Chapter 20: I am not one for romance films, unless it's that kind.

It was the peak of the dinner rush.

Zhou Le took a taxi and spent nearly an hour in traffic before arriving. That evening, he met up with some old friends he hadn't seen in a long time. One was Xiao Tao, a former classmate who now worked at a design institute, pulling in forty to fifty thousand a year. The other was Qian Hanyu, a former graduate school classmate who was also doing quite well for himself.

They each polished off a bottle of Erguotou. Zhou Le and Xiao Tao were holding up fine, but Qian Hanyu had passed out cold. Xiao Tao picked up the tab for dinner, and afterward, Zhou Le checked into a hotel room, taking turns watching over Qian Hanyu throughout the night.

They didn't wake up until noon the next day. They looked at each other and shared a laugh over their poor tolerance for alcohol before heading out for a bowl of Zhajiang noodles. Finally, they parted ways—some heading back to their units, others to school—while Zhou Le hailed a taxi to return to the film set.

...

"Driver, could I get a receipt?" Zhou Le asked before stepping out of the cab.

When he arrived, the crew was on break. Zhou Le walked straight over to Da Peng. "Director, can I get reimbursed for this cab fare?"

Da Peng looked at the slip, which showed an amount over a hundred yuan. "You want to expense this hundred yuan? Isn't your salary five hundred thousand?"

"Come on, the pay hasn't hit my account yet. I’ve got less than three thousand to my name right now. I'm broke."

Da Peng sighed helplessly. He took the receipt, glanced at it, and shoved it into his pocket. "Forget it, don't bother the accounting department with this. I'll cover it myself."

A moment later, a transfer of 1,000 yuan popped up on Zhou Le’s WeChat.

"That covers your travel, meals, and lodging. Now, go get some rest. You have night scenes today, so spend some time with the script."

"You got it, boss! You're the best. May you have eight kids in one go!"

Zhou Le tucked his phone away and went to study his lines. After a while, Nazha, who had been curious about where Zhou Le went, stopped by. She had seen a photo of him with Liu Yifei on his social media feed the day before.

"Oh, that? Yesterday morning I checked out of my place and went to hand in my resignation. As it happened, I ran into Liu Yifei at the shooting range where I used to work. She was choosing an instructor and picked me. I spent the time acting as her training partner, conversational companion, and shooting assistant."

Guli Nazha asked, "A 'three-fold' companion?"

Zhou Le glared at her. "Why do you have to put it so crudely? It was purely a professional employment relationship... sigh."

Nazha teased, "Why does your tone sound so regretful?"

Zhou Le sighed even louder.

The night scenes were not difficult for Zhou Le—or rather, none of the upcoming scenes posed any challenge to him. Days passed by, one after another. However, Zhou Le never again experienced a surge of five hundred experience points in a single hour. He even considered returning to that restaurant to see if he could grind for more levels, even though his previous rewards hadn't been particularly useful. Who knew? Maybe the next one would be.

Even though it was slow, as the third male lead, his experience points eventually crawled up to 3,891. He was only a little over a hundred away from leveling up again.

Today, Zhou Dongyu happened to have some free time and arrived on set. They needed to film all the scenes involving her within the day, in addition to taking her promotional stills.

"Can we get this done in one day?" Zhou Le asked, feeling a bit worried. It wasn't himself he was concerned about, but her.

Da Peng laughed. "Do you even go online? You’re a 'million-follower' blogger, right? She’s been in the industry since 2010, and she’s won so many awards you couldn't even list them all. Let’s put it this way: I’m more worried about your acting than hers."

"That's a relief. It's embarrassing to admit, but my only impressions of Zhou Dongyu are from *Under the Hawthorn Tree* and that 'Shamate' girl she played in *Breakup Buddies*. I haven't even seen *Under the Hawthorn Tree*."

"You haven't seen those? You need to study films more if you're in this business."

"I'll watch them later. Back then, I never thought I'd be in this line of work. Besides, Da Peng-ge, when you were filming *Diors Man*, I wasn't really into those kinds of romances. I usually watched a different kind of romance film."

Da Peng asked, "A different kind? Go on, elaborate."

"You know, the kind... the 'adult' romance films. Sometimes they have a bit of a plot. Very educational."

Da Peng chuckled. "Oh, that kind. I thought you meant something else."

"Haha, that's the one. Teacher Da Peng, don't let your imagination run wild. I'm very innocent," Zhou Le explained.

"Understood, we're all very innocent," Da Peng agreed with a nod. "But which 'teacher' do you like the most?"

"Lola Takizawa."

Da Peng said, "You're really interested? Fifteen for two hours, twenty for the night. You want to set it up?"

Zhou Le blinked. "???"

"Wait, you can do that? Aren't they filming..."

Da Peng looked surprised. "Filming? You have that kind of hobby? Sure, we can film it, that'll be an extra fifty thousand."

Zhou Le was stunned. "No, brother, you’re serious?"

"Dead serious. Why would I lie to you? And it's safe and confidential."

Zhou Le drew a sharp breath. "Wow."

In the end, Zhou Le didn't go through with it. It was better to just watch those teachers online. If he actually went through with it, he’d likely end up having to share a lot of "fellow brothers-in-law" in the industry—and probably all over the world, for that matter.

"Haha, I know you're innocent. But sometimes things get messy in this circle. Having fun is normal, but don't lose your heart to them. And there's a price for some of these games—for instance, as a director, you might have to arrange roles for them, important or not. You'll run into this later, so don't be too surprised when you do."

Zhou Le nodded. He really had just learned this.

"Next time, I'll take you to see for yourself," Da Peng said, patting Zhou Le on the shoulder before heading off to greet Zhou Dongyu.

She arrived shortly after. Zhou Dongyu was just as he had pictured her—petite in every way, with an incredibly slight, childlike frame. Yet, she carried an air of authority when she stood there, perhaps due to her long-standing fame.

"Hello, Teacher Da Peng, long time no see."

"Long time indeed. You're looking even more beautiful, Teacher Dongyu." Da Peng shook her hand and led her in. "Teacher Dongyu, let me introduce you. This is the 'Dynamite' who will be your scene partner."

Zhou Le reached out quickly. "It's an honor, Teacher Dongyu. My name is Zhou Le—'Zhou' like the week, 'Le' like happiness. I've been watching your films for a long time, especially *Under the Hawthorn Tree*. I really love it. Believe it or not, my greatest dream has always been to act on stage with you. Maybe for others, their film enlightenment was [skipped], [skipped], or [skipped], but for me, it was *Under the Hawthorn Tree*."

But after he said this, the expressions on the faces of Da Peng, Guli Nazha, Qiao Shan, and even Yu Qian flickered with a moment of awkwardness.

"Is that so? Well, I'm quite honored," Zhou Dongyu said with a smile. After all, Zhou Le was tall, handsome, and had a sunny smile; hearing such words would make anyone happy.

"Not at all, we're practically family anyway."

After the introductions, Da Peng took Zhou Dongyu to tour the set. Yu Qian pulled Zhou Le aside.

"Le-er, why did what you just said sound so familiar?"

Zhou Le explained helplessly, "Sigh, I really didn't know how to start a conversation, so I just said that. But Godfather, I swear, I really did grow up listening to you and Teacher Guo's crosstalk to fall asleep. That part is absolutely true. And I am most impressed by your guest role in the film *Stories of the Editorial Department*."