Chapter 45: The Fish Caught by a Fishing Line

"Cut!"

"Congratulations to the leading actor on finishing his scenes!"

After two and a half months of filming, Zhang Qianjun finally wrapped up his scenes. The entire crew's shooting tasks were basically completed, with only the female lead's scenes in Likeng, Wuyuan, remaining unshot, which depended on when the rapeseed flowers in Likeng would bloom.

At this point, the film officially entered the post-production stage. After Zhang Qianjun thanked the entire crew, Li Kai approached him.

"This film is a hundred percent going to go over budget."

Zhang Qianjun looked up at the still noisy set and smiled indifferently.

"Let it go over budget then. It's a good thing for the brothers—working an extra day means getting paid an extra day. Besides, the timing is great, finishing right before the Lunar New Year."

Li Kai looked at the unconcerned Zhang Qianjun with some puzzlement.

"Aren't you going to consider getting additional investment?"

Zhang Qianjun let out a yawn, feeling that even shooting *Brotherhood of Blades* hadn't been this exhausting.

"There's no way we'd let our own company put money in. If our company invests, it's at an internal price, and those three other companies won't make much. If we open it up to outsiders, the price gets absurd. There are plenty of companies looking to engage in financial operations that would squeeze in just to get a co-producer credit. I've figured it out now; everyone is just trying to boost their stock prices. The ones who actually have the heart to make a good film are still the state-backed entities, though the state-backed entities don't have very reliable judgment. Pack up and get ready to go home for the New Year. Post-production has nothing to do with us anyway—let it be whatever it wants to be."

Yes, Zhang Qianjun wanted to go home. Having spent nearly three months with the crew, he had had enough. As for the post-production editing and music of *So Young*, that was something for the director and producer to worry about, and it had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

Seeing him lacking energy, Li Kai knew there was too much drama with this crew, which was completely different from their first two films. Whether it was the professionalism of the actors or the tacit understanding of the team, the gap was too wide. At first, Zhang Qianjun would drag them into meetings whenever he had free time, but once they reached Anshun, he completely checked out, not even showing up to the set when he had no scenes.

The brothers from the old team sighed amongst themselves, noting that this time around they had hardly heard Zhang Qianjun curse at anyone, and it felt so unusual.

Back at the hotel, Zhang Qianjun slumped onto the sofa in a daze, while his assistant, Chen Xiaoyu, bustled around the room packing his things.

*Click.* The sound of the electronic lock opening rang out, and Zhang Qianjun looked up to see Kan Qingzi returning.

Seeing Kan Qingzi come back, Chen Xiaoyu made no sound, simply leaning against the wall. Zhang Qianjun nodded slightly at her, and she walked right out, closing the door behind her.

"She's getting more and more out of line. Now she doesn't even greet me when she sees me."

Kan Qingzi wore an unhappy expression, walking straight over to sit down right next to Zhang Qianjun.

"You're always giving her a hard time. Do you expect her to feel comfortable talking to you?"

Zhang Qianjun remained slumped on the sofa, looking like a potato that had taken root in the furniture.

Seeing him like this made Kan Qingzi somewhat uncomfortable.

"Don't you think she meddles too much in our lives? Do you know what other people call her? 'Little President Chen of the Solar System,' 'Zhang Qianjun's personal head maid'—there are even people saying that she scrubs your back when you take a bath!"

Zhang Qianjun felt a slight sense of helplessness.

"Why do you always have to go after her? The chores she usually does—if I asked you to do them, would you be willing or even able to do them? Besides, you live with me every day; when have you ever seen me use someone to scrub my back while bathing?"

Hearing this, Kan Qingzi instantly flared up.

"Listen to yourself! I'm the one giving her a hard time? Is this something a boyfriend should say? Whose side are you actually on?"

Zhang Qianjun finally straightened his posture and looked directly into her eyes.

"I'm talking about reason, and I don't know what you're feeling so insecure about. Appearance-wise and figure-wise, Xiaoyu is just an ordinary person, at best slightly above average. Do you really not even have the confidence to face someone like her?"

Though still somewhat displeased, Kan Qingzi finally managed to rein in her temper.

"Honey, do you really have to use her? Can't you stop letting her follow you around, send her back to the company, and change to someone else? I really hate her."

Hearing this, Zhang Qianjun chuckled.

"I use her because she handles every single task I give her properly, and the things I don't assign, she does just as well. Besides, do you think changing to someone else would be better? Xiaoyu is a very proper person and controls all kinds of boundaries exceptionally well. You hate her? Then stop driving your Porsche, because she was the one who handled handing it over to you from start to finish. By that logic, you shouldn't live in this house either, because she was the one who processed the property deed and even signed your name on your behalf."

At this, Kan Qingzi completely lost control.

"Zhang Qianjun! If you think she's so great, go live with her then!"

With that, she shouted toward the outside, "Little Yangtao, come pack our things! We're leaving today, I'm going home!"

She then whipped around and stormed out in a huff.

This whole mess started from the night Ye Qing wrapped up her filming. Ever since that night when Chen Xiaoyu coordinated behind the scenes, contacting people one by one to smooth the entire matter over, Zhang Qianjun realized that this person was genuinely talented, so he handed all his personal affairs over to her to manage.

Once Chen Xiaoyu took charge of everything in Zhang Qianjun's life outside of work, conflicts with Kan Qingzi inevitably arose, as Kan Qingzi felt that a third person had intruded into their lives.

To Zhang Qianjun, this was utterly ridiculous. Chen Xiaoyu took care of these things, and if you're not satisfied, you should take the work over yourself. But instead, you only take responsibility for being dissatisfied while doing zero work—did you expect him to do it instead?

Thus, friction was unavoidable. Chen Xiaoyu went from maintaining politeness toward Kan Qingzi to gradually avoiding her whenever possible, and playing dumb when she couldn't.

As a result of playing dumb, Kan Qingzi became even more unhappy, feeling this was a sign of disrespect toward her, which only fueled her resentment.

This was also the reason why Zhang Qianjun had felt increasingly exhausted over the past month or more.

*Knock, knock, knock.* A knock sounded at the door. Zhang Qianjun looked up to see Little Yangtao standing timidly in the doorway.

"President Zhang, I'm here to pack Sister Qing's things."

Zhang Qianjun certainly wasn't going to make things difficult for a young girl.

"It's fine, come on in. I'm leaving."

Little Yangtao hesitated for a moment before asking, "Where are you going?"

Zhang Qianjun found it somewhat amusing.

"Going home, of course. It's almost the New Year; I'm heading back to Qiantang."

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Xiaoyu, prepare a Chinese New Year red envelope for Little Yangtao."

Ignoring Little Yangtao, who was still trying to decline, Zhang Qianjun strode out of the hotel, borrowed the Q7 keys from Zhou Chongshan, and was about to drive away.

Sitting in the car, driven by some inexplicable impulse, he dialed a number.

*Beep... beep...* The call was quickly answered.

"Where are you?"

The environment on the other end was somewhat noisy.

"Did you finally miss me?"

Zhang Qianjun paused for a moment.

"Yes, I missed you."

A laugh seemed to drift across from the other end of the line.

"But I'm not in the capital; I'm in Modu."

"Where in Modu?"

"Building A, Greenland Center, Xuhui District."

"I'll be there in half an hour."

The person on the other end seemed somewhat surprised.

"Are you sure? There are a lot of people around here. Aren't you afraid?"

Heh. Zhang Qianjun let out a scoff.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

Twenty-five minutes later, three Audi cars pulled into the underground parking garage.

"I've arrived."

Shortly after the text message was sent, Ye Qing came down to the underground garage. What greeted her eyes was a dense crowd of people. At the front stood Zhang Qianjun in a black overcoat, right in the middle of three black Audis, flanked by six tough-looking men in black suits.

She pressed a hand to her forehead in a gesture of a headache.

"Don't tell me you're planning to take this group of drivers upstairs with you? You'll scare the kids."

Looking at her wearing grey-blue jeans and a black hooded jacket, Zhang Qianjun suddenly felt his mood brighten considerably.

"They'll find a place on their own. Let's go." With that, he stepped forward and took her hand.

Feeling the warmth of his palm, Ye Qing smiled slyly.

"How should I introduce you? A colleague, a friend, or my lover? Or should I just say I'm your mistress?"

Zhang Qianjun froze for a second. Why was this woman always so sharp?

"Let's go with friend for now."

She tilted her head back, wearing an evaluating expression.

"I never hold hands with male friends."

Zhang Qianjun sighed in resignation.

"Then just say I'm your man."

Ye Qing giggled, revealing her canine teeth.

"Isn't that still a mistress?"

Zhang Qianjun gave a wry smile, thinking for a moment.

"Not really. A mistress usually expects to gain something, but I haven't given you anything at all."

She narrowed her eyes slightly, looped her arms around Zhang Qianjun's neck, and whispered softly into his ear,

"Wrong, you know. I said just once, but you ended up giving it to me over and over again endlessly."

Just as Zhang Qianjun was about to make a move, she suddenly released her hands, grabbed his large hand instead, and said,

"Come on, let me take you to meet my friends."