Chapter Thirty-Four

  Thus formally welcomed Jiang Chuanqiang's "daughter-in-law".

  A "daughter-in-law" with a plump butt who is plotting something against him.

  Next, Jian Ran and Xiao Hei seemed to have coexisted peacefully for a period of time. To be exact, no one knew that in order to achieve this "peaceful coexistence", Jian Ran had paid an extremely painful price - he was also exhausted, specifically manifested as: as long as Xiao Hei was awake, he resolutely refused to sleep; when Xiao Hei slept, he would stuff the cotton balls into the hole before falling asleep lightly. As soon as there was a slight noise from upstairs, he could jump up from his dream, startled and frightened. If hamsters had dark circles under their eyes, Jian Ran suspected that his own dark circles might have become so heavy that it seemed like he was possessed by a ghost.

  But Jian Ran felt that everything was worth it, because he really didn't want to wake up one day from his sleep and find his head in the wooden house on the third floor, while his body was in the food bowl on the second floor, with the slide between the two floors covered in his blood and internal organs... Every time Jian Ran couldn't bear it and wanted to give up guarding against Xiao Hei, this scene would appear in his mind, vividly and gruesomely.

  His body was rapidly emaciated by various mental tortures.

  As the master, it has to be said that Jiang Chuan is just so cheap. When Jin Yan was fat, he painstakingly helped him lose weight, but when Jin Yan really lost weight, as his master, he started worrying again. Specifically, apart from reading scripts, Jiang Chuan often ran to the hamster cage and stared at the two hamsters inside without saying a word, making people's hair stand on end.

  Xiao Hei said: "The gaze of this human makes me feel uneasy all over."

  She quietly stuffed a dried red date into her cheek and muttered without lifting her head, "Let him look, he'll get bored and leave."

  Xiao Hei said: "Oh."

  "Let's make a deal, can you keep a distance from me? Why are you getting closer and closer while talking? Didn't we just agree that I'll eat on this side and you'll eat on that side?" Jin Yan stretched out his paw to touch his face, extremely vigilant, "Don't come any closer."

  Xiao Hei shifted his body slightly and put it back in its original position. Then, without even lifting his head, he sent a sentence to Jing Ran: "Idiot."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  During the conversation between the two hamsters, Jiang Chuan's phone rang. Jin Ran and Xiao Hei immediately stopped their "friendly exchange" and turned to look at Jiang Chuan, who answered the phone with a expressionless "hello", paused for a few seconds, then said "I'm Jiang Chuan".

  The phone rang for a long time, and the voice of Mr. Fang Yu, the agent who had not been seen for a long time, came through. This guy's voice was a bit loud, so the hamsters squatting in the cage also heard clearly that it was Fang Yu informing Jiang Chuan to work overtime temporarily. It turned out that the "Republic of China Strange Record" crew had already taken their positions and were ready to start after the New Year, but unexpectedly, the props handed over by the props department were scolded by Jiang Luocheng, and now all the props need to be remade, requiring Jiang Chuan and others to go over and take measurements.

  According to Jiang Luocheng, for example, the sword of Huai Jin should be made according to Jiang Chuan's height and body shape. If it is a little wider or shorter, it will affect the visual effect in the lens.

  It's really speechless to hear that they had gone to such great lengths, but later I thought about it and remembered that before they started filming "The Sound of Years", the preparation team had almost run through all the primary and secondary schools in various cities across the country, just to find the school that Jiang Luocheng had in mind - a school with tree-lined paths, ponds with murky water and old artificial hills, French plane trees, and old teaching buildings from past eras, which couldn't be too modern and had to have an aged look.

  No matter how long it takes to start, without considering the production cost, temporarily requiring the prop group to redo it, this thing seems like Jiang Luocheng's style - but probably also because of his meticulousness, so every one of his works is evaluated as "very sincere". From the actors' lines, every word and every sentence, to the actors' every move or expression, Jiang Luocheng will study them carefully... So when he confirms a plot, the result that comes out must be the most comfortable for the audience to see.

  Of course, despite this, Jiang Luo is still a very annoying person in the hearts of many logistics workers - if it weren't for his generous pay and the fact that his "picky" reputation has spread throughout the industry, then following him to finish work would make it harder for others to find jobs afterwards, otherwise who would be willing to suffer this kind of humiliation.

  Even when dating Jiang Luocheng, Jianran was also deeply hurt - at night, he would see Jiang Luocheng scolding himself, "You've been in the industry for so many years, your acting skills are all gone, those directors still give you a salary, aren't they asking you for money?" - which made Jianran very frustrated. The two didn't even need to hide their relationship from others, and sometimes when they were resting, some female colleagues would come over and ask: "Jian Ge, when did you offend Director Jiang?"

  Because when this question was raised, the most thought-provoking thing that came to mind was the previous night when the two of them sneaked out on a secret date and almost got caught by the midnight patrol, he panicked and stepped on Jiang Luocheng's head to jump out of the window...

  But afterwards, Jiang Luocheng also said "Watch it, I'm telling you".

  Scolded already, no need to hold a grudge until the next day, right?

  So usually at this time, Jian Ran would just feel quite speechless.

  Now it's all right, he can be said to have "escaped the sea of suffering". The people who suffered became Jiang Chuan and Wang Mo - one is a newcomer, and the other has never cooperated with Jiang Luocheng before. It is believed that Jiang Luocheng's "generous hospitality" will make their performance in this TV series an unforgettable... beautiful memory in their acting career.

  At this moment.

  "I got it, see you downstairs in an hour... lunch? Haven't eaten yet." Jiang Chuan glanced at the half-eaten Master Kang instant noodles on the table and swept them into the trash can with a swipe of his hand. "Fang Ge, are you treating me to a meal?"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  He quietly lay on the edge of the cage, watching Jiang Chuan talk on the phone while searching for his pants all over the place. Then he personally thought that Jiang Chuan's appearance, with one shoulder and ear holding onto his old mobile phone, while hopping on one foot to put on his underwear, was a bit sexy and cute. His beady eyes were almost glued to the bulge in his underwear, which was about to burst out of the fabric. The worst part was that thing was still shaking slightly at this moment.

  Even the mice are getting numb with fear.

  If it weren't for that thing being too small to see clearly, I firmly believe that the scene at this moment would become somewhat awkward.

  Until Jiang Chuan picked up the cowboy pants.

  Just then, he reluctantly moved his gaze away from the eyes and instead looked at his abs - at the same time, he heard Xiao Hei ask curiously behind him: "Do you like to see humans who don't wear clothes? In my opinion, they look just as ugly as hamsters that have gotten wet tail syndrome and started losing hair, revealing their skin underneath."

  He waved his hand solemnly, indicating that you, foolish one, don't understand humanity's goodness.

  Then he got a sincere and genuine comment from Xiao Hei: "Pervert."

  Pervert?

  What's wrong with him? He just pursues truth, goodness and beauty, is that wrong too!!!!!!!!!!

  When wearing a pair of jeans (with the belt still unfastened and slightly open), Jianchuang walked towards the hamster cage with his upper body exposed, the two hamsters squatting on the second floor of the cage, one turned around and climbed into the wooden house upstairs with a very cold attitude, while the other leaned against the wall of the cage, opening its arms enthusiastically, as if to give that solid abdominal muscle a deep hug.

  "A Fei, you've lost weight these past few days, is it because staying at home has been too suffocating?"

  The hamster with open arms slightly lowered its paws, scratching the acrylic board with a "yes yes" gesture.

  "Want to come with me to the film set? Although there are a lot of people and it might be noisy..."

  Before Jiang Chuan's words had fallen, the hamsters behind Yalik's board began to get excited and started shaking up and down, wiggling their fat round buttocks, indicating: Let's go!

  "Does that little black one want to go?"

  Hamster stopped trembling, starry eyes turned into inverted triangle white eyes: No appointment no appointment!

  Unfortunately, Jiang Chuan ignored the strong protest of his own hamster. An hour later, the man casually put on a black T-shirt, took the keys and wallet, picked up the hamster cage and went downstairs. Xiao Hei, who was already squatting in the small wooden house on the second floor, seemed to have felt the vibration and poked out his head to ask, "Where are we going?"

  Then it didn't get a decent answer, only seeing the hamster under the cage with its big white eyes almost upside down.

  ……

  Actually, Jian Ran had always wanted to run to the crew, apart from feeling that he needed to let loose and breathe in some fresh air, there was another reason: before his accident, he had hung a small bag on his own special locker in the makeup room. The bag was very inconspicuous, but inside it was a luxury wristband that he had bought for his mother as a birthday gift after running around abroad to cooperate with others and finding time to go shopping. This birthday gift hadn't even been handed over to his mother yet when he directly lay down in the hospital.

  So many days have passed, Fang Yu has also been busy running between the hospital and Jiang Chuan's place, without time to pack up his belongings. The staff, including the cleaning workers, are very strict about people coming in and out, so there is no need to worry about theft. It can be inferred that the unassuming bag was probably left untouched in that place, covered in dust.

  He wanted to give this thing to Yuan Mei. Although it was already late for several days, after all, it was the last gift he bought for her before something happened to him.

  The perfect plan was this: once Jiang Chuan brought him into the dressing room, he could take advantage of the crowd and chaos to make a victorious escape, wandering around and stretching his legs before running to the side of the bag and squatting down. When Jiang Chuan discovered that the cage door was open and he was gone, he would naturally come looking for him. When Jiang Chuan found him, he would also discover the bag, and although Jiang Chuan might not know what was inside the bag, his appearance meant that Fang Yu would be right behind him. Fang Yu knew it was Jian Ran's thing, so she would open it to take a look - and Jian Ran had cleverly put a small card in the bag, wishing his mother, Yuan Mei, happiness every day and longevity.

  As long as Fang Yu's IQ is within the normal range, he will hand this thing over to Yuan Mei.

  As for where Xiao Hei will go and what he will encounter after the cage is opened, I don't care, it's none of my business. It's best to raise a cat in a high-rise building, then... hehehehe.

  Three views are just not right.

  The hamster squatting by the food bowl was cracking melon seeds and shaking its legs with pleasure, following Jiang Chuan onto the car in an honest manner. It even waved its paws at Fang Yu when it saw him, looking quite pleased... only to be met with Fang Yu's especially disgusted gaze and a single sentence: "Why did you bring this fat hamster again?" This didn't dampen Jian Ran's good mood, however.

  Due to the approaching New Year, there were more people on the street, and the car was delayed on the road for a while before finally arriving at the film and television company building before lunch. During this time, Xiao Hei had been hiding in the wooden house without coming out - it's clear that it's a pure hamster, fond of shade and quiet.

  Not like going wherever it's lively and crowded.

  The car arrived at the location, and from a distance, they saw the person in charge of the props department running over, pushing aside the security guard who was trying to open the door for them. The staff member with the surname Huang personally opened the door and exchanged a glance with Fang Yu, who was sitting inside. Then, he began to apologize repeatedly, like a recording machine: "Sorry, sorry, Brother Fang, we didn't expect things to turn out this way either. Sorry, sorry, it's New Year's and you had to work overtime and make an extra trip... I tried my best to persuade Director Jiang, but he just wouldn't listen, and in the end, he insisted on calling you to inform the artist..."

  Blah blah blah a whole string of words, and finally mentioned the main character Jiang Chuan.

  He sat in the car with a blank expression, being magnificently ignored.

  It's really frustrating, being a newcomer is just so humiliating. In the eyes of these old-timers in the industry, a newcomer isn't even as valuable as an old and experienced broker - Jianran believes that if he were sitting in Jiangchuan's position right now, this Huang Shifu would probably have already rushed over to hug his legs and cry about how hard it is to make ends meet with an elderly parent and young children...

  He handed the hamster cage to his assistant sitting in the passenger seat. After getting out of the car, Jiang Chuan didn't say anything and didn't show any dissatisfaction with Huang's sycophantic behavior. He just put his hands in his coat pockets and followed them to the dressing room with his head down. When they arrived at the destination and pushed open the door, they found that almost all the actors who could be named were already there. Wang Mo was opening his arms to let a little girl from the prop department measure the length of his arm, teasing her: "Sister, keep the data secret for me after measuring, this is a business secret. When I lose my job and come to your house to beg for food, you won't give it to me if you don't."

  The girl was teased by him and burst out laughing.

  The old rascal said with a serious face.

  Xu Qianqian sat on the sofa with a look of impatience - probably because she had to cancel her gathering with friends at short notice and rush over to work, as she was now considered a big shot in the industry. Compared to the easy-going Wang Mo, her sulky face made the staff even more nervous. As they entered, a young woman who looked like a college student was taking measurements of Xu Qianqian's head with a soft ruler, but it seemed that she had accidentally poked or touched Xu Qianqian somewhere, causing her to shrink back nervously and ask in a sharp voice: "What's going on? You hurt me! Can't you get someone else?"

  Before the frightened girl could come to her senses, Huang Shifu took a step forward and snatched the soft ruler from her pale face, followed by another round of "Oh dear oh dear" apologies.

  The dressing room was in a mess, with people laughing and joking, some getting angry, others watching coldly, whispering to each other and bursting out laughing, all sorts of characters.

  Jiang Chuan's assistant carefully placed the two hamsters, Jin Ran and Xiao Hei, on the table. Just as they were settled, Xu Qianqian sharply told her assistant, "Trouble you to move those hamsters a bit further away, my bag is a new limited edition Spring Festival product that I just bought back from Hong Kong two days ago - it's not easy to make money these days, and if it gets scratched or dirty, I'll be heartbroken."

  Xu Qianqian's words fell, and the entire dressing room was silent for about a second. Even Wang Mo, who was originally chatting with his sister, couldn't help but glance at her - after all, most of the people present were good at handling such situations. Before long, someone came out to mediate: "Sister Qianqian, you say making money is hard, what about us poor laborers?"

  Others saw the stairs and rushed over, one after another. For a time, voices of "Oh yeah" and "That bag is really nice, it's worth 30,000 to 40,000 yuan" rose and fell in succession.

  Fang Yu's face didn't look too good, and at this time, before Xu Qianqian's assistant could move, Jiang Chuan's little assistant had already awkwardly moved the hamster cage away from that Chanel bag. Jiang Chuan, who was taking off his jacket, paused for a moment, but there wasn't a single ripple in his azure eyes; he just gave Xu Qianqian a nearly imperceptible glance with his peripheral vision. The hamsters in the cage, Jin Ran and Xiao Hei, were both quite clean animals, always doing their business in one corner of the cage every day. Jiang Chuan would also regularly clean up after them, keeping everything spotless.

  What a load of crap!

  Couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and take a glance at the so-called "New Year's Limited Edition" handbag, didn't look before but now I'm amused: what kind of ghost bought it from HK, clearly it's just a product from Z City Baiyun Leather Goods City, high imitation, genuine leather - but looking at the stitching and hardware you can still tell the difference, its fake precision level... not even as good as the ultra-high imitation goods used by their family's Jiang Chuan.

  Just look at the fake watch in Jiang Chuan's hand - see it? That costs 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, even if it's a counterfeit, it's enough to fool your so-called "New Year Limited Edition" face.

  He walked around the cage with a sullen expression, his mind filled with thoughts of running out and scolding that bag to vent his anger - no way, let me go drink some water and simmer down...

  The hamster was running around in its cage, eating and drinking until it had a round belly. Suddenly, out of the corner of its eye, it caught sight of a quiet corner in the dressing room - the only makeup table that wasn't lit up. In front of it was empty space, with some personal items placed on top. Among those items, there was an unassuming brown paper bag quietly sitting there.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Really?

  It suddenly occurred to me what I came here for.