Remuneration

The grips were already giving instructions for the next set. The woman who took the names of Jiang Se and the others this morning re-emerged and gathered the extras together. It was clearly time for their remuneration to be calculated.

After working hard for an entire day, many of the extras sighed in relief at this. They registered looks of happiness.

However, before they could follow this woman away, another person hurried toward them. "I'll need some men to stay back."

When they heard this, many of the extras displayed displeased looks. However, a dozen of them were called out to stay behind in the end. The others went away with the woman.

The remuneration was paid based on the predetermined rate. Although Lu Baobo had only been filming for more than eight hours, she was paid $50. The additional $10 was compensation for the hot weather in Shen Villa today which had gone higher than 37 degrees.

As for Jiang Se, because of her line and being Zhang Jingan's personal pick, the crew gave her an additional $300, $40 for being an extra, another $20 for having fallen into the river, and a $10 allowance from the crew for her cooling drink, so she received $370 in total.

Everyone waited for their turn to get their payment. At this moment, it was getting quite late.

Lu Baobao and Jiang Se did not have time to shower. When they finished changing, it was almost 10 o'clock in the evening.

Lu Baobao initially intended to try her luck back at the other tents. However, when she saw that there were more than 60 missed calls on her phone, all of which were from her parents, she naturally snuffed out her intentions of going after the celebrities.

The two of them had been so busy with filming. Their clothes and personal belongings were left in the lockers while Lu Baobao did not even have the chance to catch her breath. Naturally, she did not manage to answer her parents' calls.

There were the sounds of filming nearby. Lu Baobao pulled on Jiang Se, looking slightly anxious.

"This is bad." She stomped her feet. "The last bus to the imperial capital from Shen Villa is about to depart."

She had been planning to come to Shen Villa for a very long time, so she had done some research before that. "The transit buses between Shen Villa and the imperial capital end at nine, and their operating hours are extended by an hour during the weekends. However, that means that the last bus will leave at 10."

Lu Baobao's watch clearly showed that it was now 9.45 p.m. They had another 15 minutes. If they could not catch the last bus, they would have to spend the night here in Shen Villa. "I've never stayed overnight outside. My mum will flog me to death when I get back tomorrow!"

She had been dying to come here before this. Now, she was as anxious as ants on a hot pan. "What do we do? What do we do?"

When Jiang Se saw her anxious look, she could not help but glance at her phone. "Give your folks a call. Try to calm them down. Tell them not to worry, for now."

Lu Baobao was beside herself with worry. When she heard the suggestion, she hastily nodded. However, when she processed it, she looked at Jiang Se and asked, "How do I calm them down? What should I tell them?"

"Just tell them anything. Hurry up. The bus is almost leaving. We'll have to buy the tickets to return to the imperial capital."

This time, the production team had recruited many extras. Some of them must have been from the imperial capital as well. If they were late to the station, they might not even be able to catch the last bus.

Lu Baobao finally realized the situation they were in. The two of them held hands and ran from the filming site.

It was getting late, but there were still reporters camped outside. When they saw extras appearing, the reporters swarmed them and wanted to interview any extra they could get their hands on to get some inside scoop about the production.

Jiang Se and Lu Baobao were thankful for these reporters. Many of the extras were held up doing interviews. When Jiang Se and Lu Baobao arrived at the bus station, it was not as full as they expected it to be.

The two of them were lucky. When they reached the ticketing counter, it was five minutes to the departure of the last bus from Shen Villa, and there were not many tickets left.

Perhaps because of the exhaustion from the day's work, Lu Baobao soon fell into a deep sleep shortly after they boarded the bus.

However, Jiang Se could not fall asleep no matter how she tried. The Daxing River separated Shen Villa from the imperial capital.

When the bus drove onto the suspension bridge, she stared at the oncoming lights from the other side. She could hear Lu Baobao's soft snoring in her ear. Her face was occasionally illuminated and plunged into darkness by the streetlights they were passing outside.

She had a feeling as if she was getting further and further away from the things she was familiar with. Just like Shen Villa, she had been there but did not leave any mark.

When they arrived at the imperial capital, it was nearly 11 p.m.

The Du family was already fast asleep. Jiang Se tried a few knocks on the door. Perhaps someone heard her, but nobody came to the door.

Therefore, Jiang Se could only turn around and go back. This area was already considered the imperial capital's suburbs. The building in which the Dus resided had no property management or residential management office, so it was dangerous for her to stay outside at night.

She caressed the few hundred dollars she just made that day. She found a small inn and paid $100 for a night's stay. She took a hasty shower and, without waiting for her hair to dry, hopped into the bed and fell asleep.

After having gone through so much that day, she slept especially soundly after all the exertion.

When she awoke the next day, it was almost 11 a.m. Jiang Se wanted to get up, but when she moved her arm, she realized that she was sore all over.

The spots where the ropes were tied yesterday were now showing faint marks. The mark on her shoulder where she had been hit by the prop knife and the bruise on her chest left by the squib looked even more grotesque overnight

She drew a deep breath and rubbed her chest while bearing the pain. She reckoned that it would take several days for her wounds to heal.

Her bra, which she had hand-washed last night, was already dry, so she changed her clothes. When she reached the Du residence, Du Changqun had already left for work. Zhou Hui was preparing lunch while Du Honghong was watching the television in the living room. When she saw Jiang Se, she clicked her tongue. "Looks who finally decided to come back."

The kitchen was only partitioned off a corner of the living room. When Zhou Hui emerged from the kitchen after hearing Du Honghong's words, water was still dripping from her hands. She shot Jiang Se a slightly nasty look. Her lips moved, but nothing came out. Then, she returned to the kitchen without saying anything to Jiang Se.

When Zhou Hui left, Du Honghong pursed her lips. "Why did you come back?"

Although they were half-sisters, it was clear that they were not close. They did not even resemble each other.

Zhou Hui had given birth to three children, but only her son, Du You, resembled her. Her two daughters, who were born from different fathers, did not resemble her.

Du Changqun was nothing special to look at, and Du Honghong could only be described as comely, at best. If she stood beside Jiang Se, one of them would look incredibly beautiful while the other would look insignificant.

This was also why Du Honghong disliked Jiang Se. Since she was a little child, the people around them would praise Jiang Se for being beautiful even though they knew that she was only Du Changqun's stepdaughter.

As Jiang Se went into her room without saying anything, Du Honghong rolled her eyes at her stepsister. When she noticed Jiang Se going into her room without replying to her, she pouted. "Manners!"

She had a puzzled look in her eyes. In the past, Jiang Se knew that the Dus did not like her since she was only living under their roof. Therefore, she was never close to any of them and would only speak to Zhou Hui.