Bai Lu got scammed, but I became a superstar through e-commerce.

Three days after the co-creation meeting ended, Chen Yu placed a site survey plan on Qing Xiao's desk.

Qingxiao had just finished the weekly meeting of Tmall's operations department and was about to look at the new product launch schedule for the next quarter when he saw the plan. He frowned slightly and said, "You can go to the location scouting yourself. I have a few meetings to attend."

Chen Yu didn't move. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, and said calmly, "President Qing, didn't you say you wanted to direct a feature film yourself someday?"

Qingxiao raised his head.

"Location scouting is a fundamental skill for directors. You are an investor, screenwriter, and lead actor now, but if you really want to make your own theatrical film in the future, you will have to go through these basic tasks yourself. How to choose a scene, how to set up the lighting, how to set up the camera—these are not things you can learn by sitting in an office signing contracts."

Qingxiao was silent for a few seconds. He closed the documents on the table, stood up, and took the gray coat from the hanger.

"Okay. Let's go."

Their first stop was Qin Lake in the West Zhejiang Grand Canyon.

In late autumn, the maple leaves in the canyon turned half of the mountain red.

The car drove along the winding mountain road for nearly two hours, and it was already 2 p.m. when we arrived.

Qingxiao stood on the pebble beach by the lake, looking at the lake water in front of him.

The water was deep blue, and both banks were lined with virgin forests. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, scattering into shimmering silver hues on the water's surface. A breeze swept in from the canyon entrance, creating delicate ripples on the lake's surface.

Chen Yu squatted on the shore, tested the water temperature with his hand, then stood up and pointed to a huge rock protruding from the water on the opposite bank of the lake: "In the scene where she's pushed into the water, Lin Xiao is standing on that rock, and Gu Nian is standing behind her. She pushes Gu Nian, and Gu Nian falls off the rock. As the water splashes up, the panoramic shot zooms in from the opposite bank of the lake, with a backdrop of mountains covered in red leaves. In post-production color grading, we deepened the blue and raised the color of the red leaves by half a shade. This scene doesn't need any special effects; it has a cinematic quality all by itself."

Qingxiao stood beside him, looking at the rock, and remained silent for a while: "The short film version of the push-in-the-water scene was filmed by the small river in Xiasha University Town. The water level was too low; there was more mud on my pants than water."

"Let's not talk about that place anymore." Chen Yu stood up, patting the pebbles off his hands. "The riverbank was full of air conditioner units. Even to shoot a close-up, you had to position the camera below your knees. If it weren't for the color grading later, that scene would have been the biggest flaw in the short film version."

Looking at the scene, Qingxiao had an idea: "This time, there's no need to rescue him. Qin Lake itself is a natural studio; we can just add some backlighting. Besides, I can pretend to be drowning. Bai Lu will be scared and jump in to save me. That way, Bai Lu's parents will also be frightened and stop filming to come and rescue him."

Chen Yu nodded: "That's a good idea. The audience now knows that the female lead is deliberately being willful, so the scene where she goes into the water needs to be original. Her parents rescue her, then leave the male lead behind and rush her to the hospital, which will increase the realism of her condition and keep the audience hooked."

"Yes, only when the audience sees a surprise can they feel that a movie can surpass a short film." Qingxiao nodded in agreement.

"President Qing, that's why it's necessary to personally scout locations. Sometimes, the on-site experience brings more inspiration. For my films, I carefully select each scene and then plan the storyboard in my mind."

"I've learned a lot, Director Chen. I admire you."

After leaving Qinhu Lake, they went to the Republican-era mansions on Yihe Road in Nanjing.

The sycamore leaves covered the entire street, and the sanitation workers hadn't had time to sweep them away yet; they made a rustling sound when you stepped on them.

Chen Yu led Qingxiao along the gray brick walkway in the mansion area, finally stopping in front of a three-story old villa.

The exterior walls of the villa were covered with ivy, and the louvered windows on the second floor were half open, allowing sunlight to filter through and cast long, thin streaks of light on the floor.

"This building can be rented for two days. Lin Xiao and Gu Nian don't have many campus scenes; most of the outdoor scenes are set on this street, including their first chance encounter, their first date, and the scene where she tugs at his clothes as they walk down the street."

Chen Yu pushed open the iron gate and walked along the stone path inside.

"Think about it, how do you film a chance encounter on a low-budget online movie? On the street in front of the school, there's a row of electric bikes parked on the side of the road, and you can even see express delivery lockers in the background. On our street, there are plane trees, old houses from the Republican era, and stone-paved roads. When Lin Xiao turns around the corner, the wind blows the hem of her trench coat, and Gu Nian is standing under the street lamp waiting for her. You could use just one frame of that scene as a poster."

Qingxiao followed behind him and stopped at the door of the villa. He turned around, and the entire Yihe Road, covered with plane tree leaves, was as quiet as an oil painting.

He suddenly spoke up: "In the short film, Lin Xiao first met Gu Nian on a street. We were poor back then. After watching it, the audience said the story was good and the acting was good, but no one said the visuals were good."

"So we need to make up for it this time. Whether an online film can stand out from similar works depends a lot on the quality of its scenes. If we have a lot of money, we should spend it on the parts that the audience can see at a glance."

The last stop on the location scouting trip was an old-style residential compound near Wukang Road in Shanghai.

This building dates back to the 1980s, with a beige terrazzo exterior and rusty flower racks filling the balconies.

What's most remarkable is that the kitchen window faces a paulownia tree, whose canopy perfectly covers half of the window.

Qingxiao stood in the kitchen, looking at the paulownia tree outside the window. After a while, he turned to Chen Yu and said, "Lin Xiao's mother was in this kitchen, cooking while telling Lin Xiao, 'Make whatever you want.' The sizzling sound of the food hitting the pan, the paulownia tree outside the window, the calendar on the wall—these details are things low-budget films don't bother with set design. They build a showroom, hang a fake clock on the wall, and the audience is immediately pulled out of the story."

"So this building has to be rented. Every frame of Lin Xiao's childhood environment has to make the audience feel that this girl really came from this kind of place."

Chen Yu quickly jotted down a few notes in his notebook and then closed it.

"Once the scene quality is improved, any frame can be used as a promotional image when creating online materials."

Qingxiao leaned against the kitchen window frame, looking at the paulownia tree outside the window, and remained silent for a while.

"From the natural scenic spot by the lake to the Republican-era mansion on Yihe Road, and then to this old-style family compound, every penny we spent this time must be reflected in the final product."

Along the way, Qingxiao silently made a mental note that he would add a set of empty shots to the end of the movie script after returning to Hangzhou.

Several years later, another new family moved into this old house.

The camera still focuses on this window, where the paulownia tree is in full bloom.

On the windowsill, someone had placed a chipped enamel mug with a few pale purple wildflowers stuck inside.

He knew that Chen Yu would definitely make this shot the last scene of the entire movie.

Things have changed, people are gone, and everything is over.

With the location scouting nearly complete, the two were discussing the script when Chen Yu steered the conversation back to the main topic.

"President Qing, the core competitiveness of our film isn't simply replicating the short film. A web film needs to amplify Lin Xiao's wildness, not just her unruly behavior on campus, but also extending that wildness beyond the campus. The problem with the short film is that all the unruly scenes are concentrated on campus—pushing her into the water, forcing her to eat fatty meat in the cafeteria, hogging seats in the library—it has too narrow an audience. College students might say it's realistic, but working adults will think, 'Isn't this just campus romance?'"

He took out a pen and circled several places on his script.

"If we want to broaden our audience, we must let Lin Xiao's wildness break out of the campus. Young people in society, white-collar workers in office buildings, and people in their twenties who have just started working should all be able to find a sense of identification with this character."

At the same time, in BJ, at the Huanyu training classroom.

Bai Lu was the first to enter the classroom today.

The physical education class starts at nine o'clock, but she arrived at seven-thirty, changed into her workout clothes, spread out her yoga mat, and began stretching.

As people gradually entered the corridor, she was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Wu Jinyan pushed the door open and saw Bai Lu stretching his legs on the mat by himself, so she paused for a moment.

She put down her bag, walked over, and laid another yoga mat next to Bai Lu, moving very gently, as if afraid of disturbing her.

After laying out the mat, she didn't start warming up immediately. Instead, she sat on the mat, holding a water glass in her hand, and hesitated for a while before speaking: "Bai Lu, I heard you're going to shoot an online movie? Is it the version of the movie 'My Girlfriend'? I heard about it."

Bai Lu straightened up from his leg-stretching position and nodded: "Filming will start next month."

"The female lead?"

"Um."

Wu Jinyan's eyes flickered for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. She placed the water glass on her lap, holding it with both hands, and said in an even softer voice than before, "That's great. You worked so hard before, always the first to arrive and the last to leave, volunteering for extra practice in your lines class, practicing the same action ten times when others did it three times. We all saw it; your hard work definitely paid off."

"Thanks," Bai Lu said.

Before 8:30, the classroom gradually filled up with people.

Gao Yu'er walked in carrying a bag. The moment she saw Bai Lu, her tone was as warm as if she were an old friend she hadn't seen in years: "Bai Lu! I heard you're going to film a web movie? It's an expanded version of that original micro-movie—the female lead! I knew it, with so many people in our class, you'd definitely be the first to play the female lead. You practice the hardest, I've never seen you slack off in dialogue class, you deserve this opportunity."

Bai Lu placed her hands on her knees and nodded slightly: "Thank you."

Several other female trainees, who had previously only nodded politely and never initiated conversation, also gathered around with their water cups.

Some asked, "How long will filming take?" Others said, "I'll definitely post on Weibo to support it after it airs." Still others whispered, "Is your cousin also an investor?" Bai Lu answered them one by one: "Filming starts next month," "Thank you," "He invested in part."

Song Weilong entered the classroom precisely at nine o'clock, glanced in Bai Lu's direction, and walked straight to his seat without stopping.

Before the afternoon posture class started, he came in from outside carrying a bouquet of flowers, baby's breath and pink carnations.

Several people in the classroom looked up at the same time. Mire, who was sitting next to him, took off his wristband, glanced at the sign on the bouquet, put the wristband on the table, and coughed softly as if watching a show.

Song Weilong ignored everyone else, walked up to Bai Lu, and handed her the flowers. "Bai Lu, congratulations."

Bai Lu looked at the bouquet of flowers but did not reach out to take it.

"Teacher Song, as I said last time, all I want to do now is act."

"I know." Song Weilong was unfazed by the rejection, still holding the flower in his hand, neither embarrassed nor impatient, and even smiled. "This flower is to congratulate you on getting the role. You are the most hardworking person I have ever seen in training. You are the first to arrive and the last to leave every day, practicing the same action ten times—the teachers see this, and the classmates see it too. You deserve this role."

Bai Lu still didn't respond, saying, "Accepting these flowers will cause gossip; just conveying my congratulations is enough."

Mireh rewrapped his wristband, walked over, and whispered, "You got rejected, didn't you?"