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1.9% Hitting the Entertainment News Spotlight / Chapter 13: Remuneration

Chapter 13: Remuneration

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The grips were already giving instructions for the next set. The woman who took the names of Jiang Se and the others this morning re-emerged and gathered the extras together. It was clearly time for their remuneration to be calculated.

After working hard for an entire day, many of the extras sighed in relief at this. They registered looks of happiness.

However, before they could follow this woman away, another person hurried toward them. "I'll need some men to stay back."

When they heard this, many of the extras displayed displeased looks. However, a dozen of them were called out to stay behind in the end. The others went away with the woman.

The remuneration was paid based on the predetermined rate. Although Lu Baobo had only been filming for more than eight hours, she was paid $50. The additional $10 was compensation for the hot weather in Shen Villa today which had gone higher than 37 degrees.

As for Jiang Se, because of her line and being Zhang Jingan's personal pick, the crew gave her an additional $300, $40 for being an extra, another $20 for having fallen into the river, and a $10 allowance from the crew for her cooling drink, so she received $370 in total.

Everyone waited for their turn to get their payment. At this moment, it was getting quite late.

Lu Baobao and Jiang Se did not have time to shower. When they finished changing, it was almost 10 o'clock in the evening.

Lu Baobao initially intended to try her luck back at the other tents. However, when she saw that there were more than 60 missed calls on her phone, all of which were from her parents, she naturally snuffed out her intentions of going after the celebrities.

The two of them had been so busy with filming. Their clothes and personal belongings were left in the lockers while Lu Baobao did not even have the chance to catch her breath. Naturally, she did not manage to answer her parents' calls.

There were the sounds of filming nearby. Lu Baobao pulled on Jiang Se, looking slightly anxious.

"This is bad." She stomped her feet. "The last bus to the imperial capital from Shen Villa is about to depart."

She had been planning to come to Shen Villa for a very long time, so she had done some research before that. "The transit buses between Shen Villa and the imperial capital end at nine, and their operating hours are extended by an hour during the weekends. However, that means that the last bus will leave at 10."

Lu Baobao's watch clearly showed that it was now 9.45 p.m. They had another 15 minutes. If they could not catch the last bus, they would have to spend the night here in Shen Villa. "I've never stayed overnight outside. My mum will flog me to death when I get back tomorrow!"

She had been dying to come here before this. Now, she was as anxious as ants on a hot pan. "What do we do? What do we do?"

When Jiang Se saw her anxious look, she could not help but glance at her phone. "Give your folks a call. Try to calm them down. Tell them not to worry, for now."

Lu Baobao was beside herself with worry. When she heard the suggestion, she hastily nodded. However, when she processed it, she looked at Jiang Se and asked, "How do I calm them down? What should I tell them?"

"Just tell them anything. Hurry up. The bus is almost leaving. We'll have to buy the tickets to return to the imperial capital."

This time, the production team had recruited many extras. Some of them must have been from the imperial capital as well. If they were late to the station, they might not even be able to catch the last bus.

Lu Baobao finally realized the situation they were in. The two of them held hands and ran from the filming site.

It was getting late, but there were still reporters camped outside. When they saw extras appearing, the reporters swarmed them and wanted to interview any extra they could get their hands on to get some inside scoop about the production.

Jiang Se and Lu Baobao were thankful for these reporters. Many of the extras were held up doing interviews. When Jiang Se and Lu Baobao arrived at the bus station, it was not as full as they expected it to be.

The two of them were lucky. When they reached the ticketing counter, it was five minutes to the departure of the last bus from Shen Villa, and there were not many tickets left.

Perhaps because of the exhaustion from the day's work, Lu Baobao soon fell into a deep sleep shortly after they boarded the bus.

However, Jiang Se could not fall asleep no matter how she tried. The Daxing River separated Shen Villa from the imperial capital.

When the bus drove onto the suspension bridge, she stared at the oncoming lights from the other side. She could hear Lu Baobao's soft snoring in her ear. Her face was occasionally illuminated and plunged into darkness by the streetlights they were passing outside.

She had a feeling as if she was getting further and further away from the things she was familiar with. Just like Shen Villa, she had been there but did not leave any mark.

When they arrived at the imperial capital, it was nearly 11 p.m.

The Du family was already fast asleep. Jiang Se tried a few knocks on the door. Perhaps someone heard her, but nobody came to the door.

Therefore, Jiang Se could only turn around and go back. This area was already considered the imperial capital's suburbs. The building in which the Dus resided had no property management or residential management office, so it was dangerous for her to stay outside at night.

She caressed the few hundred dollars she just made that day. She found a small inn and paid $100 for a night's stay. She took a hasty shower and, without waiting for her hair to dry, hopped into the bed and fell asleep.

After having gone through so much that day, she slept especially soundly after all the exertion.

When she awoke the next day, it was almost 11 a.m. Jiang Se wanted to get up, but when she moved her arm, she realized that she was sore all over.

The spots where the ropes were tied yesterday were now showing faint marks. The mark on her shoulder where she had been hit by the prop knife and the bruise on her chest left by the squib looked even more grotesque overnight

She drew a deep breath and rubbed her chest while bearing the pain. She reckoned that it would take several days for her wounds to heal.

Her bra, which she had hand-washed last night, was already dry, so she changed her clothes. When she reached the Du residence, Du Changqun had already left for work. Zhou Hui was preparing lunch while Du Honghong was watching the television in the living room. When she saw Jiang Se, she clicked her tongue. "Looks who finally decided to come back."

The kitchen was only partitioned off a corner of the living room. When Zhou Hui emerged from the kitchen after hearing Du Honghong's words, water was still dripping from her hands. She shot Jiang Se a slightly nasty look. Her lips moved, but nothing came out. Then, she returned to the kitchen without saying anything to Jiang Se.

When Zhou Hui left, Du Honghong pursed her lips. "Why did you come back?"

Although they were half-sisters, it was clear that they were not close. They did not even resemble each other.

Zhou Hui had given birth to three children, but only her son, Du You, resembled her. Her two daughters, who were born from different fathers, did not resemble her.

Du Changqun was nothing special to look at, and Du Honghong could only be described as comely, at best. If she stood beside Jiang Se, one of them would look incredibly beautiful while the other would look insignificant.

This was also why Du Honghong disliked Jiang Se. Since she was a little child, the people around them would praise Jiang Se for being beautiful even though they knew that she was only Du Changqun's stepdaughter.

As Jiang Se went into her room without saying anything, Du Honghong rolled her eyes at her stepsister. When she noticed Jiang Se going into her room without replying to her, she pouted. "Manners!"

She had a puzzled look in her eyes. In the past, Jiang Se knew that the Dus did not like her since she was only living under their roof. Therefore, she was never close to any of them and would only speak to Zhou Hui.


Chapter 14: Mother and Daughter

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Usually, Jiang Se would have lashed out if Du Honghong had mocked and ridiculed her in this manner. However, she did not make any sound this time although Du Honghong had a go at her. Instead, she returned to her room silently.

Jiang Se seemed to have changed recently. However, probably because of Du Honghong's age, she could not quite tell exactly what had changed in Jiang Se.

It was highly probable that nobody in the Du family noticed any change in Jiang Se. Du Honghong's eyes gleamed with malice. 'Is she brokenhearted?'

Jiang Se switched the lamp on and took the money out of her pocket. It was the money that she had earned yesterday.

The original Jiang Se had saved $24, half of which she spent on the bus trip yesterday. It had been very late when they returned from Shen Villa yesterday. Fortunately, the city subway operated until 11 p.m. during festivals or holidays. She made it onto the last train and spent another $2 for the bus ride home, so the original Jiang Se's $24 savings was whittled down to $10.

She had earned $370 yesterday but had spent $100 for the night at the inn. She was now left with $280.

This amount of money would have been like a strand of hair among nine oxen1 to her former self as Fang Nan. However, for the current Jiang Se, this was a huge sum. She was extremely poor!

Some 20 years ago, she did not even know what it felt like to be poor. However, she was currently having a headache over this meager sum.

Jiang Se sighed and stashed the cash in the notebook under her pillow. She had just placed the notebook back under her pillow when Zhou Hui opened her door. She frowned slightly, but Zhou Hui did not notice her slight change of expression. She was merely looking at the light in the room.

"Why are you using the light during the day? If your Uncle Du comes back, you're sure to receive a good scolding."

Zhou Hui had never worked a day in her life ever since she married Du Changqun. She had been managing the house every day over the course of more than a decade.

Jiang Se did not have to make any effort to find out anything about this. Du Changqun's mother would unfailingly remind everyone of this fact at the dining table every single day by mocking and ridiculing them.

She would say that Zhou Hui had brought a child from a previous marriage into the family in hopes of living a good life. Zhou Hui's face frequently reddened at these words, but she dared not talk back to her mother-in-law.

The Du family was strict with what Jiang Se used, ate, or wore. The monthly household expenditure fell under Du Changqun's mother's jurisdiction. If the water or electricity bills were too high for that month, Jiang Se would receive a scolding from Du Changqun.

The original Jiang Se was young, so she could not help but argue with Zhou Hui when she was told off.

Jiang Se's room was partitioned off another room. It was no bigger than three square meters and there were no windows. Even if she left her door open during the day, it would still be pitch black inside the room.

When Zhou Hui said that, Jiang Se made a move to switch the light off. When Zhou Hui caught her movement, she suddenly said, "Wait."

She glanced behind her, went into the room, and closed the door behind herself. "Where did you go last night?"

She raised her hand in preparation to hit Jiang Se. "Where did you go last night? I see you haven't forgotten about coming back in the morning."

As Jiang Se moved backward and dodged Zhou Hui's swipe, her fingertips brushed Jiang Se's shoulder instead. Zhou Hui had an angry expression on her face.

"I was with my classmate at the library yesterday." She used the excuse Lu Baobao came up with yesterday as she glanced nervously at Zhou Hui and did not tell the truth.

"I knocked when I came back last night, but nobody answered the door, so I went to sleep over at my friend's place."

"Did you know that you Uncle Du wanted to bring you out last night to meet a friend of his? Did you know that he wanted to give you a job opportunity?" When she said this, she gave her daughter another glare. "Who knew that you wouldn't even bother to come back at all last night? It was a waste of your Uncle Du's goodwill."

When Jiang Se heard this, she chuckled softly. "I have no intentions on giving up on my studies and going to work."

Zhou Hui clearly did not expect this from her. She wore a surprised expression. "What?"

She had talked about this with Jiang Se before. She had expressed how she wanted Jiang Se to start working after graduating high school. The former Jiang Se did not object to this. In fact, she had seemed to agree with it. She had said that she planned to enter the entertainment industry and wanted people to see her on television as she wanted the citizens of Huaxia to know who she was.

Zhou Hui had had the same conversation with her daughter a few days ago as well. Jiang Se made no comment, hence Zhou Hui had taken it as her agreement to this arrangement. She did not expect this from Jiang Se today though.

The older woman seemed flustered. "What're you trying to do? What are you trying to do, huh?"

She sat on Jiang Se's bed, making the steel frame of the bed sway and creak.

"Your results are a clear sign that it'll be a waste of time for you to continue studying." Zhou Hui could barely resist the urge to pinch her daughter. "Gaining admittance into a university isn't even a certainty for you. Even if you do, how would you pay for the tuition fees?"

Jiang Se had anticipated that she would have to face this problem if she wanted to further her studies. "I'll find a job during the summer holidays."

"Earning money isn't as easy as you think. Just look at your Uncle Du. He's busy every single day and doesn't even dare take a day off for an entire month. Yet, he's only paid $3,000. You're so young. What can you do?" Zhou Hui questioned disappointedly. 

Her words hinted at her fear of the outside world. For some reason, Jiang Se had the urge to look at her mother. When she looked up, she saw the cowering expression on Zhou Hui's face.

She could tell that Zhou Hui had been pretty when she was younger. Otherwise, Du Changqun would not have married her, knowing that she had been married before and had a daughter.

However, life had worn the beauty from her face. Like a dove wasted by Du Changqun's keeping, she was afraid of the outside world.

Jiang Se was unwillingly reminded of herself.

If she had not been reborn, she would have gotten into contact with the Jianghua Group heir just as the Feng family had planned for her. It would have been highly possible for their relationship to progress to marriage. Then, she would move in with the Zhaos and be stuck there as a man's accessory.

The only difference between Zhou Hui and her was that Du Changqun wore his dissatisfaction and scorn on his sleeve. Nevertheless, it was highly possible that her future husband would have expressed his derision in another way.

"In any case, we won't know unless we give it a try." Jiang Se wanted to say something else to her, but when she saw the impatient look on Zhou Hui's face, she naturally kept her reply short.

"If that's what you want." Zhou Hui was slightly disappointed. "I don't mind if you refuse to listen to me, but if you insist on studying, we don't have the money to waste on you."

When she finished, she got to her feet and went out of the room, switching the light off on her way out.

There were four more days to the National College Entrance Examination. On Monday, Lu Baobao was lying on her desk listlessly. When she saw Jiang Se, her eyes teared up.

"I received the scolding of my life when I got back the other day. They even confiscated my phone."

She was known as an internet addict who would even scroll though her phone while class was in session. It was no wonder that Jiang Se did not find her looking at her phone at that moment.

"Do you know what happened to me these two days?" Lu Baobao hugged Jiang Se's arm.

"I got sunburnt and the skin peeled off my face. I was still sore all over after being bound the other day. When my parents found out that I went to Shen Villa, they confiscated my $40 as well. They even forced me to study as early as six in the morning and memorize those cursed vocabularies."

Jiang Se extended her free hand and gently pushed Lu Baobao's face, which her friend had been rubbing against the back of her hand, away. Lu Baobao, however, hugged her arm even tighter.

"I'm broke now. I can't sleep at night and I can't wake up in the morning. My dad said that if I don't get good results for my National College Entrance Examination, he'll have my skin."

  1. The English term equivalent to this would be 'a drop in the ocean'.

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