Heavy Reward

After finishing her checkout, Cao Shiyu didn't leave immediately. She thought of the two aunties at the weighing station.

"Excuse me, could you please hold onto my items for me? I need to go back in one more time," Cao Shiyu asked the cashier.

"Okay, okay, no problem!" the cashier replied with a busy smile.

Once back inside the supermarket, Cao Shiyu headed straight for the fruit weighing station. A crowd of customers who recognized her, along with some supermarket employees, gathered behind her.

Seeing a group of people approaching them aggressively, the two aunties at the weighing station, who didn't have any produce to weigh, were a bit bewildered. When they clearly saw the girl at the front of the group, they were even more surprised.

"Isn't that the young lady who was just weighing things here? I remember she weighed cherries, large cucumbers, and tomatoes. She even chatted with us about the celebrity visiting the supermarket. Why is she back with a crowd? Did she forget something? Why are the people next to her all filming her?"

At this moment, Cao Shiyu walked directly up to the two aunties and said with a smile, "Aunties, that celebrity we were just discussing... it seems to be me, so..."

She then looked at the auntie surnamed Zhang and smiled, "Auntie, your daughter wanted an autograph from me, right?"

The auntie surnamed Zhang took out her phone, opened her WeChat chat with her daughter, looked at the picture, then at the person in front of her, and repeated this three times. Finally, she confirmed that the girl standing before her was indeed the celebrity her daughter mentioned.

"Yes, yes, and a photo too. My daughter wanted me to take a picture with you for her. Is that okay?"

"Sure, of course, why wouldn't it be?" Cao Shiyu smiled.

Cao Shiyu took a photo and signed an autograph for the auntie surnamed Zhang. The auntie surnamed Liu next to her secretly pouted.

What's so great about it? I don't care! she thought.

After taking a photo with Auntie Zhang, Cao Shiyu turned and smiled at Auntie Liu, "Auntie, could I trouble you for a photo as well?"

"Sure, sure, why not?"

The auntie surnamed Liu immediately agreed with a beaming smile.

Before Cao Shiyu could even leave the supermarket, she received a call from her agent, Sister Lan.

"Are you at Wanjia Denghuo Supermarket right now?" Sister Lan asked as soon as she answered the phone.

"Mhm, I just came to buy some fruits and vegetables!" Cao Shiyu replied.

"From now on, try to wear a mask and sunglasses when you go out. And don't go to crowded places if you can avoid it. If you absolutely must, please communicate with me first."

"Okay, okay!" Cao Shiyu quickly responded.

"Also, a group of reporters is already heading to the supermarket, and I'm on my way too. Before I get there, try not to answer any questions from the reporters. If you absolutely have to answer, please remember to think carefully before you speak, understand?"

"Understood, Sister Lan, I got it!" After a pause, Cao Shiyu asked, "Sister Lan, did I cause any trouble for you?"

The voice on the other end chuckled. "Causing trouble? Not at all. This is my job, after all. If this counts as trouble, then I hope you cause me more trouble in the future. But Shiyu, you need to understand that you're no longer an unknown extra who can go anywhere without being recognized. So many eyes are on you now. You need to think three times before you speak or act. Try not to say anything that isn't well thought out, and absolutely don't give anyone an opportunity to exploit the situation, understand?"

"Understood, Sister Lan!"

After hanging up, Cao Shiyu tilted her head slightly, looking up at the supermarket ceiling.

She chuckled, "I can't be as free as I used to be anymore!"

Agent Sister Lan was very skilled at handling the media. As long as Cao Shiyu listened carefully to Sister Lan's arrangements, she wouldn't make any major mistakes.

After briefly giving interviews to a few entertainment reporters, Cao Shiyu finally returned home.

Today's experience made her truly feel that her life had undergone a seismic change.

Things she had dreamed of and desperately wanted but couldn't obtain now seemed to suddenly be within reach.

And where did the root of this change lie?

She had clearly failed the audition, so why did things suddenly turn around?

Thinking carefully, the root of all these changes came from the screenwriter, Li Xun!

To be honest, even now, she still didn't understand why screenwriter Li Xun had suddenly replaced Xia Qing with her, who was unknown and whose acting skills weren't particularly stunning.

At first, she thought the screenwriter had seen her photo or video somewhere and developed some other ideas about her. Because she really couldn't figure out why someone who had never met her would insist on replacing a singer whose acting might have been better than hers with her.

Therefore, on set, she consciously avoided Li Xun.

But gradually, she realized that things were not at all as she had imagined. The way the screenwriter looked at her was no different from how he looked at anyone else on set.

It turned out she had been overthinking it all along!

She had added screenwriter Li Xun as a WeChat friend long ago, but they had never chatted. Tonight, Cao Shiyu couldn't help but send Li Xun a message.

"Are you there?"

A moment later, the reply came: "Yes, what's up?"

"It's nothing, just... I'm really grateful to you. I know that when I auditioned initially, I was actually eliminated. It was screenwriter Li who recommended me to the director, which is how I got the role of Chang Yu later."

A moment later, the reply came: "The facts prove you were a very suitable candidate. Your portrayal of Chang Yu has been widely recognized by the public."

Cao Shiyu replied: "Actually, the director told me that he still felt Xia Qing might have been more suitable for the role, but the director trusted you, screenwriter, very much, which is why he finally agreed to give me the role. I've always wanted to ask, screenwriter, why did you recommend me back then?"

The reply from the other end: "Because you were suitable! After seeing your resume, I immediately knew you were the top choice for the role of Chang Yu! And as it turns out, my judgment was indeed good!"

Penguin Innovation Building, Original Content Center, Vice President Dai Ying's office.

Li Xun was also in Dai Ying's office at this time. Dai Ying had called him in to discuss company rewards.

Young Bao Qingtian has spread like wildfire. If the drama hadn't adopted a "shoot-and-air" model, and if each unit wasn't only six short episodes, then without a doubt, this costume suspense drama could have even reached the astonishing height of over 100 million daily views.

The four episodes of VIP member content attracted 1.8 million new subscribers for the company in one go.

These results even made the data center staff doubt if there was an error in the data at first. They even mobilized some technicians to investigate the data, and the final result was that the data was correct, and might even be underestimated?!

The data center staff were dumbfounded!

While the data center was shocked into questioning reality, the website's upper management also took notice after seeing the results of Young Bao Qingtian.

"Heavy rewards for all meritorious individuals involved in the Young Bao Qingtian project, all will be heavily rewarded!"

And as the soul of the entire project, Li Xun was naturally among those heavily rewarded by the company.

After the first unit aired, the company had already paid him 1.2 million in screenwriter fees and a 1 million bonus. After the second unit aired, the company's senior management decided to award an additional 5 million on top of the 1.2 million screenwriter fee!

Young Bao Qingtian has already released two units, totaling twelve episodes. Li Xun's total income from this project has already reached 8.4 million yuan.

And this web drama Young Bao Qingtian has at least another twenty-eight episodes to go.

Actually, Li Xun always felt that the quality of Young Bao Qingtian was indeed good, but were the achievements it reached today a bit exaggerated?

Then he went to look at the so-called classic works of this world, and after that, he understood.

"The achievements Young Bao Qingtian has reached today are truly well-deserved!"

Dai Ying was communicating the details of reward distribution with Li Xun while secretly observing him.

Because of her exceptional abilities, Dai Ying rarely admired anyone since she was young. But today, she began to faintly admire the man in front of her.

Less than two months after joining the company, he had a net income of over 8 million, only had a high school education, and had even delivered food for several years.

So, what exactly did he rely on to achieve all this today?

His first drama had already made the entire industry take notice, so what about next? What about the future?

"I really want to know sooner rather than later what kind of height he can reach!"

At this moment, the constant WeChat notification sounds from Li Xun's phone interrupted Dai Ying's thoughts. She snapped back to reality.

"Who is he chatting with? A woman? Look at that grin, it's like a blooming lotus flower!"