Chapter 65: That's My Family's Money

At nine o'clock the next morning, Jiang Ye followed Chen Xiang through the narrow apartment corridor, pushed open the rusted iron door, and the scene on the rooftop suddenly opened up to a spacious view.

A home DV camera mounted on a tripod, a reflector improvised from a car sunshade, and a boom mic pole wrapped in electrician's tape were scattered around.

Mushroom Head was sporting his signature explosive afro, pulling funny faces at a mobile phone camera, while Grandpa Mei squatted on the concrete railing smoking a rustic pipe.

Qiuqiu was holding a clapperboard, rehearsing a scene with a young woman in a white coat.

"Director Jiang is here!" Chen Xiang clapped his hands. "Everyone, let's take a break. This is Director Jiang Ye of *Go Princess Go*."

"Wow!"

The woman in the white coat was the first to turn around. "I'm Tuitui, hello Director Jiang!"

The young woman before him was around twenty-three or twenty-four, with skin so fair it was almost translucent, and almond-shaped eyes curved like they held the sunshine of Flower City.

As she spoke, a small dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth. A section of light blue jeans peeked out from beneath her down jacket, and she wore a pair of dirty canvas shoes, clearly showing she was accustomed to running around everywhere with the team.

"Tuitui is our resident victim heroine." Runtuo walked over carrying a prop box to make introductions. "Last week when we filmed the episode about a girlfriend's courier deliveries, she was buried seven times in delivery boxes by Mushroom Head."

"Eight times!" Tuitui raised a finger in correction. "Director Chen said the look of despair wasn't absolute enough on the last one, so we added another take!"

Amidst the playful laughter of the group, filming began.

Today's sketch was about year-end bonuses distributed as live chickens, and Tuitui had to perform a sequence where she was chased all over the rooftop by a rooster.

"Action!"

Her expression shifted instantly, transforming in a fraction of a second from an urban white-collar worker into a panicked working-class girl.

As she was chased around for the third circle by the rooster, her canvas shoe suddenly slipped.

She took advantage of the momentum to tumble to the ground, crying out toward the camera: "Boss! This chicken has been working longer hours than I have!"

Roars of laughter erupted across the set.

After Chen Xiang shouted cut, she briskly climbed back to her feet, brushed off the dust, and brushed it off completely as if it were nothing.

"What do you think?" Chen Xiang leaned over and asked quietly.

"Not bad, a mature team!"

Jiang Ye replied, then looked over at Tuitui again. What a pity about this girl. He wondered if collaborating in this lifetime could alter certain outcomes.

Tuitui's original name was Liu Jie, a native of Flower City.

A graduate of the Flower City Academy of Arts, she became a host and reporter for the Yunnan Television Entertainment Channel after graduation.

In 2011, she appeared in *The Legend of Mufu*, starring Choo Ja-hyun, playing A Shijia, the legitimate wife of Mu Qing and mother of Mu Zeng, which brought her a measure of fame.

In 2014, she became a member of the *Chen Xiang 6:30* team, gathering a massive fan base through her sunny, cheerful image and exceptional acting skills.

On the evening of April 29, 2017, after visiting her grandmother at the hospital with her boyfriend, she got into a verbal dispute with a drunken man, was tragically stabbed, and ultimately succumbed to her injuries despite emergency treatment, at the tender age of 28.

There was also another circulating rumor that the assailant was a fan of the 6:30 team.

Out of an obsessive fondness for Tuitui and discontentment with the affection between her and her fiancé, the perpetrator committed the murder in a fit of impulse!

It was tragic either way!

Filming continued until eleven-thirty. After wrapping up, Jiang Ye clapped his hands. "Hard work, everyone! I've booked two tables at the Fuzhaolou next door. You can pack up your equipment and head straight over."

Mushroom Head, currently in the middle of dismantling a tripod, snapped his head up abruptly. "Director Jiang, will there be steam-pot chicken?"

"All you can eat."

Jiang Ye smiled, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and distributed them to the crew. "Plus Xuanwei ham, cold rice noodles, and rose sugar water..."

"Wow!" Qiuqiu bounced over eagerly. "Director Jiang is much more generous than our Director Chen! The last time we celebrated a success, he treated us to cross-bridge rice noodles..."

"And only added one topping!" Tuitui chimed in with tacit understanding, setting off a wave of hearty laughter.

Chen Xiang shook his head helplessly, watching as Jiang Ye naturally helped the gaffer lift an equipment case, chatting along the way with Grandpa Mei about the application of Yunnan folk tunes in comedic pacing.

After a simple lunch, it was time for Jiang Ye to take his leave.

He stood up to settle the bill, and before leaving, specifically had three portions of rose sugar water packed to go. "For the crew members holding down the fort back at the base."

...

"What do you think of Jiang Ye as a person?"

Chen Xiang picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, his gaze still lingering outside the window.

The *Short Video IP Incubation Proposal* Jiang Ye had slipped him before leaving lay quietly on the table.

Runtuo pushed up his glasses, the lenses catching the glare of the midday sun. "I've seen plenty of students from the Directing Department at the Beijing Film Academy, but someone like him..."

He weighed his choice of words. "Who understands both commerce and creative production to this degree is indeed rare."

Chen Xiang recalled the few framing suggestions Jiang Ye had casually dropped during the morning shoot.

Using an electric scooter as a makeshift track for overhead shots, staging the rooster-chase sequence entirely from a first-person perspective...

Every single idea precisely hit the viral pain points of short video content.

"The scariest part is this."

Runtuo flipped open a page of the proposal, pointing to the data model illustrated on it. "He even projected our traffic growth curve for the next six months and marked out the potential creative bottlenecks we might run into."

The two men silently shoveled down a few bites of rice.

At the adjacent table, Tuitui was wrestling with Qiuqiu over the last piece of brown sugar glutinous rice cake, their laughter as crisp as wind chimes.

"Actually..." Chen Xiang suddenly lowered his voice. "He's right. What we lack right now isn't money; it's resources."

He gestured vaguely toward the ceiling. "Technical support from the Beijing Film Academy, distribution channels from Enlight Media—those are the crucial keys."

Runtuo picked up a slice of ham with his chopsticks. "So?"

"So," Chen Xiang raised his teacup, "I'm going to that seminar in Beijing next week."

...

City of Mountains, a certain residential complex

"Let's go to Disneyland for winter break!" Lin Xiaoman bounded up the final flight of steps, her ponytail swinging high in the air. "I read in a travel guide that the New Year fireworks are extra magical!"

Tian Xiwei was looking down, fishing for her keys, and nearly dropped them upon hearing this. "Disneyland? Tickets plus the hotel must cost three or four thousand yuan, right?"

She ticked off items on her fingers. "Plus the plane tickets..."

"What are you afraid of!" Lin Xiaoman threw an arm around her neck. "My older brother is super rich right now!"

" *Go Princess Go* made a fortune, okay? My dad said he made at least this much..."

She released her grip and exaggeratedly flashed the number one with her hand.

"Ten thousand?" Tian Xiwei blinked her almond-shaped eyes.

"Ten million!" Lin Xiaoman rolled her eyes. "Can you have a little ambition, Xiwei? My brother is a multi-millionaire now!"

The keys clattered onto the floor.

Tian Xiwei dropped her jaw, her eyelashes fluttering like a startled butterfly. "Be-Being a director makes that much money?"

"Of course! I've decided, I'm heading to Beijing to rely on my brother during the summer vacation. Not only am I going to make him take me to Disneyland, but I'm going to shop and shop and shop!"

"Crazy shopping..."

"No way!" Tian Xiwei suddenly shrieked, startling the cat across the hallway into darting away with an indignant yowl.

"Huh?" Lin Xiaoman blinked in utter bewilderment.

Tian Xiwei grabbed her best friend by the shoulders, her face flushing crimson. "That's my family's money! Jiang Ye is going to be my future boyfriend, what right do you have to spend it!"

The air froze for three whole seconds.

"He's my biological brother!"

"He's my future husband!"

"Tian Xiwei, you can drop that notion right now, I do not approve of this marriage!"

"Hmph, Ah Ye and I have a three-year pact!"

"???"

"Ha, my brother hates high-maintenance drama queens the most!"

"You're the drama queen! Your whole family is—except for Brother Jiang Ye!"

"Bang!"

The apartment door was slammed shut with vicious force.

The ship of their friendship had officially capsized...