Zuo Ning had joined the drama crew. On the third day after moving into his new home, it only took half an hour to get to the set from there. The advantage of the new place was that he no longer had to leave the house with Lu Chenghe every day and transform in the car.
This TV drama had a heavier workload than the previous film in which he played a male supporting role. It wasn’t something where he could stick to a nine-to-five schedule. There were also many night scenes, so it was impossible to always make Lu Chenghe wait around to pick him up.
After changing residences, his agent, Bei Xiao, and assistant, Yang Shun, both came over to get familiar with the new place. Lu Chenghe had originally wanted to hire a driver for Little Pudding to make it easier for him to get around, but since Yang Shun’s daily job as an assistant was to stay by Little Pudding’s side and take care of him, it made more sense to just assign Yang Shun a car. He could handle the driving duties as well.
Filming a TV drama was much more relaxed than shooting a movie, at least in terms of emotional expression, where the expectations weren’t quite as high. As long as the performance looked passable on camera, the director would generally approve it. Plus, since it was a xianxia fantasy drama, most of the cast were young actors. As long as they had decent personalities, everyone got along well. Of course, exceptions were made for people who were truly bizarre.
The other male lead in the show, Ni Hao, had debuted as a singer. This was his first time crossing over into acting, but his popularity was undoubtedly the highest in the entire crew. Even the director spoke to him in a pleasant tone. This kind of differential treatment was actually pretty common in the industry. Sometimes, it wasn’t just the quality of your work that determined your status—popularity played a big part, too.
Ni Hao’s massive popularity was immediately apparent on the very first day of filming, when his fans showed up with a support event. Fan support culture was quite a refined thing in the entertainment circle. If done well, it could win over passersby and even help boost their idol’s popularity and standing with other celebrities. But there were two crucial elements to pulling it off: effort and money.
Zuo Ning had never been a fan of any celebrity before and had absolutely no idea what fan support was. So on the first day of filming, when a group of girls, said to be Ni Hao’s fans, came to visit the set, he only felt that it was fitting for someone with such high popularity. But when a few young girls handed him a beautifully packaged gift and bowed while asking him to look after their idol, Zuo Ning suddenly felt a little conflicted.
As one of the male leads, and backed by significant resources despite being a newcomer, Zuo Ning had a dressing room to himself. After those girls left, he opened the gift. Inside was a small, cute handheld fan, a sun umbrella, a thermal lunchbox filled with chilled, sliced fruit, a box of expensive high-end facial masks, and a men’s bracelet from brand T. Altogether, the gift must have cost over ten thousand yuan.
Zuo Ning looked at the items in the box and couldn’t help but ask Yang Shun beside him, “Were all these bought voluntarily by the fans themselves? Just giving these kinds of things to the entire crew—how much must that cost? No wonder people say following celebrities is expensive. So this is where all the money goes.”
Although Yang Shun had never worked as a celebrity assistant before, now that he was in this line of work, there were a lot of things he naturally needed to understand. Hearing Zuo Ning’s question, he smiled and explained, “Of course not everyone gets the same treatment. Because you’re one of the main leads, the gifts for you are especially fancy. Look at mine—aside from the standard fan and sun umbrella, there’s just a set of men’s skincare products, all together worth around three thousand. The rest of the crew probably received even simpler things. But people like the director should’ve gotten gifts at about your level. For this kind of support event, they usually investigate the crew setup in advance. If they get the gifts wrong, wouldn’t that offend people?”
Zuo Ning couldn’t help but sigh. “Fans really go through a lot. What do they get out of it?”
Yang Shun chuckled. “They just want to make themselves happy. It’s one of those things—you drink water and only you know whether it’s warm or cold.”
Zuo Ning nodded. “But having fans like this… it must feel really good. Being treated so seriously, having someone put in that much thought—it must feel really heartwarming.”
Hearing that, Yang Shun gave him an encouraging smile. “You’ve just debuted. In the future, there will be people who support you this sincerely, too.”
Zuo Ning shook his head. “You saw those little girls just now who brought the gifts. They probably are still in school. If their families are well-off, that’s fine. But if their financial situation is average, doing things like this only adds to their burden. So forget it. I’ll just focus on acting in my own dramas. As for fans, if they can help boost the ratings a bit, that’s good enough. Gifts really aren’t necessary.”
But then, Zuo Ning turned around and sent a selfie, gift box included, to Lu Chenghe: Fans brought gifts to visit the set. Your poor little darling doesn’t even have anyone visiting him.
After waiting a while without a reply from Lu Chenghe and seeing the makeup artist come in, he had no choice but to put his phone down and start getting ready for filming.
To ensure good luck, the first scene of a shoot was usually something simple, with the hope that it could be passed in one take. That’s why directors typically choose an easier scene for day one. It also helped the actors gradually ease into their roles. Since both leads were newcomers, the director had a few experienced supporting actors go up first.
Zuo Ning saw Ni Hao sitting under a sun umbrella on the other side. Smiling, he walked over and said, “Hello, I’m Lu Ning. Thank you for the gifts from your fans. I really liked them.”
Ni Hao quickly stood up as well and extended his hand. “Hello, hello, I’m Ni Hao. Please take care of me from now on.”
Zuo Ning felt that this Ni Hao wasn’t bad. He didn’t seem difficult to get along with, which made Zuo Ning breathe a little easier. If he’d turned out to be a weirdo, the next few months would’ve been rough.
The scenes shot throughout the morning went very smoothly. Those veteran actors really lived up to their reputations—most of them nailed it in one take. Even Zuo Ning, who had scenes with them, was carried along and got it in one take, too. The whole morning’s shoot was light and easy. At noon, lunch was served right on time, but instead of the usual takeaway-style boxed meals, they were handed beautifully designed and elegant lunchboxes.
Zuo Ning assumed it must have been part of Ni Hao’s fan support again and couldn’t help but sigh at how much money fandom really took. But then the director turned to everyone and said, “This lunch was provided by Xiao Lu’s fans, to wish us good luck on the first day of filming. Everyone, eat well, and in the afternoon let’s maintain both pace and quality. Let’s try to get everything in one take and finish early so we can all go home!”
Zuo Ning was a bit dazed as the crowd started thanking him. Maintaining a polite smile, he took his lunch and walked over to a corner to sit down. Then he asked Yang Shun, “What’s going on? My fans?”
Yang Shun smiled. “Isn’t it your fan? A super big one, too. Just one of these lunchboxes costs about one or two hundred yuan. To provide them for the whole crew—who among your current fans do you think could afford that?”
“Lu Chenghe?”
Yang Shun only smiled and said nothing. Zuo Ning pursed his lips but couldn’t suppress the grin that was already tugging at his mouth. He gave a soft little hum. “What is this? I wasn’t even planning on competing with Ni Hao. Doesn’t reply to my messages but goes and orders lunch for me.”
Looking at the way the corners of his lips curved uncontrollably, it was obvious he was happy, even as he tried to sound indifferent. People in love, after all, always say one thing and mean another.
They wrapped filming early on the first day. On his way home, Zuo Ning passed a furniture store and, on a sudden whim, decided to go in and have a look around. Although the new house didn’t feel too cold and empty thanks to the pile of toys he had brought, it still felt a bit sparse.
When Lu Chenghe opened the door and walked into the house, if not for the little thing running back and forth inside being his own Little Pudding, he would’ve seriously thought he’d walked into the wrong place. There were several rainbow-colored throw pillows arranged on the sofa, a giant sunflower-shaped chair beside it, fake flowers in expensive vases scattered around the room, and random stickers plastered everywhere. Even the staircase was decorated with some unidentified hanging objects. The whole house had lost any sense of taste or style.
Seeing him return, that little thing turned his head and gave a dazzling smile. “You’re back! Look, I decorated it. Doesn’t it look nice?”
Lu Chenghe paused, glanced around again, then said, “As long as you like it.”
Zuo Ning giggled and ran over, pulling him toward the little garden. “I also bought a super big swinging lounger. Look, I put it right there, just under the eaves. Once the weather gets cooler, we can lie on it together and sunbathe! I also bought a bunch of inflatable beds and things like that. When we have some free time, we can go swimming together. I originally wanted to buy some paintings to hang up at home, but Yang Shun said that it should be something you choose. If I buy something too cheap, and your friends or business partners come over, they might laugh at it.”
Lu Chenghe smiled. “Buy whatever you like. These things only have value if you like them.”
Zuo Ning’s eyes immediately curved into crescent moons. “Really?”
Lu Chenghe nodded. “Mm.”
Zuo Ning quickly said, “Then can I put up photos? Photos of me, photos of you, and photos of us together. We should go take some pictures together sometime. I already have photos with you in my dog form, but none as a human. I want to take those really, really nice formal portraits, and also some casual selfies. I want to hang our photos all over the house!”
Lu Chenghe reached out and patted his head. “Okay.”
Hearing Lu Chenghe agree to all his plans so easily, Zuo Ning was practically over the moon. But halfway through that excitement, he suddenly remembered something from lunchtime. “Was the lunch today prepared by you? I sent you a message. Why didn’t you reply? Did you decide to order the lunch after I messaged you, or had you already ordered it in advance?”
Lu Chenghe didn’t answer his question directly, instead asked, “How’s everything on set? Has anyone bullied you?”
Zuo Ning huffed, “You’re worried about me, but didn’t reply to my message? Don’t worry, I’m doing fine. Everyone seems easy to get along with. Besides, Brother Yang Shun is always by my side. If anyone really dares to bully me, I’ll definitely bully them right back!”
“That’s right, you’ve never lost a single argument. And if it turns into a fight, you’ll just let Yang Shun handle it, huh?”
Zuo Ning threw himself at him in a huff. “Lu Chenghe!!”
Zuo Ning had originally thought that the lunch on the first day was just a gesture—you know, for a lucky start to the shoot. But unexpectedly, lunch from the same place was delivered again on the second day. Normally, the boxed work meals for each person on set cost about eight or ten yuan. If a particular actor didn’t want that, they could order takeout at their own expense. But no one would go so far as to splurge on meals that cost hundreds every single day, let alone cover the entire crew.
Seeing the delighted expressions on everyone’s faces as they enthusiastically came over to thank him, Zuo Ning kept up a polite smile on the surface, but inside he was dying from heartache. How much money was this every day?! Ahhhhhh! Lu Chenghe was totally wasting money!! The pay he was getting for this drama might not even be enough to cover these meal expenses!
The director even came over with a big grin and patted him on the shoulder, saying, “Food is the people’s top priority. If we eat well, everything else goes smoothly. But Xiao Lu, tell your fan not to spend too much. We’re grateful for the gesture, but if meals like this are sent every day, everyone’s taste will get spoiled, and that’s not a good thing.”
Before Zuo Ning could reply, Yang Shun chimed in from the side, “Don’t worry, Director. This was personally arranged by President Lu. He said that since Lu Ning is joining a drama crew for the first time, he’s completely new to this and hasn’t had any formal training, so he hopes the director will guide him more patiently.”
Upon hearing that, the director smiled and readily agreed. This Lu Ning kid was decent—he hadn’t caused any drama so far. His acting might be average, but he had a certain natural feel to it. As long as things were explained clearly, he could get into character pretty well. And if there was truly some connection to President Lu, then teaching him a few things was nothing. Compared to the resources that might come in the future, offering some pointers was no big deal.
And so, news of the lunch quickly spread throughout the entire crew. It was said that the meals had been personally arranged on the orders of Lu Corporation’s president. There had already been rumors that someone powerful from Lu Corporation was backing Lu Ning, but now those rumors had basically been confirmed. Instantly, people started intentionally or unintentionally getting closer to him. Regardless of what anyone thought privately, interactions on the surface became much friendlier.
Zuo Ning was already used to this kind of situation, but in private, he still glared at Yang Shun. “Isn’t this way too high-profile? What if someone gets jealous and starts badmouthing me?”
Yang Shun chuckled. “What’s there to be afraid of? Instead of hiding and getting sneak-attacked, it’s better to put up a steel wall from the start. If someone really tries to slander you, do you think Lu Corporation’s PR team is just for show?”
Zuo Ning pouted. This wasn’t just a steel wall—it was a gold-plated one. So damn expensive it could kill someone.
Author’s Note: A one-line ending for popular dramas:
【Princess Pearl】
“Your Majesty, do you still remember Xia Yuhé by Daming Lake?”
“I don’t.”
The end of Princess Pearl.
【Journey to the West】
“Imperial younger brother, go to the West to retrieve the scriptures. May our Great Tang prosper in peace and flourish forever, what say you?”
“Not going.”
The end of Journey to the West.
【Empresses in the Palace】
“Lift your head and let Us have a look.”
“So ugly.”
The end of Empresses in the Palace.
【Chinese Paladin】
“You’re going to Xianling Island to ask the fairy for medicine to save your aunt.”
“Not going.”
The end of Chinese Paladin.
【Wealthy Woof】
“Son, help me take care of the dog for a while, okay?”
“Not doing it.”
The end of Wealthy Woof.
✋️😂😂😂