Chapter 24: There's a bad person in the film crew!

In the evening, Zhang Yuan turned down a mahjong game with Chen Kun and the others. While the other party was constantly nursing a grudge for revenge, they were actually just handing him money.

*Knock, knock, knock!* Arriving at Shu Chang's bedroom door, Zhang Yuan tapped with his fingers, immediately triggering a small commotion inside.

"Who is it!" A voice came out that sounded rough on the surface but was actually like that of a silly boy.

As soon as Zhang Yuan heard it, he knew it was a girl pretending.

"It's Zhang Yuan. I'm looking for Shu Chang and the Dummy."

*Bang!*

The door was flung open, and Liu Xixi squeezed out from within. She tilted her head up to look at him: "You're the dummy!"

"Oho, so the dummy knows she's talking about herself."

"I—I... I'll bite you!" Liu Xixi bared her teeth.

"Xixi, stop messing around. Let Brother Yuan in to talk." At that moment, Shu Chang, whose arms and knees were still wrapped in bandages, opened the door. There were still some black ink marks on the inside of her right index finger, suggesting she had been studying.

Despite being the same age, their personalities were vastly different; Shu Chang was always cautious and meticulous, while Liu Xixi was habitually carefree and thoughtless.

After sitting down in the room, Zhang Yuan glanced at Liu Xixi: "Since you're so free, have you memorized tomorrow's lines?"

"Why do you talk just like my mom..."

"Have you practiced your physical movements?"

"Have you read your professional acting books?"

"Have you read the script thoroughly?"

Liu Xixi covered her ears: "Master, stop lecturing me!"

"Hurry back to your own room." Zhang Yuan intentionally tried to send her away.

"Then don't forget to take me to eat chicken tomorrow... wait, I mean, to see the doctor," Xixi said, winking at him.

"Is it Crazy Thursday again?"

"Mm-hmm."

Liu Xiaoli was born in Harbin, so Liu Xixi often spoke with a slight Northeastern accent.

"Then I'm off! You two chat." Xixi tossed her hair and tactfully made her exit; she was quite clever and knew Zhang Yuan wanted to speak with Shu Chang alone.

With the "idle person" gone, Shu Chang felt somewhat flustered under Zhang Yuan's gaze.

Currently, she was wearing a pair of pink rimless glasses, making her look exceptionally quiet and elegant.

"Why didn't I see your tutor today?" Zhang Yuan asked curiously.

"She took leave for something," Shu Chang said, her expression looking unnatural. Zhang Yuan sensed something was wrong but didn't press further.

"Why were you so careless today? That was a pretty serious fall."

"It's thanks to Brother Yuan helping me."

"Does it still hurt?"

"Much better."

"How is your studying going?"

"It's going well."

"Are you getting used to the food on set?"

"It's alright."

"So, who pushed you?"

"Ah..."

Amidst the seemingly casual conversation, Zhang Yuan launched a sudden attack, catching Shu Chang completely off guard.

This was something he had learned from the crew of *Conquest*. The show featured many interrogation scenes; this method of using a barrage of complex, continuous questions to exhaust someone's energy before launching a sudden strike to observe their reaction was a standard police tactic.

"No one..." Shu Chang lowered her head, not daring to meet Zhang Yuan's eyes.

"Alright, if you say no one, then it's no one." Zhang Yuan stood up. "I'll go talk to Director Li about this."

"Don't!" Shu Chang stood up hurriedly to stop him, only to see a mischievous smirk on Zhang Yuan's face.

*He's tricking me...* Shu Chang thought. It turned out he wasn't certain; he was just testing her.

"Was it that girl, Huang Yuanwen?" Zhang Yuan sat back down on the sofa.

"I don't know. I just felt like someone bumped into me. There were many people behind me at the time," Shu Chang had to confess honestly.

Perhaps due to her upbringing, she wasn't as confident in real life as she was in front of the camera; she always tended to take a conciliatory attitude when facing trouble.

But Zhang Yuan knew that bullies loved this exact personality type!

In reality, bullying on film sets was quite common and existed in most productions.

Lead actors bullying supporting actors, official characters bullying extras, the famous bullying the unknown, and veterans bullying newcomers.

Just like in school, there were always a few pieces of trash who sought "fun" or a "sense of existence" at the expense of others.

What Zhang Yuan wasn't sure of, however, was whether that Miss Huang was targeting Shu Chang specifically or was just committing "random acts of violence."

After comforting Shu Chang for a few moments and encouraging her to come to him if anything happened, he realized that with her mother deceased and her father indifferent, she truly had no one to talk to.

The next afternoon, Zhang Yuan and Liu Xixi both happened to have no scenes. This girl had been restless since noon, as if she had developed hemorrhoids.

The moment her mother let her go, she scurried off to find Zhang Yuan, her "caretaker."

At KFC, Zhang Yuan was once again faced with a familiar cob of corn... something Xixi didn't like to eat.

Looking at the girl across from him licking the lid of a mashed potato container, Zhang Yuan felt an irremediable sense of dissonance.

The gap between this person and her onscreen image was too massive.

"You're quite close to Shu Chang, aren't you? Has she mentioned anything unusual lately?" Recalling yesterday's little accident, Zhang Yuan asked.

"Changchang has it so hard," Liu Xixi said muddledly, biting into a piece of original recipe chicken skin. "She works so hard tutoring every night, only to be reported for making noise and disturbing the neighbors."

*Hmm?*

Zhang Yuan pricked up his ears.

"That tutor of hers is so nice. She even secretly brought me candied chestnuts before." At this, Liu Xixi looked annoyed. "Too bad her mom found out."

Since her mom found out, she naturally couldn't eat them.

"That tutor sister was even beaten up on her way home a few days ago. It was so tragic. I saw Changchang secretly wiping away tears."

No wonder the tutor wasn't seen last night... Zhang Yuan finally understood.

"Hurry up and eat. I have things to do when I get back."

"No way, let me enjoy my happy time." Xixi picked up a spicy chicken wing and bit into it fiercely.

Returning to the set, Zhang Yuan took advantage of the gap while the camera crew was adjusting positions to approach Director Li Dawei.

"Director Li, that actress I worked with yesterday..."

"The investor's woman."

"I know, you mentioned that." Zhang Yuan saw the same look of helplessness on the man's face again. "I don't think her skill level is great. Did she come from a professional academy?"

"A diploma mill," Director Li sneered, then immediately realized Zhang Yuan hadn't even attended a diploma mill himself, so he quickly composed his expression.

"She seems to have quite a temper. I didn't dare voice my opinion. Is her background that powerful?"

"Sigh, don't even mention it. That nouveau riche guy behind her put up a few million. It's not a massive amount, but she's just riding his coattails. We'll just endure it and let it pass."

"Never mind you, even I've been harassed by her."

"Harassed how?" Zhang Yuan quickly followed up.

"This woman isn't even satisfied with her role; she complains she doesn't have enough screen time."

"Then who does she want to play?"

"Jin Meili—the role Shu Chang has. I shut her down."

So that was it!

Zhang Yuan finally pieced the whole story together.

It was actually quite simple: failing to fight for a role, she took her anger out on Shu Chang, even attempting to use such means to force the girl out of the production to achieve her own goals.

In his past life, Zhang Yuan had worked on construction sites. He had seen plenty of contractors using underhanded tactics and sabotage to steal jobs from one another; those methods were far darker and bloodier than this woman's.

In his eyes, this Huang Yuanwen was merely child's play, not a real threat.

Having understood the situation, Zhang Yuan began to wait patiently for his opportunity.

Coincidentally, only one day later, there was a scene involving Zhang Yuan and this Miss Huang.

"All actors, get ready!" After the director called out, everyone took their positions and began the rehearsal.

Zhang Yuan stood side-by-side with Huang Yuanwen and spoke with a smile.

"Miss Huang is in high spirits."

The other party immediately responded with a beaming smile.

On set, she was quite rude to most people. Because she had a backer, she was incredibly arrogant—the type that was both stupid and malicious, completely unaware of how to build goodwill.

But she was exceptionally friendly to only two people: Chen Kun and Zhang Yuan.

She craved Chen Kun's body, and she craved Zhang Yuan's too. They were different tastes, and she wanted to sample them both...

Some might say, *doesn't she have a man? That little investor? Why would she crave others?*

Well, selling one's body is a job, but craving handsome men is life. They are two different things.

"Brother Zhang Yuan, you are very handsome too," she said, even throwing him a wink.

Zhang Yuan felt a wave of nausea but suppressed it.

"There's something I want to ask you. I heard people say you seem to have an issue with Shu Chang?"

"Hehe..." The woman let out a cold laugh and said without any concealment, "I just don't like the look of her. Who told her to steal my role?"

With such low intelligence, she couldn't even bother to hide it, and her logic was purely predatory. Who was stealing from whom?

"The crew values harmony. It's not good to cause trouble," Zhang Yuan said, his face still wearing a polite smile.

"Let trouble be caused. What can a little girl like her do?"

"Then why don't you go bother a little girl like Liu Xixi?"

Huang Yuanwen was left speechless by Zhang Yuan's retort.

Liu Xiaoli protected her every day like a bristling hen, and besides, that girl had a foolish big spender backing her up. Could she afford to mess with her?

Seeing the expression on her face—as if she had swallowed something foul—Zhang Yuan knew she was simply bullying Shu Chang because the girl had no background.

"Have you considered the consequences if things escalate?"

Hearing Zhang Yuan say this, Huang Yuanwen finally realized he was questioning her, and her face immediately darkened.

"What consequences?" The arrogant expression she had worn after Shu Chang fell reappeared on her face.

And Zhang Yuan, who had been smiling moments ago, changed his expression in a single second.

"The consequence is..." A hint of killing intent flashed through Zhang Yuan's eyes.

"I will not be kind to you."