Chapter 63

The movie script Wei Sheng received already had a painfully cringe-worthy working title: “Rebirth of Daji: Big Talk in the Entertainment Industry.”

Just from the title, you could tell this was no proper high-end production!

The movie tells the story of Su Daji, who is reincarnated thousands of years later as a little princess of a mysterious fox clan.

One day, the bored little fox sneaks down the mountain and stumbles upon a film crew shooting a remake of the classic “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” in the forest. Upon learning that being in the crew meant free food and money, and that all she needed to do was follow the director’s instructions and perform certain poses, she immediately kicks out the real fox cast as the “seductress” and takes the role for herself.

But little does she know—this crew is anything but legit. From the producer to the director to the staff, every last one of them is rotten!

The producer constantly schemes to send the young actresses and actors into the investors’ beds.

The director’s a sleazy perv who’s always trying to “discuss the glow-in-the-dark script” with the female leads. Even the security guards are crooked, taking bribes to sneak in obsessive fans, nearly causing disasters on set…

Other productions worry about actors getting caught in scandals after filming, which could affect the film’s release.

This one? If a paparazzo infiltrated, they could probably complete their entire yearly quota just from this crew alone… there’s just too much dirt. A juicy leak a day would be enough to keep a whole tabloid business thriving.

Wei Sheng plays the main villain on the surface—a rigid old fogey from the fox clan who’s obsessed with traditional female virtues. Upon hearing that the little fox had defied all norms by running off to be an actress, he flies into a rage and leads a group of young male foxes down the mountain to drag her back for marriage.

As the plot progresses and the evil within the crew is slowly revealed, this once obnoxious conservative fogey ends up becoming the only sane man around.

Thus, in the latter half of the story, Wei Sheng’s old-school fox elder starts sneaking into the set with his clan, using all kinds of nonsensical and hilarious plot twists to send the villains to jail one by one—and in the process, manages to steer the reincarnated “Su Daji” back onto the right path…

The main storyline was actually quite wholesome, but the content was so absurd that when Wei Sheng finished reading it, his eyes were full of suspicion as he stared at Zhou Mingxing.

President Zhou, if you’re being blackmailed by capital, blink twice. I’ll call the police and rescue you right now!

Didn’t you tell me once Mountain Path aired, I’d be offered big productions? Is this your idea of a “big production”?

This wasn’t a blockbuster—it was a big pile of bullshit!

Zhou Mingxing clearly understood the unspoken meaning behind the kid’s words.

With an annoyed huff, he flipped the script to the last page and jabbed his finger at the title page so hard it almost punctured the thin paper.

“Look at the producer!”

Wei Sheng glanced down at the small print at the bottom of the page. The corners of his mouth twitched violently. He was instantly speechless.

Ah, mystery solved.

No wonder such an eye-searing script could make it past Zhou Mingxing—it turns out their very own TV station was one of the investors! Who would’ve thought the network execs had such… indescribable tastes.

Launching a movie like this during New Year’s and making people pay to see it in theaters—wasn’t that a bit too cruel?

“Don’t worry too much. I looked into the director. He used to make web dramas, and he’s got decent comedic chops. Yeah, the script looks dumb as hell, cough, but the overall message is still pretty positive.”

“And?” Wei Sheng gave him a skeptical side-eye.

“Well, even your senior sister and the other senior disciples from the company are guest-starring in this one. The lead actress playing the reincarnated Daji is none other than Lu Min, the hottest young film queen. You’re just a rookie, what are you even complaining about?”

“What?! The lead is Lu Min—the youngest winner of the Qing Lion Film Festival’s Best Actress Award? What, did she get kidnapped into doing this crap because she couldn’t pay back loan sharks?” Wei Sheng was floored.

Now that he thought about it, there really wasn’t much for him to feel wronged about. After all, there was someone way more famous than him stuck in this flaming dumpster fire.

Now it was Zhou Mingxing’s turn to roll his eyes. “Haven’t you heard the running joke about Lu Min? People say every time she wins Best Actress, she rewards herself with a Mary Sue melodrama as the lead.”

“Actually, she’s one of the investors in this New Year’s film…”

Pfft~~ Wei Sheng gripped the script tight, struggling not to burst into laughter.

Still, there was one bit of good news.

Since the network was one of the film’s investors, this time Wei Sheng would finally get to meet all his senior brothers and sisters from the company.

That’s one of the downsides of having backing from within the system.

From the outside, everyone thought they were spoiled with official resources, but truthfully, the resources they got from internal projects like these were dirt cheap.

What could you do? It was a family business.

To put it plainly, during holiday seasons, Wei Sheng’s grandpa’s mini-mart would be super busy, and the whole family had to pitch in. But no one ever expected grandpa to pay them wages.

Of course, once the busy season ended, there’d always be a nice dinner as a reward, sometimes even a fat red envelope. That’s just how things worked in Chinese society—relationships and reciprocity.

If you’re enjoying the perks of being inside the system, then when the unit asks you to step up and work, you can’t just slack off.

His senior brothers and sisters were clearly used to this kind of mandatory deployment. Seeing Wei Sheng’s gloomy face, they even comforted him, “Don’t be like that~ Your character’s actually pretty cool. You’re the fox clan patriarch! Even the female lead has to call you ‘Royal Uncle!’ That’s some serious status!”

To save money, the production didn’t hire any fancy styling team. All costumes and makeup were handled by the director’s girlfriend, a popular Hanfu livestreamer who also ran a Hanfu store.

And honestly, compared to the plain, watered-down aesthetic that was trendy lately, this girl’s styling was surprisingly fitting for a fox clan.

When the character design photos came out, even Wei Sheng was stunned by his own “beauty.”

The female lead, Lu Min, was absolutely delighted as she called in an entire photography team and shot several sets of costume photos in one go. She had so many to choose from that her eyes nearly went cross-eyed trying to pick.

Senior Sister Shen Yi played the role of the female lead Daji’s mother in this lifetime—a former top beauty of the fox tribe. When the costume photos were revealed, Lu Min stared blankly at Shen Yi, her little face instantly turning bright red.

“Mama~ My mom is so beautiful! When I grow up, I’m definitely going to be just as pretty as my mom!”

Shen Yi herself was quite satisfied with the styling. She had mostly acted in Republican-era and modern dramas before, with little experience in costume dramas. No wonder people in the industry always said that xianxia dramas were the most effective at attracting fans through sheer looks. Regardless of anything else about this film, just these costume photos alone were enough to offset any disappointment viewers might feel about a bad script.

How did the saying go again? As long as the villain looks good, people’s moral compass follows their facial features—isn’t that right?

When Wei Sheng, the “Royal Uncle of the Fox Tribe,” finally stepped out, the whole set drew a collective gasp. Lu Min had entered the industry early and was quite used to seeing handsome men and beautiful women, yet even she was slightly stunned by Wei Sheng’s appearance.

Only the director looked dissatisfied.

“No, no, no! Where’s the makeup artist? The Royal Uncle is supposed to be a darkened villain in the beginning—what is this look supposed to be? Judge Bao in his youth? All righteous and proper? What I want is menace! Dangerous aura!”

“Wait! Director, just because he’s wearing white doesn’t mean he’s automatically a good guy. Hold on—I’ll give Junior Brother a quick acting lesson and have him do a take for you before you decide, alright?” Shen Yi couldn’t bear to waste this look on Wei Sheng, so she quickly pulled him aside for some live coaching.

Zhang Hanxing blinked, motioned to Yang Junyao, and the two quietly followed along to eavesdrop on the lesson.

A live acting class with Senior Sister—there’s no way they were missing this opportunity!

“From this moment on, you’re a villain!” Shen Yi started by locking in the character setup for Wei Sheng.

“Aren’t you really familiar with all the elderly folks in your neighborhood? There must be some old aunties who are extremely mean to their daughters-in-law and totally controlling toward their kids, right?”

“Now, try to put yourself in that mindset…”

Yang Junyao and Zhang Hanxing nearly broke into a cold sweat just listening.

Let them, idol celebrities, act like foul-mouthed, mean old crones? No way! Their fans would vanish overnight!

Unexpectedly, Wei Sheng looked relieved.

So this was what the director meant by “darkened”? Then he didn’t even need to act. His grandmother’s neighborhood was full of those kinds of elders! Mean old men and women were a dime a dozen.

It wasn’t like posh communities didn’t have them—just that their behavior was more refined and concealed. Unlike the older folks from the tube-shaped housing days—when they lost their temper, they didn’t bother sparing their kids’ dignity at all.

Half an hour later, Wei Sheng returned to the set, wearing the exact same ethereal white costume as before.

But this time, though nothing about the outfit had changed, the malicious glint in his eyes and sharp disdain in his expression made the director’s eyes light up.

And when he finally opened his mouth, the illusion that had enchanted all the fan-girls on set shattered instantly.

Wei Sheng casually lifted the long hem of his robe, tucked it into his belt, and sat cross-legged on the throne like he owned the place. That face—previously aloof and otherworldly—was now steeped in crude arrogance:

“I said it long ago, what’s a girl doing reading books? The more she reads, the harder she is to control! Might as well keep her illiterate—raise her a few years, marry her off, and we even get a bride price! And now look! She’s run away! All those years of raising her for nothing!”

“What’re you all staring at? Go get that Su Su of yours back! Doesn’t she like selling smiles? This time I’ll just sell her to northern Myanmar—let her smile all she wants!”

“And you all! From now on, no more schooling for our fox tribe girls! Lock them up at home—teach them to be good wives and mothers!”

“What more does a woman need to do besides cook, clean, bear children, and serve her man? Have you all forgotten how humans used to insult us foxes? Saying we’re nothing but seductive tricksters? Forgotten the old generation’s warnings, and Lady Daji’s tragic story?”

“If they insult us, we foxes have to prove them wrong! Show those humans that our women can also be gentle, homely, good at housework, and capable of serving the entire family…”

Ahem—that was Wei Sheng’s character in this movie: a man with devastating beauty and allure, yet completely trapped in outdated, patriarchal thinking. He dreamt of establishing a “Virtue School for Women” in the fox tribe, training them into ignorant housewives who obeyed the Three Obediences and Four Virtues… The kind of suffocating old patriarch that makes people want to scream.

To him, the female lead joining the entertainment industry was nothing but disgraceful behavior. She should be dragged back and dunked in a pig cage!

“Very nice, very nice! Keep this up!” The director was thrilled—this was even better than the “dark makeup” concept he’d originally planned.

Wearing the most celestial white robes while acting like the most backward old patriarch!

Just a single line and today’s youth would want to pelt him with rotten eggs. The comedic effect was through the roof!

“Senior Sister… are you sure Wei Sheng won’t lose fans for this?” Yang Junyao was practically sweating bullets.

She and Zhang Hanxing were both stars from talent shows. Their careers were completely propped up by fan support, so every move they made was tailored to their fanbase’s preferences. The number one rule in their line of work? Never do anything the fans won’t like—especially take on a role that wrecks all moral boundaries like this…

“Relax. Our little Junior Brother’s fanbase, ahem… isn’t quite the same as yours,” Shen Yi gave a light cough, her flirtatious eyes twinkling with amusement.

And sure enough, the two would soon learn exactly what kind of fans Wei Sheng had.

Because this was a New Year’s release, the production had deliberately cast many popular stars to attract fan attention. Not long after filming started, the crew opened up limited visits, allowing fans to visit the set in batches.

And today—it was finally Wei Sheng’s turn.

That day was finally Wei Sheng’s turn.

Gao Manyue was among the earliest of Wei Sheng’s fans. As soon as she heard that the film crew was allowing visits, she immediately signed up in the fan group. Worried she wouldn’t be selected, Gao Manyue even sneakily messaged the group admin:

“Boss, boss! You have to pick me! This time, Xiao Wei’s filming location is right in my hometown! I saw the group discussing what we should bring for the visit—since my hometown is a poor county, why don’t we just buy some local specialties from the villagers?”

“Isn’t Xiao Wei’s poverty alleviation drama currently airing on the national channel? If we bring some local goods when we visit the set, it’ll also help promote how our Xiao Wei hasn’t forgotten his roots and continues to embody the spirit of poverty alleviation even while filming!”

Hearing that Gao Manyue was familiar with the area, the admin pulled some strings and secured her a spot on the visit list.

Gao Manyue didn’t disappoint. She led the fans in buying a large batch of local specialties to bring to the film crew.

“Red dates, millet, walnuts, dried persimmons, sesame sauce cold noodles… Wait, why are there broom heads too?” the group admin asked, at a loss.

“They can be used as props on set, right? Lots of elderly folks in the village couldn’t sell their red dates this year, so they chopped broom grass and made brooms themselves. It’s pretty pitiful, honestly—let’s help them out,” Gao Manyue replied with a sheepish smile.

So, while fans of other stars visited with flowers, cakes, bubble tea, and handmade snacks—

Wei Sheng’s fans showed up with red dates, walnuts, persimmons, cold noodles… and handmade broom heads.

Wei Sheng: “…”

My face is small—please don’t embarrass me too much.

“Hahaha, not bad at all! Let’s keep a bit of everything, they’ll be great for props,” the director said happily as he munched on a piece of dried persimmon.

Honestly, these sun-dried persimmons made by the villagers tasted way better than the vacuum-packed ones sold in supermarkets—soft, sweet, and delicious.

The dates looked dusty, but once washed, they tasted great too. There were also sesame sauce cold noodles made by a local food factory. You just had to scald them with boiling water, drain, add seasoning, mix well—and boom, a bowl of noodles ready to eat.

When Wei Sheng heard that these support gifts were bought from local villagers near the set, he was genuinely moved. He’d only ever heard about crazy fans in the entertainment industry, but now, he felt fans could be kind and warm-hearted too.

He was far too optimistic…

“Xiao Wei, look! This is a broom head we especially got for you! Aren’t you playing a Fox Clan patriarch this time? How can a patriarch not have something for physical discipline?”

“Try it out, see if the broom head feels right in your hands! We actually wanted to buy some feather dusters too, but the villagers refused to sell—they only had one at home and still needed it to discipline their kids.”

Wei Sheng: “…”

On behalf of the children in the crew—thank you, I guess?

The fans happily shared the local snacks with Wei Sheng, took photos, got autographs. As they left, Gao Manyue reluctantly said to Wei Sheng, “Teacher Wei, I’ve already registered our village Gaoxiapuo with the production’s official Weibo page for next year’s ‘Retracing the Road to Poverty Alleviation.’ You have to come to our village!”

“I’ll come visit the set again and bring you more good food.”

“Sounds great! If the program chooses your village, you’ll be welcome to come home and visit the set!”

At this moment, Wei Sheng had no idea he’d be meeting the folks from Gaoxiapuo sooner than expected.

This low-budget New Year’s film had the words “stingy” practically carved into its forehead just to cut costs!

The most expensive scene in the movie involved Wei Sheng, as the Fox Clan’s royal uncle, leading his people back to the ancient Fox City to honor their ancestors. Just thinking about transporting so many people to a film studio, renting locations, feeding and housing the whole crew—it gave the director literal chest pains.

Then, somehow, the director found out there was a local ancient city ruin nearby, and he even managed to borrow it for free from the local government. So Wei Sheng and the rest of the cast were moved to this ancient city site, planning to shoot the ancestral worship scene in just two days.

On the way to the ancient city, the crew’s martial arts coordinator saved a woman named Gao Xiaojuan, who had been about to jump into the river with her two young children.

At that point, Gao Xiaojuan was on the verge of a breakdown. Even after the stunt coordinator scooped her up, she still tried to struggle free. Her son, a bit older, held onto his little sister and cried his lungs out in fear.

Wei Sheng and Shen Yi quickly stepped in, each grabbing one of the children and pulling them into the vehicle.

Seeing her kids taken, Gao Xiaojuan panicked. Since lives were at stake, the crew had no choice but to call the police. But the nearest station was still a half-hour drive from Gaoxiapuo, so the director had the rest of the team go ahead to the ancient city site while leaving a minibus and a few people behind to watch over Gao Xiaojuan and her children.

As the kids sobbed and Gao Xiaojuan tearfully recounted her story, everyone finally understood what had driven her to attempt suicide with her children.

What mother would willingly take her own life along with her children unless she had been pushed to the brink?

Gao Xiaojuan had lived a hard life. At birth, just because she was a girl, her heartless grandmother tossed her into a cotton field. She was taken in by a couple, but after her adoptive mother gave birth to twins and could no longer support her, she was given away again—to a childless widow in Gaoxiapuo.

That second adoptive mother treated her well. Gao Xiaojuan lived a happy life for over a decade and, with her mother’s support, even attended high school.

But in her first year, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. To pay for treatment, Gao Xiaojuan dropped out to work.

Two years later, her mother was on her deathbed. Fearing for her daughter’s future, she asked a local matchmaker to find a good family for Gao Xiaojuan.

Gao Jiaping had just graduated and started working. He had wanted to find a match in the city, but quickly discovered that the “golden phoenix” status he held in his hometown as a college graduate meant little there.

Forget dating city girls—he could barely afford the places they liked to hang out. After two dates, he’d nearly spent an entire month’s salary and had to scrape by for the rest of the month.

Girls from the city were out of his league, and with his circumstances, there wasn’t even anyone around willing to introduce him to someone. After being snubbed a few times, Gao Jiaping became rather disheartened.

Just then, some relatives back in his hometown tried to set him up. He happened to be on holiday and had nothing else to do, so he figured he might as well go back and check it out. He never expected that one look would seal the deal—the girl and he hit it off.

Back then, young Gao Xiaojuan was fair-skinned and pretty, with large eyes and a high nose bridge. Her smile was like a delicate, shy little flower. Gao Jiaping was instantly smitten.

The Gao family was considered decent in the village. They had a son and a daughter—the daughter was married off to a town, and the son was also a university student. The parents leased farmland to grow cotton and also ran a cotton-processing workshop in town.

By all accounts, marrying into a family like this, with a husband working in the city, Gao Xiaojuan should’ve had a much better life than most rural women.

And indeed, at the beginning, it seemed like that. Although her husband sent his salary to his mother, and the rest of the family had to go through her for pocket money, they were newlyweds, and Gao Jiaping was still enthusiastic. Every month, he would secretly withhold part of his salary and transfer it to Gao Xiaojuan so she could buy things for herself and their child.

Having experienced a turbulent childhood, Gao Xiaojuan cherished her happy marriage deeply. She gave birth to a son and a daughter in quick succession and always volunteered to take on the dirtiest, most tiring chores at home.

When short video platforms began booming a few years ago, Gao Xiaojuan saw many stay-at-home moms documenting their lives online and decided to give it a try.

Thanks to the unique geography of Gaojiapo and her status as a stay-behind mother, she gained hundreds of thousands of followers within a year. She started earning money from her videos, but she spent very little on herself.

She bought a small truck for her father-in-law, gold bracelets and rings for her mother-in-law, and sent local specialties to her husband in the city… But even a wife this capable and beautiful wasn’t enough for Gao Jiaping to treasure!

It was purely by accident that Gao Xiaojuan overheard a phone conversation between her mother-in-law and husband. That’s how she discovered that Gao Jiaping had another woman outside!

And the two of them were already talking about marriage!

Though the new woman was older than Gao Jiaping, her family was wealthy. Her father had invested in several companies. She was an only child who’d remained unmarried mostly because she wasn’t very good-looking and had a bad temper.

But that didn’t matter. As long as her family had money, who cared about a bad temper? When her parents passed on, everything would be hers. By then, wouldn’t she be at their complete mercy?

The two old folks of the Gao family could barely contain their joy at the thought of such a rich daughter-in-law. They couldn’t care less about the daughter-in-law at home who was now covered in soot and dust.

It hit Gao Xiaojuan like a bolt from the blue.

She never imagined that after working herself to the bone for the Gao family—bearing children, saving every penny, giving everything to the household—they would all go behind her back and plan to kick her out with nothing.

Once that last layer of illusion was torn away, all the lies and schemes suddenly made sense.

Her father-in-law, claiming he needed startup capital for business, had taken over 700,000 yuan from her this year alone.

Her mother-in-law said the kids were getting older and would need to attend school in the county. She asked for 400,000 yuan as a down payment to buy a house in the county, claiming it would be under both husband and wife’s names—but Gao Xiaojuan never even saw a contract.

Then there was Gao Jiaping. He said his company was restructuring and he wanted to transfer to a better-paying department. Bit by bit, he got over 100,000 yuan from her, saying he needed it to grease some palms…

This money was practically all the savings Gao Xiaojuan had made from doing livestreams over the past few years!

She’d foolishly believed that everything she did was for the good of the family. She had no idea that the money she stayed up until one or two in the morning to earn—after putting her kids to bed and slogging through countless livestream sessions—was actually being used to fund her husband’s new wedding and dowry.

She could endure hardship, raise her children alone in the countryside, and care for her in-laws like they were her own—but marital betrayal, and a family that not only turned a blind eye but actively schemed to take the money she’d saved for her children’s education? That devastating truth completely broke this kind and dutiful woman.

When she thought of how much sway her in-laws held locally, and how ruthless and cold her husband could be, she saw no light left in life. She didn’t even want to leave her children to such a cold, heartless man.

In her utter despair, Gao Xiaojuan was driven to the edge, with no way out…

(End of Chapter)

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Su Daji was the favorite concubine of King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang dynasty. In Chinese mythology, she’s portrayed as a beautiful but evil woman, often possessed by a nine-tailed fox spirit. She is blamed for corrupting the king, committing cruel acts, and contributing to the fall of the Shang dynasty. Over time, she became a symbol of destructive beauty and temptation.

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The Three Obediences (三从) are:

1. Obey the father (before marriage).
2. Obey the husband (after marriage).
3. Obey the son (after the husband’s death).

The Four Virtues (四德) are:

1. Morality (德)
2. Speech (言)
3. Appearance (容)
4. Work (工)

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