After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 21

Ji Youyi had claimed she wouldn’t work overtime anymore, but harsh reality offered no choice.

The office lease was running out, and the recording studio’s schedule was set in stone. During the final stages of editing, they still ended up pulling three consecutive all-nighters in the editing suite.

Before clocking out, the editor, so sleep-deprived her mind was foggy and her feet felt like they were floating, grabbed Ji Youyi’s hand in pure admiration. “Director Ji, I’ve learned so much following you this past week. I don’t even know how to thank you.”

Ji Youyi was also exhausted to the bone, but she didn’t forget to network for her career. “No need to thank me. If you have any suitable gigs in the future, just recommend me. I’m not picky about the project size.” As long as it pays.

“You’re already a director, yet you still want to do editing?” The editor was dumbfounded.

“It’s all about putting food on the table. It doesn’t matter what kind of bowl you use.”

The editor secretly understood. Looking at Ji Youyi’s style and clothing, and considering Meng Xingshu picked her up from work every day, there was no way she was strapped for cash.

Yet, she chose to work as a director and editor for such a small project. Why? It could only be out of a pure love for art!

This was the true spirit of a master!

“No problem!” Inspired and deeply moved, the editor’s exhausted voice instantly regained its vigor. She bid an affectionate farewell to Ji Youyi. “Director Ji, I’ll head out first then. I wish you two absolute happiness and bliss! I will support you guys forever!”

Who is “you guys”?

Ji Youyi was utterly baffled. With one eyelid twitching from exhaustion, she accepted this rather bizarre blessing anyway.

After seeing the editor off, Ji Youyi patted her empty stomach. She grabbed a disposable paper cup and drank three cups of warm water from the dispenser. Once her stomach felt a bit better, she immediately rushed over to the recording studio.

The total runtime of Bones of Noble Splendor was 400 minutes. Considering the actors’ skills were severely limited and using their original voices would heavily impact the audience’s viewing experience, voice actors were hired for the vast majority of the roles.

Among the main characters, only Ji Youyi herself (voicing Ning Li) and the second female lead, Li Anran (voicing Princess Qingyan), dubbed their own characters.

The professional voice actors were far more efficient than the live action cast, rarely making mistakes, and the recording progressed at lightning speed.

On the 16th, post-production was fully completed.

Under normal circumstances, the final cut would be shared with the rest of the main crew so everyone could download, crop, and build their personal portfolios.

But Ji Youyi was in no hurry to send it out.

She planned to wait until the censorship review was finished and all the work was completely wrapped up. Then, she would simply dump the cloud drive link and make a clean break.

This would prevent anyone from noticing something amiss, asking endless questions, or crying tears of regret.

The review process meant sending the final cut to the State Administration of Radio and Television for approval. Only after passing and obtaining a distribution license could the drama be broadcast online. If any modifications were required, the crew would have to rework it.

Aside from the broadcasting bureau, the final cut also had to be sent to the video platforms. If the platform had any suggestions during purchasing, it would also need edits.

However, reviewing films took time. Even if changes were needed, it would be a week from now.

Ji Youyi finally had a few days of free time, so she immediately headed toward the Film and Television City.

After a month of draining resources, her loan interest had increased by another eighty thousand yuan. Her hands held only outgoing cash with nothing coming in, leaving her with just a few pitiful coins in her pocket.

During the days she stayed overnight in the office, she didn’t even dare to buy a single breakfast.

The 500,000 yuan sent by Yeye left only 400,000 after taxes, all of which had been funneled straight into her account to pay off debts, she couldn’t take out a single cent. To earn money for food, she had to find odd jobs at the Film and Television City.

Ji Youyi’s initial thought was to find a short drama crew and apply as a director.

She had just finished shooting Bones of Noble Splendor. Although she wouldn’t get a credit, it was still a decent resume for the less discerning short drama industry, more than enough to qualify her.

Furthermore, a director’s pay within a crew was relatively higher. She could negotiate with the client to forego a salary in exchange for them renting a proper, long-term hotel room for her, allowing her to move out of the Lingxing dormitory.

The dorm was nice, but living there for free with such a thick skin wasn’t a sustainable solution.

City D offered more opportunities than City S. She planned to stay in City D to look for work until all her debts were paid off.

Through a mutual acquaintance’s recommendation, Ji Youyi contacted a production company.

The other party indeed had several projects looking for directors, so they scheduled an in person meeting at their company.

Calling it a company was generous, it was actually just a rented office room in a commercial building. The interior decor consisted of simple, whitewashed walls and two rows of office desks.

The boss met Ji Youyi, and his very first question was: “A hundred thousand yuan investment. Can you shoot it?”

It was as if her directorial ability didn’t matter at all; as long as Ji Youyi said yes, they could sign the contract on the spot.

Sensing something was off, Ji Youyi said, “I need to see the script first.”

The boss waved the back of his hand, signaling her to look at the documents on the desk.

The company indeed had quite a few projects, with folders piled like a small mountain on the table. Ji Youyi started from the very top one and read through them carefully, one by one.

The plot outlines were utterly generic, so she flipped directly to the first episode.

[Episode 1]

Location: Paris First People’s Hospital

Ji Youyi: ?

She closed the folder and moved to the next one.

[A luxurious Maybach pulls up in front of the City Hall. The man stepping out of the car is exceptionally handsome, and the onlookers begin to scream.]

Lu Renjia: Look, look! He’s the newly appointed Mayor! So handsome!

A mayor living right under the nose of the Discipline Inspection Commission, impressive, truly impressive.

Next one.

[△ Inside a lavishly decorated private hospital, Ouyang Haomen is anxiously waiting for the DNA test results.]

Ouyang Piaoxue (throws down the test sheet, clutching her head and screaming) No! How could I not be the biological daughter of the Ouyang family?!

Ouyang Haomen (picks up the test sheet, hands trembling) The DNA match rate… is actually, actually 0!

Ji Youyi flipped back to the synopsis, utterly bewildered. There wasn’t even a sci-fi tag, how did a literal percentage element transform into a human drama?

Next one.

By the time she finished reading all the projects, Ji Youyi didn’t know if a hundred thousand yuan could shoot them, but she temporarily abandoned the idea of applying as a director.

Facts proved that even slightly better projects had already been picked clean. Lacking fame, she could only scavenge what was left.

A poor script wasn’t the root issue, the issue lay in the attitude of the client behind these low-quality scripts.

Ji Youyi considered herself a good teacher, it didn’t matter if a crew’s foundation was weak, as long as it could be polished. But would they allow her to polish it?

Absolutely not.

A hundred thousand yuan investment wasn’t aimed at creating a masterpiece.

They made money through a lottery ticket model. All they wanted was speed and low costs, placing massive quantities of bets, waiting for one lucky break to recoup everything at once.

What this required was the exact directorial style she had fortunately observed on the set of The Cruel Tyrant’s Palm Sized Pet, which was to have no style at all, only formulas.

The ultimate truth is simple, but her cultivation was too low. She had better go back to being a professional malicious female supporting character.

Ji Youyi left the company, scrolling through crew casting notices on her phone while rushing toward the Film and Television City, hoping to prioritize a job she could start working on today.

S City, Changfeng Bay No. 1, Main Mansion of the Meng Residence

Soft misty pink and pearl white together decorated a bright, beautiful princess room. Meng Xiao, wearing a slightly disheveled light pink silk nightgown, her seaweed like long hair cascading over her shoulders, leaned into Meng Yuting’s embrace, her eyes swollen from crying.

“My sweet Xiaoxiao, don’t be afraid, Mom is here,” Meng Yuting gently patted the girl’s back, coaxing her softly. “She tripped and injured herself, scaring our baby. Mom will fire her in a moment.”

She looked at the servants in the room, her expression instantly turning cold and harsh. “Move faster, get her out of here.”

By the dressing table, a servant lay collapsed over a floor covered in shattered glass. Covered in clothing, no injuries were visible on her body, but her cheeks were severely swollen, her lips bled, and her scalp was torn open, causing bright red blood to stream heavily down her face.

Meng Yuting withdrew her gaze coldly and ordered someone to bring sanitizing wipes.

Meng Xiao’s hands and nightgown were stained with blood. Meng Yuting wiped her face with a tissue, then patiently wiped her hands. “She made our baby all dirty. Go change into a pretty dress. Your sister is arriving home soon, and we need to take photos later, right?”

Hearing the word “sister,” Meng Xiao’s chest heaved.

It was precisely because of that person that she had been losing her temper so much these past few days.

Meng Xingshu still had the nerve to come back? She actually remembered to return! She thought Meng Xingshu had forgotten her roots long ago!

She couldn’t remember which year it started, but Meng Xingshu had become less and less obedient.

Either she was filming out of town or running campaigns abroad, in short, she could always find an excuse not to come home!

She had already been back in the country for a month, yet she hadn’t managed to meet Meng Xingshu. The marketing plan they had settled on early kept getting pushed back again and again because Meng Xingshu claimed she was busy.

As it turned out, she had no time to stoke the hype for her, but plenty of time to accompany a colleague to report to the police!

Meng Xiao had also scrolled past that video from half a month ago. Looking at the two people embracing in the frame made her want to laugh. Netizens were actually discussing whether it was a romance.

A romance?

How could it be. Meng Xingshu was merely a dog raised by her family. Did she even deserve to fall in love?

Meng Xiao was so furious her face almost contorted, but she didn’t want to show it in front of her mother. She could only tightly clutch her nightgown, the cute charms on her manicured nails snagging and tearing the silk.

She blinked, putting on a joyful appearance, her sweet, soft voice carrying a hint of hoarseness from her previous screaming. “Is she really coming? You said she would come pick me up the day I returned to the country, too.”

In the end, only that disgusting guy showed up. His status wasn’t even as high as Meng Xingshu’s, yet he brought endless trouble, and she still had to cooperate and pretend they were sweetly in love!

Meng Yuting said lovingly, “Why would I lie to you? She’s already downstairs.”

Meng Xiao nodded vigorously, stood up, and spun around playfully. “I’ll go change my clothes!”

Seeing her daughter’s cute appearance, Meng Yuting couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, change slowly. Mom will wait for you downstairs.”

Outside the door, Meng Xingshu handed over her personal belongings to the security guard. After undergoing a body search, she stepped into the main building. Just as she entered the living room, she saw two servants supporting a person covered in blood toward the back door.

She had been adopted by the Meng family for eighteen years. Over those eighteen years, similar situations were not uncommon.

Meng Xiao was Meng Yuting’s only daughter.

Back then, when the real estate bubble in H Province burst, a pregnant Meng Yuting had fled alone to S City to start anew. Her daughter was her sole companion during those difficult years.

Coupled with Meng Xiao’s frail health in her childhood, Meng Yuting had pampered her in every possible way, spoiling her into a violent and tyrannical personality.

The Meng family hired servants not just to manage their daily lives, but more so to serve as outlets for Meng Xiao to beat and abuse to vent her anger.

Because the injuries, no matter how severe, were never fatal, Meng Yuting would pay the medical bills to treat them, throw in a massive sum of hush money, and the matter would blow over.

The Meng mother and daughter had not yet arrived. Meng Xingshu stood quietly in the living room waiting, her eyes slightly vacant, seemingly lost in thought.

The sound of Meng Yuting’s footsteps echoed from the stairs.