"It's her again, what's so great about her?" After the show, Liu Ying scrolled through Weibo and saw the two-faced situation, her anger distorting her features.
On the other side, Ye Qiu glanced at the praising comments from her assistant Ji Qing and didn't pay further attention to it.
Director Song Chen and the leading actor Jiang Wei might have noticed the discord between the two actresses, but they didn't care much. For them, the drama's online buzz was only beneficial to the movie's box office and their own fame.
At night, lying in bed, Ye Qiu was browsing Weibo when she suddenly discovered her so-called "bestie" from her past life, Lin Feifei, trending on Weibo.
It was the annual art college entrance examination season, and a journalist had noticed her. Riding on the titles of campus beauty and academic achiever, she had stirred up some buzz. Ye Qiu, who came from an ordinary teacher's family, did not believe Lin Feifei had such capability on her own. Surely there was someone behind it; upon investigating, indeed, without her, in this lifetime, Du Siqi and Lin Feifei were still in cahoots.
"Hah, that's perfect, saves me the trouble of dealing with them one by one," Ye Qiu scoffed coldly.
After the New Year, Ye Qiu went back to the set of "Emperor Xiang" to shoot a few more scenes, then she took on a snack endorsement and shot covers for two magazines.
Now her pockets were gradually bulging. Ye Qiu planned to bring Grandma from the countryside to the city for recuperation, knowing that as her fame grew, it would be troublesome for Grandma to live alone in the countryside.
She asked Sister Yang for a week off and, with Ji Qing, drove to the countryside.
In her previous life, her grandmother had been affected by her scandals, and had passed away less than three months after Ye Qiu was disfigured. In this life, she hoped her grandmother could enjoy her old age.
The small village was picturesque but not easily accessible, which is why most villagers were not well-off. Those with the means had gradually moved away, and the younger generation had all gone to the city to work, leaving behind only the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
Granny Yang, from next door, had been hired to take care of Grandma. She was fifty years old and stayed in the village to care for her grandson while her husband, son, and daughter-in-law worked in the city where the cost of living was high.
Granny Yang was a capable and meticulous person. Besides delivering meals daily, she took Grandma for a checkup in the county every month. Sometimes when Grandma was feeling lazy and didn't want to move, she would have her grandson drag Grandma out to bask in the sun.
Grandma had no major health issues, but due to the emotional shock of the consecutive deaths of her husband, daughter, and son-in-law when she was younger, her health had deteriorated. Later, raising her granddaughter on her own took its toll, and her health completely collapsed. All she could do was rest and recover.
At home, Grandma also followed Ye Qiu's career closely. She was thrilled to see her granddaughter on TV and felt she had not let down the expectations of her daughter and son-in-law.
Grandma was a reasonable person. Although she was reluctant to leave the small mountain village, she still followed her granddaughter to the city.
Before leaving, Ye Qiu thought that once she took on a couple more endorsements or scripts and had enough money, she would have to build a road up here.
As the old saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first." The small mountain village had many rare fungi and natural vegetables and fruits. As long as they could be sold quickly, they would fetch a good price.
Moreover, the village was picturesque and not too far from the suburbs. Once the road was built, they could follow the example of tourist hotspots and build vacation resorts or rural-flavored restaurants — they would definitely attract visitors.
She and her grandmother had received a lot of care from the villagers, and now that she had money, she wanted to do something for them too.
Ye Qiu had not bought a house; the dormitory provided by the company was very good, spacious, convenient, and most importantly, very secure and private. The only issue was that there were only two rooms; one was her bedroom, and the other had been transformed by Sister Yang into a dressing room, leaving no space for a second person.
So Ye Qiu also found a well-reviewed nursing home for Grandma.
The nursing home is situated on a small hill at the edge of the suburbs and the city, shaded by green trees and blossomed with flowers. It's free from noise and very suitable for the elderly to live in. Plus, the caregivers provide one-on-one care. Ye Qiu has visited for inspection and found that the elderly living there are all very kind and cheerful, which shows that the caregivers are extremely attentive and take good care of the residents.
After Grandma arrived, she didn't resist but instead seemed quite happy. As one gets older, one desires companionship. With her granddaughter busy working, living in the nursing home and chatting with peers, basking in the sun, is quite pleasant.
Although the price is a bit high, Ye Qiu is very satisfied.
After settling Grandma in, Ye Qiu started to carry out work step by step. The crew of "Emperor Xiang" had finished shooting. Although post-production was not completed yet, at the request of the producers, several main actors also began to visit major cities for promotion.
This is the national station's major production of the year, so the first stop of the promotion is an interview program on the national station.
Compared to other satellite TVs' relaxed and entertaining variety shows, the national station always seems more serious, but without so many twists and turns.
For tonight's interview, in addition to the Director and Ye Qiu, Dan Ming and Wen Xin, who played Emperor Xiang and the Empress, were also in attendance.
The few of them hadn't seen each other for more than two months, especially Wen Xin, who was very happy to see Ye Qiu.
Today, the two of them even purposely wore the same style of dress; Wen Xin wore bright red, making her appear even more fair-skinned, beautiful, and maturely charming, while Ye Qiu wore white, which highlighted her youthful beauty.
The host's eyes lit up and said with a smile: "It seems like the mother-daughter pair in the drama have a good relationship in real life as well."
Wen Xin pushed a stray hair behind her ear and held Ye Qiu's hand with a smile: "Ye is beautiful, has a nice personality, and her acting is superb, what reason do I have not to like her?"
"Oh? That's high praise!"
"I can attest to that." Dan Ming, who played Emperor Xiang, laughed and interjected: "Not to praise myself, but I believe my acting is not bad. However, having filmed for so many years, there are not many young actors like Ye who can match my performance."
"You're still not praising yourself? Ye here is the new wave pushing the old wave. Your old wave is bound to die on the beach sooner or later." The Director at the side, not wanting to be left out, laughed and joked.
After hearing the three of them jokingly but unreservedly compliment her, Ye Qiu blushed slightly and turned to the camera with a shy smile: "It's all thanks to the care of my seniors, and I've learned a lot during my time with the crew."
"Don't be too modest," Wen Xin patted Ye Qiu's hand: "Being overly modest is akin to arrogance!"
Listening to their banter, the host was secretly stunned. He hadn't expected that Ye Qiu, young as she is, would receive such genuine praise from them. Now, he was truly looking forward to her performance in the drama.
At the same time, those who shared his thoughts were both the audience in the studio and those watching from home.
While they trust the Director's ability, the entertainment industry is so impetuous nowadays, and there are only a few young people who truly refine their acting skills. They were originally worried that Ye Qiu wouldn't be able to interpret the role of Princess Lingjun well, but now they felt quite reassured after seeing her today.
Some envy and even resent Ye Qiu's good people skills. With affirmation from Director Wen and stars like Dan Ming and Wen Xin, her path forward in the industry must be a lot smoother.
However, how many people can imagine the amount of effort Ye Qiu has put in to gain all she has today? These individuals are all old hands in the entertainment industry; without some skill, and frequent, earnest greetings, why would they speak up for Ye Qiu?