbornly kept making sarcastic remarks.
—She's earned so many billions, what's wrong with donating some? Why do she have to buy trending topics to brag about it?
Wen Wan considers all such remarks to be idiotic.
But we won't indulge them.
Then he compiled and posted all his donation records, tagging @that hater.
The total comes to nearly 100 million.
This move shocked everyone, because celebrities usually only donate a few million in symbolic terms when there is a major disaster, and no celebrity has ever donated such a large sum.
And how much did Chen Qian earn?
All they've produced are two movies, one web series, and one variety show. They don't have many endorsements or magazine covers.
Compared to her, other celebrities who frantically make terrible dramas and movies and exploit their fans haven't donated this much.
The official account also shared her post and then praised her highly.
It even made it into the official news.
This prompted some celebrities to donate spontaneously, but no one donated as much as Wen Wan. However, the total amount was still considerable. Even netizens donated spontaneously, with varying amounts, which added up to a significant sum.
Even celebrities who didn't donate were dragged out and ridiculed. Although this had a moral blackmail feel to it, Wen Wan was happy to see it happen. After all, the entertainment industry is one of the fastest ways to make money and a very profitable industry. Although it doesn't mean that everyone can earn hundreds of millions, compared to other professions, celebrities earn quite a lot.
Therefore, many people hated Wen Wan, but had no choice but to donate.
These things earned Wen Wan a lot of goodwill from the public, but she still focused on filming on set.
Gu Qian did not contact him again.
"Could I be wrong?" Wen Wan wondered.
But not daring to be sure, they devoted themselves to filming. Time flew by, and more than a month passed in the blink of an eye. The crew left the small village. When they left, the villagers spontaneously came to see them off and brought a lot of local specialties for the crew. They refused to accept them but kept chasing after them to give them to them.
They accepted it.
After that, they moved to other places to film.
The agent called Wen Wan, "Wan, a variety show is looking for you."
Wen Wan heard her manager's excited voice. What kind of variety show could make her usually composed manager so excited?
What variety show?
"A top-rated variety show produced by CCTV, a variety show that focuses on all walks of life..."
The agent started frantically explaining.
Wen Wan understood and agreed, since the filming would take place later in her filming schedule, so there was enough time.
"There's also a public service advertisement that specifically asked you to film. Your donation this time is really amazing. Only you could do that. You donated so much money so easily."
Wen Wan took some time to film this public service advertisement. She never expected that her donation would bring her such great benefits, and she instantly became a positive role model.
Other celebrities are green with envy.
But there was nothing they could do; after all, they were the first to do it. And with such a large sum of money, they couldn't bear to part with it.
...
Wen Wan is immersed in filming.
Every day was spent suspended by wires. As the series progressed, there were more and more action scenes, and I had to do all the stunts myself. I was so tired I was about to collapse.
The others were too embarrassed to use stunt doubles, and the whole crew got involved. The director also wanted to make a good drama, so he and the screenwriter discussed the script every day, hoping to recreate the classic fantasy drama of the past.
As they continued filming, half a year passed.
Gu Qian still hadn't contacted Wen Wan, and Wen Wan really doubted whether she had guessed wrong. If Gu Qian really liked her, would he not contact her for so long? And why was he always going on business trips? He seemed like a complete workaholic.
So when Wen Wan didn't have any scenes to film, she went home to visit Gu's mother and Xiao Ya, bought a lot of things, and then went home to find Gu Qian at home, reading the newspaper. He looked rather mature; in this information age, what young person still reads a newspaper?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
