Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

Liu Haochun noticed that the script supervisor, the assistant director, and the director of the group, Guo Jianyong, were all looking in her direction from the director's shooting area.

"Director, this is Hao Chun!" Yang Chaoyue called out loudly.

Liu Haochun shrank his neck.

I really admire Chaoyue's communication skills.

That kind of easygoing and cheerful personality that makes you feel comfortable with anyone is something I can't learn no matter how long I try.

I prefer to be alone.

Whether it's during breaks on set or back at the hotel after work, he's used to quietly studying the script.

Even when talking to fellow actors in the same group, if they are strangers, regardless of their status, she has to spend a long time mentally rehearsing her lines.

What I fear most is being scolded on set.

Sometimes when I pass by other film crews, I hear the assistant director or director swearing.

Those words like "good-for-nothing" and "can't even do this simple thing right" sounded exactly like the way her parents used to scold her when she was a child.

When I do well on a test, my parents will say, "Don't be proud, you can do even better next time."

If you don't meet their requirements in the exam, you'll be scolded directly: "You're useless, what's the use of raising you!"

When she was little, she always regarded her parents as her closest and dearest people, and she was willing to tell them all her worries.

But with each failure and scolding, she gradually became afraid to tell them about her predicament.

Those feelings of dependence and closeness slowly sank into the deepest part of my heart.

Acting is currently my only way to climb the social ladder.

Liu Haochun knew very well that she was not as outgoing as Yang Chaoyue, nor as lively as Tian Xiwei. She could only rely on memorizing lines and practicing actions over and over again to do her best in every scene.

I'm afraid that one day I'll be publicly scolded by the director for not acting well.

Like fleeing a critical home, she fled the film crew in a disheveled state.

Therefore, she can especially understand Bailu.

That usually cheerful and smiling girl would break down and cry secretly after being scolded a few times on set.

Fortunately, so far, her scenes have been filmed no more than three times, and she has not yet experienced being scolded by the director in front of the entire crew.

If it were you, how would you feel if the director berated you like that?
Perhaps she had already lost control and run away.

After all, most of the time, she was a coward who was afraid of making mistakes even when speaking in public.

When the hashtag bashing Jiang Yang trended on Weibo, she defended him.

She gradually got used to the insults directed at her.

But that was on the internet, after all.

In reality, I still can't adapt. Maybe it's because I'm too thin-skinned and too concerned about saving face.

"Chaoyue, I'm going to find Bailu now."

Liu Haochun tried his best to adapt, wanting to learn from Yang Chaoyue and raise his hand to greet him.

But those gazes felt like tiny needles, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She didn't dare look any longer, only wanting to quickly hide in the empty room, away from everyone's gaze, and try her best to complete the task Jiang Yang had assigned her.

"What's the rush? Go and say hello to the director first," Yang Chaoyue said, pulling Liu Haochun back.

"There's no need for that. I'll just try to see if I can help Bailu, and then I'll leave."

"Are you stupid? You don't understand any social etiquette. If Brother Yang were here, he would definitely have you go and say hello to the director."

"is it?"

Liu Haochun hesitated for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "Okay then."

Done.

She took a deep breath and raised her head.

She took Yang Chaoyue's arm and shrank slightly behind him.

Upon arriving at the main shooting area, just as he was about to greet Guo Jianyong as "Director," Guo Jianyong stood up first, extending his hand with a broad smile: "Haochun, right? Hello, hello."

Hello, Director!

Liu Haochun clasped his hands together.

Fearing he hadn't been polite enough, he bowed again.

Then he took out a business card from his pocket: "This is my business card, please take care of me."

"Oh, you're too kind. We're all on the same side. I have a very good relationship with your boss. Why are you looking at my business card?"

Guo Jianyong took the business card, didn't even look at it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

She showed none of the impatience she displayed when filming the previous scenes.

He took out his phone, opened WeChat, and scanned Liu Haochun's QR code: "Haochun, add me on WeChat."

"Okay... Director, I can't add you on WeChat."

"What?"

"Your group is full."

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Guo Jianyong said cheerfully.

He swiped his finger across the screen quickly, selecting a group of people without hesitation and deleting them one by one.

Liu Haochun stared in disbelief.

How come the director has so many WeChat contacts?
It must be the network of contacts he's built up in the industry over the years.

Actors, producers, production assistants, prop masters... people from all walks of life are represented.

Chaoyue's WeChat contact list has quite a few people, most of whom he met through his work in this industry.

Not to mention Jiang Yang's WeChat contacts.

It's almost full.

Unlike my own WeChat contact list, which only includes family, classmates, Chao Yuexi, Wei Ruonan, Nazha, Bai Lu, and a few people from the film crew, there's no one else.

It only costs a little over two hundred in total.

Hearing this from the director of such a large production, I apologized to myself.

Liu Haochun waved his hand: "It's alright, it's alright, I'll wait for you."

After adding Guo Jianyong on WeChat, without even having time to add a note, she hunched her shoulders and headed towards Bailu's little house.

Guo Jianyong sat down, glanced at Liu Haochun's back, and then turned to look at the side.

Yang Chaoyue was standing with the makeup artist from the film crew, chatting and laughing. The makeup artist was holding a small makeup brush and touching up Yang Chaoyue's sideburns.

The two chatted animatedly, their conversation revolving around the interesting things that had happened on set recently.

They chatted about which character's makeup and styling was the most troublesome in "Fighter of the Destiny," and occasionally mentioned Tian Xiwei's new hairstyle, their tone full of ease.

Guo Jianyong recalled that some time ago, when he passed by the set of "Fighter of the Destiny" after work, he saw Tian Xiwei, another artist from Jiangyang Company.

The young girl, dressed in a pale yellow costume, greeted him warmly and smiled, praising his youthful appearance. She said he didn't look like a seasoned director who had been making films for so many years, and that he had a lively personality and a sweet tongue that made him very likable.

Why is this Liu Haochun so introverted?
Can a girl with such an introverted personality really be skilled enough to train Bai Lu's acting skills?
Logically speaking, shouldn't students with good academic performance be particularly confident?

Guo Jianyong did a quick search to find out who got first place in this year's Beijing Dance Academy entrance exam.

Jiang Yang's name appears.

There are also photos from my art exams.

She wore simple clothes and smiled confidently.

Guo Jianyong was slightly taken aback, then understood. No wonder this kid was always so confident; he's a top student, which makes sense.

[“Haochun, have you arrived at the film set where Chaoyue Bailu is?”] Liu Haochun’s phone vibrated as he received a message from Jiang Yang.

[“I’ve arrived. I just greeted the director and we added each other on WeChat.”]
"That's good. I'll leave Bailu to you. I'm video chatting with my mom. It's Mother's Day today, so I'm going to try and cheer her up."
Mother's Day.

Liu Haochun slowed his pace slightly.

Open the calendar.

He was always busy filming, and even after finishing work at the hotel at night, he would repeatedly memorize his lines, ponder the emotions of the character he would play the next day, and practice silently.

forgotten.

Today is the second Sunday of May.

In another week, it will be May 20th.

It's my birthday.

I remember one year on my birthday, my mother cooked a bowl of longevity noodles with two poached eggs.

Although he would still mutter those things he was most afraid she would hear, criticizing her.

"If it weren't for you, I would have divorced your father long ago."

"You want to be as useless as your father, that good-for-nothing?"

"All the tutoring I enrolled you in was for nothing. Does this score even justify the money I spent?"

It started as a normal chat.

Gradually it turned into preaching, and in the end it was all criticism.

While eating the longevity noodles her mother cooked, her mother tugged at her leg and said, "The teacher said your flexibility isn't good enough. Did you slack off again?"

I don't remember many of the things I said on my birthday that day.

She always remembered the temperature inside the noodles.

She opened her mother's WeChat chat window.

The screen still showed the last chat history. The last message from her mother was: "[Be careful, don't cause trouble for Jiang Yang. Jiang Yang is now your path to advancement, don't refuse his requests.]"
She typed and deleted in the input box.

Deleted and then typed again.

I originally wanted to type: ["Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I hope you and Dad are happy. I've earned money now, and I can pay for my own college tuition from now on. I'm in another city, and I miss you both a little."]
After hesitating for a long time, I changed it to: ["Mom, today is Mother's Day. Please rest more, get less angry, and take good care of yourself."]
The message was sent.

I guess Mom is busy right now and can't reply to her.

My phone received a message.

It turned out the message wasn't from her mother, but from Tian Xiwei in the [Battle Through the Heavens 4] group: ["@Jiang Yang, didn't Mai Mai talk about the plot of Battle Through the Heavens in the group a while ago? I just finished filming a scene and I'm lying on the folding chair sunbathing, waiting for lunch. I was bored anyway, so I searched it up and found out that a black hole isn't actually a void, but a celestial body."]
Tian Xiwei continued: ["Just like the Earth and the Sun, it's a real celestial body with an exaggeratedly high mass and density. It's called a hole because it only lets in and doesn't let out. Its gravity is so strong that even light can't escape. Any object that gets close to it is like falling into a hole with no exit."]
Jiang Yang chimed in: [“Xiwei, what’s the connection between this and Battle Through the Heavens?”]
Zhang Ruonan chimed in: ["Yeah, is there any connection between the two?"]
Liu Haochun typed: ["@Tian Xiwei, please reply."]
Tian Xiwei sent a message: ["There's no connection whatsoever, I just discovered it. Ruonan, did you give Jiang Yang's messages special notifications in the group? @Zougouzhang, and you @Zougouchun."]
Jiang Yang had just ended his video chat with his mother when he got up and left the Wansheng Hotel.

My mind is still not clear.

I didn't wake up naturally; I was still quite groggy. Replying to this message in the group chat took up a lot of my mental energy.

Too lazy to look at my phone.

There's no rush to go to the set of "God of War Zhao Zilong"; let's see if Hao Chun can handle things well first.

Hao Chun wasn't the first person to join her company.

However, her acting talent is the best among all the young actresses.

Let Haochun teach Bailu, while he lies down and exploits her attributes.

"I haven't had a good night's sleep since I joined the film crew..."

I went to bed at four o'clock last night, when it was almost dawn. So, I've only slept for less than six hours.

I was so sleepy, just like when I was in high school and had to get up early to run laps at school.

Hengdian was already sweltering; the 10 a.m. sun made the asphalt roads sticky.

My eyelids felt so heavy, like they were glued on. I dragged my feet, and my gait was all swaying from inertia.

As I entered the breakfast shop, I tripped on the steps, stumbled a couple of steps, and mumbled a curse: "Damn, am I out of my mind? I wore the hotel's disposable slippers out here."

I randomly picked a spot in the corner and plopped down, slumping back in the chair.

When asked by his boss what he wanted, Jiang Yang snapped out of his daze and said, "Give me that one, the same one as yesterday."

"yesterday?"

"Just soy milk and fried dough sticks."

Just remembered.

I didn't eat breakfast at all yesterday.

I was just video chatting with my mom at the hotel, and we talked about something again.

I remembered.

Actually, they didn't talk about much. He was very sleepy and wanted to wish his mother a happy Mother's Day, but he ended up listening to his mother talk about her relatives' trivial matters the whole time.

When the soy milk was served, it turned out to be the savory soy milk that Mai Mai liked, not the sweet soy milk that he and Chao Yue liked.

How can you make soy milk salty?

Too lazy to change, I just made do with this drink, but the more I drank, the more sober I became. In the end, I muttered, "Oh well, I'll just have to make do."

I opened WeChat and sent my mom a message: "Happy Mother's Day, Mom."
A 520 transfer followed by that.

The reply received was: "Thank you, Mom loves you."
The second rule is: ["From now on, we'll each be our own people. You'll call me 'Mom,' and I'll call you 'Little Jiang.'"]
Jiang Yang was slightly taken aback.

I sent it to the wrong person, I sent it to Zhao Jinmai.

Last night, this girl sent him a bunch of plot points from "Battle Through the Heavens," and the chat box was on top of it. He originally wanted to click on his mother's chat box.

He sent a voice message: "Refund my money, it's for my mother."
Zhao Jinmai replied: [“Why should I? Your mom doesn’t need this little bit of money, but I do! Spicy strips, instant noodles, these things don’t cost money, do you think they don’t? I also want to buy Armor Hero stickers to exchange for my deskmate’s Ultraman card. He has Seven’s ultimate form, I’ve been craving it for so long. I want to be a mom when I grow up, so how about I get a red envelope in advance?”]
Zhao Jinmai posted another message: ["And you're really stingy, Jiang Yang. I heard from Bai Lu that your salary is a million yuan, and your acting coaching fee is also a million yuan, all after tax. The red envelope you gave your mother for Mother's Day was only 520 yuan. Are you even human? Send me another 520 yuan."]
Jiang Yang frowned as he looked at it.

I'm already in a bad mood when I wake up early.

I hate Zhao Jinmai's mouth; she can make black seem white.

Looking at MaiMai's long message again, it gave me a headache. MaiMai actually watches Ultraman? She wants the Seven Ultimate Form card.

That's just kidding.

Adults don't play with Ultraman cards anymore, they play with real people now.

Seven's ultimate form, he even pressed his head against Kobo a while ago.

Jiang Yang, not at all like his sister Zhao Jinmai, said: [“Give me my money back.”]
Zhao Jinmai replied: [“Go ahead and call the police.”]
I noticed that Zhao Jinmai posted a message on her WeChat Moments.

The caption reads: I had a very happy Mother's Day because I have a son now.

The accompanying text is a screenshot of her chat history with Jiang Yang.

A comment from Tian Xiwei appeared below: [That's great, your son is taking the college entrance exam while you're taking the middle school entrance exam.]
Next was Yang Chaoyue's message: [MaiMai, tell your son to give his company's HR manager a raise.]
Zhao Jinmai replied to Yang Chaoyue: [Don't even think about it. My son's money is for supporting me. If I find out you're embezzling company money, I'll beat you up.]
Yang Chaoyue replied: [When did I ever embezzle company money?]
Zhao Jinmai replied to Yang Chaoyue: [Don't fool the child.]
Jiang Yang found it hilarious.

Liu Haochun liked Zhao Jinmai's Weibo post.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the cabin.

From inside came Bai Lu's suppressed sobs, just like that day in junior high school when she returned home with her award certificate.

The house didn't smell like the usual food; instead, there was the clatter of a glass shattering on the floor, mixed with my parents' loud, shrill shouts.

I discovered a crooked crack in the TV screen; Dad had just smashed it with the remote. The screen was still lit, but the picture was a mess.

She didn't dare make a sound, tiptoed back to her room, and closed the door behind her.

Seeing Bailu now is like seeing myself back then.

"Bai Lu... I'm here to help you." (End of Chapter)