Chapter 21

Zuo Mingran's Calculation

Zuo Mingran's plan was in full swing, as a transmigrated person, she was the biggest cheat in the story, and could be called a plot bug.

In the original story, Yan Yunyang was a character with little presence, only mentioned briefly by others when they talked about Zuo Mingran's wealthy ex-husband.

The key point here was his wealth.

Zuo Mingran quickly calculated the timeline. According to the original story, it would be a long time until her downfall, and she hadn't even met the original female lead, Yin Ruxin, yet. There was still a long way to go before that plot point.

In other words, future Yan Yunyang would still be a wealthy person.

Based on these two points, it could be inferred that Yan Yunyang would not go bankrupt. Even if he did at the moment, he would surely make a comeback and become prosperous again in the future.

If she could help him a little during this time, invest some money in stocks or something, then there would be no need for her to write novels. She could just wait for the dividends and live a comfortable life.

This kind of foolproof deal was only comparable to winning the lottery jackpot.

Thinking about the future where she could just lie in bed and count money until her fingers cramped, Zuo Mingran couldn't help but want to present a contract to Yan Yunyang right now. Buying him out, securing her comfortable life for the rest of her days.

Yan Yunyang was forcefully pressed onto the sofa, needing to tilt his head slightly to see Zuo Mingran standing next to him.

Zuo Mingran continued to cheer him on, "Don't worry, a momentary setback is nothing. I will promote your company on Weibo, and it will quickly improve!"

Yan Yunyang looked at her earnest expression. In that moment, his unsettled heart finally settled.

He couldn't help but smile, his beautiful eyes without glasses, his eyebrows and eyes forming a slight arc, revealing a touch of charm. "It's okay, no need to go through all this trouble."

The money tree was right in front of her, so Zuo Mingran hurriedly said, "No, it's no trouble at all. How much money do you need? I'll have my assistant transfer it to you tomorrow."

Seeing someone genuinely offering him money like this for the first time, Yan Yunyang relaxed his body, letting Zuo Mingran press against him. "So how much money are you planning to invest in me?"

Zuo Mingran quickly retracted her hand behind her back and calculated the balance on her bank card that she had just seen.

Zuo Mingran had not been a first-line actress for long. It was only after the Century Wedding that she secured her position with the identity of Madam Yan. Combined with her share from the company and daily expenses, there was a balance of eight figures in her account.

Unless necessary, Zuo Mingran did not intend to touch this money. After all, it belonged to the previous "Zuo Mingran," not herself.

But now, in order to set a trap for a big fish, Zuo Mingran silently made a mental note and held up two fingers. "Twenty million."

Yan Yunyang, who was drinking water, choked. He had thought Zuo Mingran would say a few million, but he didn't expect her to actually have so much money.

"You don't need that much." Yan Yunyang, acting on impulse, responded, "If you really want to invest, three million is enough. I'll have Wen Mo prepare the contract for you tomorrow."

Regardless of the amount, the plan had succeeded. Zuo Mingran sat back on the sofa satisfied, gathering her scattered hair behind her ear. She sincerely said, "Since you're so busy, just have your assistant buy me food from now on."

Yan Yunyang didn't insist any further. He really had important matters to attend to, and he might be busy for a long time.

*

After a heavy autumn rain, the temperature plummeted in the following days.

Mao Mao caught a cold and was sent back by Zuo Mingran to rest. Only Anqi remained by her side, but fortunately, there wasn't much work to be done on set, and Anqi could handle it herself.

There were still many fans waiting outside the filming location every day. Zuo Mingran had gone to meet them a few times, and had Anqi buy them warm milk tea. The group of girls screamed in excitement, as if they wanted to pick Zuo Mingran up and spin her around.

The weather was too cold, and they could at least stay in the rest area provided by the crew. However, the fans could only wait outside, their hands and faces turning red from the cold, yet they refused to leave.

Zuo Mingran tried to persuade them a few times, but it had no effect. Even if someone listened and left today, new fans would come tomorrow. Zuo Mingran could do nothing but remind them to dress warmly.

The girls shouted back at her, "Ranran, you should wear more clothes too. Don't not wear them just because you think it's not pretty. Your mom would be worried!"

"Ranran, eat more. Are you dieting again?"

"It's okay to gain weight. It's cute to be a bit chubby. Mom loves you!"

Zuo Mingran: "..."

To her surprise, she became a fan of her own mother one day.

The TV drama filming was progressing in a tight and orderly manner. The only thing that Zuo Mingran was grateful for was her body's ability to easily gain and lose weight. After a few days of eating nutritious meals and engaging in some exercise, she quickly returned to her original weight. She didn't want to become a lead actress who kept gaining weight.

During the break, the TV drama was set in the summer, and Zuo Mingran shivered as she descended from above. Anqi quickly grabbed a jacket and draped it over her, then brought her a cup of ginger tea.

The spicy taste hit her nose, and Zuo Mingran almost spat it out. She quickly waved her hand and asked Anqi to switch it to plain hot water.

They had to shoot a scene twenty or thirty times, and Zuo Mingran had almost developed a reflex to say her lines when she saw Ren Luning's face.

Before joining the crew, she had worried that her poor acting skills would drag down the whole team. But with Ren Luning's support, even she seemed to have the strength of a Best Actress.

The director was the most frustrated. Originally, there was another lead actress who paid to join the crew, but Zuo Mingran had a reputation for her acting skills, so the director didn't have high hopes. That's why they brought in Wen Feifei, who was known for her acting abilities.

Who could have expected that Zuo Mingran would finally stabilize her performance, not particularly outstanding, but at least she wasn't the vase that only knew how to stare as before. However, before they could celebrate, Ren Luning came in.

The director was in anguish.

The director wanted to resign.

The chairs of several actors on the set were placed together. Zuo Mingran was originally supposed to sit with Wen Feifei, the second female lead, but the two didn't get along, so they switched to the second male lead.

The second male lead was named Ji Jian, a nearly thirty-year-old actor who entered the industry late. He had been acting for almost five or six years but was always in supporting roles. He was the type of person that others could remember the characters he played but couldn't remember his name.

Anqi went to negotiate with the assistant director to push back her remaining scenes. Zuo Mingran lay back on a lounge chair, her throat completely hoarse. She could barely swallow water, so she had to rely on the throat lozenges that Anqi had given her to survive.

"Ranran, are you okay?" Ji Jian, who was rehearsing his lines, handed her a jar of honey. "Drink some honey water."

Zuo Mingran opened her mouth and hoarsely said, "Thank you."

Ji Jian was startled by her voice. "Ranran, you're pushing yourself too hard, aren't you?"

He could clearly see from the sidelines. Of the more than twenty NGs, at least twenty of them were Ren Luning's fault. As the actor who acted alongside him, Zuo Mingran was completely dragged down.

"Every line is painful," Zuo Mingran could only gesture that she was fine when asked, and Ji Jian whispered, "Next time you don't have to push yourself so much, it's all dubbed in post-production anyway. If you keep acting like this, your voice might be ruined." Zuo Mingran nodded to show that she understood and thanked Ji Jian. Ji Jian shook his head and went back to prepare for his next scene. The next scene was his scene with Ren Luning, and just thinking about Ren Luning's lines gave Ji Jian a headache. Earlier, Zuo Mingran's scene was about the female lead, He Jiangna, discovering that her boyfriend, whom she had been dating for seven years and planning to marry, was cheating on her. In her grief, she got drunk in broad daylight and was encountered by the male lead, Mo Ge, who had come looking for her. The two of them had an argument. In this storyline, He Jiangna, who had always appeared mature and composed, finally showed her vulnerable side, first scolding loudly, and then breaking into tears with Mo Ge's comfort. The intense emotional ups and downs were not only reflected in the performance but also in the lines. Although there would be dubbing in post-production, Zuo Mingran practiced the lines many times privately in order to immerse herself in the storyline. She also tried to coordinate her acting and the lines during the shooting process. However, she forgot about Ren Luning, who never followed the conventional way of doing things. After shooting for some time, everyone gradually learned that Ren Luning was a "numbers guy," meaning he didn't memorize the lines and instead read numbers during scenes, leaving it to be dubbed later. However, Ren Luning was also skilled at being a people pleaser. From the first day of shooting, he never stopped preparing food and drinks for the crew, sometimes even giving small gifts. Zuo Mingran asked Mao Mao about it and mentioned that Ren Luning seemed to be quite generous. Mao Mao looked at her helplessly and said, "He didn't buy those, it's all from his fans. They send him different things every day." Zuo Mingran was stunned. She had never been involved in the fandom circle in her past two lives, so she had no idea about this kind of operation. Thinking about those girls waiting in the cold wind all day, Zuo Mingran shook her head but didn't say anything. After two days of reading numbers, Director Wang got angry and called Ren Luning in for a scolding. He even made a phone call to Ren Luning's agent. Only then did Ren Luning give up the method of using numbers and started memorizing the lines honestly. Zuo Mingran initially thought she could finally relax, but she soon realized that Ren Luning was worse than reading numbers. He treated the lines like a primary school textbook, with no variation in intonation. The first time Zuo Mingran heard it, the atmosphere she had worked so hard to build up was instantly ruined, resulting in multiple retakes. Today's scene was the same. Zuo Mingran had her emotions in place, but Ren Luning just couldn't get into the scene. The scene, which was supposed to be the emotional climax of the relationship between the male and female leads, turned into Ren Luning acting with an expressionless face.

Zuo Mingran screamed for over half an hour, but in the end, the assistant director couldn't bear it and ran over to talk to the director. They reluctantly finished the scene. Angel came running back and told Zuo Mingran that her scenes had been pushed to the end. When she saw the honey on the table, she asked where it came from and quickly made her a cup of honey water. Zuo Mingran sat up from the recliner and sipped the water. The director called for the next scene, and Ji Jian was already waiting, but Ren Luning was nowhere to be found. After a few calls with no response, Zuo Mingran was just about to enjoy the spectacle when a figure appeared in front of her. Ren Luning, who was supposed to start shooting the next scene, smiled and handed her a bottle, saying, "Sister Ranran, I'm sorry about earlier. I had my assistant buy a bottle of throat medicine for you." Zuo Mingran glanced down and recognized the medicine as an imported product with a high price tag that couldn't be easily found. Remembering what Mao Mao had told her, Zuo Mingran curled her lips and stopped Angel, who was about to take the bottle, and coldly said, "No need, focus on getting your lines right first." She didn't care how many fans he had, she didn't like this person.