After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 29.1

Ji Youyi’s gaze looked straight ahead, but her sense of touch supplemented her missing field of vision. Over her short sleeves, she wore a thin sun protective jacket, which rubbed against the sleeve of Meng Xingshu’s shirt.

Even though it was merely a shallow contact of fabric, it brought about an illusion akin to skin touching skin, causing Ji Youyi’s heart to skip a beat.

Her fingers holding the tablet tightened unconsciously. Taking advantage of the opportunity to hand the tablet to Li Zhulan, she discreetly leaned her body to the right, turning her legs toward Li Zhulan’s side as well.

Meng Xingshu took a glance at her but didn’t say anything.

“Bamboo, take a look.” Ji Youyi put on a front of concentrating entirely on work. “See if there are any others that look good, and we’ll invite them over together.”

Li Zhulan flipped through a few pages without any objections. However, when she saw the casting for the female lead, she asked in surprise, “Why does the female lead still need to be cast?”

Ji Youyi’s attention was snagged by this bizarre question. “Otherwise, who’s going to play her?”

Herself? Impossible! Ji Youyi had zero desire to be an actress, let alone play the female lead in her own project. Diving into acting and directing conflicted with each other, at most, she would make a cameo appearance to save money. Playing Ning Li previously was only because she truly had no other choice.

Li Zhulan pressed further. “Can’t Teacher Meng play her?”

When Li Zhulan first put pen to paper to write the script, she had subtly asked Meng Xingshu if she could play an important role. At that time, Meng Xingshu had given her a comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons, concluding with the phrase “I’ll defer to Director Ji’s arrangements.” She thought it was a done deal. With days of fantasies shattered, Li Zhulan’s heart broke into pieces.

On this side, Ji Youyi was deeply shocked by Li Zhulan’s delusion.

A producer chartering a plane for location scouting was extravagant enough, but this screenwriter of hers was a heavyweight champion of extravagance.

“What are you thinking? For this kind of low-budget web drama, how could Teacher Meng possibly act in it? Is a Movie Queen someone our small crew can afford?!”

“But isn’t this drama funded by herself?” Li Zhulan asked blankly, putting Meng Xingshu’s previous words into common, simpler terms. “Investing her own money, receiving her own salary, the money is nothing more than moving from her left hand to her right hand. A zero salary appearance could even serve as a promotional gimmick to make the drama sell better.”

Meng Xingshu herself was sitting right next to them watching. Ji Youyi wished she could sew Li Zhulan’s mouth shut. This young girl usually looked silly and only knew how to type out words, so how did she speak with such logical fluency about these matters now?

No, she was analyzing this right in front of the person involved. It sounded calculating and like moral kidnapping, making her look even sillier.

Fearing that Meng Xingshu might be displeased, Ji Youyi rushed ahead to lecture the young screenwriter: “The crucial point isn’t about money, it’s that her status doesn’t allow her to accept it. The entertainment industry judges people based on their rank. For her to transition from the big screen to the small screen, she must naturally accept a massive investment! A major project! Coming to our small crew to carry the beam will make others think she has low standards and is easy to bully…”

As Ji Youyi spoke with earnest words and heartfelt intentions, she unexpectedly heard the person on her left interject.

Meng Xingshu’s voice carried a gentle smile. “Not to that extent. Actually, I only look at the script when accepting a role, nothing else matters.”

Ji Youyi knew Meng Xingshu was merely being polite. Teacher Meng was truly magnanimous! With the stepping stone delivered from that side, she quickly followed it down. “Look at you, you even made Teacher Meng laugh.”

She turned her head toward Meng Xingshu, apologizing on behalf of Li Zhulan. “I’m sorry, Teacher Meng. She just entered the industry and doesn’t understand the situation well. She didn’t mean anything else.”

Meng Xingshu remained silent for a few seconds. “…It’s fine.”

The movie queen didn’t seem angry. Ji Youyi let out a sigh of relief, dragging Li Zhulan to continue looking through the casting choices until it was time for her to relieve Han Lei from driving.

The first half of the journey was mostly driven by Han Lei and Li Zhulan. After ten o’clock at night, Meng Xingshu told them to go to the back seats to rest while she took over the steering wheel herself.

After that minor interlude in the evening, Ji Youyi paid extra attention to Meng Xingshu’s state and noticed that Meng Xingshu’s atmosphere seemed somewhat low. After thinking it over, she massaged her sore buttocks and actively moved to the front passenger seat to serve as a conversational companion for the grand movie queen.

Having been busy from morning till now, Ji Youyi’s head ached intensely. She pressed her temples, choosing to start with rainbow farts to warm up the atmosphere first. “Teacher Meng drives so smoothly. Did you know how to drive since you were a child?”

She knew some rich second-generation kids who loved cars and started playing around with them before they even hit ten years old.

“No. I only learned the year I turned eighteen.”

Ji Youyi praised, “Then it’s been ten years. No wonder your driving skills are so excellent.”

The screenwriter in the back seat possessed an extremely powerful ability of association. Li Zhulan endured it, but ultimately couldn’t hold back. “Director Ji, can you please stop talking nonsense?”

She had sworn an oath before her ancestors’ tablets that she would absolutely never touch fanfiction again before this drama wrapped up! Don’t force her to make a decision that violated her ancestors!

“What nonsense am I talking?” Ji Youyi found it baffling. Her topic starter was excellent! It praised both the person and the family background. Unlike Li Zhulan, who opened her mouth only to take advantage of someone, completely unafraid of offending the client. Think about it carefully, who was she clearing up a mess for by sitting here keeping her company now!

Li Zhulan snorted twice, refusing to answer, and put on her headphones to sleep with her head buried.

Having been busy for several consecutive days, the entire team was in a state of exhaustion. Soon, the two in the back seat tilted their heads, one to the left and one to the right, falling asleep as their breathing gradually grew heavy.

Ji Youyi withdrew her gaze, keeping her voice very light. “Bamboo has been writing the script during this period and hasn’t slept well for two months. I originally didn’t want her to come.”

“Coming out to walk around is quite good; think of it as adjusting her state,” Meng Xingshu also lowered her voice. “Seeing the actual locations more will help her set up plots and dialogue. She comes from a well-off family background and lacks concrete concepts for many things. Once she sees them in reality, her writing will carry more weight. If she wishes to become a master in the future, accumulating experience is very important.”

Ji Youyi nodded. Her head swayed up and down, making her brain ache even more for a moment. She couldn’t help but wrinkle her face.

Meng Xingshu glanced at her. “Sleep for a bit?”

“No.” Ji Youyi propped her cheek with her right hand, looking at Meng Xingshu. She always felt that Meng Xingshu wasn’t quite happy, but it wasn’t convenient to say it directly, so she could only say, “Everyone else is sleeping. If you catch it from them and get sleepy, what if you drive down the wrong road?”

Upon finishing her sentence, she saw Meng Xingshu gently smile. “With you in the car, I won’t.”

The scorching summer cooled down in the early hours of the morning. Ji Youyi stared blankly at the curve of Meng Xingshu’s lips, feeling as if she were seeing a gentle night. Along with the cold air delivered by the air conditioner, a familiar fragrance drifted into her sleeves, lingering around her arms.

Feeling slightly unnatural, she tugged at the air conditioning blanket over her knees, turned her face back, and stared ahead.

The car headlights illuminated the pitch-black night as the vehicle sped along the highway, carrying them together toward the next chapter of their lives. A chapter of life where they would likely spend days and nights together for several months.

Turning the air conditioning up a bit higher, Meng Xingshu asked her softly, “Do you want to listen to some music?”

“No thanks.”

Ji Youyi pulled the blanket higher, covering her shoulders, and turned her body toward the car window. Upon closing her eyes, she suddenly felt a tinge of regret. She should have let Meng Xingshu play something.

She needed some gentle rhythm to slow down her accelerating heartbeat.

When Ji Youyi woke up again, the sky was already bright.

Moving her stiff limbs, she heard Li Zhulan clamoring from the back seat: “Xiao Ji is awake! Quick, quick, quick, bread, bread, I’m starving to death.”

Following that was the sound of Han Lei unzipping her backpack and pulling out bread, the plastic packaging rustling loudly.

Ji Youyi found it amusing. “If you’re hungry, just eat. Why care about me sleeping?”

“Ai, because I want to!” Li Zhulan stuffed a bag of bread and a bottle of water over.

Ji Youyi unscrewed the bottle cap, took a sip, and looked out at the street scenery outside the window, realizing they had actually already exited the highway.

“Are we almost there?” Ji Youyi looked at Meng Xingshu, thoroughly shocked. “Don’t tell me you drove the whole night without pulling into a service area to rest? Can your body handle it?”

What kind of iron woman is this? A natural-born acting body, most suited for tossing around everywhere with a film crew.

Meng Xingshu glanced at the navigation. “It’s fine. There’s about fifteen minutes left of the drive. Eat slowly.”

Fifteen minutes was hardly enough time to be slow, it was urgent. Once they got out of the car, they would have to exchange official pleasantries with people, leaving no time to even pause for a breath.

Ji Youyi buried her head to rummage through the bag on her knees, picking out a small bread that felt pillowy soft, tearing it into two halves. She ate one half herself, tasting it to find the flavor was quite mediocre, but it was better than nothing. Hesitating for a moment, she still stuffed the other half into the driver’s mouth.

She was highly confident in her agility, her movement was so fast that the person being fed was caught completely off guard.

As expected, Meng Xingshu didn’t say much and ate the bread.

Ji Youyi tore open two more, repeating the action, and Meng Xingshu obediently ate them all.

During the past period, Ji Youyi had been monitored by Meng Xingshu to eat meals every single day. Now, the tables had turned. Finding entertainment in this, the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily.

Just as she was enthusiastically about to tear open a fourth one, she heard Han Lei speak gloomily from the back seat.

“Director, if you only feed her bread, the producer is going to choke to death because of you.”

Ji Youyi took it for granted. “Then what should I do? I only have one bottle of water here, and I’ve already drunk from it.” She instructed, “Give her another bottle.”

“Oh, okay.”

Han Lei complied, pulling out a bottle of mineral water and passing it forward.

Since Meng Xingshu was driving and couldn’t spare a hand, Ji Youyi smoothly took it for her. Opening the cap and tightening it again, she held it in her hand, weighing it with a beaming smile. Looking at the road one moment and at Meng Xingshu the next, she prepared to hand it over during a red light.

Ah, ah, ah!

Han Lei clamped her mouth shut as she watched, screaming internally.

She was a junior producer from the drama production department of Lingxing, having been with the company for several years. Her working attitude was highly driven, and her results had always been good. Given Lingxing’s abundance of good projects and her rank, she could absolutely have gone to a large crew to train herself so she could upgrade to a full producer sooner. Yet, she chose to actively submit her resume to Meng Xingshu, coming to this small budget, small-scale setup that Meng Xingshu had established herself.

Their CEO, Lin Shan, once found it completely impossible to understand Meng Xingshu’s actions, thinking she was acting crazy, had too much free time, and was looking for hardships to endure.

Han Lei had originally… cough, thought so too, but the moment she saw the project proposal, everything became crystal clear!

This was clearly a wifey-wifey production crew! Teacher Meng brought it out to practice and run things smoothly with her wife!

As an industry insider and a Lingxing employee, Han Lei naturally knew about the rumors between Meng Xingshu and Ji Youyi. Initially, she was half-believing and half-doubting, feeling the gap between the two was a bit wide. When she saw the project proposal, she believed half of it. After joining the crew, she believed it completely!

According to her precise measurements, these two had been dating for at least five years, and they might have even secretly registered their marriage abroad long ago, look at how they interacted, so complementary and respectful!

The film and television circle had no shortage of family workshops, nor did it lack their drawbacks, yet this crew didn’t have a single bit of them. It could even be described as the most comfortable crew Han Lei had ever followed.

Both wives were extremely professional and responsible. On ordinary days, they cared for and looked after each other, yet they always maintained proper boundaries. In front of outsiders, they constantly kept their distance. In working venues, they focused solely on work, never bringing personal emotions into it. They didn’t even open the same hotel room! It must be out of fear that they wouldn’t be able to control their emotions at night, affecting the next day’s work! What a grand sacrifice!

But no matter how careful they were, that kind of accumulated understanding and the love carved deep into their bones would still inadvertently flow out through their eyes, words, and actions. They didn’t need to deliberately show off affection to already look deeply in love.

What a delicious couple!

Han Lei had joined the crew with the mindset of taking a huge gamble, if she gambled wrong and the project was terrible, she would waste her time, have no performance metrics to show, and face salary cuts and reprimands. If she gambled right, a bright future lay entirely ahead. And now, Han Lei was not only filled with confidence, feeling that a promotion and a raise were close at hand, but she was also hardcore shipping the Meng-Ji CP.

She loved this couple too much. Her greatest pleasure after getting off work every day was browsing the CP Super Topic.

Browsing only, no posting.

Because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist leaking info. The moment she opened her mouth, it would be a whirlwind of emotional tears. 【How did I make such a correct decision to join this crew! You guys absolutely have no idea how good the young couple is!】

If she had to say it, although the author Bamboo Pig Ache wrote well, it was still a bit inferior compared to the real deal, plus, Author Bamboo had been busy with work lately and hadn’t updated for over a month.

Enjoying such good food all by herself was wonderful, but the screams inside her heart needed an outlet. Han Lei usually loved chatting about gossip with another junior producer in the crew, but that junior producer hadn’t come along this time, so she could only seek out the screenwriter.

As a result, when she turned her head to look, Li Zhulan was curled up in the corner of the back seat, looking completely devoid of life, her mouth seemingly murmuring something. “Ancestors…”