Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

A week later, Liu Yifei returned to the film crew.

Su Yu is currently filming a scene where Luo Jin is running on a playground.

He sat behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie, shouting, "Slow down, yes, even slower, look at the camera... no, don't look at the camera, look into the distance."

Luo Jin ran two laps, and Su Yu shouted "Pass!" Luo Jin was bent over and panting, like a dog that had just finished a marathon.

Liu Yifei walked to the monitor and stood behind Su Yu.

Su Yu sensed someone was there, turned around, and was taken aback: "Senior Sister? What brings you here?"

"I'm here to film." Liu Yifei's tone was calm, but her eyes were different from a week ago.

Su Yu couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but he felt that she seemed a little softer.

Su Yu stood up and looked her up and down: "Are you ready?"

Liu Yifei nodded.

Su Yu hesitated for a moment, "Then let's wait and shoot a simple scene first, the classroom scene, and start over."

..........

In August, Beijing is as hot as a giant steamer.

Every day when Su Yu returned to his dormitory from the film set, his clothes were soaked with sweat.

Wang Boxue said he smelled like a salted fish that had been pickled for three days and three nights. Su Yu said, "Then stay away from me." Wang Boxue said, "No, I want to fall asleep smelling your scent." Su Yu said, "Are you a pervert?"

Wang Boxue thought about it seriously, "Maybe it is. After all, living with you for so long has affected my sense of aesthetics and smell."

Filming for the movie started in early August, which is much faster than expected.

Youth films are simple in setting and have few characters. As long as the actors perform well, they are not difficult to film.

From the day she returned, Liu Yifei would stay after work every day to discuss the next day's filming with Luo Jing and Su Yu.

"Su Yu, why is Lin Zhenxin crying during this scene? Hasn't she already decided to let go?"

Su Yu looked up and tucked the pen behind his ear.

"She has decided to let go, but letting go doesn't mean she's not sad. Think about it, you really like something, you save up for a long time, finally buy it, only to find it's not suitable and you have to return it. You get your money back, but the anticipation you went through is gone. She wasn't crying for Ouyang Feifan, she was crying for her own youth."

After listening, Liu Yifei remained silent for a few seconds. Then she lowered her head and wrote a line on the script.

Luo Jing took the lollipop out of his mouth and leaned closer to look: "What did you write?"

Liu Yifei tucked the script into her arms with the speed of a cat guarding its food: "I won't let you see it."

Luo Jing curled his lip: "You're stingy. I see you wrote quite a lot in that line. Are you writing 'Su Yu is a devil'?"

Liu Yifei blushed slightly and picked up the script, pretending to hit him.

Luo Jing quickly raised his hands in surrender: "I was wrong, I was wrong, you are a fairy, fairies don't hit people."

Su Yu smiled to himself, and Liu Yifei heard it.

As the days went by, Su Yu became increasingly busy.

In addition to shooting, I also have to develop film, review footage, and take editing notes every day.

He practically lived between the film set and the darkroom, barely having time to go back to his dorm to shower.

So busy was Su Yu that he suddenly realized something: An Qian hadn't "bothered" him for a long time.

In the past, Anxi would send messages almost every day. Sometimes it was "Su Yu, what are you doing?", sometimes it was "How did the filming go today?", and sometimes it was just an emoji, just to make her presence known.

For the past month, Anxi's profile picture had been frequently lit up, but she rarely contacted him first; Su Yu's question remained unresolved, and he decided to confirm it.

On August 18, Su Yu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, turning his phone over and over in his hand.

He opened QQ and saw that Anxi's avatar was lit up, but she didn't contact him.

He thought for a moment and sent a message: "Hey rich girl, what's gotten into you lately? Are you in a relationship?"

About ten minutes later, Anxi returned.

The message was only one line long: "Don't talk to me, I'm busy with work. Aren't you busy too? I see you spinning like a top every day, so I didn't bother you."

Su Yu typed faster: "How did you know I'm as busy as a spinning top? But I'm still a little unaccustomed to you not bothering me."

Anxi sent an eye-rolling emoji, a little person rolling their eyes so wide they almost disappeared: "Hmm...you forgot what you said yourself? Are you being a jerk? You don't feel comfortable unless someone scolds you?"

Su Yu: "Maybe, then you can say a few things to me, I'd like to hear it."

Anxi: "You're out of your mind."

Su Yu: "That feels good."

Anxi sent a long string of ellipses, then said, "Alright, I'm not going to joke with you anymore. I'm exhausted lately, our boss is a tyrant..."

Su Yu: "Ah, tell me more about it."

Anxi: "I don't want to talk about it. I need to rest now. Goodnight."

Okay, goodnight.

He shook his head, placed his phone beside his pillow, and closed his eyes, but his heart was churning.

........

The next day, Su Yu was watching the monitor on set when his phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw it was a text message from the bank.

He thought it was spam and was about to scroll past it when he caught a glimpse of a string of numbers out of the corner of his eye.

His fingers paused, he brought the phone to his eyes, and looked at it carefully three times.

"Your account ending in 3827 received a ringback tone revenue share of 61250000.00 yuan on August 22nd. Balance..."

Su Yu's mind went blank for a moment, as if someone had hit him on the back of the head with a brick.

Sixty-one million two hundred and fifty thousand.

He blinked and looked at it again.

That's right, 61.25 million.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again; it was still the same number.

"Holy crap." Su Yu jumped up from his chair. The movement was so big that his knee hit the monitor stand, which wobbled twice and almost knocked the monitor over.

Wang Boxue, standing nearby, was startled, nearly dropping the camera he was holding: "What are you doing? Have you seen a ghost?"

Su Yu put his phone in his pocket, took two deep breaths, and tried to make his expression look normal. But his legs were shaking, shaking like a leaf.

"It's okay, I'm just going out for some fresh air."

He walked out of the film set, stood in the corridor, leaned against the wall, slowly slid down, and squatted on the ground.

He took out his computer, logged into his email, and checked the messages: 61.25 million.

He swiped his finger across the touchpad and saw the details; ten songs, from May to July, with an average of 7.7 million downloads per song over three months, at two yuan per download, split 50/50, he got one yuan.

The ten songs together brought in 77 million before tax and 61.25 million after tax.

.......

Su Yu crouched in the corridor, his hands covering his head, and let out a low, muffled sound: "Ah!!"

This isn't a scream; it's a physiological reaction somewhere between shock, ecstasy, and bewilderment.

He had seen a lot of money in his previous life, but he had never seen such a large amount.

Sixty million yuan could buy half a building in Beijing in 2005.

He suddenly remembered something: the stories of those online singers in his past life who made a living off a single hit ringtone.

Songs like "Autumn Never Returns" and "Seeking Buddha" have hundreds of millions of ringtone downloads.

His ten songs only garnered a little over 70 million downloads in three months, which is just a drop in the ocean compared to those truly divine hits.

With over 70 million downloads, he's already earned 60 million views. If these songs continue to be popular, the download count will accumulate to a staggering number in the next year, two years, or three.

Su Yu took a deep breath, then walked back to the set, sat back behind the monitor, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

Wang Boxue glanced at him: "What were you doing outside just now?"

Su Yu remained expressionless: "I smoked a cigarette."

"Where's the cigarette?"

"I cut it off."

Wang Boxue glanced at him suspiciously, his eyes clearly saying, "You're kidding me," but Su Yu had already picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "All departments, take your positions!" Wang Boxue had no choice but to swallow his doubts and pick up the camera.

Su Yu sat behind the monitor, his eyes fixed on the screen, but his mind was filled with that string of numbers.

With 61.25 million, he could buy a hundred houses within Beijing's Fourth Ring Road, or a whole street in Jingzhou.

He suddenly felt that making movies wasn't so important anymore.

Sixty million? He could live off the interest alone for the rest of his life, even if he did nothing else.

Why bother making movies? It's exhausting, tough, and you get yelled at. Making ringtones is so much better—you can make money lying down and don't even have to show your face.

But the next second, another thought popped into his head; if he didn't make movies, Su Yu would just be an ordinary person who had written a few songs and won the lottery.

Su Yu shook his head, trying to shake off those messy thoughts.

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