Chapter 141: Meal Subsidy
Lunchtime arrived in the blink of an eye. Gu Qinghuan rubbed her growling stomach and weakly called out, “I’m so hungry—”
Le Yi lifted his head from the table covered in drafts and scratched his hair. “Cafeteria on the second floor?”
“Let’s order takeout. I want something high-calorie, and a milk tea to replenish some sugar,” Gu Qinghuan said, taking out her phone to place an order.
Halfway through, she looked hopefully at the PD. “Can we expense the takeout?”
The PD nodded. “Meals can be reimbursed at 100 yuan per person per day.”
Gu Qinghuan paused thoughtfully, then asked tentatively, “What if we confirm Lu Jian and Yu Yuan joining now…”
“Then our team can expense 400 yuan for meals per day,” Le Yi immediately saw through Gu Qinghuan’s plan.
Gu Qinghuan promptly pulled out her phone to contact Lu Jian and Yu Yuan, but Le Yi quickly stopped her. “Control yourself!”
“Do you know the difference between 200 yuan and 400 yuan?!” Gu Qinghuan shouted.
Le Yi was speechless. Just as she finished speaking, Yu Yuan’s call came through—probably Yu Xin had given her Gu Qinghuan’s number.
“Hello?” Gu Qinghuan answered.
“I’ve discussed it with my family, and my mom agreed I can join your performance. I also reported it to my teacher. Where should I meet you?” Yu Yuan asked.
Gu Qinghuan gave her the office address. After hanging up, she raised her arms triumphantly: “Three hundred yuan!”
Le Yi gave up trying to stop her, utterly exasperated.
Excitedly about to order milk tea, Gu Qinghuan then received a message from Lu Jian: “My family agreed too. They said they’ll come watch my performance. I’ll meet you there!”
After giving the address again, Gu Qinghuan gestured to Le Yi with both hands: “Four hundred!”
Within a few minutes, Yu Yuan and Lu Jian arrived at the office. Once inside, Gu Qinghuan immediately asked, “We have a 400-yuan meal allowance per day. Should we finish it all at lunch or save half for dinner?”
Before Yu Yuan could respond, Lu Jian understood and said, “I have tutoring in the evening, need to be home on time. I’ll eat my portion at lunch.”
After he spoke, Yu Yuan nodded: “I have piano lessons in the evening too, so I won’t eat at school either.”
“Then one meal it is! Order takeout!” Gu Qinghuan waved her hand. “Burgers! Milk tea!”
The takeout order went smoothly. Lu Jian wasn’t picky about food and joined Gu Qinghuan in a two-person set.
Yu Yuan hesitated a little. Le Yi noticed her concern and invited her to order from a light-food place he usually ordered from.
After ordering, Gu Qinghuan immediately switched back into “work mode.”
She handed the first draft of the script copies to Lu Jian and Yu Yuan: “Take a quick look at the earliest version. Within ten minutes, discuss your overall thoughts on the script—not the characters, just the script itself.”
Ten minutes passed quickly. Gu Qinghuan took the opportunity to organize her notes and prepared the second draft.
Lu Jian finished first and commented, “It’s suitable for the school’s Spring Festival show. Some lines are too cliché, and when emphasizing the theme, it feels overdone.”
Yu Yuan looked sideways. When ordering takeout, she heard Gu Qinghuan call this girl “Lu Jian,” but only knew the name. Judging by her reading speed and comments… could it be another top student?
The pressure on Yu Yuan, a struggling student, instantly increased, making her nervous even when giving her opinion: “I think this version has too many scenes, which makes it a bit complex for a short skit.”
Gu Qinghuan nodded enthusiastically: “You’re both right. Le Yi and I have the same thoughts. That’s why this morning, we collaborated with the original author to revise the script.”
She handed them the second draft and briefly explained: “We kept the time-reversal concept but removed the watch prop, instead using the ‘yellow millet dream’ form to show it.”
“All the plot is compressed into the same location—inside the school. The story starts on ‘the second day.’ Exam failure, teacher scolding, winning the lottery—all these events are explained through character dialogue and happened on ‘the first day.’
“The protagonist sleeps at a desk and wakes to find it’s the first day again, immediately calls home to buy lottery tickets, and then passes the exam smoothly.”
“The middle section is similar to the first draft. At the end, the protagonist regrets relying on luck and wants to succeed by his own effort. After sleeping again, it becomes the actual second day, returning to normal.”
Lu Jian considered it: “The plot is definitely compressed, which simplifies the story flow. It can be performed in ten minutes or so, but it might feel too preachy?”
“So next, we need to revise lines and performances,” Gu Qinghuan said, shrugging. “We need to discuss together how to do it best.”
The four continued discussing. After a while, the takeout arrived. They temporarily set aside the scripts and began lunch.
Yu Yuan ate bite by bite, finding it surprisingly fresh. Le Yi, assuming she didn’t like light meals, joked, “Not very flavorful, huh?”
For on-camera work, weight control matters. He was used to it, but low-salt, low-fat meals could be tough for developing students.
Yu Yuan shook her head quickly: “No, I think it’s quite tasty.”
Le Yi nodded: “Earlier you said you have piano lessons in the evening. Are you an art student?”
“No, it’s just a personal hobby,” Yu Yuan said.
She truly enjoyed piano—when playing, her hands felt like wings, flying freely over the keys’ sky, as long as she focused on the sheet music.
Le Yi talked with Yu Yuan a while longer, thinking she was a great choice for the protagonist—at least in terms of confusion and lack of decisiveness, fitting the script well.
After lunch, Lu Jian had to leave class for rehearsals. She needed someone to take notes and planned to ask the teacher if she could copy the course slides.
Gu Qinghuan kindly provided a recording pen, leftover from a previous operation by Jiang Chuchu. It was empty and ready to borrow.
Yu Yuan knew her academic level—she wasn’t at risk of falling behind, so there was no need to bother with it.
During lunch break, she didn’t know where she should go. Staying in class might invite questions about the program, and she worried about making mistakes.
After all, she wasn’t as smooth-talking as Gu Qinghuan. Revealing program details prematurely would be troublesome.
“Yu Yuan, do you want to take a nap?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
Le Yi, being an artist, had his own rest room, and the PD and cameramen followed him. They would return in the afternoon.
Yu Yuan hesitated: “I-I’ll just rest here for a bit…”
“You sleep in my nest—the green one,” Gu Qinghuan said, guiding Yu Yuan toward the wall.
“Then where will you sleep?” Yu Yuan asked instinctively.
Gu Qinghuan typed on her phone:
Gu Qinghuan: Yu Yuan can sleep in my nest. Can I sleep in yours?
Yu Xin: Sleep in mine. I’m not using it at noon.
Gu Qinghuan: Okay~
Jiang Chuchu didn’t respond, probably busy.
Gu Qinghuan showed Yu Yuan the chat and then guided her into her nest: “Sleep. We’ll continue discussing the script in the afternoon. Let’s aim to finalize it tomorrow.”
Yu Yuan nervously said “oh” and curled up in the dog nest.
Gu Qinghuan pulled the curtains, and the room instantly became dim.
If I perform well, can it count as an apology to Gu Qinghuan? Yu Yuan thought. Then I need to be more proactive this afternoon.
