In the blink of an eye, it had been more than three months since the crew started filming.
Before filming began, Ye Zhou guessed there would be many problems with the shoot. But to his surprise, despite everyone working together for the first time, the production process went very smoothly. In addition, the actors led by Xie Gengfei were extremely dedicated. The originally estimated minimum six months of filming was shortened considerably.
Of course, this was due to the hard work of the actors and crew, but the great assistance provided by Jiang Tingyuan could not be overlooked either. Ye Zhou knew clearly that without Jiang Tingyuan’s support, their production would never have gone so smoothly.
The most obvious example was filming locations. Except for a few very well-funded productions, filming locations were usually competed for fiercely among crews. It was not uncommon for fights to break out between production staff trying to secure a studio. There was no choice, with limited locations and high demand, every day wasted meant a huge additional cost. Time was money, no one could afford delays.
But Ye Zhou’s production had no such worries. Their filming didn’t require elaborate sets, even when they needed to switch studios, Ye Zhou didn’t need to worry. Jiang Tingyuan had taken care of all the arrangements.
In addition, the crew was also very well-funded, giving Ye Zhou a lot of freedom. He could shoot however he wanted without worrying about costs.
There was no longer a headache for investors to randomly crowd people into the crew, and there was no need to worry about offending investors and causing them to withdraw their investment.
The influence and troublemaking ability of investors in productions could not be underestimated. Ye Zhou had seen one too many well-run productions fall apart due to meddling investors. Forget about amateurs directing professionals, just looking at inserting staff into the crew, one investor Ye Zhou worked with in the past stuffed five people into the production in one month. Five! All demanding camera time and lines!
There were very few important roles in a movie. They had basically all been taken by the investor’s inserted people. Ye Zhou spent his days consulting the scriptwriters on adding roles and directing the vases1“花瓶” literally means “flower vase”, but it is also a slang term for actors or actresses who are good-looking but have poor acting skills or no significant role in the plot. , then went back to witness palace infighting at night as they carried on like some harem drama2“后宫甄嬛传” is a reference to a famous harem drama that aired in 2011, known as Empresses in the Palace or The Legend of Zheng Huan. As per IMDB, it is the story of the Royal Concubines in the Forbidden City harem who lost their youth and beauty in an endless struggle of love, power and wealth..
After barely finishing filming, the movie was inevitably ripped apart by audiences upon release, ending in a bloody mess. Compared to those days, his current situation was like a dream.
However, the rapid filming progress was not without downsides. When Jiang Tingyuan first brought Zhu Ning in to help Ye Zhou, his schedule had been completely packed. He needed at least four months to free up time. Thus, Ye Zhou scheduled his scenes at the end to fit the original plan.
But because Ye Zhou’s production went so smoothly, even finishing ahead of schedule, Zhu Ning’s other projects had not ended. He still needed over a month to make time.
Just as Ye Zhou was worrying about this issue, the boss heard about it and stated it was very easy to resolve. Rather than waiting around, they might as well take a month-long break and resume once Zhu Ning was available. Not only a break, but paid leave too. With that, Ye Zhou’s concerns were immediately settled.
Money really did make everything easy!
Ye Zhou loved the boss to death. He spent days happily humming “Who’s The Loveliest Person?” to himself, bubbles of joy practically forming around him.
But his happiness did not last long. There is a saying that extreme joy begets sorrow, and just two days into his delight, sorrow struck.
Ever since transmigrating here, Ye Zhou had been very busy working hard, pouring himself into work like a machine without rest every day, especially after filming started. The strain did not show obviously when he was tense, but as soon as he relaxed on break, his body gave out.
The second day after the production break started, Ye Zhou began running a fever. Initially he didn’t think much of it, randomly grabbing some antipyretics from the medicine cabinet, assuming sleep would cure it.
But this illness struck severely, far exceeding what simple medication could treat.
When Jiang Tingyuan returned home, he saw Ye Zhou curled up on the sofa like a ball, wrapped in a blanket. His breathing was rough and uneasy in sleep.
Jiang Tingyuan was about to wake him to move to the bedroom, but noticed something off when he touched the other’s skin. Placing a hand on Ye Zhou’s forehead, the temperature far above normal made Jiang Tingyuan’s brows furrow slightly.
“Ye Zhou?” He patted the other’s arm, trying to wake him up, but the arm suddenly clutched him in an embrace instead.
The sudden intimacy clearly made Jiang Tingyuan, who disliked physical contact, uncomfortable. His body tensed instinctively. Looking at the pitiful young man, after a brief hesitation, Jiang Tingyuan did not push him away in the end.
They remained in this standoff for a while. Jiang Tingyuan had a cold face, and the air pressure in his body was so low that it seemed like it could condense into frost, yet he allowed his arm to be held. Still expressionless, he used his other hand to call the family doctor.
After ending the call, Jiang Tingyuan finally extracted his arm and wrapped Ye Zhou tightly in the blanket before carrying him, blanket and all, back to the bedroom.
In his dazed sleep, Ye Zhou felt like he was suddenly floating, riding the clouds. Seeking something to hold on to for safety, he grabbed…
Jiang Tingyuan had just prepared to take the thermometer after setting Ye Zhou down on the bed, when he realized his hand had been seized again unknowingly.
His elegant brows furrowed slightly, just about to pull away, when he suddenly heard the person in bed mumble softly.
“Jiang-ge…is the best person in the world.”
He gazed at Ye Zhou, flushed with fever, pondering for about half a minute before slowly bending down to sit beside him.
He stared at Ye Zhou, whose face was flushed due to a high fever, and thought for about half a minute. Then, he slowly bent down and sat down next to the young man.
Jiang Tingyuan suddenly realized that he had supported Ye Zhou for so long, but apart from giving him money, he never seemed to have observed him seriously.
Ye Zhou had moved into his villa over a year ago, but was like an invisible person this past year, hiding away when not asking for money, avoiding him whenever possible.
He had noticed the attitude, but Jiang Tingyuan did not care. After all, he had ulterior motives for keeping Ye Zhou.
So, he could fulfill Ye Zhou’s requests, but would not take him to heart.
However, a few months ago, Ye Zhou, who had always avoided him, seemed to suddenly change. It was also then that, without even noticing himself, Jiang Tingyuan’s gaze on the other grew more and more frequent.
Author's note:
Ye Zhou: “Jiang-ge… is the best (richest) person in the world.”
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