I was criticized on a dating reality show, but I retaliated and became an internet sensation.

Gu Yan did post photos of lunch, but there were two pictures.

Her gaze unconsciously fell on the picture above.

A photo of Gu Yan's abs.

!!!

Shu Zi's hand trembled, and she almost threw her phone away.

"You reported it to me, but why did you send me these kinds of photos?!"

Gu Yan spoke calmly from the other end of the screen, "Baby, why don't you scroll up a bit more?"

Shu Zi scrolled up as instructed, and then she saw the message she had sent before going to bed last night:

"Your girlfriend's battery has run out and she's automatically shut down. Please do not disturb her. To wake her up, please send a picture of her abs tomorrow to request a restart. Goodnight~"

Shu Zi: "..."

She stared at the message for a full three seconds, her mind completely blank.

Did she really post this?

How exhausted must she have been to do something like that...?

As Gu Yan watched her expression gradually freeze on the other side of the screen, the corners of his mouth widened in a smile:

"How did it go? Was the application approved?"

Shu Zi took a deep breath, held the phone upright, and tried to make her voice sound calm:

"...Approved. Continue to maintain this service standard."

Gu Yan chuckled softly: "So, are you still applying tomorrow?"

Shu Zi's ears burned, but she still forced herself to reply, "It depends on how you do."

After saying that, he quickly lowered his head and ate a mouthful of rice, pretending that he was very busy.

After chewing a couple of times, she looked up again and changed the subject: "Are you busy today?"

Gu Yan was silent for a moment, then said, "Baby, I have something to tell you."

"Um?"

Shu Zi slowed her chewing and looked up at him: "What is it?"

Gu Yan was silent for a moment, then said, "I have to go abroad tomorrow; I have some work to take care of."

Shu Zi put down her chopsticks and looked at him: "How long will you be gone?"

"It's not certain yet, at least four weeks."

Shu Zi paused for a moment, then lowered her head and poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke:

"...It's been that long."

She paused, then looked up at him again. "Is it dangerous?"

Looking at her expression, Gu Yan softened his voice a bit: "It's not dangerous, it's a small matter. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

Shu Zi nodded and forced a smile:

"It's okay, work is the priority. I'm busy here too, filming every day, time flies by."

Gu Yan hummed in agreement, his gaze lingering on her face through the screen, and said nothing more.

Shu Zi ate two more mouthfuls of rice, then put down her chopsticks and gestured with her chin at him:

"Alright, you go ahead and get busy. I need to prepare for my afternoon shoot too."

Gu Yan nodded: "Okay, text me when you're done with work tonight."

"Okay." Shu Zi waved to him and hung up the video call.

The carriage fell silent.

She stared at the black screen for a few seconds, let out a soft breath, patted her face, picked up the script, and turned to the page where they were supposed to film that afternoon.

The afternoon's scenes were mainly filmed with Qi Yu.

After several scenes together, Qi Yu was in good form, delivering his lines and emotions perfectly, and occasionally even improvising small details without the director calling "cut."

Shu Zi had to admit that although Qi Yu looked like a younger brother who hadn't grown up, he was a completely different person when he stood in front of the camera, and his professionalism was impeccable.

After finishing her afternoon scenes, Shu Zi greeted Qi Yu and instead of going straight back to the RV to rest, she went around to Qu Xuan's filming area.

The two arranged to rehearse together on WeChat after work at noon, and she thought she would go and wait for her first.

As a result, they could see from afar that Qu Xuan was still standing in front of the camera and behind the monitor, and the director's expression was already not right.

The fourth female lead's scene had to be reshot six times in a row. Either her positioning was off, her emotions weren't right, or she lost control of her facial expressions.

The director, suppressing his anger, explained the scene to her, but instead, her eyes reddened, and she looked as if she had suffered a great injustice.

The atmosphere on set visibly became heavy.

Qu Xuan was patient, accompanying them one by one without showing any impatience.

Shu Zi walked to the side, took a sip of water, turned her head, and asked Fang Zhizi in a low voice:

"Was this the fourth female lead before? I don't think it was her."

Fang Zhizi leaned closer, covered her mouth with her hand, and said mysteriously:

"They've changed people. The original one was replaced before the machine was turned on. This one was brought in from Mr. Zhang's side. Her name is Lin Man."

Shu Zi raised an eyebrow: "Were you stuffed in?"

Fang Zhizi nodded and explained in a low voice:

"I heard that Mr. Zhang has some connections with the producer, so he bypassed Director Fei and talked to the producer directly."

"By the time Director Fei found out, the person had already been signed and the contract was signed. He couldn't just cancel the contract, so he had to reluctantly use the person."

"However, I heard from the props team leader that Director Fei said that if the performance is good, the scenes will be kept, but if the performance is not good, the scenes will be cut in post-production, and no one can plead for it."

After listening, Shu Zi looked at Fang Zhizi with a puzzled expression: "How do you know so much?"

Fang Zhizi puffed out her chest, looking smug:

"I've practically become a regular on set these past few days. What gossip wouldn't I know about every department?"

"The props team leader also told me that this woman had an argument with the production assistant on her first day on set because she complained that the chair prepared for her wasn't soft enough."

Shu Zi's lips twitched: "...You're really something."

Fang Zhizi chuckled:

"Of course! I'm just checking things out for you beforehand, so you don't get ambushed on set without even knowing it."

Shu Zi patted her on the shoulder: "With your level of awareness, it would be unreasonable not to give you a raise."

Fang Zhizi's eyes lit up, and she clasped her hands together:

"Sister Zizi, I love you! In the next life, and the life after that, and the life after that, I'll still be your assistant!"

Shu Zi withdrew her hand, looking at her with a helpless expression:

"Can't we aim for something higher? Like becoming a top agent or something, instead of always dreaming of being my assistant in the next life."

Fang Zhizi blinked, thought seriously for a moment, and then answered in a very serious tone:

"No way, being a top agent is too tiring. It's much easier to be your assistant. I can just watch the drama unfold every day and even get to ship couples up close."

Shu Zi gave her a speechless look: "...You're hopeless."

She glanced at the situation on set for a while, then capped her water glass and tilted her head towards Fang Zhizi:

"I'll be right there."

Fang Zhizi was taken aback: "Sister Zizi, where are you going?"

Shu Zi didn't answer. She walked straight to the director, squatted down in front of the monitor, and said:

"Director Fei, how about we put this scene on hold for now? I think Sister Qu is still holding up, but Lin Man's scene might need a break."

"It just so happens that I can film my next scene with Sister Qu first, so that Lin Man can adjust her emotions and we can finish her part later. Maybe that will be even better."

Director Fei glanced at her, hesitated for two seconds, then looked at Lin Man, whose eyes were still red in the center of the room, and finally nodded:

"Okay, let's film the scene with you and Qu Xuan first."

He called out to them, "Lin Man, go down and rest for twenty minutes to adjust."