Actor: Thank you.

"Why are you here?"

Emerging from the smoking hotel, Yang Mi, dressed in cartoon-patterned pajamas and covered with a blanket, spotted Zhang Yuan before she could even stand properly.

There was no way around it; that stubble and those melancholy eyes were truly dazzling, like the brightest star in the night sky.

Zhang Yuan shook his head helplessly.

He knows it!

Once Yang Mi recognizes him, things will become difficult to handle today.

He had planned everything meticulously, but he hadn't anticipated that this guy was also on the film set.

Yes!

This wretched place is only frequented by fools and greedy people.

In the entire entertainment industry, very few are more greedy for money than Yang Mi.

This person is known for saying that "whether the people are in place depends on whether the money is in place."

As long as the pay is right and the work isn't too outrageous, there's almost no job I won't take.

The key is that her physical strength, energy, and endurance far exceed those of ordinary people; this is innate.

Besides foreign stars, this film also relies on Chinese artists to fool domestic audiences.

It has been announced that Alec Su, Hu Jun, and Yang Mi will all star in the film.

No, you really came!
The other two are nowhere to be seen.

"Come to my room later to discuss it in detail," Zhang Yuan said in a low voice.

With her around, it's difficult for me to carry out my plans.

I can't just abandon her, can I?
Although she had cried and made a scene before, and even ran away from her own home.

But he couldn't bring himself to completely turn his back on someone.

Sigh, I'm still too kind.

But if we were to try to control her, that would be troublesome.

If those two foreigners were allowed to escape now, they would surely be discovered at daybreak.

This would alert the enemy.

That's why he quickly called a halt to the plan.

If we can't handle the situation with those two foreigners, we can just lose face and talk to Ellison Films.

If Yang Mi can't handle it, and something else happens...

But Zhang Yuan thought they could chat alone later, and the girl got all excited.

"Oh, we're not even that close."

"How could I, an actress, go to your room in the middle of the night? That's too inappropriate." Yang Mi said, then crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

Zhang Yuan: …

He really wanted to slap the other person's buttocks.

But not at this time.

"Okay." He replied as briefly as possible to avoid arousing suspicion from the investors.

The fire was small and quickly went out, and everyone returned to the hotel to rest.

The two foreigners were dumbfounded.

It wasn't about rescuing the two of us.

Why did they pull us back again?

What are you playing?

I almost lost my mind.

I was already having a hard time eating and sleeping in this lousy production crew, and I couldn't even leave.

It's clear there's a big problem with the production team; they're only shooting a few scenes each day.

Because they weren't paid, they couldn't find extras. Often, after getting their makeup done on set, they would wait until dark without filming a single scene, then remove their makeup and go home.

Foreigners aren't stupid; they know this show is over and it's not a legitimate production.

But they were unfamiliar with the place and didn't speak the language.

Not only was my passport confiscated, but someone is also watching me every day.

Even if you bypass the people monitoring you, it won't help.

After Zhang Yuan got out of the car, he walked along a mountain path for a while before arriving at the film set. You expect two foreigners with no equipment to run out of the woods on their own?

They're all likely to die in the mountains!

Just desperate.

Anyone who didn't know better would think they'd stumbled into a pyramid scheme.

Zhang Yuan returned to his room, intending to make new plans.

After settling down, I made a phone call to Yang Mi.

"What do you want? What do you, a stranger, want from me?" the other person said irritably as soon as they answered the phone.

"Be careful, the walls may be listening," Zhang Yuan immediately warned.

"I'm asking you, who got you this job on the film set?"

If Zeng Jia had answered the call, Zhang Yuan planned to go back and chop that woman up.

"What's it to you..."

"Your business is my business. Now listen carefully, you'll answer whatever I ask!"

Seeing Zhang Yuan's sudden hardening attitude, Yang Mi, a quick-witted girl, realized that this was not a joke or a display of temper, so she sat up straight.

Besides, he said my business is his business...

"I found them myself... They contacted me through an artist agency, and after I had my assistant communicate with them, they came."

"Hmm." Zhang Yuan knew what was going on.

This girl's contract with Rongxingda recently expired, and she hasn't signed with a new company yet, so she's temporarily "working independently."

Without a powerful backer, there is no complete personnel system to coordinate effectively.

In any case, Zeng Jia escaped a calamity, at least she didn't have to take Zhang Yuan's iron fist.

Running a small business without a plan, and being greedy for money...

"What's the contract between you and the other party?"

"50 yuan for a week's filming," Yang Mi replied somewhat dejectedly.

This price is good.

The Yang Mi we know now is the Yang Mi from "Chinese Paladin 3".

She wasn't the top-tier actress who later starred in "Palace" and "Tiny Times".

His net worth isn't bad, but he's not that strong either.

She's around a second-tier actress, far inferior to top stars like Ruby Lin and Fan Bingbing.

This offer was enough to entice her to make the trip.

Earning that much in a week? Others might ask to see the script first.

She doesn't need to. She's already juggling multiple projects, why would she care about the scripts?
Focus only on the profit per unit of efficiency.

Then, Zhang Yuan asked the most important question.

"Actually?"

"Sigh... They haven't even given me the 100,000 yuan deposit. It's been over two weeks, and they still say the filming isn't finished," Yang Mi replied helplessly.

Zhang Yuan shook his head slightly. This is the consequence of only caring about money.

"I understand." He didn't scold him, because there was no point in saying anything now.

"Ugh..." Yang Mi did not answer, but only made a nasal sound before falling silent.

"I'll find a way to take you away tomorrow," Zhang Yuan said in the shortest possible terms.

"Don't show any signs of leaving. Keep your things, don't pack them up."

"At worst, I'll just throw it away and buy a new one."

"That won't do!" Yang Mi retorted, "I haven't received the money yet!"

"We can't work for nothing, can we?"

Zhang Yuan almost laughed out of anger, but he held it in.

"I just saw you, and your face looked a little swollen."

"The lighting was bad, I couldn't see clearly, what's wrong?" he changed the subject and asked.

"It's due to makeup. I'm playing a mermaid, and the special effects makeup involves sticking silicone props onto my face."

"I don't know if it's from being stuffy or what, but it's a bit red and swollen."

Zhang Yuan had a rough idea, because just how shady was this production crew?

The glue used for special effects makeup is industrial glue...

In any case, he didn't treat anyone like a human being, which is very consistent with the background of an investor from the real estate industry.

Years ago, when I worked in a company that handled toxic or hazardous materials, they didn't even provide me with a mask.

Buy the cheapest helmets possible, the kind that crack if dropped.

What do I care if the workers get pneumoconiosis or cancer in the future... These bosses are all like this.

“I don’t care about anything else, but your body is reacting. What if your face has problems? How will you film in the future?” Zhang Yuan advised.

He felt that ever since Yang Mi had argued with him last time, he had softened his heart towards her a lot.

As expected, a woman's crying, tantrums, and threats of suicide are effective.

"That money..."

"I'll get it for you," Zhang Yuan said, offering to help.

"Oh...so." Yang Mi finally asked.

"You came to this film set to find me?"

Zhang Yuan: …

No, it was just a coincidence... But saying it like that doesn't seem quite right.

It broke the girl's heart.

I'm still too kind.

So he replied in this way.

"I ate until I was stuffed before I drove over a thousand kilometers to find you in the deep mountains and forests."

"Then what are you here for?"

"Inspecting the film crew."

"Can't you just admit you came to see me?" Yang Mi retorted.

I guessed she was clever, so I said the opposite of what I meant, which allowed me to take advantage of her intelligence.

This means I predicted that you predicted my prediction.

"No, absolutely not." "Then I'm perfectly fine staying here." This guy got even more enthusiastic.

"Alright, alright, I guess I came here to see you."

"What do you mean by 'consider it'? Do you have to say it like that?"

"If you acted like this in anime or games, you'd be called a tsundere!"

These days, the "tsundere" attitude hasn't faded away; Rie Kugimiya is still being asked to swear by fans at her concerts.

As a well-known surfing girl in the entertainment industry, Yang Mi had played games before filming "Chinese Paladin", so she knows a lot about them.

"Get some rest first, and watch my lead tomorrow." Zhang Yuan didn't say much more before hanging up the phone.

"Hmph, you care about me if you want to?"

"You've come all this way, and you still won't admit it."

"Men are so strange." After throwing down her phone, Yang Mi fell backward and landed on the bed.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

Actually, she never left. Besides not receiving her payment, the other party also kept withholding her money.

If a production team finally has a well-known celebrity, shouldn't they make the most of them?
Even foreigners can see there's something wrong with the production crew, how could she not see it?

But she was smarter and didn't show any signs of nervousness about running away.

Even though they know the other party won't let them leave, they deliberately act very compliant to lower their guard.

Meanwhile, we await the start of filming for the next production.

They'll use that as an excuse to run away and never come back.

The best outcome is that you cooperate and the other party settles the payment.

The compliance and relaxation are all an act.

She was only in her early twenties at the time, but she had been working for more than ten years and was very experienced.

But to say that you wouldn't be afraid if you encountered this would be nonsense.

But the moment she saw Zhang Yuan, she felt 8% of the pressure go away.

Because she knew that by the time Master Zhang arrived, it would be dawn.

He will definitely be able to get me away.

This unconditional trust struck her as strange.

They clearly planned to never see each other again, to slowly forget each other, and to move on.

But feelings can be suppressed, but they will never disappear.

Keeping things bottled up will only make the next outburst even stronger.

Moreover, people are strange creatures because of their contrasts.

A seemingly cheerful and outgoing young man may be secretly depressed.

An office worker who appears harmless on the surface may turn into a violent criminal in the next instant.

Yang Mi, on the other hand, was the kind of child who was exceptionally capable from a young age.

When she was the class monitor in elementary school, if the boys in her class didn't line up properly, she would go up and kick them.

If anyone dares to pull her braid, she'll slap them across the face on the spot.

Bold and capable.

Yet, it is precisely this kind of person who knows how to be humble and subservient under the high-pressure environment of a film crew.

At the same time, beneath her strong female lead exterior lies a heart that longs to be cared for and pampered.

This is like those people who seem confident, but are actually insecure at their core.

For example, Huang Xiaoming, the so-called greasy, domineering CEO, is actually a side effect of his imitation and the pretense of being extremely confident.

Actually, Xiaoming is a person who is somewhat insecure deep down.

Teacher Guo, who criticizes everyone and is highly aggressive, actually has an inferiority complex deep down.

On the contrary, Sisi, who is humble and seemingly reserved, is actually very confident at heart.

Brother Qian also owns this style.

The human mind and body are often opposites.

People who put their words into practice are a minority; the majority are those whose words and actions do not match.

Yang Mi held her phone to her chest and soon fell asleep peacefully...

The next day, Zhang Yuan got up quite early.

They had to rethink their "escape plan" with Brother Long.

"The Yang one has been used up and cannot be used again."

"How did they react yesterday?"

"Amateur." Brother Long summed up the level of the other party's monitor with just two simple words.

"That'll be easy."

Zhang Yuan snapped his fingers.

Not long after, he arrived at the film set.

Upon arrival, there was a strong, pungent smell of banana oil.

The scene was clearly newly built; it was a place resembling a sea temple, and the paint had just dried.

Moreover, the materials used were very cheap, and Zhang Yuan felt his eyes hurt from the stench after staying there for a while.

Good thing!

Use that as an excuse.

But this excuse isn't for myself.

Zhang Yuan met Olga Kurylenko, the lead actress who had been lured in with a $100 million fee.

This woman's eyes were lifeless.

I thought they were coming to open up the Chinese market, but now I think it's better to close the Chinese market as soon as possible...

Zhang Yuan didn't even follow his usual approach of making more friends and having more options, and instead went up to talk to him.

I just passed by quietly.

This is none of my business; let's not complicate things.

He waited for several hours before Mr. Jiang finally arrived, arm in arm with his girlfriend.

I led him around the film set, and it was already noon.

"Mr. Jiang, what do you think of the remuneration I mentioned yesterday?"

"That won't do. I advise you, as a young person, to study more."

"After becoming famous in our crew, there will be plenty of opportunities to make money."

Zhang Yuan cursed inwardly, "Trying to fool me with the same tricks you use to fool interns?"
"To be honest, there was a huge fire last night, and I almost burned to death."

"This place is far too unsafe."

"The film set smelled terrible everywhere. Forget about acting, I just walked around and my throat felt itchy."

"If you're willing to pay a price, I'll tolerate it."

"We live in an economic society now, so let's not talk about abstract concepts."

"Since you think my price is not right, then you should look for someone else."

"Young people shouldn't talk about money so easily, or they'll suffer a great loss later," General Manager Jiang was spouting nonsense.

"Then there's no way."

"How about this, I think the scenery around here is nice, I'll go for a walk and have some fun, you can also think about it one last time."

Zhang Yuan deliberately left an opening and a glimmer of hope; nothing is absolute.

He needs to cover the target's escape first.

Meanwhile, Brother Long found the two foreigners.

The assistant found Yang Mi.

The two foreigners used the excuse of eye and respiratory problems to say they needed to go back and rest for the afternoon.

Yang Mi showed her swollen face and said she needed to go back to rest and apply medicine.

The scene was indeed chaotic, and the smell was certainly pungent.

In addition, Zhang Yuan had just used this as an excuse to say that the production team was bad. It seemed like he wanted to ask for more money, but in reality, it was a cover-up to make these people's excuses seem reasonable.

However, the "security" hired by the production crew remained cautious, refusing to let people return to their hotels and only allowing them to rest in the dressing room set up on set.

"What should we do?" Brother Long asked.

"How many people are in the dressing room? How many people are guarding it? Is the security tight?"

"It's not very strict, just two or three people watching over it."

"Furthermore, there is a hidden path near the film crew that leads directly outside. We asked a local old farmer about it."

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment.

"Prepare three large suitcases!"

"Understood!" Without needing to say another word, Brother Long knew what he wanted the suitcase for.

Pretending to be human!

They have plenty of suitcases; there are more than a dozen of them coming together, so they have a lot of suitcases.

First, they deliberately pushed in several large boxes, each containing a pair of pants or similar items.

Zhang Yuan personally took photos near the film set, acting as if it were an opportunity not to be missed.

He turned around and threw everything away, emptying the box so that the two foreigners and Yang Mi could hide inside.

The two foreigners had a tough time; they almost couldn't zip up their jackets.

Although Yang Mi was "big", he had a small frame and was very agile.

After everything was prepared, they pretended to go outside.

"I think the scenery in the woods over there is quite nice. Before I wander around, I'll go take a few pictures there first."

He then instructed several bodyguards to drag the suitcases outside.

And so, in broad daylight, they tried to take the person out of the film set.

This is called "the darkest place is under the lamp"!
Stricter management at night leads to less manpower during the day.

We were almost at the path.

But at that moment, Mr. Jiang's "representative of the crew," the director of photography, Rao Xiaobing, suddenly appeared.

"Where are you going?" the man asked, glancing at the suitcase with ill intent.

"These boxes are..."

"I think the scenery there is beautiful, so I plan to change into several outfits for the photos."

“Oh…then I’ll come with you.” The other person smiled and followed, “I’m best at photography and videography, I can give you some advice.”

Having said that, he stepped forward... (End of Chapter)