Bai Lu got scammed, but I became a superstar through e-commerce.

Chapter 41 Bai Lu gets her first role

Bai Lu saw the script on a Saturday afternoon.

Autumn has arrived in BJ, and half of the ginkgo leaves outside the window have turned yellow. She moved her laptop to the bay window of the hotel, sat cross-legged, and opened the PDF sent by Qingxiao.

The cover still bears the same words: "Final draft of the script for the online movie 'My Girlfriend is a Little Wild'".

She flipped through the pages, reading them one by one.

How did Lin Xiao bind Gu Nian in King of Glory? How did she type and scold him for being bad through the screen? How did she play a roaming support role in the game, attaching herself to him and traversing every corner of the canyon for him?

She laughed as she read—Qingxiao had written Lin Xiao’s line in the chat box, “Who else can I be with besides you?” in a way that was both cheeky and sweet.

Scrolling down further, Lin Xiao persuaded her parents to implement the "Wild Encounter" plan.

Lin's father stood by the sink for several seconds before finally saying, "Dad will draw up a shade route for you."

After a long silence, Lin's mother said, "Do whatever you want to do, I'll go with you."

Bai Lu's smile gradually faded as he read this.

She remembered when she first went from Changzhou to Nanjing, her mother said the same thing—"Do whatever you want to do."

Finally, when she reached the ending, Lin's mother sat alone in front of the computer, organizing all the fragments accumulated over the years onto a USB drive. She typed three typos and revised them three times.

She closed her laptop, took a deep breath, and picked up her phone to call Qingxiao.

"Qingxiao, your script revision this time is so much better than the last one."

Bai Lu's voice was a little hoarse, clearly indicating that he was deeply moved by the script.

"The storyline about Lin Xiao's parents was so well written, Qingxiao. I've got an even better idea. In the original short film, didn't Lin Xiao hire a photographer to film the whole process?"

"right."

"I noticed that you've completely removed the 'following' perspective from your script. The scene where Lin Xiao and Gu Nian meet on the street has been changed from 'someone following them' to Lin's father filming from the bubble tea shop across the street, and Lin's mother filming from the car. But in some parts of the latter half, the script still refers to them as 'accompanying videographers.' I'm thinking, could you completely change the recorders of the entire encounter plan from that anonymous photographer to the female lead's parents?"

She turned to the marked page of the script and unconsciously quickened her pace.

"Let the entire film be a farewell letter written by parents for their daughter. The tension of Lin's mother holding the DV camera on the day she pushed her daughter into the water. Because she knew it was her daughter's most precious possession. The video on the USB drive at the end didn't need Lin Xiao to hire anyone to edit it; her mother edited it all by herself in front of the computer after she left. She even handed the USB drive to Gu Nian at the end..."

She paused for a moment. Suddenly, the sound of Qingxiao typing on the phone stopped.

The phone went silent at both ends.

"In that case, the final scene wouldn't be Lin Xiao saying goodbye via video," Qingxiao slowly continued her words, "but rather her parents sitting across the coffee table from Gu Nian, passing on to him, word by word, the words their daughter couldn't say in person."

Bai Lu suddenly remembered that when she was very young, her father was like this too—once she got lost after school, and when a neighbor brought her back, her father squatted in front of the coffee table, picked up the teacup and put it down again, without saying a word.

Many years later, her mother told her that her father was so anxious that he called the police and was completely disoriented.

She had always wanted to write about a father like that, but she couldn't. However, she could sense that Lin's father was just that kind of person, keeping all his unspoken thoughts to himself.

"Qingxiao, do you think Gu Nian will come back to see them after she gets the USB drive?"

"Yes. If we adapt this kind of plot, we could have him walk in and call out 'Dad,' then 'Mom.' Lin's mom is cooking, and the spatula falls to the floor. Lin's dad sits motionless on the sofa for a very long time. The male lead would then say, 'Lin Xiao is gone. I'll take care of you two from now on.'"

"Lin's father said, 'God has been cruel to my daughter, jealous of her talent. But thankfully, a window of opportunity has opened. She met you.'"

Bai Lu's tears finally fell, and she held the phone even closer: "Qingxiao, what's in your head? How could you come up with such a touching, divine script?"

The two were silent for a moment on the phone.

"I'll organize everything you've said and revise the script again." Qingxiao's voice calmed down. "We'll add more parental characters, from recorders of the encounter to guardians of memories. In the final scene where she hands over the USB drive, we'll have Lin's mother say, 'These things are Lin Xiao's last proof of her existence in this world. We're giving them to you because you're the most important person to her besides her family.'"

Bai Lu wiped her eyes with the back of her hand: "Okay. Go revise it. Send it to me when you're done."

After hanging up the phone, Qingxiao compiled Bai Lu's suggestions into a written document and opened the black script input interface on his computer.

He input the complete structure from the parents' perspective, the dialogue during the USB drive handover, and Lin's father's last line.

After the system ran for a few minutes, the re-output script incorporated every idea proposed by Bai Lu into every scene.

It's not a separate line, but rather something that runs through the entire work from beginning to end.

After reviewing the newly generated script and confirming that all changes were embedded in the main storyline, he packaged it up and sent it to Yu Zheng.

The email body contained only a few lines: "Teacher Yu, the script has undergone major revisions based on Bai Lu's suggestions. Please review it."

Yu Zheng replied two days later.

"Mr. Qing, I've received the script. This version from the parents' perspective is better than any previous one. If I can't find a suitable producer..." He paused, "I'll personally take on the role of executive producer for this film. Not to endorse you, but because your script is worth my involvement."

Qingxiao stood up, holding his phone, and walked to the office window.

If we can collaborate with Yu Zheng, it would be an invaluable learning opportunity.

The delivery truck downstairs was loading goods, and Xiao Geng was checking the delivery slips one by one next to the tricycle.

Before he could speak, Yu Zheng had already pushed the topic a step further: "President Qing, let me tell you something else. We teachers all saw Bai Lu's performance during the training camp. She was the last to leave in physical training class, and she volunteered for extra practice in dialogue class. While others had to practice the same movement three times to pass, she practiced it ten times."

"At Huanyu Entertainment, we nurture new talent not by giving roles to whoever has connections. But an actress who is willing to put in the hard work, coupled with the support of an investor like you, I have no reason to hold her back. So, I plan to give her the role of General Deng Chanyu in 'Chaoge.' It's not a big role, the third female lead, but the character is well-developed. She is highly skilled in martial arts and has a fiery personality, which suits her current aura perfectly."

That evening, Bai Lu had just returned to the hotel from the rehearsal room and hadn't even had time to remove her makeup when Qing Xiao called.

He relayed Yu Zheng's words.

It took Bai Lu a long while before her voice finally escaped her throat.

"Boss Qing, has my first TV drama role in my entertainment career come so soon?"