Chapter 343
Chapter 343
The director was completely overwhelmed too.
He had agreed to make this movie partly because Lu Yihao’s father-in-law had invested a great deal of money.
Although Lu Yihao’s career had been destroyed last year, he still retained some popularity. No matter how terrible the movie was, it would undoubtedly make a considerable profit.
But now the film set was haunted, and Lu Yihao had brought the Ghost with him.
The director suddenly had no idea what to do.
“No. This money is too dangerous to earn.”
He shook his head, seemingly making a decision. “If Master Chen hadn’t been here tonight, who knows what disaster would have happened? If anyone else gets hurt, I’ll pay more compensation than I could ever earn.”
He pulled the assistant director aside. “In a moment, ask the supporting actresses or some of the female extras whether any of them are willing to spend the night with Lu Yihao while carrying a pinhole camera. Promise her an important role in my next movie.”
“Then tomorrow, find someone to deliver the footage to Lu Yihao’s father-in-law. Tell him about the female Ghost too.”
“We can’t keep filming this movie. If we do, I’ll be the next fucking victim!”
Hearing the director’s suggestion made me inexplicably uncomfortable.
Was everyone in this industry really so uninhibited?
The assistant director stared in astonishment. “Boss Wang is famously devoted to his daughter. If we do this, he might kill Lu Yihao.”
The director cursed, “What the hell does that have to do with us? That bastard is beyond saving. He has no moral boundaries whatsoever. No wonder the investors behind him abandoned him. Anyone who gets involved with a man like that will be dragged down sooner or later.”
With that, the director prepared to settle my payment.
“Master Chen, would you prefer to give me your bank account or a payment code?”
“Please accept fifty thousand as a small token of my appreciation.”
The amount stunned me.
I clearly remembered Brother Liu promising at least two hundred thousand. He had even claimed people in the entertainment industry were generous and had money to spare. How had the payment decreased instead of increasing?
Two hundred thousand had suddenly shrunk to fifty?
Swallowing my embarrassment, I forced myself to ask, “Director, when they invited me here, they promised two hundred thousand…”
The director froze, then hurriedly explained, “Master Chen, that two hundred thousand was supposed to be paid by the movie’s investor, Lu Yihao’s father-in-law. It would have been your compensation after you resolved the female Ghost.”
“But you have seen the present situation. This movie can’t continue, and I cannot keep working with Lu Yihao.”
“The fifty thousand is my personal expression of gratitude for saving Lu Yihao, Wu Yiyi, and Zhao Xingyun tonight and sparing me a great deal of trouble. I’m profoundly grateful. Although I’ve already lost a great deal of money, I still need to repay your kindness.”
The director was truly ruthless.
An absolute old fox.
He had framed the matter so perfectly and deliberately elevated my status by addressing me as “Master” with every breath. I could not bring myself to argue with him over money.
In the end, I had no choice but to accept the fifty thousand.
The director escorted me to the door. Since it was already late, he had booked separate hotel rooms for Anning and me and would send someone to drive us home the next day.
Sun Yuan came out with me.
Seeing my displeasure, he hurriedly apologized. “Brother Chen, I’m truly sorry. I’m only a minor employee, so I have no say in these matters.”
I nodded. “It isn’t your fault. I’ve worked for years and seen every kind of trick. Just explain it to your cousin later. Otherwise, he’ll think I pocketed the money.”
Sun Yuan pulled me to the end of the corridor and offered a suggestion. “Brother Chen, the director may be exploiting a loophole, but he isn’t wrong. The investor really was supposed to pay that money. No one expected things to turn out this way.”
“I don’t think this is over. Lu Yihao is haunted, so he’ll have to resolve the problem sooner or later. The director is setting a trap for him tonight, but none of us knows how his father-in-law will deal with him.”
“Why don’t you save both men’s phone numbers? There may still be an opportunity to make money. And if it comes, you might earn more than two hundred thousand.”
I had not considered that. Fortunately, Sun Yuan reminded me.
As a stagehand responsible for logistics, he had the phone numbers of both Lu Yihao and the investor.
I hurriedly saved them.
“All right. Thank you. You can consider me a friend from now on.”
I smiled. “Whenever another celebrity in the entertainment industry commits so many wicked deeds that they start seeing Ghosts, send them my way. We’ll split the fee.”
After Sun Yuan left, I went to Anning’s room and divided the fifty thousand with her.
After deducting Brother Liu’s thirty percent, thirty-five thousand remained. I split that evenly with Anning.
This was a private job, so we did not need to hand anything over to Meng Yifan.
Anning was stunned when she saw how little money there was. “Wasn’t it supposed to be two hundred thousand…?”
I told her we had been deceived. The damned director had only paid fifty thousand.
Anning looked as dejected as I felt. She stood in a daze for a while, then suddenly asked, “Why do you always split everything evenly with me? Shouldn’t the person who contributes more receive more…?”
I smiled. “How would we determine who contributed more? We both did our part. Splitting it evenly is the fairest way.”
To be honest, I no longer craved money that intensely.
I neither visited prostitutes nor gambled, and I had few everyday expenses.
I worked so hard to earn money for two reasons. First, I wanted to save for retirement. Second, the more I earned, the more I could donate in the future, and the more Hidden Virtue I would accumulate.
Anning looked at me and smiled faintly. “I’ll treat you to a meal sometime.”
“All right.” I smiled too.
We looked at each other for a long time, until Anning suddenly blushed.
I sensed something was wrong and quickly realized I was in her hotel room.
“Sorry. Get some rest.”
I hurried out and returned to my own room.
The more I thought about the fifty thousand, the more annoyed I became. But I refused to suffer alone. Brother Liu had to share my misery.
I transferred his portion, then called him.
The phone rang for a long time before he answered. He seemed to have fallen asleep. “Brother, I just got to sleep… What’s the matter this late?”
I explained what had happened and told him I had already transferred his share.
“Holy shit! That’s all?”
“You bastard! You didn’t pocket the rest, did you?”
“Pocket, my ass. Ask your cousin if you don’t believe me.”
After hanging up, I was about to take a shower when I noticed a woman dressed in white standing across the road beneath my window.
A rope encircled her neck, and she cradled a baby in her arms.
Her gaze remained fixed on one particular room in the hotel.
Then she noticed me.
She looked at me.
And I looked back at her: Su Lan.