Gu Lucky Star: Wasn’t it supposed to be five mao?
An Juexiao: Your worth is different.
Her one sentence made Gu Zhanran feel slightly pleased, but the next line felt like cold water poured over him.
An Juexiao: Definitely more expensive than others.
Gu Zhanran paused. Others? Did An Juexiao have many people she chatted with for five mao?
Before he could dwell on it, her messages came flooding in.
An Juexiao: Being a female celebrity is really not easy QAQ.
An Juexiao: I’ve been eating greens and exercising every day lately, I’m about to turn into a sheep running on the grasslands, sob.
An Juexiao: My agent keeps saying I’m fat. Do you think I’m fat too?
Gu Zhanran froze. This was a life-or-death question. He did not know how to answer.
He typed two words, not fat.
But after thinking about it, that did not seem appropriate. If it reduced her motivation to lose weight, would he not be at fault? And two words seemed too perfunctory.
He deleted them, thought for a moment, and typed again, you’re fine, but you should still cooperate with your agent, she is doing this for your own good.
After a moment, he deleted that as well.
While Gu Zhanran hesitated back and forth like a boy in his first relationship, An Juexiao sent another message.
An Juexiao: My 89, 66, 85 figure is already great, right? But for the big screen, it’s still not enough!
Gu Zhanran let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, she was not seriously asking whether she was fat.
A second later, An Juexiao withdrew the message containing her measurements.
Gu Lucky Star: …
Gu Lucky Star: I saw it.
An Juexiao: Let’s talk about Director Zhang.
Gu Zhanran immediately saw that she was changing the subject, but he tactfully did not expose it and instead genuinely talked about Director Zhang and the new project.
For projects he invested in, Gu Zhanran always reviewed them personally and had a solid understanding of them, unlike many investors who blindly poured in money.
So as one of the film’s investors, he could speak knowledgeably.
An Juexiao felt that the five yuan was absolutely worth it.
After some time, the day came for training before joining the production. An Juexiao packed her luggage and headed to the training location with Zhang Xiaowan.
The training took place at a resort in Fucheng. It was chosen because it had a horse ranch. Director Zhang required the actors to actually ride horses in the film, so there would be riding lessons.
Dragging her luggage, An Juexiao sighed, “A big production really is different. They call it training, but the food, clothing, housing, and travel all feel like a vacation.”
Before entering the resort, her sharp eyes noticed some suspicious people lingering nearby. She glanced at them curiously.
“Those are well-informed reporters. Director Zhang keeps things very confidential, but the more secretive it is, the more curious people become.”
“If you run into them, just ignore them,” Zhang Xiaowan said. “Sister Xi told us that apart from official announcements, we don’t respond to any interviews related to Director Zhang’s project.”
An Juexiao laughed. “Sister Xi is overthinking. I’ve already walked past them several times, and no one recognized me. Why would they interview me? Suddenly, I feel like not being famous has its advantages.”
Zhang Xiaowan: “……”
Her artist really had an incredible mindset.
After checking in, An Juexiao and Zhang Xiaowan had barely settled when someone arranged by Gu Zhanran arrived. It was the black-clad bodyguard who had first invited An Juexiao before.
Meeting again, An Juexiao felt much more at ease.
“Hey, Xiao Hei, why are you here?”
Hearing the nickname, the bodyguard’s brow twitched slightly, but as a well-trained professional, he still replied properly, “Mr. Gu has arranged a surprise for you.”
“Surprise?”
Completely baffled, An Juexiao followed the black-suited bodyguard to the resort restaurant.
Zhang Xiaowan naturally came along as well. Judging from the bodyguard’s manner, she could already tell that this Mr. Gu was no ordinary person.
There had been plenty of gossip in the company about An Juexiao joining Yaohui, and she had heard some of it. Even now, though she was close to the center of the rumors, she did not let her curiosity run wild.
As an artist’s assistant, she knew she should have a sense of boundaries.
A whole table of delicious food was waiting quietly for An Juexiao in the restaurant.
“President Gu specially invited Chef Zheng to prepare this meal. Most of the dishes are low in salt, oil, and calories. As for the rest, your manager said today can be an exception, so Miss An can eat without worry.”
The moment An Juexiao saw the table full of food, she froze on the spot. Her eyes instantly lit up green, like a starving wolf seeing an entire grassland full of sheep.
For quite some time now, she had been eating boiled broccoli, boiled chicken breast, and boiled beef every day, to the point where she felt she was about to turn into boiled human meat herself.
An Juexiao threw herself at the dining table and practically wanted to kiss every dish. With tears in her eyes, she said, “President Gu really is the practical type, all action and no talk.”
Black-suited bodyguard: “…”
Zhang Xiaowan: “…”
Even though An Juexiao had not meant it that way, the line sounded a little strange no matter how one heard it.
Chef Zheng had left home at sixteen to make his way in the world and had won many culinary awards both in China and abroad. It was no exaggeration to say that when a top chef like him cooked a meal, the aroma could carry for miles.
Not only An Juexiao, even Zhang Xiaowan could not stop eating.
An Juexiao was not only delighted with the food, she also greatly enjoyed chatting with Chef Zheng.
She had grown up in a single-parent household, and her mother had been busy earning money to support the family. So from a young age, she had mostly taken care of herself, developing a good set of cooking and life skills early on.
The more she talked with Chef Zheng, the more they hit it off. She even went to the stove on the spot and demonstrated her own cooking skills.
Chef Zheng felt An Juexiao had real talent, so he accepted her as his apprentice.
When Chef Zheng left, An Juexiao personally saw him to the door as a sign of respect.
News that An Juexiao had taken a master quickly reached Gu Zhanran.
“You are something else, managing to become Chef Zheng’s apprentice,” Gu Zhanran said with a smile. “There was once a chef who came to his door and begged for a whole month, but still could not get in.”
Lying on the sofa and rubbing her stomach, An Juexiao said smugly, “Maybe it is because I am naturally gifted. Hehe. It is always good to have a practical skill. If one day I stop being an actress, I can still start a new career.”
She said it lightly, but to Gu Zhanran it carried a different weight. Was An Juexiao so lacking in a sense of security that she was already preparing other paths for herself?
“This was seriously the best meal I have ever had. Thank you so much!” An Juexiao said. “Once I learn a few signature dishes from Master, I will cook for you myself.”
Gu Zhanran smiled. “Alright, I will wait for your surprise.”
Beaming, An Juexiao said frankly, “Meeting you is already the biggest surprise of all!”
That straight shot caught Gu Zhanran completely off guard. The corner of his lips lifted, as if a beam of light had blossomed there.
But no one had expected that the very next day, An Juexiao’s name would trend.
Sleeping Her Way Up, 818 on an Actress in Director Zhang’s New Film
The exposé directly named An Juexiao, claiming that she had relied on a sugar daddy to parachute into the Three Realms production, squeezing out the original actress cast as Witch Qing. It then claimed that she had also entered Director Zhang’s new production as the third female lead, and that for a newcomer with no achievements at all to get into a major company like Yaohui, what else could it be if not sleeping her way in?
The post included a photo of An Juexiao politely seeing her “sugar daddy” off to his car.
The photo was very blurry. One could only vaguely make out An Juexiao’s face, the sponsor’s rather solid build, and the Bugatti Veyron logo on the luxury car.
There were endless exposés in the entertainment industry every day, but posts that named names so directly were rare. The gossip-hungry crowd was instantly fired up.
An Juexiao’s Weibo exploded at once.
The first to react were the fans of Sang Jie, the actress originally cast as Witch Qing.
“This is too much. Do they think our Jiejie has no fans? Some thirty-sixth-tier nobody dares bully her like this?”
“I am seriously furious!! I hate trash like this who steals other people’s opportunities through connections!”
“It is people like this who ruin the entertainment industry! Trash people make trash productions! Boycott Three Realms! Boycott this nobody!”
“I really love this kind of blunt exposé that names names directly! No need to guess, so satisfying!”
Abuse flooded in from every direction, and it was completely one-sided, because An Juexiao had no fans at all. There was no chance of fan wars breaking out.
An Juexiao held her phone and looked at it for a long while. Afraid she might not be able to handle it, Zhang Xiaowan comforted her, “Block it out. Do not read this stuff for now. Sister Xi will handle it.”
Calmly, An Juexiao said, “Looks like I am about to become famous.”
Author’s note: Other people have “how many good little sisters do you have,” but for the male lead it is “how many fifty-cent coins do you actually have.”