Huayu: This director specializes in promoting young actresses.

Chapter 49: The Little Flowers at the Beginning

When Lin Feng opened the door, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen. Li Yitong, wearing an apron, was bringing the last plate of steamed fish to the table. Hearing the noise, she turned around and smiled, "You're back? I just finished cooking."

He walked over, gently hugged her from behind, rested his chin on her shoulder, and kissed her cheek: "Great job, my little cook."

"Boss, stop fooling around," Li Yitong slapped his hand away, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Hurry up and wash your hands and eat, the food is getting cold."

Three dishes and a soup were laid out on the table. Lin Feng sat down, picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of fish: "Your fish is still the best. It's more tender than the fish you make at restaurants."

"You're so sweet-talking." Li Yitong ladled him a bowl of soup. "Did you have fun with Haochun today?"

"I'm quite happy," Lin Feng said, taking a sip of soup.

Li Yitong picked up a piece of beef brisket and put it in his bowl. "Speaking of which, it seems that the popularity of 'The Beginning' has increased again. I was browsing Weibo this afternoon, and a lot of people were saying that episode 8 was a masterpiece."

"Yeah, Li Yi just sent a message saying the number of views is almost 500 million." Lin Feng swallowed the food in his mouth. "Tencent has added another GG, saying they want to promote it again during the summer vacation."

"What about our movie?" Li Yitong asked. "Has the publicity plan been finalized?"

"That's about it," Raymond Lam said. "Once the hype surrounding 'The Beginning' has stabilized a bit, we'll start a concentrated promotional campaign and aim for a late July release, just in time for the summer movie season."

The two chatted over their meal, discussing everything from the film's promotion to the company's plans, occasionally interspersed with a few jokes.

In a residential area in Huicheng, Zhou Ye held her phone, her eyes glued to the screen, her fingers rapidly scrolling through the progress bar. The sweet and sour pork ribs on the table were getting cold, but she hadn't touched them.

"Xiao Ye, eat your food properly!" Mr. Zhou put down his chopsticks, his brows furrowing. "How many times have I told you not to play on your phone while eating?"

Zhou Ye didn't even look up, giving a vague "Oh." His eyes remained glued to the screen. Li Shiqing was arguing with Xiao Heyun on the bus about whether or not to call the police, and watching this made Zhou Ye's heart clench.

"Why won't you listen to reason, child?" Mr. Zhou's voice turned stern. "If you keep this up, I'll take your phone away!"

Zhou Ye then looked up, still looking tense from watching the drama. Seeing that his father was really angry, he quickly turned to his mother beside him, tugged at her sleeve, and said in a spoiled tone, "Mom, Dad is being mean to me."

Just as Zhou's mother picked up a piece of spare rib, she glared at her husband upon hearing this, speaking in a thick Chongqing accent: "Why are you being so fierce? Can't you talk to me properly? You're like a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment."

After being rebuked by his wife, Zhou's father instantly lost his temper and reluctantly picked up his chopsticks to shovel rice into his mouth.

Zhou Ye was about to chuckle when his mother tapped the rim of his bowl with her chopsticks: "And you, eat properly! Who taught you to look at your phone while eating? If you do that again, I'll take it away!"

Zhou Ye stuck out his tongue, quickly put his phone on the corner of the table, picked up his chopsticks, and grabbed a piece of pork rib. His mind, however, was still preoccupied with the plot, wondering if Li Shiqing would succeed this time…

That afternoon, her best friend insisted on recommending "The Beginning." She initially thought she'd just watch it casually, but once she started, she couldn't stop. She's already on episode six and is getting more and more hooked. She says the plot is much better than those mindless idol dramas.

After finishing her meal, Zhou Ye dashed back to her room, locked the door behind her, and immediately grabbed her phone to continue watching. The light from the screen reflected on her face, sometimes making her clench her fists in tension, and sometimes bringing tears to her eyes as she listened to Uncle Watermelon's story.

"It's so good..." she murmured to herself, a thought suddenly popping into her mind, "I wish I could act in a drama like this someday."

In the dimly lit rented room in Hecheng, Yang Chaoyue ate small bites of rice, with a few green vegetables in the bowl. Her mother sat opposite her, looking at her thin face, and sighed, "I'll go to the market tomorrow and buy you some meat to help you recover."

"No need, Mom," Yang Chaoyue smiled. "The factory lunch has meat."

After dinner, Yang Chaoyue's mother cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen. She took out her phone and opened "The Beginning," a book recommended by a colleague.

The screen displayed a message that would be "GG" for several seconds. She waited patiently, as she didn't have a Tencent VIP membership and always had to wait for the message to be displayed before watching a show.

The game finally ended, and then a picture of a bus exploding suddenly popped up, startling her so much that she almost dropped her phone.

She quickly sat up straight, her eyes glued to the screen. Li Shiqing's panic and fear during the first loop were portrayed so realistically, it felt like it was happening right before her eyes.

Yang Chaoyue was so engrossed in watching that more than an hour passed without her noticing, and the two episodes quickly came to an end. She was eager to watch the next episode, but a message popped up on the screen: "Activate your membership to unlock more episodes."

Her finger paused on the screen, feeling a bit conflicted. Activating a membership would cost more than ten yuan, enough for two work meals. Every penny at home had to be carefully managed.

"Chaoyue, go take a bath!" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Oh, coming!" Yang Chaoyue quickly responded, put her phone in her pocket, and hurried towards the bathroom.

Lying in bed after her shower, she couldn't resist taking out her phone and watching the trailer for "The Beginning." Watching Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun repeatedly try to save people, a strange sense of power welled up inside her. It felt as if no matter how difficult the situation, as long as you don't give up, you can always find a solution.

She turned off her phone and stared blankly at the ceiling. In the darkness, perhaps her life, like in the drama, had a chance to "repeat"? Perhaps she could leave the assembly line and see a different world?

Lin Feng had just finished washing the dishes when his phone rang. It was a video call from Tian Xiwei. As soon as the call connected, he saw the girl with her hair in a bun, her face very close, almost filling the entire screen.

"Brother Feng!" Tian Xiwei's voice was crisp and cheerful, tinged with excitement. "I miss you so much! How long until I can see you again?"

Lin Feng was amused by her: "We just met during the May Day holiday, it's only been a little over a month."

"That's been a long time!" Tian Xi pouted slightly. "I've been counting down the days, just looking forward to summer vacation."

"Soon," Raymond Lam said. "You guys will be on summer vacation in early July, right? We'll be doing movie promotions then, so we'll probably see each other every day."

"Really?" Tian Xi's eyes lit up. "Then you'll have to play with me!"

"No problem," Lin Feng agreed with a smile. "If the movie does well at the box office, I'll buy you a gift and take you on a trip. Where would you like to go?"

"Really?!" Tian Xiwei was so excited she almost jumped out of her chair. "I need to think about it... How about we go to Disneyland? Or Inner Mongolia? I've never seen a grassland before!"

"Anything is fine," Lin Feng said. "Let me know when you've made up your mind."

"Yay!" Tian Xiwei excitedly pumped her fist. "I'm hanging up now, I need to check out travel guides!"

Before Raymond Lam could respond, she slammed the phone down, leaving only the call-end message on the screen.