Director Lu was happily showing off his eggs, but on camera, Liu Xia and her mother were a mess in their performance.
Especially the actress playing Liu Xia's mother—her eyes were practically flying out of her head.
"What is this garbage!" Lu Mingze was on the verge of losing it. "Who the hell brought this old lady onto the set!?"
He completely forgot that it was his choice to bring her in.
Just as he was about to explode, he noticed that everyone on the crew was holding a tea egg. Even the 60-something-year-old producer, Mr. Jia, was chewing and apologetically looking at him.
Lu Mingze suddenly felt helpless. He looked at the egg in his hand and then at everyone else, feeling a wave of frustration. What had he started?
"Forget it," he muttered.
He shot an angry look at Chu An, who was handing out eggs, silently telling him to deal with the consequences.
In a defeated tone, he said, "Five-minute break. Xiao Meng, Xiao Shu, have something to eat too. Let's try to get another good take before it gets dark!"
Tong Meng, who had clearly been waiting for this moment, rushed over to Chu An.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the eggs. "I've been smelling this from the kitchen all afternoon," she said, shooting Chu An a playful glare. "You little brat, you got me craving these!"
It was her first time meeting Chu An, but she acted completely familiar with him.
No one was surprised by this. Tong Meng was known in the industry for being down-to-earth and approachable. No matter what crew she worked with, whether it was the director, producer, or background actors, she got along with everyone.
Chu An smiled politely, not quite sure how to respond to her banter. She could joke with him, but he had to maintain some boundaries.
He passed the plate of tea eggs to Xu Shu, who was standing nearby. "Want one?"
Xu Shu glanced at the eggs and frowned, clearly unimpressed. "No thanks."
She then turned her back and went to a corner to focus on her script.
To be honest, if it weren't for all the people around, Chu An wouldn't have bothered offering her one.
What a diva.
If this was one of his own artists, Chu An would have a hundred ways to make her behave. But at 17, the naïve, more generous side of him just let it go.
He looked at Tong Meng, who was already heading toward Director Lu with her tea eggs. As she passed by, she gave Chu An a quick thank-you gesture, tapping him on the back as a sign of appreciation.
Her natural demeanor made it clear: either she was emotionally intelligent, or just truly genuine. Either way, she was well-liked.
"Director Lu, you have to explain to me again. Why can't I get this scene right?" Tong Meng was not shy about pointing out her acting flaws.
Lu Mingze had no response but to say, "The second-to-last take was fine. Just tone it down a bit."
Tong Meng let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't even know what I did in that second-to-last take!"
She complained while nibbling on the tea egg, "Why does it always have to be a mom role? Why can't I play a youthful, pretty girl? Every time it's 'mom', 'mom'! I don't even have a boyfriend yet—I'm practically on the verge of a hormonal imbalance! How am I supposed to act like a mom?"
Lu Mingze chuckled. "A youthful girl? You'd have to look like one first!"
Even Chu An, who was off to the side, couldn't help but laugh.
Tong Meng was in her late 20s, had a good camera presence, and looked great on screen. But her features were more mature, and her temperament reminded Chu An of actresses like Wang Lin and Liu Mintao in their younger days—lacking the typical "girlish" charm.
However, she had an incredibly warm personality. In Chu An's eyes, no matter what crew she joined, the atmosphere would always be lively and positive.
After chatting with Director Lu and getting some advice, Tong Meng returned to Chu An, having finished her egg.
"One more, please!"
It had been almost five minutes, and everyone had eaten and rested. Director Lu called for a break to shoot another take.
Tong Meng, wiping her hands, yelled, "Come on, everyone, thank Chu Xiao Di for the tea eggs!"
A few people clapped, genuinely grateful to Chu An for providing the eggs during a tough day.
Chu An, feeling slightly embarrassed, quickly responded, "Everyone should thank Director Lu. I'm just paying a fine here!"
This got Lu Mingze to lighten up. He joked with Lan Jie, "Maybe we should give him more scenes and deduct more money."
Chu An was quick to respond, "More scenes? Does that mean more pay?"
Lu Mingze stared at him in disbelief. "You're the definition of 'climbing up the ladder'!"
What Lu Mingze didn't realize was that, beyond the tea eggs, no one could build rapport and win over people like Chu An. A simple tea egg was just the beginning.
The rest of the filming didn't go smoothly just because of the eggs. If the actors couldn't get into character, no number of takes would make a difference.
Lu Mingze was about to explode again.
As the evening wore on and they hadn't made any progress, Lu Mingze, frustrated, shouted, "We're staying late tomorrow! We will catch up on the schedule!"
This caused an uproar among the crew. "This is impossible!"
The next morning, well before 6 AM, people started showing up on set. Most of the crew, especially the art and props departments, were already preparing the scene.
Then, the actors started to arrive for makeup, and breakfast was served on set.
Tong Meng arrived with Director Lu around 6:30 AM, barely awake. She was eating two buns while getting her makeup done, making a face as she chewed.
It wasn't that she was picky—it's just that after working on so many sets, she was practically sick of buns.
The rest of the crew was the same. It was either steamed buns or buns. They ate standing, walking, or even squatting.
"Can't the life producer get us some pickled vegetables?" Tong Meng groaned as she tried to choke down another bun.
At that moment, Chu An came out from the kitchen, carrying a bowl like a little angel.
Tong Meng's eyes immediately lit up. "Pickled fish!?"
Chu An scooped some out for her. "And some balloon flowers, but I only pickled those last night—they'll be good tomorrow."
Tong Meng looked blissful, grabbing him by the head and ruffling his hair. "Why aren't you my little brother? You're so thoughtful!" she said with a dramatic tone.
It wasn't just Tong Meng who felt this way. The life producer in charge of catering was notoriously cheap. Pickled fish? That was a rare delicacy on set.
Chu An continued handing out pickled vegetables to everyone, loudly announcing, "You're all guests here! This isn't even my home—if it's not enough, I'll get more!"
The crew coordinator, Ji Yinglai, gave Lan Jie a thumbs up. "Where did you find this gem? He's so considerate."
Lan Jie laughed, shaking her head. "Don't even think about it. If he asks for a pay raise, I'll throw him out!"
The last thing you do on set is talk about extra pay, or complain about the food, or ask for more scenes—that's one of the three cardinal rules.
But despite that, Lan Jie couldn't help but appreciate Chu An. She thought back to yesterday and considered whether she should get him some more scenes.
As Chu An continued to serve food, everyone enjoyed the small moment of relief—until Director Lu, the top dog on set, got special treatment too!
Chu An made a DIY Chinese-style hamburger, putting a steamed bun with fried egg, lettuce, and pickled fish in front of Lu Mingze.
Lu Mingze, still maintaining some pretension, hesitated. "I can't eat this. It's too thick. I can't even hold it properly!"
Chu An forced it into his hands. "It's too thick? You've got to eat it! Even if you try to bribe me, I'll still yell at you if the acting's bad!"
Finally, after a couple of minutes, Lu Mingze finished it and gave a satisfied grin. "Alright, one more wouldn't hurt."
The rest of the crew rolled their eyes. Director Lu was just as picky as anyone.
But speaking of picky, the biggest diva was Xu Shu. She had refused the tea eggs yesterday and wouldn't touch the pickled fish today either.
Chu An didn't press her.
She went off to a corner, nibbling on a dry steamed bun while sipping some soy milk. Typical.
Tong Meng, feeling sorry for her, grabbed a portion of pickled fish and walked over to Xu Shu. "Come on, take a bite. You've got to get into the spirit of things if you're going to survive here. Why are you acting so gloomy?"
Xu Shu shrank back instinctively, but didn't respond. She just stared at the pickled fish in Tong Meng's chopsticks.
Tong Meng suddenly realized that she had used the same chopsticks. "Oops, sorry, I'll get Chu Xiao Di to use serving chopsticks to get you some more."
The next moment, Chu An couldn't help but smile at the scene.
Xu Shu's aloofness was something else. She looked at the