Guide to Rising to Power as a Wife in Beijing's Elite Circle

The landscape deep within Museli looks as if it had been haphazardly cleaved by giants with swords and axes.

Chen Nuo crouched behind the monitor, watching Jiang Wen's back in the camera's view. The scene was supposed to show him walking alone in the wilderness, the sky was leaden gray, and the wind whipped up sand that stung his face.

"Alright, ready—" Liu Qingsong said, holding the walkie-talkie, "Three, two, one, go!"

Jiang Wen took a step forward, the hem of his trench coat fluttering in the wind. He walked about fifty meters, then, according to the script, he was supposed to look back at the way he came before, and continue on his way.

Just as he turned around...

"Crunch—click!"

A sickening metallic cracking sound came from above.

Before anyone could react, the camera crane mounted atop the dune, along with its heavy base, suddenly tilted and crashed straight down.

"Watch out!" Chen Nuo shouted instinctively.

Jiang Wen heard this and subconsciously looked up. Then he made the worst decision he could have made.

Instead of falling forward, he tried to block with his hands.

"Bang!"

A dull thud.

Jiang Wen was knocked to the ground, and the corner of the crane arm hit his forehead directly, causing blood to gush out almost instantly.

"Stop! Stop!" Liu Qingsong threw down the walkie-talkie and rushed over.

The scene was in complete chaos. The assistant director was shouting "Call an ambulance!", the production crew was searching for a first-aid kit, and several actresses were screaming in fright.

Chen Nuo's heart was pounding in her chest, but she forced herself to stand still and took a deep breath.

Don't panic.

She said to herself.

Panic won't solve the problem.

She closed her eyes, and a scene flashed through her mind.

Fang Jingxiu sat on the sofa in the ministry dormitory, lightly tapping his knee with his fingers, his voice calm: "In the event of an emergency, the first thing to do is to stay calm. If you stay calm, others will be able to stay calm as well."

She opened her eyes and strode towards the center of the accident.

Jiang Wen lay on the ground, a deep wound on his forehead from which blood gushed, staining half his face red. He was still conscious, but his face was deathly pale, and his lips were trembling.

"Don't move him!" Chen Nuo squatted down and pressed down on Liu Qingsong, who was trying to help Jiang Wen up. "We're not sure if his cervical spine is injured, so we can't move him."

Liu Qingsong paused for a moment, looked at Chen Nuo's calm face, and subconsciously nodded: "Yes, yes."

Chen Nuo turned to the stage manager: "First aid kit!"

The box was brought quickly. She opened it and searched through it.

Iodine solution, cotton swabs, gauze... There are only two rolls of bandages, not enough.

The blood is still flowing.

Chen Nuo stared at the hideous wound on Jiang Wen's forehead, his mind racing.

"Director Liu, how far is the nearest hospital from here?" she asked.

Liu Qingsong's face was grim: "The nearest city hospital... takes three hours to drive there. With these road conditions, ambulances simply can't get in."

Three hours. Jiang Wen lost so much blood, he couldn't last three hours.

Chen Nuo's fingertips were icy cold, but her voice was steady: "Call 120 and have them send an ambulance to the furthest location they can get to. At the same time..." She paused, "...call the nearest police station."

Liu Qingsong was taken aback: "Police station?"

"Yes." Chen Nuo had already started working. She tore open the gauze and pressed it against Jiang Wen's wound. "The police system has an emergency response mechanism. They can mobilize more resources than we can. Ask them if there are any village clinics or health workers nearby, and if they can send a car to pick us up."

Liu Qingsong suddenly realized what was happening and quickly took out his phone.

Chen Nuo continued to treat the wound.

The gauze was quickly soaked with blood, so she changed it, but it still wasn't enough.

"We're running out of bandages." She looked around. "Does anyone have any extra clean fabric?"

The staff members looked at each other in bewilderment. Where would they find extra fabric in this desolate wilderness?

Chen Nuo glanced down at herself. Today she was wearing a white turtleneck top under a windbreaker provided by the film crew.

She barely hesitated before unzipping her windbreaker and taking off her jacket.

"What are you going to do?" the actress next to her exclaimed.

Chen Nuo didn't say anything, but took out a pair of medical scissors from the first aid kit.

But it's not sharp enough.

She looked up again: "Director Liu, give me your Swiss Army knife."

Liu Qingsong hurriedly took out a knife from his pocket and handed it over.

Chen Nuo took the knife and opened the sharpest blade. She pulled up the hem of her white inner garment, pressed the blade against it, and slashed hard.

"Sizzle—"

The pure cotton fabric was cut open.

She cut off the entire lower half of the inner garment along the opening. The fabric was soft, absorbent, and clean.

This is what she just changed this morning.

She folded the cut fabric into a thick stack and pressed it onto Jiang Wen's wound, then secured it with the remaining bandage.

The rate of blood seepage has slowed significantly.

Jiang Wen struggled to open his eyes and looked at Chen Nuo. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say thank you, but no sound came out.

Chen Nuo shook his head: "Don't talk, save your energy."

After she finished speaking, she looked up at Liu Qingsong and asked, "Did the call go through?"

"The police station said they'd send someone over immediately, but it'll take more than an hour..." Liu Qingsong was sweating profusely. "They contacted the nearest village, where there's a sanitation worker, but... but..."

"But what?"

"The sanitation worker went to a meeting in the county today and isn't in the village."

Chen Nuo's heart sank.

But she didn't let those emotions show on her face.

What will Fang Jingxiu do?

She asked herself.

He will find alternative solutions, mobilize all available resources, and...

She suddenly remembered something and looked up at Liu Qingsong: "Director Li. Call Director Li."

Liu Qingsong was taken aback: "Director Li? She..."

"She's on an inspection tour in Qinghai, so she should have local contact channels," Chen Nuo said quickly. "Tell her our coordinates and the condition of the injured. Ask her to coordinate with the local health commission to see if they can bring in health workers from other townships, or... have the county hospital's ambulance take doctors in our direction, and our people go in that direction too, so we can meet up along the way and save time."

This is what Fang Jingxiu taught her.

When one path is blocked, find someone who can make it open.

Liu Qingsong quickly dialed the number.

While waiting for the call to connect, Chen Nuo took out her phone. She glanced at the time.

2:40 PM.

Fang Jingxiu should be on his way to the next inspection site at this time.

She opened WeChat, her fingers pausing on the keyboard for a few seconds.

Then she typed: "Brother Xiu, there's been a bit of an accident on set. Jiang Wen is injured. I'm handling it, and it might require Director Li to coordinate medical resources. Please let her know when it's convenient for you."

She didn't say what to do, didn't cry, and didn't panic. She simply stated the facts and made her request.

This is Fang Jingxiu's style of communication: precise, efficient, and without wasting emotions.

After sending the message, she put her phone back in her pocket and continued to observe Jiang Wen's situation.

The wound was still bleeding, but it was better than before. Jiang Wen's face was even paler, and his breathing became weak.

"Talk to him," Chen Nuo said to a male actor next to her who was close to Jiang Wen. "Don't let him fall asleep."

The male actor quickly squatted down and started chatting with Jiang Wen, telling him embarrassing stories from the film crew and anecdotes from their university days.

Time passed by, second by second.

The wind was still blowing, and the sand stung my face.

Chen Nuo squatted down next to Jiang Wen, pressing his hand against the gauze on Jiang Wen's forehead, even though his arm was already sore and numb.

About five minutes later, Liu Qingsong ran over excitedly: "We got through! Director Li said she'll coordinate immediately! The county hospital's ambulance has already set off, and she's also contacted the health centers in two townships along the way to send vehicles to meet us halfway!"