Huang Xitang started her entrepreneurial journey at the age of thirty.

She, He Luofei, and Ni Kailun jointly invested in establishing Lu Kai Media in Shanghai, with she and He Luofei as the company’s natural talents. After the company’s formation, Xitang rushed back to Hengdian, signing several artists she had previously thought were quite talented but lacked opportunities while filming there, including Tao Ranran. After leaving Beijing, Xitang had seen her a few times at film sets in Hengdian, and once she had even been an extra in Xitang’s production. At that time, Xitang was surrounded by the director and assistants.

This sensible girl, whom she had met once in Beijing but had no real connection with, didn’t approach to disturb Xitang. Instead, Xitang had taken the initiative to greet her. During that production, Xitang observed her work attitude and felt the girl had a spark of talent. While Xitang was busy recruiting small troops, Ni Kailun wasn’t idle either. The day she resigned from her company, she took Ou Lizu and Li Fangting with her. Old Thirteen was already furious about losing Ou Lizu alone but never expected that Li Fangting would follow her too. He was the company’s popular young actor, always moving through the industry with flair under Ma Jihong’s guidance, and could be described as a giant harvester of female fans.

Ma Jihong angrily slapped Li Fangting right away. Li Fangting didn’t dare dodge but shifted his body slightly so her slap didn’t land on his face. He suppressed his anger and said: “Sister Hong, how have you always treated me?” Ni Kailun, who had paid his high contract termination fee and completed the procedures, came over without any regret for the money, smiling: “Oh, Jihong, this is a new era. The people are in charge, and everything is entirely voluntary.”

Ou Lizu had been waiting in the car for a long time before finally seeing Li Fangting walk out with Ni Kailun. Once in the car, Ou Lizu grabbed her boyfriend’s hand and gave him a resounding kiss.

Xitang went to voice lessons twice a week. That day at the music company, Lin Yuanhong gave her a recording box: “Two newly collected demos, have a listen.”

But no one approached her for television dramas, let alone films. All investors and producers were still in a wait-and-see state, with no one daring to use her easily. Huang Xitang had caused people in the industry to lose a lot of money. Reportedly, for half a year, whenever her name was mentioned at any dinner gathering in Hengdian, the curses would flow unendingly.

The company had just started, with artist management as its main business currently, and Ni Kailun had been extremely busy lately. He Luofei and Ou Lizu’s new dramas had begun filming one after another, and Ni Kailun couldn’t look after her for the moment. Xitang was responsible for film and TV project investments at the company, researching with the team daily about which productions had promising returns. With insufficient company funds, they couldn’t be the main investors or controllers of projects, yet she couldn’t accept roles that were too minor or poor. Thus, there were simply no scripts to choose from. One day, after finishing a meeting with colleagues, she passed by a second-floor office and saw Ou Lizu rehearsing a script with a dialogue coach. Suddenly, a trace of envy arose in her heart.

One day, Yang Yilin called her agent: “I have a production here that needs to shoot on location in the Northwest. An actor resigned at the last minute. Would Huang Xitang like to join?” Yang Yilin was someone Xitang had only worked with once, in a sweet romantic drama, but they had almost no personal connection after filming ended—not even exchanging private phone numbers. At that moment, Xitang was surprised he even thought of her.

Ni Kailun asked: “Your director doesn’t mind?”

Yang Yilin smiled and said: “I’ll let Director Lin speak with you.”

Lin Wenming, a famous Hong Kong action director, took the phone and spoke to Ni Kailun in Cantonese: “Kailun, I’m from Hong Kong and don’t understand mainland entertainment circle affairs.”

Later, in the blowing sand of Su Yukou, Xitang said to Yang Yilin: “Brother Lin, thank you.”

Yang Yilin, wearing sunglasses and a mask, with slightly swollen eyelids but still a handsome face that showed signs of overindulgence, said: “Thank your assistant.”

As it turned out, A Kuan still had contact with him.

September at Zhenbeibu Western Film City.

The scorching sun baked the earth, with temperatures inside the set reaching forty degrees, melting parts of the spotlights and their connecting wires. It had been a while since Xitang had filmed a period drama. The last time she worked with Yang Yilin, she had played his girlfriend in a modern drama, effortlessly filming over twenty episodes of romance. This time, she played Yang Yilin’s mother—an evil cult enchantress who, in her youth, was unfortunately abandoned and disfigured after falling in love with a disciple from an orthodox sect, then jumped off a cliff with her child and died. Yang Yilin had recommended her to the director, and Director Lin, after hearing this, thought she was very suitable. The filming required traveling to Yinchuan, with only two episodes. The weather was hot, her role was small, and most of the time her face was covered with a veil. Just doing her hair and special makeup took two to three hours each day, and to avoid delaying other actors’ progress, she could only wake up earlier. No actress wanted to play such a role. They had finally found someone, but at the last minute, she signed for a better role and was willing to pay the breach of contract penalty rather than come. The assistant director had almost considered using an extra, but since the character required intense emotional range, they feared an extra’s acting skills wouldn’t be sufficient. It was at this juncture that Huang Xitang agreed to take the role.

Xitang followed the crew through two locations in Yinchuan, filming for five or six days, suspended on wires daily, and jumping off the cliff three times. Then one day when she woke up, she found her right shoulder stiff and her right fingers slightly numb. Unable to hold the sword steadily, the prop master added a stick to her sword handle. She tightly bound the sword to her arm with cloth strips, hiding it under the wide sleeves of her costume. When suspended on wires, her fighting scenes still looked realistic.

When returning from Yinchuan, Xitang’s injured right hand and the entire arm from the shoulder joint down could no longer move. She first returned to Beijing from Ningxia to seek medical attention, registering at the 301 Hospital, but her appointment was scheduled for a week later.

Li Shu’an told Xitang not to bother with registration as his family had a ready solution.

The Qian family’s old lady was a senior doctor at Dongzhimen Hospital. After retirement, she was rehired to serve as a consultant at several hospitals within the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine system, seeing patients three days a week, with appointments backed up for two months, completely overwhelmed.

Li Shu’an took her to Guosheng Hutong. As they entered the courtyard, near the lotus pot in the yard, an old man and woman were playing jujube. Turning their heads to see Li Shu’an bringing Xitang in, the old lady put down her pole, took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands, and said with a smile: “Is this the second daughter of the Jing family?”

Li Shu’an answered: “Yes.”

Xitang respectfully bowed: “Hello.”

Li Shu’an said: “The old lady and your grandmother are old sisters.”

The Qian family’s old lady smiled and said: “Old Jing is fortunate. The second daughter is truly beautiful.”