klisemfg Chapter 122 Backing Her Up! The Granddaughter-in-Law Approved by Old Master Gu
Chapter 122 Backing Her Up! The Granddaughter-in-Law Approved by Old Master Gu
It was already 1 a.m. when I left the hospital and returned to the hotel.
After a quick familiarization session, Li Xi put on a face mask and fell asleep. When she woke up, the mask sheet was so dry that she couldn't peel it off.
She quickly re-wetted the mask with water, carefully peeled it off, and applied a lot of moisturizing cream.
Without even putting on makeup, Li Xi simply found a scarf and a beret, put them on, and headed straight to the film set with a bare face.
The film crew has already started work.
Zhou Zui is a professional and outstanding talented director. Li Xi only needs to be responsible for adapting the script, while he personally takes charge of the storyboarding.
In this respect, Li Xi trusted Zhou Zui completely.
After all, her storyboards are more suitable for comic books, while Zhou Zui's storyboards are more suitable for the big screen.
Li Xi sat next to Zhou Zui with the script in her arms, watching him film.
The protagonist of "Seven Days of Nightmare" has a rather down-to-earth name: Chen Qi.
She was abandoned at birth and raised by the director of an orphanage. She graduated from a prestigious agricultural research institute.
The story begins with Chen Qi researching organic potatoes in an experimental field.
Suddenly, she dug up a tin pencil case, the kind of old-fashioned pencil case with the multiplication table printed inside.
She was certain that when she was rummaging through the experimental site, there was no pencil case inside.
This pencil case could only have been hidden there by someone afterward.
Opening the pencil case, inside was a small, clear glass bottle containing a yellowed note.
Chen Qi opened the note; it contained only one sentence—
Find me within seven days, or all the children in the orphanage will die because of you.
This is the content of the first episode of "Seven Days of Nightmare," which is also the prologue to the movie.
Today's shoot happens to be this very scene. The crew members are all gathered at a farmhouse in the suburbs, having rented this entire field for filming.
Xie Zheng plays the female lead, Chen Qi, who is wearing a simple gray coat and digging potatoes in the field.
To prepare for the role of Chen Qi, Xie Zheng made a special trip to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and even went to the countryside to learn farming from the villagers.
Xue Ni used her exquisite makeup skills to transform her stunningly beautiful face into that of an ordinary college graduate.
And she is a talented actress. With a hoe in her hand, she is a young person who has just graduated and is determined to develop a new type of organic potato and use the prize money to build a dormitory building for an orphanage.
Zhou Zui never yelled "cut".
Without him calling out, Xie Zheng became completely absorbed in Chen Qi's world, seriously planting potatoes.
Zhou Zui sat behind the camera, staring at Xie Zheng on the screen, whose every move perfectly matched Chen Qi's character. Suddenly, he said, "Xie Zheng is a very good actress. It is my honor to work with such an actress."
Thinking of all the mediocre people he'd worked with over the past few years, Zhou Zui couldn't help but sigh, "After eating so much coarse food, I'm not used to suddenly eating delicacies."
Xie Zheng patted Zhou Zui on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Then let's welcome the return of the devil director Zhou Zui with 'Seven Days of Nightmare'."
Zhou Zui was thrilled and felt an urge to immediately roll up his sleeves and rush into the film festival with Li Xi to give an interview.
But thinking about the big trouble he was facing, he became somewhat preoccupied.
The morning passed quickly in a flurry of activity.
I had a boxed lunch for lunch.
The boxed lunches were purchased from the city by the film crew; we're supposed to have stir-fried beef with rice for lunch today.
But when the food truck arrived at the work shed set up in the suburbs, the production manager in charge of ordering food exclaimed, "I clearly ordered a Tata Claypot Rice rice bowl set, how come it's a West Valley Dim Sum restaurant food truck?"
Do you remember Nishiya Confectionery Shop?
When Li Xi first went to Xue Ni's bridal shop to try on dresses, she brought snacks from that shop for Xue Ni and her colleagues.
West Valley Pastries are known for being exquisite, delicious, and expensive.
The producer even doubted whether he had made a mistake. He checked his work log and confirmed that there were no errors in his work before he could relax.
He was a veteran of Zhou Zui's team. If this kind of trouble happened on the very first day of filming, losing his job would be a minor issue compared to embarrassing Director Zhou Zui.
Zhou Zui smiled and asked Xie Zheng, "Superstar Sister, did you order the deluxe meal?"
This truckload of snacks must cost at least tens of thousands of yuan. Looking at the entire crew, Xie Zheng is the only one with the ability and the right to put on airs on the first day of filming.
Xie Zheng was completely baffled. "I didn't."
Everyone turned to look at the editor, Li Xi.
Just as Li Xi was about to refuse, she received a call from Gu Huaizhou: "Xi Xi, I asked Chu Xu to order nutritious lunches for your crew. Did you receive them?"
"..."
"received."
Li Xi hung up the phone, looked up, and met the teasing and lively gazes of the crew members. Her face flushed.
Li Xi touched her reddened earlobe and said seriously, "It was a meal hosted by our investor, President Gu."
Mr. Gu?
Xie Zheng leaned close to Li Xi's ear, a teasing smile on her face, and said, "Is it Mr. Gu Zhen?"
"Ah."
When did he invest?
“His grandfather invested.”
Huh?
Xie Zheng became even more curious, "Mr. Gu Zhen's grandfather? How old is the old man?"
"I just turned 80 a few months ago."
Good guy.
At his age, he's still playing this game with Li Xi; he must be a shrewd old man who's still got it.
Xie Zheng was very surprised. She asked Li Xi, "Have you already met Mr. Gu Zhen's parents?"
Have you met their parents yet?
"I've met him, but I haven't formally paid him a visit yet."
"So, you haven't even officially met Mr. Gu's parents as his girlfriend yet, and his grandfather has already invested in our film crew?"
"How much did the old gentleman invest?"
Li Xi said, "He will invest whatever amount we need."
Xie Zheng gasped, "This guy's a nouveau riche!"
Changing the subject, Xie Zheng volunteered, "Does your Mr. Gu have any brothers? Older brothers or younger brothers are fine, and if all else fails, unmarried uncles would also be acceptable."
"Introduce me to someone, I'm not picky, as long as he's a man who can have children."
Lin Qiu gave Xie Zheng a cold look, warning her, "Watch your words."
Be careful that the staff don't overhear and spread the word that Xie Zheng is a vain and materialistic woman.
Li Xi knew Xie Zheng was joking, of course. She thought of something and said, "He doesn't have any brothers or uncles, but he does have an unmarried housekeeper, who is a bit old."
Knowing that Li Xi was teasing her, Xie Zheng deliberately put on a gold digger's expression and asked curiously, "How old are you? As long as you can still go with me to register for marriage, that's fine too."
"Over seventy, I guess."
Xie Zheng: "Get lost!"
Each person received a nutritious meal, and Li Xi carried her lunch directly into the tent.
Xue Ni and the staff squeezed into another tent to eat, while Li Xi went to the tent where Zhou Zui and the others were.
Zhou Zui ate very quickly and had almost finished his food.
"It tastes really good." Zhou Zui licked the last few caviar pieces clean from the lunchbox and exclaimed, "I guess I'm finally living a good life."
"Exit."
Li Xi loosened her scarf a little, slowly finished her lunch, and then took out an allergy pill from her pocket and took one.
Zhou Zui suddenly said, "Don't let the staff know that you have a habit of taking medicine regularly."
Li Xi was taken aback, but quickly understood what Zhou Zui meant. "Are you worried that someone might take the opportunity to switch my medicine?"
“If you change your medication and lose your medicine, anything can happen,” Zhou Zui said earnestly. “Don’t underestimate human nature, but don’t overestimate it either.”
“I once encountered an instance where actors were scheming against each other on a film set, deliberately losing an asthma patient’s emergency medication.”
"That time, someone almost died."
There are plenty of envious scoundrels in this world who can't stand seeing others do well.
A young and talented woman like Li Xi, who is poised to become rich through this TV series, is easily envied.
Zhou Zui had learned his lesson, which is why he kindly reminded Li Xi.
Li Xi knew what was good for her and said, "Thank you for reminding me, I will pay attention."
Li Xi put the pills away and prepared to get up to find Xue Ni.
Zhou Zui suddenly called out to her: "Li Xi."
"Hmm?" Li Xi stopped and turned to look at him.
Zhou Zui couldn't hide his worry. He said anxiously, "The news that I joined Seven Days Nightmare will reach Qiao Yuhong and his group sooner or later. I'm worried they'll try to trip you up."
"Don't be fooled by how smoothly things are going now..."
Li Xi interrupted Zhou Zui, saying knowingly, "Are you more worried that they will try to prevent our film from passing the censorship? Are you afraid that after we invest a lot of money and effort, we will end up losing everything?"
Zhou Zui looked dejected. "Yeah, Qiao Yuhong and his gang are capable of anything, no matter how shameless they are."
"Actually, this situation is quite common in the industry."
But those production companies all have powerful backers, so even if a show is shelved, they won't necessarily lose everything.
But Li Xi is different.
Li Xi has no powerful backers, and doesn't even own a decent company.
She and Xie Zheng just registered a film and television company, but currently Xie Zheng is the only actor.
If something really happens, both she and Xie Zheng will be implicated.
The more Li Xi trusted him, the greater the psychological pressure on Zhou Zui became, and the more ashamed he felt.
"rest assured."
Chao Zhouzui smiled reassuringly, and Li Xi said, "I have a powerful backer, really."
"Our film will definitely be released smoothly."
Seeing Li Xi's confidence, Zhou Zui breathed a sigh of relief and asked Li Xi, "Would you mind telling me which important person you asked for help?"
Li Xi said, "Mr. Gu of the Gu Group." This matter cannot be kept secret; Zhou Zui is her main partner, and he will find out the truth sooner or later.
Zhou Zui: "...Are you kidding me?"
Zhou Zui didn't believe it at all.
Old Gu.
The Gu family of Dongzhou and the Jun family of Nanzhou are two powerful families who control the economic lifelines of the eighteen cities of Dongzhou and the twelve cities of Nanzhou, respectively.
Zhou Zui would believe any big shot, even one from a small family, that Li Xi mentioned.
She deliberately chose the biggest one, and Zhou Zui couldn't believe it.
Don't you believe me?
Li Xi said, "Come on, let me reassure you."
Li Xi directly found Gu Wentao's WeChat.
On the day Gu Huaizhou collapsed and was hospitalized, Li Xi and Gu Wentao met again at the hospital and even added each other as WeChat friends.
In the past few days, Gu Wentao has also been frequently chatting with Li Xi via voice messages.
Li Xi pressed the voice recorder button and said, "Grandpa Gu, what are you doing? Could you please film a video of yourself for me? I need it to save face!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zui was speechless for a moment.
Who would dare to take advantage of someone's influence so blatantly and rudely...?
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
Gu Wentao immediately called Li Xi via WeChat video.
Li Xi raised an eyebrow, exclaimed "Oh!", and quickly answered the video call.
Before she could even see the person on the other end of the video clearly, she sweetly greeted, "Grandpa Gu, good afternoon. Have you had lunch yet?"
Gu Wentao was overjoyed.
Look at his precious granddaughter-in-law, she has such a sweet tongue.
Compared to Gu Huaizhou, who was a man of few words, Li Xi was like a sweet little darling with honey on her lips.
"I've eaten. I'm taking a walk by the lake to digest right now. Has Xixi eaten yet?"
"I ate it."
Gu Wentao then said, "I heard from Gu Han that Huaizhou has been sidelined by you and is no longer your boyfriend."
Li Xi muttered, "Why would he tell you something like this?"
"It was Chu Xu who said it."
Gu Wentao dared not let Li Xi have a bad impression of Gu Huaizhou, so he quickly explained, "Huaizhou is a quiet and reserved kid. We have to get a lot of information from Chu Xu."
"Chu Xu is just a mouthpiece, don't blame Huai Zhou."
It turned out to be the case.
"Oh, right." Li Xi quickly got down to business: "Do you remember Zhou Zui that I told you about last time? He's right here next to me."
“He was always worried that our movie wouldn’t be able to be released, fearing it would drag us down. I told him that with him as my backer, our movie would definitely be released smoothly.”
He wouldn't believe me; he said I was bragging...
Upon hearing this, Gu Wentao laughed heartily and said to Li Xi, "Come on, give him the phone, I want to chat with this young man for a bit."
Li Xi handed the phone directly to Zhou Zui.
The old man on the screen, although dressed as a fisherman and wearing a fisherman's hat, his face was unmistakably Gu Wentao's!
Zhou Zui saw Gu Wentao up close on the day of Master Li's funeral.
So he recognized him at a glance.
“...Mr. Gu.” Zhou Zui was stunned.
Does Li Xi really know Old Gu?
Gu Wentao stared into Zhou Zui's upright and clear eyes and said earnestly, "Young man, you must get up wherever you fall."
"Since Li Xi thinks you are a talented person and wants to collaborate with you on making a movie, then make a good film and don't let her down."
"Of course, I am also an investor in your project, so don't let me down."
"Good job!"
Zhou Zui quickly and respectfully replied, "Yes, Mr. Gu."
Li Xi took the phone away, and she chatted with Gu Wentao for a couple more minutes before hanging up.
Even now, Zhou Zui is still feeling dizzy.
He looked at Li Xi as if she were some kind of Pokémon, and after a long while, he said, "You didn't say that you and Gu Huaizhou were a couple..."
“No,” Li Xi said. “I just dumped him a few days ago.”
Zhou Zui gasped.
OK OK.
It turns out that even the heir of the Gu family can be dumped.
"What about today's boxed lunches..."
My ex-boyfriend paid for it.
"And the third investor..."
"It was invested by my ex-boyfriend's grandfather."
Zhou Zui blinked, and after a while asked, "So you broke up with Gu Huaizhou, will Grandpa Gu withdraw his investment?"
Withdrawal of investment?
"What's the panic? The old man withdrew his investment, but his ex-boyfriend is waiting to invest. If his ex-boyfriend is unreliable, his best buddies are lining up."
Jiang Xinghe kept asking her if he could invest and get a share of the profits.
and so.
Worrying about not having enough investment funds is unnecessary.
The movie "Seven Days of Nightmare" has no shortage of investors!