Chapter 233 Freebie
"Holy crap, no way!"
As Xia Mian gritted her teeth, a startled cry suddenly came from the east room not far away.
Xia Mian put away her phone and ran over with the cameraman. The guests who were searching the other rooms also arrived at the same time.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"There are no bedding in this room, only a hard wooden bed!"
It was Yao Yao who exclaimed in surprise. Xia Mian looked around and, sure enough, the room, which smelled musty, contained only a stool, a red plastic basin, and a wooden bed; nothing else.
Judging from the varying shades of color on the bed frame, it was probably made by the homeowner themselves. The workmanship is mediocre, and it certainly won't be very comfortable to sleep on.
"Can't the production team have any decency?" Yao Yao cursed. "They didn't even provide bedding. Is this a spring outing or torture?"
“Even more inhumane ones are coming,” Zhang Yuno shrugged. “We just finished looking at the main house, and it’s in a similar state to the east house—completely unfinished.”
“We can make do with the wooden plank bed, but what about Teacher Liang and Xia?” Yu Xingtong frowned.
Suddenly being mentioned, Xia Mian looked at Yu Xingtong without warning—this woman keeps mentioning his name, she has to bring him up in everything!
"I'm fine, I'll just treat it as a learning experience," Xia Mian said quickly, making a self-deprecating joke. "After filming this, I'll go and recommend myself to 'Metamorphosis'."
A metamorphosis? What the heck! Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and the gloom in the room was instantly swept away.
"Alright, alright, stop laughing at me. Training is training, but sleeping directly on a bed board is definitely not an option. Look, the surface of those wooden boards isn't polished, it's full of splinters, sleeping on them directly could easily poke into your flesh," Xia Mian analyzed. "Looking beyond the surface, the production team probably doesn't provide bedding because they want us to spend money to buy it."
Zhang Yuno shuddered, remembering the fear he had once felt when he was dominated by the idea of "seeing through appearances to the essence."
During the recording of "Infinite Escape," the mystery was immediately revealed whenever Xia Mian uttered this phrase. As a result, the director would reflexively cover his head whenever he heard "seeing through the phenomenon to the essence."
The production team also remembered and exclaimed, "He's not going to pull any tricks, is he? Probably not, it's not a puzzle game."
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Xia Mian said, "We can't fall into the production team's trap. Even if it's cheaper in the town, 600 yuan is only enough to buy two or three quilts. We'll end up arguing about how to distribute them, and then they'll have something to film."
Zhang Yuno nodded: "That makes sense. So how should we break this deadlock?"
“Yes, what should we do?” Zhao Xiaohui asked as well.
Xia Mian: "Go out and freeload."
Zhao Xiaohui: "Huh?"
“Give me a hundred yuan,” Xia Mian said, holding out her hand to Yu Xingtong. “I’ll go get six quilts.”
"Isn't this supposed to be free? Why do you want to pay?"
"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub, and besides, the money will definitely come back."
"Fine." Yu Xingtong made a pained expression and took out a hundred-yuan bill from her pocket.
“Yu Nuo, come with me,” Xia Mian said, taking the money and calling Zhang Yu Nuo over. “We can find out where to buy vegetables in the village.”
The courtyard was not far from the village entrance. After going out, Xia Mian stood on the mound and looked around, then led Zhang Yuno northward.
Zhang Yuno glanced back at the camera, which was filming a distant shot. Zhang Yuno covered the recording device and whispered to Xia Mian, "Xia, I always feel like Yu Xingtong is targeting you. Do you two have a grudge?"
“Don’t even mention it,” Xia Mian said, turning off the radio. “Do you remember when she had that wardrobe malfunction at Fashion Week? You think it was my fault.”
Zhang Yuno: "Huh?"
"...What's with that expression? I didn't do anything inappropriate!" To avoid being misunderstood by her friend, Xia Mian quickly explained the important points to Zhang Yuno.
After listening, Zhang Yuno was full of questions: "What does this have to do with you?"
Xia Mian shrugged: "I don't care how she treats me, but I can't let innocent bystanders suffer. I called you out here to tell you that we should try to interact less during the recording and pretend we don't know each other. I'm afraid you'll get involved."
“It’s too late. As soon as you entered the courtyard, I told them that I had recorded ‘Infinite Escape’ with you,” Zhang Yuno said, pursing his lips. “But I’m not afraid of her now, so don’t worry.”
Xia Mian noticed early on that Zhang Yuno had changed a lot. She was completely different from the simple, dull, and easily manipulated ignorant girl in "Infinite Escape". She had become confident and dazzling.
Over the past six months, under the influence of summer hibernation, Zhang Yuno has been bursting with inspiration and has written many great songs. In particular, his mini-album released before the Lunar New Year ranked among the top three in digital album sales, and consistently ranked high on charts such as the new song chart, the word-of-mouth chart, and the trending chart. The songs he wrote for other singers have also been widely praised.
Even if she doesn't appear in front of the camera, but moves behind the scenes, she can still make a fortune, so she's not afraid of anything now.
"You should also be careful, especially with public opinion."
Xia Mian had experienced cyberbullying before. He thought he didn't care, but some things are subtle and gradual. Only he knew how anxious he was.
Zhang Yuno nodded: "Okay."
"Teacher Xia, Teacher Zhang, is there a problem with the equipment?" Footsteps approached, and the cameraman ran over. It must be that the production team discovered they couldn't get sound and asked the cameraman to check.
"I turned it off myself, now I'm turning it back on." Xia Mian didn't explain the specific reason, and turned the radio back on.
"Xia, where are you taking me?" Zhang Yuno asked, subtly changing the subject.
Xia Mian put on a mysterious air and continued walking north until she stopped in front of a small three-story building that was completely different from the other villagers' buildings. "We're here."
As a well-known impoverished village, Nanye Village is filled with single-story houses. Some families can't even afford brick houses and still retain simple mud-and-straw houses from decades ago. The house in front of us is the only multi-story building in the village.
Xia Mian knocked on the door, and the owner quickly ran out; he was a strong, middle-aged man: "Who are you looking for?"
"We're here to film a variety show, and we'd like to rent some things from you," Xia Mian said.
Before filming, the village chief held a mobilization meeting for the villagers. The villagers were very supportive of projects that could boost the economy.
Seeing the two handsome young people and the long, dark cameras following behind them, the man instantly understood: "Ah, they are leaders who have come to perform on a show. Please come in and have a seat."
“We’re not leaders, just foot soldiers. He,” Xia Mian pointed to the cameraman, “and the people behind him are the leaders.”
Having worked for half my life, I've never been called a leader as a cameraman or director, and I actually find it quite pleasing.
Xia Mian continued, "Brother, we're short of bedding at the filming location. Could you help us gather six? It'll be rented out for two hundred yuan a bed, and we'll return them to you in eight days."
Behind the monitor, the director chuckled: "Two hundred a day? Where is he going to get so much money? He might as well just shamelessly beg for it."
Since he could earn money and help the production team at the same time, the man was naturally willing. He immediately went to his neighbor's house, and together they put together six sets of clean bedding.
Seeing that they couldn't carry it, the man rode out his electric tricycle again: "You can use this vehicle too, just bring it back for me before you leave."
"That's great! Six quilts cost 1200 yuan, and we can't use the car for free, so let's say 500. This 100 is a deposit," Xia Mian stuffed 100 yuan into the man's hand, "My boss will settle the bill for you all after the recording is finished, thank you!"
Boss: "...Damn it! Aaaaaah! Get him out of here! Get him out of here!!"
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