Chapter Forty-Six: A Supporting Actress Even Harder to Win Over Than the Heroine

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("As promised, here's the chapter! Black Car must still shout loudly—recommend, collect, smash all those likes my way!")

"Your tall stick is back?"

"Hmm? What do you mean, my tall stick?"

"He came back and looked for you first thing—how can you say he's not yours?"

"That bastard! He nearly took my life as soon as he returned, I was practically..."

"You two got so intense you almost died?"

"What are you talking about! He startled me, and at that moment I had a pebble in my mouth, I..."

"Alright, alright, enough explanations. The more you explain, the more confusing it gets."

"Ah, you’re all bullying me!" Huang Yi started crying again. As soon as she returned to her dormitory, naturally, Zeng Hui came over to interrogate her, and the more she spoke, the more ‘something’ it sounded.

"Come now, stop crying," Dini came over to mediate, though it was only apparent mediation. "That tall stick hasn’t been back for days, and the first thing he does is look for you. Surely it’s not just to give you a fright? Is he like Feng Gong?"

"Who’s Feng Gong?" Huang Yi’s big eyes were still glistening with tears; she felt she’d made some questionable friends.

"You don’t know?" Dini’s face was filled with mischievous delight. She loudly declared, "I missed you so much!"

"Oh, come on!" Huang Yi was caught between tears and laughter. "No! He never said anything like that! He just asked if I wanted to act in his movie!"

"Oh?" Her two close friends were immediately interested. "So did you agree?"

"I refused!" Huang Yi replied firmly.

"Why?" Zeng Hui and Dini were both deeply surprised.

Huang Yi spoke earnestly, "I don’t want my studies affected. My annual tuition is six thousand yuan. Why should I go shoot some movie instead of focusing on my studies? Besides, I still have braces on and can't take them off yet. And anyway, it’s not even the leading role."

"Oh my god!" Her two friends spoke in unison, their eyes full of disdain for Huang Yi. In their hearts, they were certain all the previous reasons were just excuses—the last one was the real reason.

"Miss! With your figure now, you still want to play the heroine? Was ‘Light Dance in the Wind’ ever meant for someone like you?" Zeng Hui’s sarcasm was razor-sharp. The news that someone from Dorm 307 was making a new film was already known across the whole school; none of them could keep their mouths shut.

"If you ask me, when you first started school you were alright, maybe Tall Stick would’ve let you play ‘Light Dance in the Wind.’ But now? You can dance, sure, but can you really float?" Dini’s words were even more biting.

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"Oooh... just let me die!" Huang Yi’s lips quivered; she burst into tears again.

At the same time, in a barbecue shop near the film academy.

"Come on! Let’s drink!" The men of 307, including Chen Kun, raised their glasses.

"Achoo!" Wu Xiang sneezed again, wondering who was talking about him now.

"Stop faking! Drink up!" Huang Haibo wasn’t about to let Wu Xiang off the hook.

"Anyone who fakes is a coward!" Wu Xiang, never one to back down, downed his drink in one go. Northeastern men never shy from drinking.

"Eat, eat, eat..." The atmosphere was lively.

"Hey, Xiangzi," Brother Kun found a moment to speak to Wu Xiang. "We’re all ready. You’ve been missing for days—haven't forgotten the real business, have you?"

"No!" Wu Xiang’s face was flushed from a few drinks, tongue a bit thick. "I already arranged ‘Light Dance in the Wind’ before, and she agreed. Now we just need a second female lead. She hasn’t agreed yet, but I’ll make sure she does! Just watch me!"

"Good, good! Let’s drink again!" Everyone raised their glasses.

In truth, whether the supporting actress issue could be resolved was crucial—it was all about saving money.

Yes, if they could coax Hai Qing—no, Huang Yi—into joining them, as a classmate she wouldn’t dare ask for much money.

Wu Xiang had already spent a million in the ‘coaxing Er Ma’ operation, which was his original capital. Luckily, his books were still selling, royalties coming in, and there was money from selling copyrights—which wasn’t box office income, so Wu Xiang shamelessly kept it. Now he had about eight hundred thousand left, which should be enough for the film by his estimate.

Yet cost control was necessary. Wu Xiang envisioned creating visually stunning scenes, renting top-tier lighting and camera equipment, using multiple cameras and angles to leave enough material for editing later. This insight came after studying film editing, requiring heavy investment in hardware. Thus, actor salaries had to be cut wherever possible.

So Huang Yi had to be won over!

The next morning, Wu Xiang, full of energy, appeared early on the path from the women’s dormitory to the acting department.

"Please! Those guys think they can out-drink a Northeastern man? That’s suicide!" Wu Xiang had faked yesterday, skillfully drinking everyone else under the table.

"Hey!" Before he could say anything, Huang Yi spotted him first and greeted him heartily, as if yesterday’s rejection never happened.

"Waiting for you!" Wu Xiang was straightforward.

"You’re still not giving up?" No need to ask; Huang Yi knew why Tall Stick was waiting for her.

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Of course Wu Xiang wouldn’t give up. He said, "I went over your reasons last night—they’re not reasons at all. You say you can’t waste tuition—easy, we’ll film outside of class hours, won’t affect your studies. As for your braces, truthfully, that’s exactly what I need!"

"No!" Because none of those were the real reasons. Huang Yi’s real reason was: why wasn’t she the leading actress? Why did he choose such a beautiful, slender heroine?

Of course, she couldn’t say that, so Huang Yi didn’t want to talk anymore and continued walking to class.

"Come with me!" Suddenly, Wu Xiang grabbed her hand and pulled her toward a small grove by the roadside.

"What are you doing?" Huang Yi was flustered. What was Tall Stick up to? Was he going to assault her? Could he really do it? Had he lost his mind after being angered by her, and then...

"Should I resist?" For some reason, the question popped into Huang Yi’s mind, though it really shouldn’t have.

Her cheeks flushed; Wu Xiang saw it but merely said, "Sorry, did I scare you?" Then, he took two sheets of paper from his coat.

"Take a look." He stuffed the papers into Huang Yi’s hands, standing like a prisoner awaiting a judge’s verdict.

When the papers appeared before Huang Yi, she felt a strange mix of disappointment and relief—an odd sensation. Still, she quickly took them to cover her bewildered expression.

"This is..." With just a glance, Huang Yi understood—they were gambling contracts, and her brows furrowed even tighter.

Yes, it was the two contracts Wu Xiang had used to coax Er Ma. "See? If my film doesn’t earn ten million at the box office, I’m finished."

"Why did you sign this? Are you crazy?" Huang Yi couldn’t comprehend Wu Xiang’s thinking. It made no sense. "And if the box office exceeds a hundred million, you don’t get a cent?"

Wu Xiang could tell Huang Yi couldn’t understand his mindset as a time traveler, so he simply explained, "If my film succeeds, it benefits their company too—it’s a win-win. If I fail, I lose everything. That’s all. But, haha, I don’t like daydreaming. A hundred million at the box office is too far off."

That was Wu Xiang’s plan: in this era, a film making over a hundred million was nearly impossible, so he could reasonably expect to earn box office revenue. It was a win-win—investing in the future while gaining funds, a truly genius scheme.

But how could Huang Yi possibly understand? "So why are you showing me this?"

Wu Xiang finally got to the crucial question. "Simple—because you’re the key to my film’s box office!"

"What?" That was absurd.