I Join the Cast with My Own Money—My Brother's Rich!

Gu Shiyan accurately covered Chu Tian's mouth, thanked the doctor, then dragged him outside.

Caught off guard, Chu Tian was actually hauled straight out of the consultation room with one hand. It was simply the greatest humiliation of his life!

Wait, he hadn't said anything out loud just now. Why was Gu Shiyan covering his mouth?

"Don't waste the doctor's time," Gu Shiyan said flawlessly. "There's work to do, and no time to stay in the hospital."

Thanks to the traffic from repeatedly trending, some directors thought Gu Shiyan's image suited their projects, while others simply wanted to ride the hype. Work offers began pouring in.

Haunted Mystery Exploration only required three evenings a week for livestreaming, leaving the guests free to arrange work during the rest of their time.

Cao Ying only cared about money and had no bottom line. He had initially wanted to cash in on Gu Shiyan's current popularity while it was hot, stuffing his schedule full of jobs at once.

But considering Gu Shiyan's current relationship with Chu Tian, Cao Ying hesitated. In the end, he did not dare offend the arrogant young master of the Chu family and reluctantly handed Gu Shiyan the choice.

Gu Shiyan actually found a script he liked among the chaotic pile of offers. After discussing the schedule with the director, he prepared to join the production on short notice.

Chu Tian thought about how Cao Ying had packed all of Gu Shiyan's time with work in order to squeeze every last drop out of him, as though he would not even let him sleep.

During this period, some of the nonstop jobs would later become part of Gu Shiyan's résumé and brightest moments, while others would become black marks for various reasons.

Given the "dating agreement" that had tied them to the same boat, Chu Tian felt obliged to help his fake boyfriend vet his work.

"What job is it? What's it about? You've only just gained some popularity, so you need to protect your reputation. You can't accept every random job that comes along. If Cao Ying doesn't agree, I'll talk to him. You're definitely going to become hugely popular someday. There's no need to rush making money right now. Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to work..."

Chu Tian chattered on worriedly, thinking of Gu Shiyan at every turn.

Gu Shiyan was also surprised to find that he seemed to be especially patient whenever he dealt with Chu Tian.

"It's a historical detective drama. It started filming last week, but the originally cast actor had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts..."

The more Chu Tian listened, the more familiar it sounded. "Is the drama you're talking about called Nine Provinces Sword?"

Gu Shiyan paused, a bad feeling rising in his chest. "You know it?"

Of course he knew it!

[The second male lead of Nine Provinces Sword only got the role by sleeping with the director. He strung the director along while getting together with the screenwriter, then urged the screenwriter to wildly add scenes for him. During filming, he even coveted the male lead's looks and did something unspeakable with him. Then everything came out, and the four-way romance erupted into a huge brawl on set... Exciting!]

Gu Shiyan: "..."

Completely oblivious to the subtle shift in Gu Shiyan's expression, Chu Tian said seriously, "You got hurt because of me, so I'm responsible for taking care of you. I'll ask Brother Hui later whether he can get me a small role so I can join the production with you. Don't worry, I'll take responsibility!"

[A show this spectacular has to be watched on-site to feel the thrill! Here I come, juicy gossip!]

Gu Shiyan gave a cold laugh.

After Gu Shiyan refused to let him take him home, Chu Tian reluctantly bid him farewell. The moment he left the hospital, he impatiently called Wu Hui.

The Chu family had always worked in the technology industry and had nothing whatsoever to do with the entertainment world.

It was only because Chu Tian insisted on charging into show business that Chu Maoming, afraid his younger brother would suffer, hastily established a shell entertainment company. It had only Chu Tian as an artist, plus Wu Hui, an ace manager he had urgently poached.

Even the company's name was so perfunctory it made people curl their toes—Sugar Sugar Entertainment.

Apparently, it was because Chu Tian loved sweets. To indulge his younger brother's sweet tooth, Chu Maoming always liked to keep a few candies in his pocket so he could coax him whenever necessary. He still did so to this day.

Moreover, Chu Tian had always been the type to lose interest after three minutes. Everything he did began with great fanfare and ended in a whimper. Chu Maoming had assumed that his desire to enter show business was merely a passing curiosity, that he would never endure the hardship and would quit after playing around for a few days.

So Chu Maoming had his secretary invest one million to establish the entertainment company. When it came time to name it, he happened to feel the candy in his pocket and casually gave it a name that sounded like a joke.

Once Chu Tian had had enough fun, they could simply dissolve the company. Everything existed solely to serve Chu Tian.

Wu Hui was a smart man. Having seen the truth early on, he never strictly controlled Chu Tian or demanded anything of him. As long as the young master was not bullied and was having fun, that was enough.

When he received Chu Tian's call saying that he wanted to act, Wu Hui was not surprised in the slightest. He naturally asked what kind of drama the young master wanted to appear in, or which production and role he had his eye on. He could use his connections to reach out at any time.

"I already know what I want!" Chu Tian declared grandly. "I want to join the Nine Provinces Sword production!"

Nine Provinces Sword?

Wu Hui was baffled. Was this some new large-scale blockbuster? Why had he never heard of it?

To avoid looking unprofessional, Wu Hui humored Chu Tian with vague acknowledgments while quickly searching through his contacts for information about Nine Provinces Sword.

Before long, he actually dug up a tiny clue from some obscure corner.

Nine Provinces Sword was a B-tier web drama adapted from a classic web novel from more than a decade ago. Its original rights had been purchased at a high price by an industry company, but during the industry downturn of the past two years, the entertainment company went bankrupt and sold off all its unproduced rights at low prices to recover funds. This title was among them.

The web novel that had been wildly popular back then now seemed somewhat outdated in both plot and tropes more than a decade later. Still, it was a classic and came with its own readership.

After changing hands several times, the rights eventually landed with a certain director. He had poured out his savings to make it, but due to funding and other limitations, the project had ultimately only been approved as a B-tier production.

Looking at the unfamiliar director's name, Wu Hui silently opened Baidu Baike and searched—

Sun Bo, graduate of the directing department at XX School, domestic director.

In 2023, the web drama The Chestnuts Are Ripe, which he wrote and directed himself, was released on C-site, with total views exceeding 2 million and a Douban rating of 1.6.

Wu Hui's vision went dark. He desperately wanted to ask what kind of nonsense the young master was up to this time.

With Chu Maoming's financial backing and his own connections, what kind of script could Chu Tian not get? Why had he set his sights on this one of all things...

Looking back, whether it had been a company or an individual who acquired the rights, they had either shut down or gone bankrupt.

To put it bluntly, the script seemed cursed with bad luck. It was far too inauspicious.

Most people in the industry were superstitious. After so many strange incidents, no one dared touch the script. That was how Sun Bo had managed to pick it up cheaply.

Then there was the cast. Aside from the male lead, who had played supporting roles in two low-budget web dramas, everyone else was a complete newcomer.

Wu Hui was so shocked that he fell silent, but before he could speak, Chu Tian comforted him instead.

"Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you," Chu Tian said confidently. "I just want a tiny role, preferably some background character with barely any lines. At worst, I'll join the cast with my own money. My brother's rich!"

Wu Hui: "..."