Chapter 39 - 38: "Grand Gesture," "High-Cost Production

Jiang Cai’Er didn’t have a phone, but she had a QQ account. So, she borrowed Li Xiang’s phone, logged into QQ, and posted the recruitment notice in the class group chat and on her personal feed.

Although few of her classmates had their own phones, they were on break at home and all seizing the opportunity to use their parents’ or grandparents’ phones. Soon, classmates were eagerly signing up.

Jiang Cai’Er typed away on the phone, constantly replying to her classmates’ questions, as busy and happy as could be.

"Jiang Tongxue, let me play a Saint Heir, preferably from Qingcheng Mountain. I don’t need a performance fee, just provide meals."

"Classmate Jiang Cai’Er, will travel expenses be reimbursed?"

"Jiangjiang, with my looks, playing a romantic young master isn’t asking too much, is it?"

"Cai’Er, I saw your last video, and it was really amazing. I helped promote it afterward; a lot of classmates heard about it from me!"

"Thank you, thank you."

"Cai’Er, that guy from your village is so handsome. He’s so manly, totally my type. Can I come play the Saintess from the Mount Emei Sect and steal your boyfriend?"

Jiang Cai’Er: "..."

She bit her lip and her cheeks puffed out in a pout. She was about to get angry, but then she quickly realized they were probably talking about the plot—stealing the Miao Clan Saintess’s boyfriend, the Central Plains Swordsman.

Jiang Cai’Er suddenly felt, ’This plot isn’t exactly in my favor, is it? I want to play a Saintess from the Central Plains, too, and be a happy couple with the Central Plains Swordsman. Why do I have to be the one who gets betrayed?’

’Oh well, it’s supposed to be a tragedy. Maybe it’s just like Brother Xiang said—only a tragedy can truly touch people’s heartstrings and attract attention and views.’

At this thought, Jiang Cai’Er couldn’t help but chuckle. "What am I even thinking? It’s just a short drama, why am I getting so serious about it?"

And so, she happily threw herself back into the role of "producer," even creating a separate group chat to make it easier for everyone to communicate.

This was mainly because a few of the participants weren’t her classmates, so it felt inappropriate to use the official class group chat.

Li Xiang felt he couldn’t let the classmates help for nothing. In addition to providing meals, each person would be paid 100 yuan. Furthermore, since they were going to film a short drama, he believed in doing it right. So, he decided to make a huge investment of 5,000 yuan, sending Jiang Cai’Er to lead the group into the county town to purchase costumes and jewelry.

As soon as Jiang Cai’Er announced the news—holy crap!—the classmates got even more excited.

"Holy shit, we’re getting paid for this?!"

"That’s awesome! I can’t wait!"

"I have a suggestion. Why don’t we buy fabric and get the costumes custom-made at my house? To be honest, 5,000 yuan isn’t quite enough to outfit so many people, but if we go the custom route, I can persuade my mom to give us a 50% discount on the labor costs. You guys know my mom’s skill—she’s a tailor, and it’s been in her family for generations. As for the clothing styles, we can find some online, and my mom can design some herself," a classmate offered enthusiastically.

Jiang Cai’Er discussed it with Li Xiang, who was naturally thrilled. That way, the quality of the costumes would be even better.

Besides, for something like Hanfu, they didn’t need high-quality fabric. It was just for a temporary shoot, so using flashy materials that looked good on camera would be fine—things like low-quality chiffon and cheap imitation satin.

As for jewelry, hairpins, and the like, they definitely wouldn’t buy real ones. Fake pearls made of polypropylene, for example, would still look just as brilliant and bejeweled.

Right away, Li Xiang went to the county town with Jiang Cai’Er. They took the bus.

On the way there, everyone in the "short drama" group chat was brainstorming. They posted lots of pictures of different Hanfu styles, roughly decided on everyone’s roles, and each person picked out a style they liked.

Then, they all met up at the classmate’s family tailor shop. Her mother was incredibly enthusiastic. After getting a sense of what everyone needed, she drew up a list of required materials and even recommended a few shops where they could buy the fabric.

So Li Xiang took Jiang Cai’Er and a few other classmates to pick up the supplies. Since they were referred by an acquaintance, they got a pretty good price.

"Don’t worry, I’ll work overtime to get them all done for you. I’ll have my daughter bring them over the morning after tomorrow," the classmate’s mom said with a confident smile. However, she didn’t forget to add, "Since it’s a rush job and time is tight, the workmanship might not be perfect in some places, but rest assured, it won’t affect the style. I guarantee they’ll look amazing on!"

Li Xiang laughed. "As long as they look good on camera, that’s all that matters." A few loose threads or a poorly stitched seam here and there wasn’t a problem. After all, these were just costumes for a shoot, not clothes to wear out on the town.

After they measured everyone, noted down any special requests, and agreed to officially start filming at 10 a.m. the day after tomorrow, the group dispersed.

Since Jiang Cai’Er would now be in charge of communications and handling all the miscellaneous details, Li Xiang took her to a phone store for the sake of convenience and bought her the latest model.

Jiang Cai’Er: "This isn’t right, is it? My parents will be mad at me if they find out."

"Just think of it as me buying it to lend to you," Li Xiang said. "If we only have my phone, the final video quality might suffer. It’ll be much easier to edit in post-production if we can shoot from multiple angles at the same time."

Once he put it that way, Jiang Cai’Er agreed.

In truth, Li Xiang had lent it to her with no intention of ever asking for it back.

"Brother Xiang, you’ve spent so much on this. What if we mess it up and don’t get enough views? What will we do?" This was Jiang Cai’Er’s first time acting as a producer, and she was feeling the pressure.

Li Xiang patted her head. "Why are you overthinking it? Just do your best. Even if it doesn’t work out, we’ll have gained experience for the future."

"Yeah! Brother Xiang, let’s do our best together!" Jiang Cai’Er made a small, delicate fist and pumped it in the air. As she glanced at Li Xiang, her eyes sparkled, shimmering like water-kissed gemstones.

The next day, Li Xiang went to the market to stock up. He bought plenty of meat, eggs, fish, seasonings, snacks, and fruit, as well as mineral water, iced tea, Coke, and Sprite. As for vegetables, they had plenty in their own garden. In fact, many had grown old or spoiled because they hadn’t gotten around to eating them. This was the perfect opportunity to use them up now that the classmates were coming over.

’They could always plant more after these were eaten.’

As for rice, he had another fifty kilograms of new grain milled, which would be more than enough.

Li Xiang knew he would be busy with the shoot and wouldn’t have time to cook, and his grandmother couldn’t possibly manage it all alone. So, he asked two of the neighborhood aunties to come over and help his grandmother with the meals.

Li Xiang tried to pay them for their time, but one of the aunties immediately refused. "We’re all like family here! Why would we take money for just lending a hand?"

Li Xiang had no choice but to drop it. Instead, he made a sincere invitation: "Well then, for the next few days, please have your families come eat with us. Don’t bother cooking at your own homes."

"In that case, we won’t stand on ceremony! Haha." The aunties were very cheerful about it, promising to take care of all the cooking.

And so, news of Li Xiang’s "big project" spread through the village. When the villagers heard that he had invested nearly ten thousand yuan, they were all stunned.