tiantianyingshi

There were name tags on the backs of every chair. The tables nearest to the front of the room were for the leads and the staff most relevant to producing the movie. Liu Man found her name at the desk closest to the back.

Before she came here, she looked at the members of the new group chat. All of the extras, the actors pretending to be passersby, and even that class teacher who had more lines than her were not invited. The only reason that contributed to Liu Man being invited here was because of Qiu Jing.

The leads weren’t here, so Liu Man didn’t dare to sit here and wait. She walked out from one of the side doors, walked over to the public area of the fourth floor, and was going to take a tour around this luxurious hotel.

She had never seen such a place, no matter from her past life or the old Liu Man’s memories.

At the same time, a Rolls-Royce parked in front of the hotel. The waiters knew from their first glance that this Rolls-Royce belonged to their boss.

They were surprised when their boss got off from the passenger seat instead of from the back seats, where he usually sat. He waved his hand to signal to the staff not to come forward, and he pulled open the back door himself. He smiled as he said to the people sitting inside,

“You are my premium guests tonight.”

When there were still a few minutes until the hour hand of the clock stroke six o’clock, most people from the cast had already arrived and were all sitting.

To participate in this dinner party, Qiu Jing and Gao Jindong flew from the capital city to Shanghai this afternoon. Both of them were sitting at the front table, and Ye Zian was sitting beside Qiu Jing.

Yang Huayue had connections with Gao Jindong and should’ve been sitting next to him, but there was someone from the producing department sitting between her and Gao Jindong. Also sitting at the front table was a deputy director, Feng Qingyu, Qiao Xin, and Tang Tu.

If one would closely count through the chairs, there was still an empty one at the front table.

Everyone in the cast loved gossiping. An assistant make-up artist, sitting to the left side of Liu Man, was discussing with an assistant prop master at the right side of Liu Man,

“Who’s supposed to be sitting next to Director Ye? Isn’t everyone here already?”

“I just now walked over to see. The name tag on that chair reads ‘Ye Ziliang.’”

“Who’s Ye Ziliang? Wait, wait, wait. Isn’t the name of our director named Ye Zian?”

“Mhm, so this Ye Ziliang must be Director Ye’s brother.”

The discussion between the pair unavoidably flowed into Liu Man’s ears. But this wasn’t related to her at all, so she didn’t take it seriously.

Xue Yunfei, Lu Yi, and Cheng Fenglan were sitting at the second main table. There was an empty spot at the second main table, too.

Just as the hour hand of the clock stroke six, a silhouette Liu Man was familiar with ran in from the front doors. When the silhouette got into the section, it slowed down into strides as it swiftly went up to the second main table.

“Yunfei brother, sorry, sorry. I’m not tardy on purpose, but the traffic’s bad right now,” Coco apologized to Xue Yunfei as if she was scared he would get angry.

“Sit down, now. You arrived right on the spot, and it doesn’t count as being tardy.”

Coco quickly sat down beside him obediently.

“Who’s that girl? She looks unfamiliar. Is she even from our cast? Why have I never seen her before?” The assistant make-up artist was starting to mumble again, “And why does she get to sit at the second main table?”

“I think she’s a popular cyber singer. What’s her name again? Emmmm. Coco, yes, her name’s Coco,” The assistant prop master recognized her.

“Oh, oh, oh. I recognize her now that you’ve said her name. It’s that Coco, I’ve seen her sing on the internet. This is strange: Why would a cyber singer join our cast’s dinner party? Is she related to Mr. Xue?”

TL’s Note: Again, ‘Mr.’ here means this person is referring to Xue Yunfei as a teacher.

“Who knows? You know how deep and mysterious the entertainment circle is. We should mind our businesses and enjoy the feast tonight.”

Liu Man was also curious about why Coco would appear here tonight, but she guessed the reason behind it.

Ye Zian checked his watch and told Qiu Jing and Gao Jindong, “Let’s not wait for him. Let’s get the dishes here.”

He signaled the waitress behind him. A minute later, the waitresses started placing the dishes on tables. While they were serving, Ye Zian stood up and told everyone:

“Today’s the New Year’s Eve; it’s one of the most important days for us Chinese. Our new movie has to be published soon, causing everyone unable to go back home for the New Year. I deeply apologize for that. Producer Qiu and Producer Gao knew how everyone had been working very hard, so they came from the capital city to spend this New Year with everyone. Tonight, we’re a family. I’ll propose this toast first.”

Ye Zian then drank up his glass of Maotai in one mouthful.

Everyone started clapping and cheering.

Ye Zian filled his glass again and continued to say, “This second glass is to our Producers Qiu Jing and Gao Jindong. Thank you for your support for this movie, and thank you for coming all the way to spend this New Year’s Eve with us.”

He drank up the liquor in his glass and filled it up again.

“This third glass is to everyone here. Thank you so much for working tirelessly this month, thank you for tolerating my bad temper, thank you for not retorting when I scold you. Of course, I don’t want to know how you talk about me behind my back, either.”

There was an uproar of laughter.

When Ye Zian finished his third glass, his face was already starting to blush.

As he sat down, Qiu Jing placed a plate that was just served in front of him, “Eat some of this. You drank too much.”

The assistant make-up artist beside Liu Man said, “Director Ye’s toasting us at the beginning, so we’re going to have to toast him later. Ah, we have to drink wine tonight. There are so many people at the main table if we toast all of them, don’t we have to drink at least half a gallon?”

The assistant prop master said, “We are trivial, so the bosses won’t pay attention to whether we toasted them. We should substitute Maotai with red wine; we will never be able to survive those cups of Maotai!”

“Just toast Director Ye and the main producers. Try to skip the other tables if you can.”

This was a business social activity with strategies and courtesies. As Liu Man listened to the pair’s discussion, she didn’t understand. No matter if it was in her past life or this life, she had never taken part in such a situation and had never drunk wine.

Liu Man knew those orthodox princesses in the palace would be much better than her. They’ve been following the emperor ever since they were children, so they would be trained and experienced and have been in many of these social activities.

“Alright, alright. Let’s have some juice first,” the assistant make-up artist said and was about to reach for the juice jug in the center of the table. Liu Man got up first, took the juice jug, took the cap off, poured juice for the two people beside her, and was about to help the others.

They were very much flattered, “Thank you. We’ll help ourselves.”

Liu Man had been working with them for two weeks, and they knew she got in because of Qiu Jing. Nowadays, everyone depended on their social connections. Besides, even Tang Tu was protecting her. Therefore, even if Liu Man didn’t have many lines, they didn’t dare contempt her and didn’t dare let her pour drinks for them.

But everyone had good impressions of Liu Man. She was humble and was never fussy about the costumes. She had never shown her sense of presence and never picked quarrels with anyone.

Credits: Sydney