The Film Queen Is Cold and Ruthless, Only Sends Money - Chapter 28

Su Yun’s thought process had always been wonderfully unpredictable, often yielding surprisingly effective results in certain games.

Because of this, even when Su Yun was just casually speaking, everyone else listened attentively.

Of course, that attentiveness vanished completely the moment she finished talking.

Lin Yan asked the group, “Did that cool you all down?”

She hugged her own arms, feeling like the lame joke might have had some effect at the very least, the atmosphere had turned icy.

Su Yun scratched her head. “I told you from the start it wouldn’t be useful.”

Jiang Zhi chuckled softly and smoothed down the stray hair sticking up on Su Yun’s head.

[Am I the only one curious about what Su Yun thinks about every day? Hahaha!!]

[Su Yun: It’s hot, so I’ll say something cold, I don’t know if you feel cooler, but I just wanted to say it!]

[Ever since watching this variety show, I’ve been laughing like an idiot every day!]

Their physical exertion during the day had been immense, and after tidying up their rooms, everyone sprawled out on chairs in the courtyard to rest.

Liu Yangran and Ye Ying sat together, turning slightly to lower her head. “Can you check if there’s still mud in my hair?”

Their farming ordeal today had been disastrous none of them had escaped unscathed. Even after showering, they couldn’t shake the illusion that they were still covered in dirt.

Ye Ying leaned in for a careful inspection. “No, it’s all clean.”

Hearing their conversation, the others quickly sat up as well, checking each other especially their hair.

[Hahahaha!! After farming, they look like they’ve been rolling in a mud pit!]

[Dear guests, please reflect, who was the one racing and snatching things in the mud pit this afternoon?!]

[Hair really does hide mud easily! Make sure to check multiple times!]

Su Yun lowered her head obediently, presenting it to Jiang Zhi. “There shouldn’t be any, right? I felt like I washed really thoroughly just now.”

For some reason, Jiang Zhi found this amusing.

Hearing her soft laugh, Su Yun protested even with her head still bowed. “Don’t let your imagination run wild, Best Actress Jiang~ You’re not allowed to think of me as a little pig.”

“Mm, I wasn’t thinking that,” Jiang Zhi replied agreeably. After confirming there was no mud, she said, “No need to worry, it’s clean.”

Relieved, Su Yun lifted her head and shifted to face Jiang Zhi. “Now it’s my turn to check yours.”

Lowering her gaze, she could see Jiang Zhi’s fair neck, her smooth hair cascading down her back. The courtyard lights formed a soft halo around her head, casting a faint glow.

Why does Best Actress Jiang seem so well-behaved?

But Su Yun remembered her task and focused on inspecting Jiang Zhi’s hair. “No mud spotted!”

Once everyone had finished checking, they leaned back into their chairs with a collective sigh of relief.

“Before coming on this show, I never imagined I’d be worried about mud in my hair,” Lin Yan mused.

Su Xue nodded vigorously. “Same here. After finishing one task, I kept thinking, Surely the production team can’t come up with anything worse? But they always manage to outdo themselves!”

“Even though the tasks the production team gives are tough, everyone still manages to.” Su Yun wanted to comfort them, but her mouth moved faster than her brain.

By the time her brain caught up and reality set in, the words “still manages to do well” stuck in her throat. She would’ve liked to delude herself, but the results were plain for all to see.

So she had to change her approach. “But everyone completed it, which is already pretty good!”

Liu Yangran: “Yeah, just finishing is amazing for us!”

“Agreed, agreed! Each of us is awesome!” Su Xue chimed in.

Su Yun hadn’t hesitated for long, so the others naturally didn’t guess she’d just switched her wording on the spot. But the live-stream audience had eyes like microscopes.

[Su Yun hesitated, hahaha!! Anyone wanna guess what she originally wanted to say?]

[Let me try to mimic it: Although the show’s tasks are hard and the requirements strict, everyone’s execution was pretty mediocre!]

[Hahahahaha!! That’s brutal! The guests might burst into tears hearing that!]

[Su Yun: Telling the truth seems too harsh, better protect their fragile hearts!]

The director they’d been roasting still wanted to defend himself: “Actually, everyone can rest assured, our mud is completely ordinary! It’ll wash right off!”

Jiang Zhi, however, noticed another detail: “So the show considered using other, less ordinary types of mud?”

The moment she said this, all eyes burned into the director.

If gazes could turn into blades, this variety show would now be labeled horror!

The director wiped sweat from his forehead: Crap, slipped up. How did they even catch that?

Seeing his reaction, the guests understood Jiang Zhi’s guess was spot on.

Su Yun, curious, asked, “So what did you originally plan to add to the field?”

Director: “Well, we expected no rain yesterday. We were going to add some water to the field to up the difficulty.”

“Just farming alone wouldn’t showcase your skills enough. And honestly, after the rain, everyone completed the task exceptionally well!”

The half-dry, half-wet mud field had been part of the plan all along.

But man-made conditions couldn’t compare to natural rainfall, the difficulty skyrocketed by N levels.

When they saw Lin Yan’s shoe stuck in the mud, even the production team hadn’t anticipated such perfect results.

Jing Zhaozhao: “No wonder the director couldn’t hide his excitement when he told us about the rain.”

[I remember! The guests were thrilled about the rain at first, thinking they’d get to skip outdoor tasks!]

[Same! They thought the show was finally being kind. Little did they know, hahahaha!!]

[Director: Throwing in one last compliment to avoid getting beaten up!]

Admittedly, the director’s final remark worked wonders even if the guests were angry, half their fury dissipated.

Lin Yan humbly nodded: “We do have skills. If the show had invited other guests, they might not even be sitting here now. Not many people can drive a tractor, after all.”

Director: “Absolutely, absolutely!”

Su Yun had thought her earlier attempt at comfort was already stretching her honesty.

Who knew the director could bend even further?

–

Summer nights were perfect for chatting.

The four couples had little overlap before this show.

Whether singers, painters, or actors, their professions were worlds apart. The only familiar pair might have been Jiang Zhi and Lin Yan.

Most of the others were just people whose names she had heard or with whom she had exchanged simple greetings.

“How did everyone get to know each other?” Lin Yan asked curiously.

She and Xu Zhi had been neighbors since childhood, living right across from each other. They went to school together and came home together every day. The only time they were apart was when they attended different universities.

Of course, it was precisely those four years of separation during university that made them realize their true feelings for each other.

After confessing and getting together as a natural next step, so many years had passed in the blink of an eye.

[!!! I’m curious too! I want to hear them tell their stories firsthand!]

[Aww, are we about to get more sugar? So glad I didn’t leave the livestream just now!]

[Thank you, Director Lin! I really want to know how Su Yun and Jiang Zhi got together!]

[+1, the others have been summarized by gossip accounts, but Su Yun and Jiang Zhi just suddenly posted a marriage certificate photo on Weibo out of nowhere!]

Naturally, everyone had something to say in response to Lin Yan’s question.

Su Xue cleared her throat. “The first time I met Chaochao, it was on a dark and windy night.”

Liu Yangran even set down her water glass, listening intently. “Why does this opening sound like a horror movie?”

But there was no denying that Su Xue’s first sentence had piqued everyone’s interest.

Su Yun gently rubbed her chin. “A horror-romance story sounds pretty good too. I’d love to hear it.”

Only Jing Chaochao, sitting beside her, raised a hand to her forehead and sighed helplessly. “Should I just tell it instead?”

[From Chaochao’s reaction, does this story have some hidden twists?]

[No, no! I want to hear Su Xue tell it! Gotta admit, this opening has me hooked!]

“It was back in high school. The streets were empty, so quiet you could only hear my footsteps.” As Su Xue spoke, the memories naturally flooded back, making her storytelling flow effortlessly without needing to think about how to phrase things.

Everyone held their breath, listening intently. Lin Yan had already started guessing: “Late at night, in the dark, Xue’er must have been terrified. That’s when Chaochao appeared, you two fell in love at first sight, she walked you home, and then feelings secretly blossomed between you.”

[So Xuexue and Chaochao’s story started in high school? So the gossip accounts saying they started dating in university were wrong?]

[This script is great! A bit cliché, but I love sweet campus romance stories!]

[Wait, something feels off. Why was Xuexue out so late at night in high school?]

As expected, Director Lin’s naive “love at first sight on campus” scenario was quickly debunked.

“Director Lin, you guessed wrong,” Su Xue said. “But I was indeed a little scared that night. I walked faster and faster, and just at that moment!”

There was no denying Su Xue’s storytelling skills. Even a simple first meeting could be narrated with such dramatic flair, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats.

Ye Ying urged her on. “Hurry up, what happened at that moment?”

Su Yun blinked rapidly, her expression mirroring Ye Ying’s exactly.

Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes and chuckled softly, thinking that if their expressions were turned into memes, the caption would definitely be “here for the tea.”

But before Su Xue could speak, Jing Chaochao answered for her: “That’s when we met.”

She felt that if she didn’t speak up and let Su Xue tell the story, they probably wouldn’t get to the point until tomorrow morning.

Su Xue nodded, unfazed by Jing Chaochao stealing her line: “Not only did we meet, but there were also the police officers behind her.”

[Gotta say, Xuexue seems to have said nothing, but I’m so excited listening to this! Is this what skill looks like?]

[Hahahahaha!! Feels like Chaochao noticed it too, only Chaochao could cut straight to the chase!]

[Why were there police?! Why does this story keep getting weirder?!]

The guests on set were equally surprised. Lin Yan swatted a mosquito on her leg and asked, “Why were there police? Weren’t you supposed to talk about your first meeting?”

Before Su Xue could answer, Jing Chaochao, with uncanny foresight, reached out and covered her mouth. “Let me tell it. If this goes on, we might switch from romance to mystery.”

She still wanted to get some sleep tonight.

Su Xue mumbled a couple of times before resigning herself with a blink, letting Jing Chaochao take over.

It wasn’t that she was deliberately stringing everyone along, it’s just that without some atmosphere and the tension of that late-night encounter, how could she make her first meeting with Jing Chaochao sound truly unique?

Jing Chaochao: “It was during high school. The school had a rule that everyone had to eat in the cafeteria, no going out to buy food.

But back then, the school had fewer cameras, and enforcement wasn’t strict. Most students would sneak out over the back wall during lunch or dinner.

It was after the third evening self-study session, and I was taking a shortcut back to the dorm. Su Xue happened to be coming back with late-night snacks and jumped off the wall right onto me.”

Admittedly, Jing Chaochao’s version was concise, but it covered the beginning, middle, and end perfectly.

When she got to the last part, Su Yun gasped. “That must’ve hurt a lot, right?”

Su Xue, sitting nearby, guiltily rubbed her nose.

She still remembered Jing Chaochao’s scream, it must’ve been excruciating.

Noticing Su Xue’s reaction, Jing Chaochao added, “It did hurt. But the suspect got away.”

Liu Yangran looked back and forth between Jing Chaochao and Su Xue, her eyes widening. “Xue’er, you were that irresponsible in high school?”

“Ahem.” Su Xue lowered her hand from her nose. “At the time, I thought I’d landed on the school’s discipline officer. Of course I ran as fast as I could.”

“Besides, I didn’t even make it back to the dorm before you called the cops on me.”

Now Lin Yan understood why Su Xue had seen Jing Chaochao with the police.

In the dark, Su Xue thought she’d hit the discipline officer, while Jing Chaochao assumed she was a trespasser.

One ran, the other chased and with late-night snacks in hand, Su Xue never stood a chance.

[First time hearing the full firsthand account! So your first meeting was like this?!]

[Xue’er, was that late-night snack really worth it? Hahaha!!]

[Chaochao: Yes, officer. Someone climbed over the wall and landed right on my head before running off!]

[First I thought it was a mystery, then I guessed a sweet school romance turns out it’s a comedy! Hahaha!!]

[I had no idea it’d be this funny when I started listening! Hahaha!]

After finishing her story, Su Xue covered her face with her hands ah, the recklessness of youth!

But putting aside the embarrassment, she still remembered the spicy skewers she bought that night. Truly, the ones near the high school were the best!

“So, was it love at first sight?” Xu Zhi asked. “Even if the first meeting wasn’t all that romantic, you still got to know each other, right?”

Su Xue muffled her reply behind her hands, “No love at first sight, but we did start off as enemies.”

Jing Zhaozhao added, “After finding Su Xue, the police took both of us to the station. Our parents and teachers found out too.”

“I only realized at the police station,” Su Xue recalled, still cringing at the memory. “On the way there, I was even thinking of sharing my late-night snack with Zhaozhao as an apology. But when I saw the teachers and parents, I thought, ‘Forget it, she doesn’t deserve my snack!'”

Back in high school, Su Xue had been particularly rebellious. She knew she should apologize for hitting the innocent Jing Zhaozhao.

But when it came to grudges, she believed in settling scores directly, why involve parents and teachers?

This clashed hard with Su Xue’s defiant streak, and she made sure to remember Jing Zhaozhao for it!

“You’re still thinking about the snack? That’s quite something,” Su Yun chuckled. “But was there any other reason you remembered Zhaozhao?”

Su Xue smiled shyly. “Well, Zhaozhao was kind of good-looking back then.”

Who doesn’t love a pretty face?

And who says hatred can’t be mixed with a little admiration?

Especially when the two ended up at the same university. The love-hate dynamic from high school slowly fermented until one day, Su Xue suddenly thought, “Huh, she’s actually not bad.”

[Snowy, you just denied it was love at first sight, but now you’re admitting it!]

[Su Xue: This classmate actually called the parents! Unforgivable!

Sees Zhaozhao’s face: Well, maybe forgiveness isn’t out of the question.]

[Look to the right! Did Zhaozhao’s ears just turn red?! She’s touching them!]

[Your story is so fun! I’ve got my dream material for tonight now if only the heavens would send me a girlfriend!]

Under the shade of the trees where they sat, the camera couldn’t capture such subtle details, leaving the live audience to speculate based on Jing Zhaozhao’s movements.

But the guests on-site didn’t miss a thing. Their teasing “Ooooh~” successfully made Su Xue blush too.

Jing Zhaozhao rubbed her ears and changed the subject. “Our story’s done. Su Yun, Empress Jiang, how about sharing yours?”

[Finally! Sisters, this is the one I’ve been dying to hear!]

[I have a feeling, whether it’s good or bad this is definitely going to trend after they tell it!]

Su Yun, who had been laughing just moments ago, now found it hard to smile.

Whether it was her current self or the original “Su Yun,” neither version of the story seemed appropriate to share.

Mostly because hers was straight-up fantastical revealing it might even get the livestream shut down.

She glanced at Jiang Zhi, silently asking, So, how should we tell our story?

The original host’s mother and Jiang Zhi’s mother were close friends. Even after starting their own families, they stayed in touch and even jokingly arranged a marriage pact between their children.

The engagement was never taken seriously by either family.

But after a plane crash took the original host’s family, Jiang Zhi’s mother, wanting to help, took Su Yun in and cared for her as her own.

After that, the original protagonist forcefully pursued a marriage proposal. Jiang Zhi had no interest in marriage to begin with, so she didn’t care who it was with.

Coupled with the fact that Jiang Zhi’s family pitied and sympathized with the original protagonist, this engagement actually went through and became real!

Thus, it became the classic cannon-fodder opening trope in novels.

When Su Yun had read the novel, she found it utterly absurd and lacking in logic, with so many plot holes that she didn’t even want to bother criticizing it.

Thinking back on it now, she was still filled with disbelief.

But she could also understand, when crafting a story, the focus naturally falls on the main characters. Cannon fodder exists merely to add obstacles to the protagonists’ love story.

Of course, one of the current protagonists Jiang Zhi seemed vastly different from the one in the novel.

Before Su Yun could even speak, she heard Jiang Zhi begin to narrate smoothly.

Jiang Zhi spoke at a measured pace, her voice pleasant and captivating. “Our mothers were friends. Although we didn’t meet often, every time I spent time with Su Yun, it was very enjoyable.”

Su Xue, who had been shy earlier, now had sparkling eyes, unable to hide her excitement for the gossip. “I get it, slow and steady, right?”

Jiang Zhi silently thanked Su Xue for the prompt, the corners of her lips curving slightly. “Good guess. But after we got together, we still had arguments.”

[Oh my god! So Su Yun and Jiang Zhi’s relationship was this pure and sweet?! How come no one dragged me into this ship back then?!]

[Ahhhh! When Jiang Zhi said this, her face was full of doting smiles! I’m seriously swooning over here!]

[Slow-burn romances are the best! If you don’t get it, you have no taste!]

[Su Yun and Jiang Zhi actually argued?! From how they interact, I never would’ve guessed they could even fight!]

Su Yun, the actual person involved: “…”

Damn, Jiang Zhi’s improvisation skills were on point!

The way she elevated an accident into a story, and that flawless doting smile.

She even remembered to include the necessary twists and turns in a relationship to make it believable!

Now, Jiang Zhi wasn’t nervous at all, all her attention was focused on Jiang Zhi.

For no other reason than the fact that, as the person involved, she wanted to know why she had argued with the other party.

Her look of anticipation was too obvious for Jiang Zhi to miss.

As for why they argued.

Jiang Zhi was currently making it up.

After these past few days of interaction, none of the guests doubted the authenticity of Su Yun and Jiang Zhi’s relationship.

Lin Yan guessed, “Was it because you had disagreements about work?”

“Jiang Zhi, you’re usually on set, right? Did the two of you rarely see each other, so the conflicts piled up?” Liu Yangran felt she could relate.

It had to be said that lending them tools in the afternoon wasn’t in vain their guesses perfectly filled in the gaps in Jiang Zhi’s imagination.

“Right, at the time, we were in different productions,” Jiang Zhi said calmly, without a trace of panic. “Su Yun happened to fall ill, and I didn’t have time to go see her, so we had our first big argument.”

Building on their guesses, she added some real-life details to make it even more convincing.

As expected, the guests nodded in understanding under those circumstances, emotions would naturally flare up.

Xu Zhi looked at Su Yun with a hint of sympathy. “That must’ve been really hard for you, huh?”

Being sick without your partner by your side.

It was enough to make Xu Zhi imagine the other person lying alone in a hospital bed, with no one to accompany or care for them.

Su Yun played along, “It really is a bit hard to bear.”

If she guessed correctly, the incident Jiang Zhi mentioned must have happened during the very week she had first transmigrated here.

Because she was injured and hospitalized, Jiang Zhi couldn’t make it to the film set, so she specially apologized and transferred five million as compensation.

At that time, lying alone in bed and seeing her account balance, she was truly happy (crossed out) devastated!!

After Jiang Zhi finished speaking, the guests’ focus shifted away from them, turning entirely to discussions about balancing work and life.

Su Yun covered her microphone, leaned closer to Jiang Zhi, and whispered, “How did you react so quickly?”

Even she hadn’t managed to catch on.

Jiang Zhi mimicked her, slowing her speech as she replied softly, “Because someone wasn’t saying anything.”

She had to take matters into her own hands.

“I was thinking of a solution,” Su Yun said innocently, looking at Jiang Zhi. “Besides, if I had spoken, it wouldn’t have been as good as what you just said.”

Asking her to fabricate a love story in under thirty seconds was really pushing it.

Jiang Zhi paused slightly. “I have you to thank for the inspiration, Teacher Su.”

She felt that spending time with Su Yun had made her mind much sharper.

Before this, she wouldn’t have believed she could spin such a smooth tale on the spot.

Though unsure why Jiang Zhi said that, Su Yun unhesitatingly accepted the title, patting Jiang Zhi’s shoulder. “You’re welcome, my dear disciple.”

Feeling Su Yun’s overly enthusiastic gesture, Jiang Zhi couldn’t shake the sense that something was off.

She decided to clarify. “I was joking, don’t take it seriously.”

Su Yun waved it off. “No problem. I’ll still claim you as my disciple, hehe.”

Jiang Zhi: “…”

“No hehe.”