Over the next few days, Taixi enjoyed very good weather. The sky was clear as if washed clean, and the sun was bright and beautiful.

Although Chen An was in the provincial capital, he personally placed orders on time every day, ordering meals, fruits, and snacks for Cheng Lele.

Cheng Lele actually didn’t have much time to eat these things—most of it ended up benefiting the cinema employees.

Somehow, now all the employees would ask whenever they saw a delivery person, “Did brother-in-law send food again?” Even the very honest Tao Yu now called him brother-in-law at every turn. Chen An clearly hadn’t had much interaction with them at all.

It was obviously a very easily bought team.

Ocean Cinema had recently begun to be wary of Star Cinema and was doing things rather unethically. Knowing full well that the Christmas season was imminent, they spread word that they would pay big money to poach staff. This probably wasn’t Store Manager Zhang’s idea—it was more like the English master’s doing.

However, so far no one at Star Cinema had mentioned wanting to resign. Perhaps they had been won over by the food Chen An delivered.

One morning, while Cheng Lele was communicating performance details with the president of the dance club at Tianhe Technical School, she suddenly received a phone call from Casting Director Brother Duan, with whom she hadn’t been in contact for a long time.

Cheng Lele didn’t actually know Brother Duan’s full name. Back then, Chen Xiaomu had called her Brother Duan, so she followed suit and also called her Brother Duan.

“Cheng Lele, long time no see. How have you been lately?”

“Not bad. How about you, Brother Duan?”

Brother Duan had only met her once, and they didn’t have the kind of relationship where they could call and chat casually. After exchanging pleasantries for a sentence or two, she got to the main point.

“Our film ‘Fleeting Moments’ released its concept teaser trailer today. Did you see it?”

Cheng Lele hadn’t really paid attention to it.

During the pandemic, production and business stopped nationwide. The film and television industry was a disaster area. At that time, Tongda Cinema Chain paid salaries according to Beijing’s minimum wage standard. This was shortly after her mother’s death, and the debts had to be repaid in full every month without reduction. She was nearly at her wit’s end. If it hadn’t been for Zhong Ming and Chen Xiaomu helping her out financially, she almost wouldn’t have made it through.

Later, production resumed everywhere, but cinemas, as densely populated venues, were the last to resume operations. The film crews started work slightly earlier than the cinemas. Chen Xiaomu said that a familiar brother had posted an ad recruiting actors in her WeChat Moments, and asked if she wanted to try out for a role to earn some extra money.

Cheng Lele didn’t think she had any hope. She was desperate to make money at the time, and like treating a dead horse as if it were still alive, she went to the film company Chen Xiaomu recommended to try her luck. Perhaps because everyone had been staying at home with no money to earn in the early period, there were unexpectedly many people who came for the audition.

Cheng Lele didn’t harbor much hope. She answered some questions in a muddled way, made some concentrated expressions as required, and then went home. She didn’t expect that after a few days, she would be notified that she had been hired.

After a while, she was called by the crew to shoot at a villa.

She was worried at one point that it might be a scam and held her phone ready to call the police at any moment. Fortunately, after going in, she found that there were cameras set up inside, tracks laid out, and professional people going about their respective tasks. There were also temporary actors like her wearing costumes similar to servants and housekeepers waiting in the wings.

She waited there for a long time before it was her turn. The makeup artist gave her very fresh and refined makeup and straightened her hair. The costume designer handed her a very aesthetic white cotton long dress.

After everything was ready, the assistant director finally told her that she was playing a wealthy young lady. She had to lean against a position by the window and make a faintly melancholic expression.

Cheng Lele’s life had only known intense joy and intense grief—she never knew what the hell faint melancholy was. At the time, the pose was very painful to hold, and the assistant director was also very dissatisfied. One moment she was told to make her gaze more ethereal, the next moment she was told to make her eyes more misty.

It was the cold early spring at the time, and the villa had no heating. To create a feeling of floating transcendence, there were also two electric fans blowing at her. She was frozen like a popsicle and still had to endure being yelled at by the bad-tempered assistant director in front of everyone.

The experience was terrible. Fortunately, the money was paid promptly. It’s just that to this day, Cheng Lele still hasn’t figured out what the wealthy young lady she played, who had no worries about food and drink, was being melancholy about.

If Brother Duan hadn’t called, she might have almost forgotten this only acting experience.

Brother Duan spoke on the other end, “It’s like this—we showed this trailer to the executive producer. He has quite a good impression of you.”

Cheng Lele asked in surprise, “I’m in the trailer?” She had only filmed for less than half a day. It should have been a very minor role in the movie, and it was very likely she wouldn’t even appear in the final cut. How could she make it into the trailer that showcased the essence of the film?

“Only for a very short second or two. Although your character doesn’t appear much, you’re the male lead’s white moonlight, so the role is very crucial.”

So it turned out she played not just a wealthy young lady, but a white moonlight. Cheng Lele thought to herself that since it was such a crucial role, how come she hadn’t sensed it during filming? It was probably just Brother Duan blowing smoke. She said perfunctorily, “Oh, really?”

Brother Duan said, “Of course. The executive producer’s intention is to shoot a few more scenes of the white moonlight. Relying on just that one image being repeatedly recalled seems too thin. We were originally about to submit this film for review, but now with the added scenes, time is very tight. Do you have time next week?”

After next week it would be Christmas. She said, “I can’t do it recently, Brother Duan.”

Brother Duan said very disappointedly, “Try to think of a way. In those few scenes, you’ll be acting opposite Liang Yuchao. You know he’s very popular now, but he’s still being cooperative. He can squeeze out a day of time for us. You can’t possibly not give us face, right?”

Cheng Lele remembered now—this movie starred Liang Yuchao. When filming this movie, she didn’t know who he was and had specifically searched him on Baidu. She hadn’t expected that because of a dark horse summer series, he had become a hot commodity.

Although Brother Duan’s tone wasn’t quite aggressive, the content conveyed a sense of “don’t be ungrateful.”

Cheng Lele thought, just because he’s a celebrity, does that mean she should cooperate with him unconditionally?

Cheng Lele said, “Brother Duan, I really can’t spare the time. Since this role is so important, why don’t you just find someone else and reshoot the scene I performed back then? That would be more reliable. You know I have no acting skills. I couldn’t even hold up performing alone. Having me act opposite a big star—if I can’t keep up, wouldn’t that be adding frustration for him and causing trouble for you all? You should give this opportunity to a more promising actor.”

Cheng Lele felt she had explained her reasoning very clearly, and Brother Duan shouldn’t trouble her anymore. Unexpectedly, Brother Duan very persistently said, “These aren’t things you need to consider. Cheng Lele, we’re also very sincere. The price is negotiable. Besides, many people dream of getting a chance to appear on the big screen but can’t. Adding scenes for you with an A-list celebrity—you should be burning incense in gratitude. Look at things from a longer-term perspective. Don’t be willful.”

Cheng Lele didn’t much like the assessment of “willful.” Before age eighteen, she might have been a willful child, but now, she was definitely not someone who threw tantrums casually.

“Brother Duan, thank you for thinking so much on my behalf. This isn’t my aspiration, and I really am busy during this time. I’m sorry.”

Brother Duan was obviously a bit angry. “This is really the first time I’ve seen someone as inconsiderate as you. How about this—I’ll send you the few scenes to be added in a bit. You think it over calmly again.”

After hanging up, Cheng Lele didn’t think about this matter anymore and continued discussing things with the student.

Before getting off work, Cheng Lele logged into her email to check today’s messages and found that Brother Duan had really sent the materials. There were two attachments—one was the full script, and one was the scenes to be added. The email content also included a copied link to the trailer.

Cheng Lele opened the trailer first. Perhaps because it was a concept pilot film, she didn’t really understand what the movie was about. Anyway, eighty percent of it was footage of Liang Yuchao. It was obvious they were going to use him for marketing.

Under the official blog for “Fleeting Moments,” there were many fans screaming with excitement.

Cheng Lele watched it again and only then discovered that she really did appear on screen. Brother Duan had still given her face—he said it was one second, but she suspected it was only one frame.

So when the trailer was released, it didn’t have any impact on her life.

Out of boredom, she clicked open the second attachment to look at it. She quickly scrolled through with the scroll bar. The moment she was about to close it, she suddenly caught sight of two sensitive characters: “cinema.”

She reopened it and looked at one of the scenes. It was set in a movie theater ten years ago—a plot where the male lead and white moonlight watched a movie together. The plot was quite clichéd. While watching, the white moonlight got drowsy and leaned on the male lead’s shoulder.

Cheng Lele didn’t care about this. What her mind was calculating was all about the filming plan.

If the hot commodity came to Star Cinema to film, what huge brand promotion that would be!

In an eighteenth-tier small county town, even eighteenth-tier celebrities would be worshipped to the heavens, let alone a hot commodity?

Once this was publicized, wouldn’t all the young people have to come check in at Star Cinema? She would have to frame and mount the chair Liang Yuchao sat in.

Her imagination ran wild. The more she thought, the further she went, and she had already mentally drafted a pile of promotional plans.