After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

"Is today's work really finished?" Chen Mo's eyes lit up when he saw Lan Yujuan arrive in time.

Lan Yujuan smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's over."

"The director said that the script is finalized and will not be changed."

"I stayed at the scene for a while longer, and after confirming that everything was alright, I left."

Chen Mo immediately raised an eyebrow, turned around, squatted down, and coaxed:

"Mommy's finished work, let's go! Daddy will take you to the amusement park, okay?"

"Dad promises, it'll definitely be more fun than here."

Lan Xiaoman looked down at her pretty dress, then reluctantly turned back to look at the handsome and beautiful actors in period costumes around her.

Lan Xiaoman pouted, but she couldn't bring herself to say she was leaving.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally said with a pitiful look, "Okay then..."

When Chen Mo saw the pitiful little thing's appearance, his heart softened instantly, and his resolve began to waver.

Where are we playing? Isn't it a form of play?

It seems like letting the little guy act out a scene and have some fun isn't a big deal.

The director, seeing that the lucky savior who had come from nowhere was about to be taken away, immediately panicked.

The director thought to himself: Why is my life so miserable?

Both child actors were perfectly suited for the role, but one of them didn't want to act, and the other's parents didn't agree to it.

The director hesitated, wondering whether he should go forward and try to persuade them again. But when he saw that the child's parents seemed to be of high status, he couldn't help but want to back out.

Just then, a junior assistant ran over and whispered in the director's ear:

"Director, that young actor over there has calmed down, but..."

The director was about to be pleased, but when he heard there was a twist later, his smile instantly froze. "But what?"

The assistant cleared his throat with his fist and said awkwardly in a low voice:

"However, the child actor's parents felt that the play was too difficult to perform, too challenging for a three- or four-year-old child."

"And yesterday, a movie starring their child actor became a hit, so... they want more money."

The director was initially pleasantly surprised, but when he heard that they wanted more money right before filming started, which was clearly an attempt to raise the price, he felt as if he had swallowed a fly.

However, given the current situation, doing as the other party requests seems to be the best option.

So the director gritted his teeth and whispered, "How much more do they want to add?"

The assistant raised his hand and held up one finger.

"Add another thousand? Are they crazy!"

"Fine, fine, it's only for one day anyway, I'll just add a thousand!"

"At worst, I'll just remember to avoid those kinds of actors when casting child actors in the future."

The assistant scratched his head awkwardly and said hastily, "Director, it's not a thousand, it's ten thousand!"

"Their parents said that their child actor is now a well-known child star and has a hit representative work."

"Ten thousand yuan a day, it's absolutely worth the price."

Upon hearing this, the director immediately stood up. "Ten thousand a day?"

"They might as well just say, 'Give them my salary too!' Is this blatant robbery?"

The assistant said with a bitter face:

"What can we do? In our show, although the baby doesn't have many scenes, every scene is important."

"Filming has already started, and we've reached a crucial point in the production. It's too late to change actors at the last minute!"

"Besides, there's someone right next door who seems suitable in every way, but the key issue is that her parents aren't interested!"

Upon hearing these words, the director's face instantly contorted in a grimace, a bitter feeling washing over him. He felt even more wronged than the innocent victim.

After much deliberation, he was ready to grit his teeth, admit defeat for now, coax the filming to be completed, and get through this ordeal.

But to his utter surprise, just as he made up his mind and was about to get up to persuade the child actor's parents, they had already picked up their child and their luggage, seemingly preparing to leave the set.

The director immediately panicked when he saw it.

"stop!"

"What do you mean by this?"

"The film hasn't even started shooting yet, where are you going with a child?"

While asking questions, the director directed people to stop the family of three.

On the other side, Chen Mo finally convinced his daughter after much persuasion, and she was about to go to the dressing room to change out of her crew clothes and leave.

Unexpectedly, just as I got up to head to the locker room, something unexpected happened.

"What are you doing? What are you doing!"

When the child actor's father saw the staff member blocking the mother holding the child, he rushed up and slapped the staff member twice, sending him flying to the side.

"We're just extras, we didn't sign any contracts to sell ourselves into servitude. Why are you people from the film crew preventing us from leaving?"

"What? You can't afford the price we want, and you're trying to act like a scoundrel?"

Fortunately, the staff member was quick-witted and raised their arm to block the fall, so they were barely not injured, but they were still very angry.

The director was furious and rushed over to argue.

"Who stopped you?"

"Who was it that just said they wanted to raise the daily wage to 10,000 at the last minute?"

"When you make a request, you should at least give the person some time to relay the message and consider it!"

"Are we going to film or not? Give us a straight answer!"

Although the director was angry, the schedule had him stuck there, and even if he had to work 24/7, he had to finish filming.

Because of the subsequent promotion and release, the schedule was arranged from the moment the short drama started filming. Filming could not be completed even one day late, as it would affect the subsequent work.

Since he asked that question, it means he's implicitly agreeing to the price of 10,000 yuan per day.

The young actor's fee surprised not only Lan Yujuan standing next to him, but even Chen Mo.

"Are child actors being paid this much these days?"

Lan Yujuan shook her head and clicked her tongue, saying, "How could that be? It's obvious they're manipulating the director."

"As far as I know, under normal circumstances, extras only get a little over 100 yuan a day, with free boxed lunches and afternoon tea provided."

"For young actors and veteran actors, the price is slightly higher, around three to five hundred yuan a day, which is normal."

"For minor actors with slightly more screen time, a bit of fame and acting skills, and a good audience appeal, a daily pay of one or two thousand yuan is already considered very good."

"Someone who has no fame but dares to ask for 10,000 yuan is either a crazy parent or a crazy director."

"Or perhaps there's some other reason behind it all...tsk tsk, in any case, it's not simple."

As soon as the director let go, the parents on the other side were clearly taken aback for a moment.

However, the other party quickly changed their mind again.

"It's not impossible for us to stay and continue filming."

"However, the daily pay was 10,000 yuan before, but it's different now."

"Now, we're demanding it increase to 20,000 a day!"

The young actor's father's outrageous demand instantly shocked all the actors present.

"Holy crap, did I hear that right?!"

"Twenty thousand a day? That's higher than the salaries the male and female leads get, isn't it?"

"Do they really think they're holding something in their arms? A money tree?"

The director's face darkened; the family member looked at him as if he were a lunatic.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"If it weren't for the fact that your child is pretty, cute, and quite likable, do you think I would have offered you two thousand a day?"

"Go and find out for yourself which other production team besides us can offer this price!"

"Not to mention, I just relented and said I'd raise the price to ten thousand, so don't push your luck!"

However, the young actor's parents clearly did not heed the director's final words of advice.

The mother holding the young actor, even tossing her own child around a bit, said with a mocking look in her eyes:

"We know in our hearts how cute and popular our Yuanyuan is."

"If she hadn't acted so well, would you have paid this price at a loss? Impossible!"

"The fact that you're willing to pay ten thousand shows that her current worth is definitely far more than that!"

The father of the young actor standing nearby nodded repeatedly in agreement after hearing his wife's words, "Yes, yes, that's exactly right!"

"Besides, in just a short while, several directors from various film crews have called us to schedule appointments, saying that we can name our price."

"Those obscure, unknown actors can earn fifty or sixty thousand a day. Our Yuanyuan is so pretty and cute, and her acting is so good. Earning thirty or fifty thousand a day is definitely no problem!"

The mother of the young actor standing next to her nodded repeatedly, "That's right, that's right!"

"We're only offering 20,000 right now, which is a friendly price for you. You're the ones who are getting a good deal."

The director was so angry at these two clueless parents that his head was spinning. He immediately hardened his heart and waved his hand, saying:

"Let them go!"

"At worst, I'll just cut and change those scenes; I won't tolerate their lousy behavior!"

The crew members made way for the child actor's parents, who held their child, whose eyes were red from crying, and left the crew with their heads held high.

It seems that once we left this venue, we headed straight for a higher stage...