We Are Filthy, Born From Mud - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Yes, She Is Very Willful

Can frying omelets make one rich?

“Sister Yougu, I forgot to tell you yesterday, the remaining shoot is scheduled for the afternoon. Please rest well—”

“The afternoon? But I’ve gone back.” The voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat troubled.

“Are you at the hotel? You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll arrange a driver to pick you up,” Hu Yinghua said with pride.

An assistant’s job is to be thorough and fully prepared.

An assistant who can always consider the artist’s needs, like me, is a good assistant.

There are many assistants, but few are as thoughtful as I am.

She nodded, very satisfied, and waited for the reaction from the opposite end.

After a long pause, Zong Yougu finally spoke.

She said, “But I’ve gone back. I went home.”

Hu Yinghua was struck as if by lightning. She froze in place: “Home?”

“Yes, home.”

“Home!”

Hu Yinghua was on the verge of a breakdown.

Three, two, one.

She was about to scream.

“What? Sister Yougu, how could you go back? I mean, why didn’t you tell me! What do we do now? What do I tell the director?”

Zong Yougu skillfully held the phone away from her ear. After a moment, when the other side fell silent, she slowly began to speak:

“The director told me to rest well, didn’t she? I can’t rest well at the hotel at all. After much thought, I went home. Sure enough, as soon as I got home, the nightmares stopped, my back stopped aching, my head stopped hurting. I feel completely refreshed. Do you want an omelet? I’ve found that I can only make the most perfect omelet at home. I’ll bring you one. Will three yuan be okay?”

“I don’t want… No, Sister Yougu, please come back quickly! I just checked, you definitely can’t catch a plane. Sister Yougu, you can take the high-speed rail. You might just barely make it.”

“I won’t.” Zong Yougu’s refusal was firm.

“Why!” Hu Yinghua was about to cry.

“The high-speed rail has a certain smell I don’t like,” Zong Yougu said, fully justified.

“But if you don’t come back, we’re really done for!”

“You’re exaggerating. You won’t die. Relax. At worst, we can sell omelets. There’s an expert in every line of work. Yesterday, I even saw someone selling omelets who earned a million a year.”

“Sister Yougu… we really are doomed.”

Zong Yougu was amused by her assistant.

She jumped heavily onto her bed. The hard, wooden bed frame let out a loud bang, and she also let out a muffled grunt.

The same circular arguments kept coming from the receiver. Annoyed, Zong Yougu unilaterally hung up the phone.

The phone was harshly thrown out, and she lay on the bed like an omelet again.

Predictably, the phone started ringing immediately.

The buzzing vibration was magnified by the wooden floor, echoing throughout the room.

Zong Yougu remained still. The ringing finally stopped after a long while.

The abrupt silence made her room feel even quieter.

She looked up at her house and softly snorted: “Once I have money, I’ll replace you sooner or later. I’ll get a big villa.”

The wind outside was strong, causing the windows to rattle loudly.

“You’re not satisfied yet? I’ve stayed with you for so long, be content. I won’t stay here my whole life. Don’t think you can trap me here.”

Zong Yougu rolled over and buried her head in the pillow.

She was amused by her own childish behavior, letting out a series of muffled laughter.

When she had laughed enough, she slowly stood up, reluctantly picking up the phone from the floor.

They told her yesterday to rest well, but they’re already rushing her to work before she’s even rested.

Honestly.

She was indignant.

However, her current behavior truly seemed like acting like a big shot.

But given that she really wasn’t a very big star, it was more accurately small-time acting like a big shot.

She chuckled twice, feeling perfectly justified as she turned on the television.

She watched a continuous stream of soap operas with great relish, sometimes bursting into laughter, other times shedding tears.

She always felt like something was missing.

So, during the commercial break, she decided to go to the kitchen to fry an omelet.

When it came to treating herself well, her execution was always swift.

She sprang up from the bed like a fish. The old floorboards creaked.

Tiny droplets of condensation covered the egg she took from the refrigerator.

Eggs had gone up in price again, Zong Yougu sighed.

The eggshell tapped against the rim of the bowl. The yolk and whites dropped into the small enamel bowl.

Zong Yougu kept sighing dramatically while whisking the eggs.

Eating costs money, watching TV costs money, skipping commercials costs money.

Even if she didn’t eat, drink, or seek entertainment, she still had to pay property management fees.

Honestly, living is too expensive.

She thought of that ridiculously expensive hotel.

She clearly slept very well and soundly at home last night, without a single nightmare.

She knew it was the hotel’s fault.

Spending so much money was simply inviting suffering.

She took a vicious bite of her omelet.

Not a single call went through. Hu Yinghua paced anxiously in place.

After who knows how long, when all the small pebbles on the ground had been kicked away by her, she finally came up with a perfect excuse.

She rehearsed it over and over: “Director, I am very sorry, Sister Yougu started running a fever last night, and it’s still very serious today. She probably won’t be able to complete the shooting task.”

She nodded, very satisfied with herself.

She muttered her lines while searching everywhere for the director.

When she found the director, the director was watching the footage from the past two days.

“Director, about that…”

“What is it?” The director remained focused on the screen.

Hu Yinghua was startled.

“What is it exactly?” The director’s gaze finally shifted from the screen to Hu Yinghua.

Hu Yinghua was terrible at lying since she was a child. She felt like the director’s stare was burning her at this moment.

“Oh, oh, well… Sister Yougu might be sick tonight, a very serious kind of sickness. She might not be able to complete the task.”

Hu Yinghua was very nervous.

Hu Yinghua began to babble nonsense.

Hu Yinghua began to regret it.

She slowly looked up and caught the director’s forced, humorless smile.

Hu Yinghua guiltily lowered her head and corrected herself in a whisper: “Director, I am very sorry, Sister Yougu started running a fever last night, and it’s still very serious today. She probably won’t be able to complete the shooting task.”

The director scrutinized Hu Yinghua up and down: “Really?”

“Really. She’s throwing up and has diarrhea. She’s extremely weak,” Hu Yinghua shifted her eyes. “I even have to go buy medicine for her later. I’m not lying.”

“Then what medicine are you going to buy?”

“Medicine… Uh, just cold medicine… Cough syrup. Yes, cough syrup.”

“You’re not treating the diarrhea then?”

“Treating that too, treating that too! But you can’t mix the two medicines, and her cough is still more severe right now…”

The director couldn’t help but laugh out of exasperation: “I don’t care what her problem is, I cannot delay the production schedule for one person. But I’m not completely unreasonable either. We’ll let it go today. I need to see her tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Director.” Hu Yinghua immediately bowed to thank her.

“Alright, stop standing here being useless.”

Hu Yinghua walked out of the studio with a long, worried face, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.

As an assistant, her qualifications were severely lacking.

So, when she learned that the artist she would be assisting was Zong Yougu, she was very surprised and thrilled.

She was Zong Yougu’s assistant, after all.

Even though Zong Yougu wasn’t hugely popular, even though Zong Yougu had no representative works, even though Zong Yougu didn’t have great public appeal, even though…

She was at least a recognizable celebrity.

She was flattered and swore to cherish this job.

She felt a bright future was beckoning to her.

Once Zong Yougu achieved fame and success, she could also bask in some of the glory.

The first day she met Zong Yougu, she was full of hope.

The second day she worked with Zong Yougu, she started feeling anxious.

As for now, she was already considering her future plans.

Selling omelets outside the school gates actually sounded quite good.

She finally understood why a newbie like her got this job.

She shook her head vigorously, trying to rid her mind of all negative thoughts.

“Xiaohua, what are you doing?” Su Tongguo called out to the shaking Hu Yinghua.

Hu Yinghua hesitated, pursed her lips, and didn’t say anything.

Su Tongguo laughed: “Is Zong Yougu causing trouble again? I told you, this is how she is.”

Hu Yinghua gave Su Tongguo a deep look, her eyes filled with exhaustion and helplessness.

Su Tongguo cracked her knuckles and placed her hand heavily on Hu Yinghua’s shoulder: “Xiaohua, you’re doing great. You’ve broken the record. You are the longest-serving assistant she’s ever had. I salute you and bestow upon you the title of Ninja Turtle.”

Hu Yinghua weakly raised the corners of her mouth, forcing a smile against her will.

“Why don’t you be my assistant in the future? She’s ordered you to kick me out so many times, I must get my revenge,” Su Tongguo bit hard on her straw.

Hu Yinghua slowly tilted her head forty-five degrees and gazed at the sky.

“No, I plan to sell omelets in the future.”

Su Tongguo laughed even harder, waving her hands wildly in the air: “What exactly did she do to you to leave such a deep trauma?”

Hu Yinghua waved her hand, shaking her head with a profound expression: “Let bygones be bygones.”

“She’s just like that. If she’s happy, others certainly won’t be. But this time is quite rare. I see both of you looking downcast at the same time.”

Hu Yinghua quickly looked up: “Both of us?”

“Yeah, I saw her this morning squatting on the roadside with a very serious expression. She startled me.”

“Where?”

Hu Yinghua immediately sprung from her chair, grabbing Su Tongguo’s shoulder in excitement.

In her overly agitated state, she didn’t notice the strength in her grip.

“If every claw machine in the country had grip like yours, I would be a regular customer at the arcade,” Su Tongguo slowly picked up her cup and took a slow sip of coffee.

“Oh, sorry.” Hu Yinghua smiled apologetically, quickly letting go. “Excuse me, Miss Su, where did you see Sister Yougu this morning?”

“Over by the parking lot.”

Hu Yinghua took off running.

“Sister Yougu, I knew you wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to just go home!”

“Huh?”

“Are you ready for the scene this afternoon? It’s okay if you’re not. The director said we’re shooting tomorrow.”

“What?”

“Are you reminding me to get your script? I’ve already got it ready,” Hu Yinghua proudly pulled out a crumpled script from her bag.

“I’m not good at acting.”

At the same time, the Zong Yougu who was lazily scrolling on her phone back in bed saw her assistant’s photo once again trending online.

In the picture, her assistant was fiercely gripping Su Tongguo’s shoulder.

#ZongYougu’sAssistantBulliesPeopleWithHerAuthority#

Unfair! She truly didn’t order that this time.

Zong Yougu scratched her head and took another bite of her omelet.