Chapter 12: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not
Dong Ling didn’t want to dwell on the past. In her opinion, what was in the past was in the past, there was no need to bring it up again.
She was about to change the subject when she heard Song Mingzhi ask: “Isn’t the current mayor surnamed He? I remember he was promoted about five years ago.”
Song Mingzhi thought for a moment and said: “A cross-provincial drug trafficking case was solved at that time, that should be his main achievement for the promotion.”
“You actually know this, and remember it so clearly.”
Dong Ling was a little surprised. People outside the system or the relevant circles usually weren’t very clear about these things, but Song Mingzhi not only remembered, but also remembered very clearly.
“I worked in finance before, so I paid more attention to political matters.”
Song Mingzhi explained briefly with a smile, without elaborating.
Dong Ling didn’t doubt it, because many business policies were actually adjusted according to the political climate, especially since her family was in real estate and would pay more attention to these matters.
“Xuan Du takes her mother’s surname. The solving of that drug trafficking case had a lot to do with Uncle He’s promotion. It shouldn’t have had a major impact, but Xuan Du holds grudges.”
Dong Ling had been very careful with what she did back then, it didn’t affect Xuan Du’s family. Essentially, it wasn’t a conflict between two factions, just a personal grudge between her and Xuan Du.
“I’ll be careful. Is our flight tomorrow morning?”
Song Mingzhi sensed Dong Ling’s mood wasn’t great, and naturally changed the subject.
Dong Ling nodded. Her mood improved considerably when talking about this topic.
Song Mingzhi chatted with her, but in her mind, she was thinking about looking into the relevant situation.
She liked to be prepared and plan before acting, to see if the other party was a major threat. After all, she and Dong Ling were now in the same boat, and she didn’t want anything to happen to the girl.
Dong Ling had checked the weather before leaving and specifically brought thicker clothes.
On the plane, she was a little absent-minded, because the task system hadn’t updated for a long time.
It took a long time to assemble the film crew. Even though she had sped things up, it still took a month and a half since she received the 5% task.
During this month and a half, the task system only occasionally issued some good morning, good night, and meal delivery tasks, increasing the main storyline progress by 0.1% or 0.2% at a time.
Dong Ling originally thought that every little bit helped, even mosquito legs were still meat, but she didn’t expect the world’s energy to deplete, and the main storyline progress of 24% a month and a half ago had now regressed to 22%.
She could only huddle with 021 for warmth, crying for help, both of them becoming increasingly emaciated.
021 comforted her: [Girl, don’t worry, the bottleneck period is almost over, I have a feeling the task will come soon.]
Dong Ling didn’t reply. Knowing the task system’s usual style, who knew what kind of nonsense it would come up with.
The bottleneck period 021 mentioned was the transition period in the original novel’s plot. It was impossible for the novel to describe every day in detail, so there were often time skips.
But as a world synchronized with the original novel’s timeline, these time skips were real days for Dong Ling, days that couldn’t be skipped, so this situation of having few tasks would occur.
Dong Ling was now in a difficult position. She felt like the task system had become her period. She would be annoyed if it didn’t come on time, and annoyed when it did.
She tilted her head and looked at Song Mingzhi sitting next to her in first class, silently wishing for the awkwardness level to be lower.
Song Mingzhi felt the gaze from beside her, but didn’t open her eyes. Her eyes moved unconsciously under her eyelids, still pondering Dong Ling’s sexual orientation.
These days, Dong Ling had been very persistent in checking in on her and occasionally sending her sweet messages, making Song Mingzhi feel like she was about to make a move, but then she would change the subject, and act as if nothing had happened when they met again, as if she was simply sharing those sentences.
Every time she was about to politely decline, Dong Ling would act like a straight girl, as if she was being sensitive and suspicious, causing her to repeat the process of “becoming suspicious – dismissing suspicion – becoming suspicious” these past few days.
She even felt that Dong Ling was teasing her, but seeing Dong Ling’s confused look in response to her probing, she felt that she had misunderstood.
Song Mingzhi had never had such a confusing experience making friends, and she didn’t even think it was bad.
Completely unaware of Song Mingzhi’s inner turmoil, Dong Ling rested on the plane with a mind full of thoughts.
The manor, used only for summer retreats, was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves at the front door in autumn and winter due to lack of cleaning.
Dong Ling had someone open the manor gates and was about to have the place cleaned up when she was stopped by the director, Cheng Ge.
“Don’t clean yet, this is the feeling I want. I’ll go inside and take a look later, and then arrange the props accordingly.”
Cheng Ge spoke somewhat urgently. Looking at the slightly dusty manor covered in fallen leaves, various camera shots were already forming in his mind.
“Okay.”
Dong Ling nodded, not bothered by Cheng Ge’s commanding tone. She knew this was his personality.
Cheng Ge was actually a relatively well-known director in the industry. His films weren’t all masterpieces, but he had won many awards both domestically and internationally, and was truly capable.
There were many investors who wanted to hire him to make films, but he was very picky and didn’t accept random casting choices. He had offended quite a few people because of this, and he also had some personal quirks.
Every time he made a commercial film, Cheng Ge would reward himself by making a niche film he liked.
The results of those niche films weren’t just bad, they were disastrous. Cheng Ge’s last self-rewarding film was a love story that combined Cthulhu and religious elements. The box office wasn’t just a failure, it was a catastrophe.
He had dissuaded a group of investors who wanted to hire him with his personal preferences, which was how Dong Ling managed to successfully hire him.
Dong Ling wasn’t afraid of his strict demands and pursuit of perfection. She wanted to make Song Mingzhi famous, which required creating high-quality work. And as the investor, if Cheng Ge wanted to incorporate his personal quirks, she could stop him, so there was no risk of a disaster.
While the crew settled in and the cleaning was underway, Dong Ling had the logistics team arrange everyone’s accommodation. As for Song Mingzhi’s accommodation, she naturally arranged it herself.
“You’ll sleep here. This room has excellent lighting and a great view, and all the amenities are complete.”
Dong Ling waved away the dust in the room and removed the white sheet covering the furniture.
“What about you?”
Song Mingzhi looked at the room, which was clearly the master bedroom, and asked.
“There might not be enough rooms, I’ll just sleep in the secondary bedroom inside.”
Dong Ling pointed to the inside of the room, choosing to give the large bed to Song Mingzhi, after all, filming would be tiring for her.
Dong Ling couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, where could you find such a good sugar daddy?
021: [With all due respect, other sugar daddies sleep in the same bed as their kept women.]
Dong Ling said resentfully: [Other sugar daddies don’t have to crowdfund either.]
“I can sleep in the secondary bedroom too.”
Song Mingzhi was a little surprised. Dong Ling was too good to her, whether it was that contract or this tailor-made film crew, and her attitude was so selfless. This was simply unbelievable to Song Mingzhi, who had a businessman’s mindset.
If she wasn’t so nice to her, she wouldn’t be so suspicious of her sexual orientation.
“It will be much more convenient for you to stay in the master bedroom, and the soundproofing here is very good, you don’t have to worry about disturbing me when you go out.”
Dong Ling knocked on the wall connecting the master bedroom and the secondary bedroom and said with a slight smile.
Song Mingzhi thought about it and agreed, so she accepted Dong Ling’s arrangement.
After everything was more or less settled, Dong Ling attended the opening ceremony.
After filming officially started, Song Mingzhi went to the makeup room to get ready while reading the storyboard script. Dong Ling watched for a while, then left without disturbing her to check on other things.
Cheng Ge was using his eyes to find inspiration, Tang Nuo and the others were practicing their expressions and lines. Dong Ling watched for a few moments, then couldn’t stand the cold wind outside and went to the heated lounge.
There was already someone sitting inside, wearing a large black down jacket, her hair messy and loose, looking like a ghost drained of energy.
“Screenwriter Tong, you pulled another all-nighter?”
“Hello, CEO Dong.” Screenwriter Tong Ao greeted her listlessly, yawned, and said, “I suddenly had inspiration last night and refined a few scenes.”
She handed the manuscript to Dong Ling, resting her head on her hand, looking drowsy.
Dong Ling nodded after reading it. Although she wasn’t a professional, she could still tell whether something was good or bad. It was indeed much more detailed than before, and the added dialogue and actions enhanced the atmosphere and made the plot flow more smoothly.
She wondered when the plot of this novel she was in would move forward and issue some tasks.
Just as she had this thought, the familiar mechanical voice rang out in her mind.
[Task: Add a kissing scene with the female lead in the movie you’re investing in. Completing this task will reward 5% progress.]
???
Absolutely not!
Dong Ling’s fists clenched. This broken system should just go where it’s supposed to be!
021 hugged her leg and pleaded: [Girl, think about the progress, just bear with it!]
Dong Ling took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. There were loopholes in the task system, there was no need to follow it mechanically.
She thought for a moment and said: “Your refinement is very good, but I have a suggestion…”
Tong Ao was startled awake. After many years in the industry, what she feared most were the sudden suggestions from investors.
She said tearfully: “Please go ahead.”
“I think we can add a plot point here…”
The protagonist of the story was called Yan Ting. The reason for her suspension was vaguely explained in the film, shown only in a few scene fragments. Dong Ling felt that she could add a kissing scene here.
To make this kissing scene not feel abrupt and unrelated to romance, while also being relevant to the main plot, Dong Ling felt that she could have Yan Ting almost exposed while on a mission, and then be saved by someone.
Yan Ting was caught off guard by a kiss, feeling a cold object pushed between her lips.
“I initially think this could be a key, and then it can be linked to something in the manor.”
Dong Ling wasn’t a screenwriter after all, she couldn’t think of anything more, because this scene was added on the spur of the moment.
“That seems feasible!”
Tong Ao’s eyes lit up, her previously dejected mood lifted. Her inspiration was sparked, her mind racing with ideas. She suddenly became energetic, feeling like she could pull another all-nighter.
“CEO Dong, is this new character only appearing for a moment? Do they need any subsequent scenes?”
Tong Ao, well-versed in dealing with investors, asked thoughtfully.
“One scene is enough. If you need this character later for the ending, they can make a brief appearance, but this person hasn’t acted before, so no difficult scenes are needed, they can even be masked.”
Tong Ao nodded knowingly: “Okay, CEO Dong, do you have a suitable person in mind?”
Dong Ling said with suppressed embarrassment: “Actually, I have a dream of becoming a star…”
F*** you, dog system!!!!
Some people are alive, but she is already socially dead.
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