After Secretly Marrying the Top Celebrity, I Fell in Love - Chapter 26.2

However, last night, Bai Yiyan’s call went unanswered. After a series of “beep, beep” sounds, a mechanical female voice finally played.

“I’m sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unreachable. Please try again later…”

It wasn’t until one o’clock in the morning that Bai Yiyan finally replied with a WeChat message.

Although Ye Manqing was resting, she wasn’t asleep. The WeChat notification tone successfully extinguished the sleepiness she had just managed to accumulate.

The woman reached out and picked up the phone on the bedside table to check WeChat. Hope and reality overlapped—it was indeed a message from Bai Yiyan.

Bai Yiyan: [Teacher Ye, I was filming a night scene today. I just wrapped up now.]

Ye Manqing checked the time. It was already one o’clock in the morning.

Bai Yiyan had told her that she had been continuously taking on extra work lately. She even said her luck was good, getting work every day.

Logically, Bai Yiyan had five million yuan in bridal money in her possession, so she was not short of money. Yet, she continued to take on extra roles without a single day of rest.

Connecting this with the prenuptial agreement Bai Yiyan had proposed earlier, Ye Manqing instantly understood.

Bai Yiyan would not touch that money, even though Ye Manqing had explicitly stated that the bridal money was hers to dispose of as she wished.

After figuring this out, Ye Manqing called Zhang Mingxiu first thing the next morning.

Zhang Mingxiu had just woken up. While wiping toothpaste foam from the corner of his mouth with a towel, he stared at the caller ID for a few seconds.

Although the two had a good private relationship, Ye Manqing was notoriously aloof. A sudden call from her must mean something was up.

“Hello, Manqing, is something the matter?” Zhang Mingxiu pressed the answer button and walked out of the bathroom while talking on the phone.

“Yes, there is,” Ye Manqing stood tall by the floor-to-ceiling window, holding the phone to her ear with one hand and lightly supporting her elbow with the other.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“I wanted to ask, how is the salary for Nine Heavens usually paid?”

“Well… it’s the same as before. The salaries of first and second-tier actors must be paid in full before they join the crew; otherwise, they won’t take the role. For actors of other ranks, the salary is settled after filming is complete.”

“I have an unreasonable request.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can an exception be made?”

“You mean?”

“Little Bai was an extra before, as you know. Once she joins the crew, she won’t have time to take on extra work anymore, and she needs money for something.”

“So, Director Zhang, do you think you could first allocate a ‘joining fee’ to Little Bai?”

“Oh, my! I completely forgot about that.”

Ye Manqing’s suggestion was not actually excessive. Several years ago, actors’ salaries were often settled using a “three-three-four” scheme.

In short, an initial “joining fee” was paid to the actor, a “progress payment” was paid midway through production, and the “final payment” was paid after filming concluded, following a “three-three-four” ratio of the total salary.

In recent years, the film and television industry has been in a serious slump, which is why they had to resort to finding ways to cut costs on ordinary actors.

Zhang Mingxiu: “No problem! Little Bai’s salary will be paid according to ‘three-three-four.’ I’ll settle the joining fee with her first so she can film with peace of mind.”

Ye Manqing looked at the good weather outside, and a slight upward curve appeared on the corner of her mouth. She said, “Thank you, Director Zhang.”

Zhang Mingxiu frowned: “Manqing, I suddenly have a question for you.”

Ye Manqing: “Please ask.”

Zhang Mingxiu: “Why are you so concerned about Little Bai?”

Ye Manqing: “She is my sister.”

Zhang Mingxiu: “Sister?! Cousin?”

They didn’t have the same surname, so she could only be… a cousin?

Ye Manqing’s tone was calm: “No, she’s my sworn sister.”

Ye Manqing had already prepared this excuse before making the call. It would also be useful in other situations in the future.

Although she and Bai Yiyan were married, their relationship had to remain confidential for now. Therefore, the fewer people who knew, the better.

Bai Yiyan finished filming the night scene last night at one o’clock in the morning. After returning home, she still needed to wash her hair and shower. By the time she had dried her hair, tidied up, and gotten into bed, it was already two o’clock.

She had another night scene tonight, which would end even later. It was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM and finish around two o’clock in the morning.

So, Bai Yiyan had the entire day with nothing to do, and she decided to deliver takeout during the day.

Fighting off a deep drowsiness, Bai Yiyan turned off her alarm and struggled to sit up, leaning her head against the headboard. She stretched out her arm, picked up the phone from the bedside table, and saw one unread WeChat message.

She tapped to open it. It was indeed from Ye Manqing.

Ye Manqing: [Do you have another night scene tonight?]

Bai Yiyan: [Yes, one tonight.]

Bai Yiyan didn’t expect Ye Manqing to reply quickly, so she was about to put down her phone and hurry to the bathroom to wash up.

But as soon as she set the phone down, a WeChat notification sound immediately went off.

Ye Manqing: [I’m coming back today.]

Bai Yiyan replied with an “oh.”

Ye Manqing: [Are you busy during the day too?]

Bai Yiyan: [Yes.]

Ye Manqing: [What time do you finish work tonight?]

Bai Yiyan: [Around two o’clock in the morning.]

Ye Manqing: [Yanyan, send me the set’s location. When you finish, I’ll have the driver take you back.]

Ye Manqing: [It’s so late. I don’t feel comfortable with you going back alone.]

Bai Yiyan hesitated. Her finger hovered above the phone screen for a few seconds before finally resting on it.

Bai Yiyan: [Okay.]

Subsequently, Bai Yiyan tapped “Location,” entered the filming location, and sent it.

It was a heavily overcast day. Although it was August, the weather wasn’t hot at all due to a sudden drop in temperature recently.

At noon, Bai Yiyan suddenly received a call from Director Zhang, asking if she was free tomorrow night, as he wanted to invite a few main actors out for dinner.

She hadn’t received any extra work for tomorrow yet. Bai Yiyan thought for a moment and immediately sent a WeChat message back to Zhang Mingxiu.

Bai Yiyan: [Okay, Director.]

After a hurried lunch, Bai Yiyan only rested for half an hour before tapping on the food delivery platform again. She kept busy until six o’clock in the afternoon.

The night scene wasn’t starting until 7:30 PM, so an hour and a half was enough time for Bai Yiyan to eat dinner and quickly go home to change clothes.

At two o’clock in the morning, a filming set for an exterior scene was still brightly lit.

Tonight’s night scene was also a rain scene, depicting the male and female leads breaking up in the rain.

The crew’s budget was limited. To create the effect of rain, staff members each held a water hose and sprayed water into the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

Bai Yiyan’s role as Extra Number One this time was a young girl crying on the side of the road after a breakup. The camera would not only focus on her but also feature her through the female lead’s perspective. Extra Number One had lines of dialogue with the female lead, although only two or three sentences.

The female lead was particularly out of state today, being called “cut” several times by the director and getting thoroughly chewed out. The more the female lead was scolded, the more she messed up.

At three o’clock in the morning, the night scene was finally finished.

After one scene, Bai Yiyan was soaked through. The wet clothes stuck to her body, which was very uncomfortable, and she felt a bit cold.

“Here’s a towel for you,” a kind staff member handed Bai Yiyan a dry towel and said, “Hurry up and dry yourself. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

“Thank you,” Bai Yiyan accepted it with both hands and thanked her politely.

She couldn’t dry her hair completely this way, only roughly drying it so the strands wouldn’t drip water anymore.

Bai Yiyan went to the dressing room to change back into her own clothes, handed the costume back to the crew’s prop master, and walked under the streetlights with her wet, waist-length hair down, heading towards the set exit.

In fact, an hour ago, the driver had already sent Bai Yiyan a text message, saying he had arrived outside the set.

Bai Yiyan glanced at the time. A whole hour had passed. Feeling a rush of urgency, Bai Yiyan couldn’t help but quicken her steps, almost running the rest of the way.

Outside the set, a black Rolls-Royce was parked under a sycamore tree. The pure black car body was almost integrated with the night.

Bai Yiyan raised her hand to soothe her chest, which was heaving from exertion. Once her breathing had steadied, she walked toward the sycamore tree.

The car door was unlocked.

Bai Yiyan reached out, pulled open the car door, and bent down to slip into the car cabin. In an unintentional glance upwards, she saw a woman sitting in the back seat.

Support