Chapter 260 Four Years Later
When the news of Xu Chi's serious illness arrived, Xu Bai had just come out of the mushroom house after staying up all night.
At the village entrance, Auntie San held a newspaper and told the news of the day to several elderly women whose eyesight was failing.
"What's the pronunciation of this character again? Oh, Xu... Xuchi, the richest person on the other side of the sea is sick."
"A serious illness!"
"Xu Chi? What a coincidence, there's a Xu Chi in our village."
Xu Bai's unsteady steps froze instantly, and he quickly ran over.
"Third Aunt, who's sick? Let me see!"
He snatched the newspaper and saw several large words on the page.
Xiao Xu Dong from Gangcheng retired due to serious illness.
Startled, he dropped his straw hat and ran back as fast as he could.
Behind her, Auntie San picked up the straw hat and newspaper with a disgruntled expression, patted them, and was about to continue reading when the old lady with gray hair next to her suddenly tugged at her sleeve.
"Xiao Mao lives in Xu Chi's house, right?"
"It's been more than half a year since I've seen Xiao Mao. Is she sick too? Why don't you perform a ritual to revive her spirit?"
"Pah, pah, pah!" Third Aunt's expression changed slightly. "You old fool, talking nonsense! Xiao Mao is studying, studying!"
"Xiao Mao went abroad to study! You old senile man who's never even left Crane Village, don't talk nonsense if you don't know!"
The more Auntie San thought about it, the angrier she became. She put away the newspaper, turned around, and left.
"I'm not going to study anymore!"
On the other side, Xu Bai had just gotten his phone when his father called.
"Dad, what happened to Uncle?!"
Across from him, Xu Cang said wearily, "Just like before, it's all minor illnesses and aches; my body is a bit weak."
"Your uncle told me to tell you not to come back, just focus on growing your button mushrooms."
"My uncle is sick, how can I not go back!"
As Xu Bai pulled out his suitcase, he heard the other person's tone become slightly more forceful.
No need to reply.
Xu Bai was taken aback.
"Your uncle means that this illness won't get better in a short time, and he wants you to stay in Crane Village and get better naturally in time."
Xu Bai's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
He hesitated and asked, "...Will the illness be cured by the time the time comes?"
"right."
Xu Cang finally couldn't hold back and cursed, "And he said he didn't need to see a doctor, what nonsense!"
Ever since those three thousand tons of scrap metal were transported to the port city, his younger brother has been acting strangely. First, he stole idols, then he became superstitious, as if he had been possessed by an evil spirit!
"……oh."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Bai felt a sudden pounding in his chest.
His usually slow-witted mind couldn't figure anything out either.
But following his instincts, he decisively put the suitcase back, washed his face, and went back into the mushroom house.
In the spring of the first year after Tu Yao left, the mushroom house successfully completed its first large-scale trial planting.
Lin Yue planned a transportation bus route from Xianhe Village to all parts of the country, and buyers from all over the country came to sign contracts.
Tu Chaoxi announced his rejoining of the Ridaokou Band, and the following month, a new song was released.
Nan Ke graduated early, and her new song was bought by Cormier's team, where she performed at the first concert of their global tour.
Cheng Sangsang's new drama has wrapped filming; its eerie campus storyline made it a dark horse that year.
The theme song produced by Jiang Ye and the character played by Wen Yu became a hit across the internet.
When Ma Zhiyuan joined the studio under Programming Sangsang, all sorts of promotional articles appeared one after another, keeping the buzz going until the spring of the following year.
Two more years passed.
In spring, the sky is clear and the sun shines brightly.
Near the largest film and television base in the south, a motorhome sped by.
The car stopped, and the two girls reluctantly got out.
"Why should he get to do all the makeup artist work? Zhao Xing is a newcomer!"
"So what if you have connections? Our Sister Wenyu even knows Teacher Tu!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the expression of another slightly older girl changed, and she quickly reminded her, "Xiaoyu, don't talk nonsense. Sister Wenyu doesn't allow us to casually mention Teacher Tu."
Both of them were Wen Yu's assistants. The older girl had been with Wen Yu for two years and knew her taboos.
The teacher they were talking about, Tu Chaoxi, had already been a top influencer both at home and abroad two years ago.
Dozens of original songs, almost every one of which topped the charts upon release.
Wen Yu and he were indeed old friends, but the internet is constantly evolving, and Wen Yu had never hyped himself up, so not many people knew about it.
The girl named Xiaoyu shut her mouth, feeling wronged.
She's nineteen this year, not very old, and her temperament is unstable. After a while, she couldn't help but complain again:
“But with him rushing around like this every day, deliberately dragging it out, Sister Wenyu always has to wait for him to finish his makeup and squeeze in a change of makeup.”
"Anyone can see he's targeting us! Does he have a grudge against Sister Wenyu?"
The other girl didn't look too good either; it was probably because they had a grudge against each other.
"...Alright, alright, stop talking. I'll go in first. You compose yourself and don't let anyone notice."
Xiaoyu stayed where she was, getting angrier the more she thought about it, and muttered under her breath, "Can't someone come and teach him a lesson?"
No sooner had the words been spoken than a slightly hoarse voice suddenly rang out.
"That's easy to solve."
Xiaoyu was startled and immediately looked over at the sound.
I saw a girl wearing a black baseball cap squatting next to the RV.
The girl was dressed in simple casual sportswear, and looked like she had a cold; she was wearing a mask over her face and had a slightly nasal voice.
Her exposed amber eyes were exceptionally beautiful.
This momentarily lowered her guard, and she couldn't help but ask, "How...how do we solve this?"
The girl's smiling face was clearly visible beneath her mask as she waved at her.
After getting closer, I leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words.
The herbal scent is very pleasant.
As Xiaoyu listened, she took a few deep sniffs.
As she listened, her furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and the smile on her lips gradually widened.
"I'll mention it to Sister Wenyu later!"
"Thank you!"
The girl waved her hand, "It's nothing."
"Okay, I'm leaving now."
After saying that, she stood up, rubbed her legs which had gone numb from squatting, and ran away.
Xiaoyu watched her retreating figure, momentarily stunned, then quickly grabbed her bag and ran inside.
In the dressing room, a thin young man was surrounded by two makeup artists.
This is a low-budget film with a small investment. There are three makeup artists in the crew. Except for one who works in the extras' dressing room, the rest are with him.
Seeing Xiaoyu come in and go out, clearly observing the progress of her makeup, the young man glanced at her casually and gave a cold laugh.
He had only been in the industry for a short time, and this film was his debut. Before filming began, he brought a screenwriter to the set and added two more scenes for the character.
However, on the day of the script discussion, Wen Yu made several suggestions, and the chief screenwriter cut those scenes that very night.
The feud is now set in stone.
On the day he joined the crew, he decided to teach her a lesson.
Today was no different; he just kept occupying the dressing room and the makeup artist's space.
As expected, Wen Yu would come in soon, so she could only swallow her anger and wait for him to occasionally free up two or three minutes to finish her makeup and hair.
As Zhao Xing hummed a song, he slowly closed his eyes, signaling to the person opposite him to slow down their movements a little.
A single eyebrow took five minutes to fix.
The makeup artist couldn't help but feel a little guilty: "Teacher Zhao, is it wrong for us to do this?"
Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "If you don't like it, you can go do your teacher Wen Yu's makeup right now."
The girl immediately shut her mouth.
Although Zhao Xing is a newcomer, I heard that she has a powerful background. Her father is a senior executive of a talent agency and also invested in this movie. She can't afford to offend him.
Zhao Xing closed his eyes again with satisfaction.
Ten minutes later, another makeup artist glanced at the time and keenly sensed that something was amiss.
"Why hasn't Teacher Wenyu arrived yet today?"
Zhao Xing didn't take it seriously. He thought Wen Yu was just a taciturn person with no background and no interest; he only knew how to put on an act.
"That's good, she won't have much time left later."
Then, after another twenty minutes, Zhao Xing's eyebrows were finally drawn.
Following his instructions, the makeup artist slowly picked up the powder puff and, at the slowest possible pace, patted his forehead, nose, and face...
As he was taking pictures, Zhao Xing suddenly realized that something was wrong.
It's been so long, why hasn't Wenyu come yet?
The next second, "bang!"
The dressing room door was slammed open!
Zhao Xing and the two makeup artists quickly looked over and saw the director glaring at them with a dark face at the door.
"What, is your face so precious that you need two makeup artists to pamper you!"
"Look at the time! Is the whole crew waiting for you to finish your makeup before they can even get theirs done?!"
He was so frightened that he quickly stood up.
Zhao Xing dared to mess with Wen Yu, who had no connections, but he wouldn't dare to disrespect the director.
Although this director is not a top-tier figure in the industry, he has good relationships with several A-list celebrities.
He quickly changed his mind and explained, "Director, it's Wen Yu..."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wen Yu sitting with the other actors outside the dressing room, their faces bare and their heads slightly bowed.
Zhao Xing was furious: "Why doesn't she come in?"
"If she had come in, I wouldn't have ended up like this..."
Why isn't she coming in???
The director immediately interrupted with a sneer: "What does this have to do with Wen Yu! You've been dragging your feet for so long, hogging the makeup artist. She's been here for ages, and all she can do is wait helplessly outside!"
"You're going to blame others for not coming in to steal your people?"
"I'm warning you, I don't care what kind of trouble you're causing, but if you affect the production schedule, I don't care what your background is, you'd better get out!"
...
Outside the dressing room, listening to the director's incessant scolding, Wen Yu let out a long sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease.
She didn't mean to offend this newcomer to the industry. On the day of the script discussion, she simply noticed a slight abruptness in the plot and offered her suggestions.
I never expected to run into a gun.
She has never been one to cause trouble, and has kept a low profile for so many years; this is the first time she has been targeted.
Adhering to the principle of "it's better to avoid trouble," she endured it for a few days.
She was originally pondering how to handle this conflict when her newly hired assistant gave her this idea.
Xiaoyu was too embarrassed to take credit, so she confessed, "Actually, it wasn't my idea. I just met a lady next to the RV, and she taught me how!"
She said, "Since Zhao Xing likes to take his time, then let him take his time."
"Since you don't have time to do your makeup, then don't do it."
“She said that it’s not okay to suffer in silence. He dares to drag this out because he thinks you will choose to swallow your anger in order not to affect the progress.”
"But sometimes you have to put aside your sense of responsibility."
"The director may be aware of the minor squabbles behind the scenes, but usually he's too lazy to bother with them. However, if they affect the progress, he has no choice but to intervene."
"By extending the damage to your own interests to the damage to the collective interests, you can use the strength of others to your advantage."
Xiaoyu continued, "I think she's right, so I came to mention it to you."
Hearing this, he was taken aback, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Sister Wenyu, what are you laughing at?"
Wen Yu slowly stopped laughing and shook her head. "...It just feels so familiar, this kind of thinking that breaks out of the habitual pattern of thought."
...It was a sense of familiarity I hadn't felt in many years.
She asked, "By the way, which sister is it? Is she also from the film crew?"
Xiaoyu shook her head in distress.
"I forgot to ask her name."
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