Chapter 82: Su Liuli

“I’m not doing this scene!”

Facing the provocation, Gu Chen was fuming.

Most importantly, she had been schemed against by such a woman; it was truly a disgrace!

Even if it was just acting, the thought of being slapped by her and having to beg for mercy was something she couldn’t accept.

“What?”

The Associate Director’s face instantly turned grave upon hearing this.

He said in a low voice, “You’ve signed a contract. Do you have any idea how much of a loss you’ll cause if you suddenly refuse to act?”

“Humph, this is a double act you two are putting on, isn’t it?”

Although she didn’t know why this guy was helping Qian Zhiyu scheme against her, she felt an immediate distaste for him.

She clenched her fists, wishing she could give them each a punch!

“I don’t understand what you mean, but don’t forget the contract. If you refuse to film, you have to pay ten times the salary as compensation. If you’re willing to pay, you can break the contract.”

“You bastard!!”

This clearly hit Gu Chen where it hurt.

She gritted her teeth.

A breach of contract penalty of 20,000 — where would she get that kind of money?

It seemed they were banking on this.

No wonder they had doubled the pay; they wanted to entice Gu Chen into agreeing.

Now that she was on this sinking ship, there really was no other way out.

“What’s going on? Why is Gu Chen so angry?”

At this moment, Wang Meng still didn’t understand the situation and looked bewildered.

She hadn’t been involved in their business and didn’t even know who Qian Zhiyu was.

Chu Xiaomeng knew, but it wasn’t convenient to speak up now.

She was anxious, feeling that she had harmed her Big Brother.

Bound by the contract, Gu Chen truly had no options at the moment.

She shot a hateful glare at Qian Zhiyu and could only compromise, though she swore she would definitely get her revenge.

“Alright, first scene, start.”

“You go up and slap her, but watch your strength. Just a feint, okay?”

The Associate Director announced the filming again.

Qian Zhiyu wore a smug smile.

As soon as they shouted “action,” she could make her move.

She had even had someone modify the script to significantly increase the humiliation scenes.

Thinking about Gu Chen’s angry yet helpless expression, she couldn’t describe how satisfied she felt.

“Alright, get ready!!”

Just as they were about to shout “action,” the door to the filming room opened again.

“What’s going on? Has the audition started?”

A figure walked in through the door.

It was a woman in her twenties with a ponytail, a baseball cap, and a simple white T-shirt.

She clearly had a good figure and was quite tall, especially her legs, which had perfect curves.

Even without makeup, she was beautiful, giving off a concise and capable vibe.

“Director Su, what are you doing here?”

Seeing the woman, the Associate Director immediately adopted a fawning expression and stepped forward to greet her.

“I heard there was an audition here, so I came over. Didn’t I say I wanted to supervise the auditions personally? Why wasn’t I called?”

Director Su was clearly a bit displeased as she looked around.

“Well… I can handle a small matter like an audition. You can just look at the final cut later,” the Associate Director explained quickly, his expression changing.

“This is no small matter. I’ll supervise it myself. It’s fine; start whenever you’re ready.”

Director Su didn’t agree and insisted on participating.

‘Hmm, is this the main director?’

Gu Chen easily guessed.

It seemed this audition really was prepared just for her; otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept Director Su in the dark.

“We’re filming these scenes to edit into a trailer first. Are you sure about this?” Director Su sat down.

She looked at the trial script and was somewhat confused.

“Yes, we’ll film more for now and then decide which ones to edit in,” the Associate Director replied respectfully from the side.

It was obvious that in this crew, this woman called the shots.

“Alright then, let’s start.”

Director Su nodded.

She didn’t realize anything was wrong and signaled for everyone to continue.

“Wait!!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Gu Chen immediately raised her hand and called for a stop.

“What is it? Is there a problem?”

Director Su was stunned and asked immediately.

“Director, I think filming these scenes for the trailer won’t be very effective.”

“What do you mean?”

Everyone looked over.

Qian Zhiyu didn’t know what kind of trick she was playing and gave the Associate Director a look.

“You’re an actor. This isn’t your concern. Get back there,” the Associate Director scolded immediately, seeing the situation taking a turn for the worse.

“I’m also a member of the crew. If I can’t offer a suggestion, then forget it.”

Gu Chen saw that this director probably wasn’t in on it, so she decided to test the waters.

“Old Huang, anyone can make a suggestion as long as it’s reasonable,” Director Su said, waving her hand.

Fortunately, she was quite sensible.

*Cough, cough!*

Seeing a chance, Gu Chen explained seriously, “I think we should film the plot where the Female Lead is bullied by the School Bully first. If we edit the revenge scenes in first, how is that different from a spoiler? I usually like watching short dramas too. To put it bluntly, as long as the emotions are conveyed well, people will pay to see the subsequent plot, right? If the paid content is made public, then as a viewer, I’d have no interest in following the story.”

“Well…”

“Hmm, that makes sense!”

Director Su pondered over what Gu Chen said, her eyes lighting up.

She immediately nodded in agreement.

“What!?”

At this, Qian Zhiyu and the Associate Director were completely stunned.

How could this happen?

“Gu Chen, what do you mean?! It’s not your place to speak here!”

Qian Zhiyu especially grew anxious and shrieked.

If they swapped it around, wouldn’t she be the one getting beaten?

She absolutely could not accept that.

“Then is it your place to speak? Why don’t you offer a suggestion to the director if you’re so capable?”

Gu Chen turned and mocked her.

“You!!”

Qian Zhiyu had no way to refute and stammered for a long while.

“Alright, it’s decided. We’ll change it to the scene where the Female Lead is bullied and see how it looks.”

Finally, Director Su made the call herself.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely cooperate well.”

Gu Chen turned around and looked at the other woman with a predatory gaze.

Now the roles were reversed.

It was Qian Zhiyu’s turn to be angry, afraid, and humiliated.

More importantly, she had to cooperate and take the hit.

Aside from glaring with resentful eyes, she couldn’t do anything.

*Slap!!*

As soon as the director shouted “action,” Gu Chen raised her hand and swung a heavy slap.

“Ah!”

Qian Zhiyu was truly scared now and hurried to dodge.

After all, she already had a psychological shadow from before…

“What are you doing? I didn’t tell you to dodge!”

Director Su called for a stop, displeased.

Having no choice, she could only bite the bullet and continue, her whole body trembling slightly.

In the end, it took more than ten trials to pass the scene.

Gu Chen didn’t actually hit her hard since they were filming and she couldn’t do it for real in public.

However, she pretended to use all her strength every time, pulling back only at the moment of impact.

This scared Qian Zhiyu almost to the point of tears.

It was a proper lesson for her.

“Very good, cut!”

Just as Director Su finished shouting, Qian Zhiyu turned and fled.

This time, she had truly gone for wool and come home shorn — she had brought this upon herself.

“Boss, you’re amazing!”

Chu Xiaomeng was still in a state of shock.

She felt that becoming her subordinate was truly the right choice.

“Alright, you be careful too. That person definitely won’t give up easily,” Gu Chen smiled.

Now wasn’t the time to celebrate; this matter wasn’t over yet.