FLME Ch55

Yi Ming grabbed a small biscuit and rushed out. Yu Wen felt a bit awkward. He was very skilled at watching drama, but this was, after all, the crew he would be working with in the future, and…

Yu Wen turned his head and met the gaze of Feng Chengzhou, who was sitting there, still in shock. He smiled obediently.

Besides.

The producer was still here.

“President Feng, don’t you want to go take a look? There are media people outside,” Yu Wen reminded him.

Feng Chengzhou finally realized what Yi Ming’s excited scream earlier meant. With the lead actress being so excited, wouldn’t the media outside be all over this? Once the news spreads, this new drama, which hasn’t even finalized its cast yet, could get bad press.

The young master stood up and politely nodded to the few producers in the room, “I’ll go take a look.”

In a crew, it’s common for the director and screenwriter to have different opinions, but arguing in front of the media felt like airing dirty laundry. Feng Chengzhou had worked with Director Miao before and had the impression that he was a reasonable person. With a small reminder, there shouldn’t be a fight.

…Yeah, right.

As soon as Feng Chengzhou pushed the door open, a pile of scripts came flying at him, hitting him squarely on his right cheek, as if he had been slapped.

Yi Ming, who was peeking through the window, witnessed the whole scene. She stood on tiptoes against the wall, not daring to make a sound.

…Oh my god.

She burst into laughter, wondering if she would get kicked out of the crew.

The media gathered at the door also witnessed the scene. For a moment, no one spoke, and everyone’s faces wore expressions of feigned calm, barely suppressing their laughter.

However, the already rolling cameras faithfully recorded everything.

Director Miao, with his back to the door, was unaware of the situation and continued ranting, “We’ve got plenty of time, just work overtime. Later, we’ll have President Feng give out bonuses. You know President Feng, right? His nickname is the ‘Wealth Dispenser of the Entertainment Industry’…”

Yu Wen had already walked up to Yi Ming, planning to join in watching the drama from the window. But upon hearing this, he turned to leave.

Can’t watch this, can’t watch this. Karma’s coming back to hit me.

Yi Ming grabbed his arm, giving him a puzzled look, then pointed inside with her chin, meaning: Don’t leave, there’s bound to be more good drama to watch.

Yu Wen had no choice but to stay put, cautiously perking up his ears, ready to run at any moment if the drama somehow involved him.

Feng Chengzhou’s expression was a colorful mix of emotions, probably best described as “I treated you as a business partner, but you see me as an ATM,” with a touch of disbelief and heartbreak.

As he walked in, the media at the door instinctively took a step forward, their cameras all pointed towards the room.

Director Miao was still giving his speech, completely ignoring the screenwriters who were winking at him. “Really, I’m serious. President Feng is so easy to trick. As long as we can get the third version done within a week, I, Miao, swear, all the money I trick from the young master will go straight into your bonuses. I keep my promises—”

He waved his hand dramatically but hit something with the texture of skin, making a loud noise.

“Smack—”

“Oh my, what the heck?”

Feng Chengzhou was having a terrible day. After being hit in the face by the script, he was now inexplicably smacked by Miao Yifei.

This one caught him off guard, and the young master couldn’t help but spin around, like a graceful butterfly, holding his face as he leaned weakly against the wall.

“Hahahahahahahahaha—”

Yi Ming and Yu Wen, who were both peeking through the window, burst into laughter at the same time. Yi Ming laughed so hard that tears almost came out, pointing inside, “Hahaha look, he’s even spinning…”

Yu Wen: “Hahaha, it’s so beautiful…”

After laughing for a while, the surroundings quieted down.

Yi Ming belatedly stopped laughing and quietly glanced around, noticing that the media friends were all looking at them. She then peeked inside and met the young master’s gaze.

She immediately straightened her lips and said seriously, “Xiao Yu, I just heard laughter. Was it yours?”

Yu Wen, in an even more serious tone, replied, “Impossible. Yu Wen is not one to laugh.”

Yi Ming said, “Strange, I wonder who is so oblivious to the situation.”

Yu Wen nodded and said, “Indeed, almost got us misunderstood.”

Miao Yifei was utterly confused by their little banter, only then snapping back to reality. He turned to Feng Chengzhou, scratching his head awkwardly, “President Feng… When did you get here?”

Feng Chengzhou stood up straight without answering, gave a signal to his secretary outside the door, and the secretary immediately understood, politely asking the media to leave.

Finally, the cameras and reporters reluctantly left.

Yu Wen quickly ducked his head, avoiding Feng Chengzhou’s notice, while Yi Ming, a beat slower, squatted down and gave him a thumbs-up: My disciple, you’re quite experienced.

Yu Wen modestly waved his hand, indicating that this was just routine, no need to praise.

Once voices started up again in the room, the two of them quietly climbed back up to the windowsill, poking their heads out again.

The scattered scripts were all over the floor. Feng Chengzhou, rubbing his forehead in frustration, raised an eyebrow helplessly and said, “Director Miao, what exactly are you all arguing about?”

As soon as he asked, the screenwriting team immediately seized the opportunity, each one complaining: “President Feng! Lao Miao wants to change the script!”

“He’s making us work overtime!”

“He even wants us to finish the third version in a week. He’s gone mad—”

One of them even yelled, “He wants to scam you for money!”

Feng Chengzhou: “…”

Outside the window, Yu Wen thought, I know this game well. You should’ve told me sooner, I could’ve taught you a class on it.

Yi Ming, thoroughly entertained, pulled out her stash of snacks from her pocket, handing half to Yu Wen, reminding him, “Eat my snacks, and you’re my person. Don’t tell my agent I snuck some food.”

Yu Wen, keeping a straight face, nodded solemnly.

After eating two biscuits, he glanced at the situation in the room and quietly asked, “Second master, are they arguing about my scenes?”

Yi Ming, chewing on a spicy chicken claw, mumbled, “I think so… Don’t worry, Director Miao will win. In the crew, he’s never lost an argument.”

Miao Yifei looked like a friendly, slightly scruffy middle-aged man, always giving the impression of having a good temper, but in reality, he was incredibly stubborn. Once he made a decision, no one could change his mind.

Feng Chengzhou clearly understood Director Miao’s temperament as well and said, “Huiteng Group fully supports your vision. As long as the third version of the script comes out quickly, bonuses won’t be an issue…”

The screenwriting team cried out, “President Feng! Our lives matter too!”

After exchanging only a few words, both sides started yelling again. Director Miao stood on the table, with a commanding aura, saying, “I say revise, so we revise! In this crew, I’m the king—hey, don’t pull my pants down—”

Seven or eight grown men were tangled in a brawl, some tugging at his pants, some shaking his shoulders as if trying to shake the water out of his head, and one in a questionable mental state with a wide-open mouth, seemingly ready to eat Director Miao alive—

Yu Wen and Yi Ming watched from outside, thoroughly entertained.

Yi Ming said, “Xiao Yu, no wonder everyone calls you the King of Drama. Being friends with you is always such a good time.”

Yu Wen humbly said, “Small scene, small scene.”

He had even witnessed the young master coming out of the closet live, so what was a group brawl?

The script was scattered all over the floor, the room was in chaos, and Feng Chengzhou, dressed in a suit and tie, felt a bit out of place and unsure how to intervene. After a moment of deliberation, he took off his jacket and tried to calm both sides, “Director Miao, everyone… let’s sit down and talk properly. Any problem that money can solve isn’t really a problem. Please, do me a favor. How about this: the bonus will be doubled—”

Before he could finish saying “the bonus will be tripled,” an unexpected kick came flying out of nowhere, hitting him squarely in the chest.

Feng Chengzhou, a little slow to react, slowly looked down and saw a glaring footprint on his white shirt.

And just like that, a young master quietly perished.

Outside the window, Yu Wen and Yi Ming were laughing silently. Yi Ming decisively pulled out her phone, “Take a picture, take a picture, I’ll share this with my girlfriends later…”

Feng Chengzhou was tired, exhausted. He sat against the wall, arms crossed, silently watching the mess unfold before him.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of white light. His attention was drawn, and he looked over to see two heads outside the window, one of them holding up a phone.

The smiles on their faces hadn’t fully disappeared.

“…Second Master.” The sudden eye contact made Yu Wen freeze. He stared straight ahead, pretending to be calm. “Feng Chengzhou seems to have spotted us. Did you forget to turn off the flash?”

Yi Ming also didn’t dare move. After a long silence, she replied, “Yes.”

Yu Wen: “…”

Yi Ming: “My disciple, based on your experience, what should we do now?”

Yu Wen decisively said, “Retreat.”

You could only secretly eat the melon (watch the drama). If you ate it in front of people, things would become very awkward.

Yu Wen slid down from the windowsill in one smooth motion, crouching low, sneaking along the wall, and quietly slipping away.

Feng Chengzhou opened the door, only to see a man and a woman, one behind the other, sneaking away like thieves. Their postures and pace were perfectly in sync, which made the scene particularly amusing.

“…Yu Wen, Yi Ming.”

Yu Wen instinctively turned his head. The moment he caught sight of the large footprint on the young master’s chest, he couldn’t bear to look and quickly averted his eyes, fearing that if he looked any longer, he would burst out laughing.

Yi Ming: “Pfft—”

He managed to hold it in, but his master couldn’t.

Feng Chengzhou: “…Is it really that funny?”

“Oh my, President Feng, what are you doing here?” At the critical moment, Yu Wen had a flash of inspiration. With three parts confusion, three parts inquiry, and four parts surprise, he asked, “We were just out looking for the restroom, and we were worried we couldn’t find it, but to run into you here—it must be heaven’s mercy on us. I’ve always admired President Feng’s accomplishments at such a young age. Perhaps the Bodhisattva heard my inner praises, which led to this fated encounter…”

Feng Chengzhou: “…”

“President Feng, would you be so kind as to tell us where the restroom is?”

Feng Chengzhou: “I don’t know where it is either.”

Yu Wen: “Oh, what a shame. It seems my praises for President Feng are still not enough. Fate has brought us together, but it has not written the same destination for us…”

In the end, Feng Chengzhou closed his eyes and said, “I won’t ask, and you don’t need to explain.”

He figured that if he dared to ask one question, this chatterbox could probably give him an entire dissertation in response.

Yu Wen and Yi Ming, as if they had received a royal pardon, fled the scene at top speed.

That evening, a trending Weibo topic titled “Shocking! ‘Moon Harbor’ Crew Casting Dispute, Hui Teng Young Master Slapped in the Face!” climbed the hot search rankings.

When Yu Wen saw this trending topic, he was chatting with Xie Jialin about the crew’s group brawl earlier that day. Uncle Xie was listening with great interest and even went online to search Yu Wen, only to discover that Yu Wen had a nickname: “Melon King.”

Uncle Xie asked, “What does ‘Melon King’ mean?”

Yu Wen immediately responded, “It means that people online respect me greatly and regard me as their king.”

Xie Jialin, seeing his proud expression, was overjoyed, “Sure, whatever you say is right.”

While browsing Weibo, Yu Wen stumbled upon this trending topic.

It was standard practice for media and marketing accounts to blow things out of proportion and omit key details. The trending story only mentioned the crew of “Moon Harbor” being disharmonious, with fights breaking out in front of the production team, and it included GIFs of Feng Chengzhou being slapped in the face by both a script and Director Miao.

Yu Wen thought, how impolite! These GIFs of the young master being slapped were now looping in front of tens of thousands of netizens. How was he supposed to face the world after this?

Then, with a single movement of his finger, he honestly saved the GIF and forwarded it to Yi Ming.

His second master replied with a series of “hahaha” emojis.

Ten minutes later, Yu Wen noticed the trending topic was taking a turn for the worse. It had shifted from netizens laughing at the absurdity to a much more pointed discussion: “There’s already chaos before filming even begins. Is ‘Moon Harbor’ really worth the hype?”

A long string of conspiracy theories followed, with some even speculating whether the director and the producer had financial conflicts they couldn’t express directly, so they used the fight as a way to vent.

Yu Wen scratched his head, feeling like he couldn’t just watch anymore, so he switched to a side account and replied:

[It’s not that complicated. The ones fighting were the director and the scriptwriter. President Feng went over to mediate and got accidentally hurt.]

Someone below replied: [Why were the director and the scriptwriter fighting?]

Yu Wen: [It’s normal for the director and scriptwriter to have different opinions. Without diverse perspectives and views, how could we create an exciting script?]

That person said: […How do you know all this in such detail?]

Yu Wen scratched his head again and honestly replied: [I was there.]

He thought he had answered thoroughly, but after a while, his comment was pushed to the top, and netizens said: 

「That phrase sounds familiar. Look at the ID, it all makes sense now.」

「Who’s speaking with such confidence? Oh, it’s Yu Wen, makes sense.」

「Hahaha, I’m dying. The Melon King was there again…」 

「If you had said so earlier, I would’ve just asked you directly.」

Yu Wen’s heart skipped a beat, unable to figure out how people had figured out his identity. He quickly reviewed his comment a few times, feeling there was nothing wrong with it. Then he checked the backend, and oh no, he hadn’t switched accounts properly.

He had replied with his main account.

Xie Jialin was washing fruit in the kitchen when Yu Wen suddenly ran in, wearing a particularly gloomy expression, looking aggrieved as he said, “Uncle, I want to emigrate.”

Xie Jialin was confused, “…Emigrate where?”

Yu Wen: “Outside the solar system.”

Xie Jialin: “…”

He couldn’t stay in this solar system for another day!

Huiteng Group’s response to the public opinion was a bit slow today because Bian Ce was on a business trip. Without Vice President Bian, who would care about President Feng’s online reputation? Who still treated President Feng like a child?

It had been three hours on the hot search before Feng Chengzhou slowly came out to clarify.

Feng Chengzhou: [I didn’t just get hit twice. I also got kicked. Attached picture.jpg]

The attached picture was the one Yi Ming had secretly taken outside the window, showing seven or eight adults shoving each other into a pile, while Feng Chengzhou sat in the corner, arms crossed, with an expression of indifference, as if he had seen through life and didn’t care anymore.

There was also a conspicuous footprint on the chest of his white shirt.

The netizens burst out laughing.

「You guys are killing me. I laughed for no reason at all.」

「If I knew you guys were this funny, I would have saved it for the Spring Festival Gala.」

「Someone give me a caption for President Feng! This picture is too plain, a bit dry, doesn’t match President Feng’s vibe.」

「Tired, exhausted.jpg. Is that how it goes?」

「How dare you turn our Huiteng Young Master into a meme! Where’s your morality, your integrity, everything else?!」

Yi Ming was laughing so hard she was practically rolling on the floor under Feng’s post.

Ten minutes later.

Yi Ming: [Crap, I forgot to switch accounts.]

Seeing how much fun she was having, Yu Wen almost thought it was part of some plan between her and Feng Chengzhou and almost joined in laughing. Luckily, he restrained himself.

…Mainly because the netizens were busy digging up all sorts of random gossip, scouring the world looking for him, asking if he had been at the scene. He didn’t dare show his face for the time being.

With President Feng personally clarifying, Hui Teng quickly caught on, and within half an hour, the hot search was taken down. The netizens continued to gossip enthusiastically, but that didn’t matter, as long as it wasn’t negative news, it was usable heat.

Yu Wen refreshed his inbox in the backend, which was flooded with messages, causing it to freeze. Randomly clicking one open, it was someone asking him if he was on the scene. He quickly shut off his phone, feeling a lingering fear.

Scared to death, scared to death. He had almost become the internet’s social connection.

Fortunately, he had dodged the bullet in time.

Just as he turned off his phone, Xie Jialin called from the door: “Psst, Psst, Xiao Yu, the quiet gourd has come back! Hurry upstairs and wait for my signal to make a flashy entrance!”

Yu Wen immediately perked up. Good, good, now it was his turn to play with someone else.

With a few light steps, he bounded upstairs, but not before leaning over the railing to remind, “Uncle, don’t forget the code—”

Uncle gave him an OK gesture.

The code was “Appear now, beautiful, generous, and kind-hearted you!” Although Yu Wen didn’t quite understand Uncle’s thought process in coming up with this code, he thought that he could somewhat be associated with being beautiful, generous, and kind-hearted, so he accepted it cheerfully.

He hid at the corner on the second floor, excitedly waiting for Xie Heyu to enter the house.

There was something strange about the atmosphere at home today—Xie Heyu sensed it as soon as he walked in.

Xie Jialin was sitting on the couch, looking somber, his shoulders slightly hunched, as if he had aged ten years overnight.

The living room lights were a bit dim. After changing his shoes, Xie Heyu asked, “Why aren’t the lights on—”

“Xiao Xie, our family has gone bankrupt.”

“…”

On the second floor, Yu Wen covered his mouth in surprise, thinking Uncle was going a bit too far with this.

What if Teacher Xie actually believed it?

Pausing briefly at the light switch, Xie Heyu turned on the lights and, without much expression, walked over.

“Normal.” He put down his bag, pouring himself a glass of water, and said calmly, “Our family goes bankrupt all the time.”

Xie Jialin: “…Huh?”

“This line, my aunts have used it before. Adding my eldest aunt and second aunt… our family has gone bankrupt a total of ten times.” Xie Heyu took a sip of water and said indifferently, “This is the eleventh time.”