Chapter 31 - Don’t Be So Superstitious (“Ignore me today and I won't even give you the time of day tomorrow.”)

Two days later, "Blossoming Us" finally wrapped up the remainder of the filming and, after a simple closing ceremony, the filming crew disbanded and the show entered into the series of post-production steps such as editing and approval screening, etc.

The night of the closing ceremony, the entire team went to a final dinner gathering. After a few rounds of drinking, the director raised his wine glass, looked around the room and, finally looked at Xu WanZhi, said, "Come, come, come. Let's have a toast. WanZhi, you must free up your time for the second part of the series. Don't tell us that now that you are a spokesperson and your status had gone up, you are going forget this big family of yours."

Xu WanZhi understood that the director wanted to take the opportunity of being in front of everyone to blackmail her morally. She rose to fame in "Blossoming Us", she should not forget this tableful of people in the future.

Nevertheless, she joined "Blossoming Us" for the purpose of appeasing the old madam and it really wasn't necessary to have a three-part series in order to appease an old lady. She felt that the 16-episode part I would be sufficient. When they swapped out the female lead in part II, there would be a preconception that she was not as good as Xu WanZhi. It would create an unfair favoritism for Xu WanZhi.

Besides, as she used her magic during Brand B's photoshoot which caused the sales of Brand B's product to shoot up, many other luxurious brands had sent her invitations. This was the critical time in her career. She couldn't possibly waste all of her time on a web series.

Xu WanZhi smiled and raised her glass. "Don't worry, Director. It will be on top of my list for consideration."

As flawless and diplomatic as she had put it, all of the experienced people there heard the subtext loud and clear.

Top of the list to consider was still just considering it. It failed to deliver the same type of assurance that, say, "I will definitely be in the future parts" would. Obviously, first to consider was a round about way of turning down the production of part II, meaning that they would need to look for a different female lead.

Hearing that, the director had the most mixed feelings. When Silver Start Entertainment reached out to him and mentioned that the female lead would most likely be Xu WanZhi and that he had found out that Xu WanZhi owned 30% of Silver Star's stock, he was extremely reluctant in using her.

Back then, Xu WanZhi was still the Queen of Negative Publicity that was hated by just about everyone on the net. Nobody would have believed it if they were told that Xu WanZhi would have real fans one day. As such, even though they knew full well that "Blossoming Us" would be a series, they only signed Xu WanZhi for season one. Contrarily, the male lead Shen Yi and the other two important roles were signed for all three parts of the series.

Nevertheless, when the filming was completed, Xu WanZhi's interpretation and completeness of the script had well exceeded what he had expected. She had made a lot of newbie mistakes at the beginning but who'd have thought that her learning curve would be so steep. Her improvement in leaps and bounds everyday was visible to the naked eyes.

By the day of the closing ceremony, her acting and reciting skills were already better than many new up and coming actresses. With his very astute observation, she would for sure become a shining star one day and sky would be her limit.

All things considered, the decision of only signing her for one season would seem to be very inappropriate. In fact, quite give the feeling of "so you ignore me today, you won't even have that chance tomorrow."

The director knew full well that in any series, switching actors/actresses in the middle brought the biggest visual impact to the viewers. With Xu WanZhi's exit, this project would more likely than not go downhill from this point forward. Smiling bitterly he managed to say politely, "Okay, don't forget the small people."

The dinner gathering was over and everybody walked out in groups of twos and threes.

Xu WanZhi purposefully slowed down her pace and walked at the very end by herself. Low and behold, she saw Chang XiaoYa run up to the director, nodded, bowed, and said, "Director, I am for sure staying for part II. I look forward to working together with you again."

The director hasn't been very nice to her ever since she had openly picked on Xu WanZhi with no regards to her own image. He had been saying from time to time that he needed her agent Zhang Xuan to come and straighten her out. Chang XiaoYa's reputation dropped and her jobs in the future looked grim. Obviously, she wanted to try and hold onto "Blossoming Us", which just might be her life-saving straw.

The director, on the other hand, was still blue from being turned down by Xu WanZhi. Hearing Chang XiaoYa's words, he only tilted his head a bit and casted her a look before he said, almost as if he said with a hint of self-mockery and bitter smile, "In order to keep Xu WanZhi, the production team probably would have to spend every penny to hire her just to keep this series. I'm not sure if we will have money left over to hire you."

Having heard that, Chang XiaoYa felt as though she was slapped in the face. Stunned, she stopped walking and stood where she was.

Xu WanZhi was pleased to hear that. She snickered and walked around Chang XiaoYa.

At that very moment, someone exited a car from a parking lot nearby and started walking toward Xu WanZhi. Xu WanZhi took a look from afar and it was Butler Lin of the Mu's.

Butler Lin was an old lady and not as gossipy as Aunt Hu. She usually just came and go quietly and it was easy to forget that she was even there.

The only reason that Xu WanZhi remembered her was because Butler Lin was tidying up the offerings and incense burner when she walked passed the Mu's family hall of worship on her way to Mu XiYuan.

Photo: Offerings and incense burner

Source: j.17.qq.com

Xu WanZhi had heard Mu ZhenYu mentioning it once that the old madam was in the habit of worshipping buddha. As Butler Lin was the one taking care of the buddha hall personally, Xu WanZhi gathered that this butler has the same habit as the old madam.

She had planned to get close to the old madam basing on her on her chanting and vegetarian habit; now that Butler Lin came on her own, it's even better for her.

Before Butler Lin has even said a word, Xu WanZhi walked up to her quickly and greeted her in a friendly manner, "Hi, how are you doing?"

"Hi, Miss Xu. We meet again." Even when she was outside of the Mu's residence, she was still dressed very properly. She was older in age but, even so, she didn't seem to have any extra weight on her in her suit. She was carrying a large bag in her left hand so she reached out her right to shake hand with Xu WanZhi. "The old madam has asked me to come look for you and thank you."

Exactly how she had planned. Xu WanZhi smiled and asked, "Did XiYuan get better?"

The butler was a little surprised but nodded immediately. "The doctor sent by Miss Xu was miraculous. Second Young Master had some herbs that night and immediately gotten much better. He even had two bowls of rice. He had been getting better and better these last couple of days and can probably return to work tomorrow."

Xu WanZhi nodded politely and said, "That's good to hear."

"The old madam had me bring these gifts to you to show her appreciation," said the butler as she handed the bag into her toward Xu WanZhi. "Please accept her token of appreciation."

Xu WanZhi took the over the white bag and looked. Printed on the outside of the beg was a signature in English script – "Tianna Chou". Xu WanZhi's eyes widened in surprise.

She didn't even need to open the bag to know that it was a very fancy dress inside… Did everyone at the Mu's had such high requirement for their clothing?

This one in her hand was the crème de crops of the crème de crops.

Zhou Ye was the real name of the design Tianna. She was a Chinese French and also one of the top Asian designers in the world right now. She grew up in France and was officially accepted into the high-end custom clothing union as one of their permanent members. She returned to China and continued her work here. Her work appeared among the Top 10 most talked about outfit on the red carpet at every single Festival de Cannes. She was low-key and mysterious and has the status of a goddess in the fashion circle.

The old madam was not young anymore. Not only did she know so much about fashion but she was able to get her hand on such rare custom dress?

Xu WanZhi was very impressed.

Observing her objectively, the butler finally said, "Miss Xu does understand the value of this gift. Giving this to you, then, would not be a waste."

Xu WanZhi carefully hung the bag on her lower arm and asked, "But how did the old madam…"

"The old madam is a close friend of Ms. Zhou's mother. The Mu's and the Zhou's were very close before they immigrated to France." The butler explained patiently. "All of the formal dresses of the Mu's ladies were work of Miss Zhou's studio."

"Oh, I see." Xu WanZhi nodded and said, "I was not aware of that."

Butler Lin nodded and said, "Anyways, I must thank you for the old madam for referring that doctor."

By now, the butler was about to wrap up. Xu WanZhi didn't want to waste this great opportunity so she took it and said softly, "The medicines are secondary. It won't cure the root of the problem. XiYuan's illness came so suddenly this time, I fear there are other underlying reasons…"

She purposefully feigned that she was struggling to find the right words.

Seeing that, the butler quickly asked, "What underlying reasons?"

Xu WanZhi frowned and kept on with her show, "Um… I am just an outsider. I am not sure if it's my place to stay this…"

She dragged out the last word purposefully. After a long while and looking like she had made some sort of grave decision, she finally said, "Okay, I'll just be blunt. Are there any one born on [dates in traditional Chinese format] who conflict with XiYuan's birth date? If so, I'm afraid the medicines prescribed by the doctor will not resolve all of his issues."

The birthday in traditional Chinese format (lunar calendar) was Aunt Hu's that Xu WanZhi had committed to memory the day Aunt Hu recited her ID number.

As Mu ZhenYu had said, Old Madam Mu might be old but she wasn't confused. She was a rational person. As evidenced by the fact that she was able to keep the family going or from the fact of her gifting Xu WanZhi clothes for thanking her for curing Mu XiYuan.

That being said, her strong dislike for Xu WanZhi probably came from Aunt Hu. As the saying goes, bad incidents are alright, bad people, not so much. One to two stinky fish can stink up the entire pot.

She would use this opportunity to put some ideas into the old madam's head – vegetarians who worship the buddha tend to believe in how one person's birthdate could conflict with another's. Using that particular weakness of theirs, she could easily get rid of a cannon fodder.

That's why one should not be superstitious!

Xu WanZhi said it with a most sincere look when she was actually observing Butler Lin's reaction.

The elderlies knew the lunar calendar very well. As soon she finished saying the date, the butler's look dropped immediately – it was obvious that she already had it figured out.

That being said, this butler was a reasonable person. As much as she had an idea, she didn't say anything about it except saying to Xu WanZhi, "There are many at the Mu's. I'll need to confirm it once I get back. Regardless, I appreciate that you've decided to tell us the truth, Miss Xu."

"That's no problem," said Xu WanZhi and exchanged some more pleasantries with her before she watched her leaving in the sedan.