"Hello, Miss Yu." Jing Yu hurriedly picked up the phone.
On the other end, silence.
Jing Yu didn't rush her. He waited patiently, because he could hear the sound of a girl taking a deep breath.
"That…"
"I'll report to the set tomorrow at 8 a.m. That's okay, right?"
"No problem." Jing Yu kept his voice steady, though he was inwardly thrilled.
"And… about what you said—that this show will outperform White Lovers in ratings… You weren't just saying that, were you?"
Jing Yu had just opened his mouth to answer when Yu Youqing suddenly seemed to realize something and cut him off, speaking hurriedly:
"Sorry, forget what I just asked. I'll definitely be there before eight tomorrow morning. Also… about what happened earlier today, I hope you can forgive my rudeness."
She hung up the phone and let out a long breath.
Whether or not the show outperformed White Lovers no longer mattered. What mattered most was that she genuinely loved this script. Even if the ratings didn't win, she still wanted to play Shou Aimei.
Gaoshan and Shou Aimei. Jing Yu had slightly modified the original names of the lead characters in 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' to suit the Da Zhou Federation—using Japanese names would've felt out of place.
Jing Yu put down his phone and gazed out the window. Finally, a weight lifted off his chest.
He wasn't sure how good Yu Youqing's acting really was, but one thing was certain: the actresses Liu Neng had found were definitely not promising. At least Yu Youqing was a proper graduate from a performance program. The women Liu Neng suggested were mostly extras or low-tier variety entertainers and failed pop idols.
Liu Neng himself wasn't a big shot in the industry, so anyone he could easily recruit was likely of mediocre quality. In comparison, Yu Youqing had both the looks and the background to inspire confidence.
Jing Yu didn't dwell on it long. He lay back in bed, thinking it over, and slowly drifted off.
—
By a little past six in the morning, he was already up. He called Liu Neng to inform him that his preferred actress had agreed to join the cast and asked him to get the contract ready.
Then he messaged Gao Wencang.
Still at the Lan City film production base, the three of them directed the crew in setting up the next scene. Necessary background actors had already been recruited. Although only about six or seven characters in the show had names, the crew behind the scenes was quite large, and the set buzzed with activity.
Yu Youqing, of course, was familiar with the Lan City production base. In the two years since graduating, she'd worked on a few dramas—most of that time spent right here.
That morning, she wore a pale white long dress, the hem swaying gently with each step and revealing slender calves. To ward off the chill of fall and winter, she had a sporty jacket draped over her shoulders. But even that couldn't conceal her graceful figure. Her neck was elegant, her features exquisite, and her long hair fell to her waist. Just walking across the lot turned many heads.
She arrived at the address Jing Yu had messaged her and, with her head slightly bowed, slipped into the set of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'.
From a distance, she could already see Jing Yu holding a script, discussing something with a slightly chubby man.
She jogged over.
"Jing… Teacher Jing Yu, I'm here," she said, a little awkwardly.
After all, she'd refused him so firmly just yesterday, and now here she was, saying yes—it was a bit embarrassing.
"Ka… kah…" Gao Wencang's throat made a strange sound the moment he saw her.
A breeze passed by, fluttering the hem of Yu Youqing's dress and the ends of her hair. The slight shyness on her pale, beautiful face, the way her gaze avoided theirs, and the way the early morning sunlight refracted in golden shafts around her—everything together created a breathtaking image.
That pure, fresh aura—Shou Aimei's character seemed to come alive right in front of them.
"You're here." Jing Yu finally let out a long breath as he checked the time—7:46 a.m., right on schedule.
Thankfully, there were no surprises this time. Song Xin really was just a one-off anomaly.
"Hello, I'm the director of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'. My name is Gao Wencang," the man quickly introduced himself, extending his hand.
Yu Youqing politely shook it. Not long after, Liu Neng arrived and spotted her. He glanced at Jing Yu, a flicker of astonishment flashing in his eyes.
This girl wasn't just prettier than the actresses he'd found—she might even surpass the two widely acknowledged beauties of White Lovers, Tang Yidong and Song Xin.
No wonder Jing Yu had gone to the trouble of borrowing Gao Wencang's car to visit her. With looks like that, even if the script was mediocre, a lot of male viewers would still tune in for a couple of weeks just to watch her. After all, people ogle pretty girls on the street—why wouldn't they do the same in a drama?
Jing Yu didn't want any more unexpected twists. He quickly brought Yu Youqing into the meeting room and showed her the contract.
In the Da Zhou Federation's film and TV industry, there were standard guidelines for actor and crew compensation.
Lead actors, directors, writers, and other core creatives typically took home around 30% of the total investment budget—40% at most. If it were a big-budget production with top-tier talent, then royalties or profit sharing might be included.
Given Yu Youqing's track record, she was offered just over 60,000 yuan. Considering the show was only scheduled to shoot for two weeks, that was already a fairly generous paycheck.
In comparison, Jing Yu himself—who doubled as both writer and lead actor—was earning less than 100,000 yuan in total (just under 50k for writing and a little over 40k for acting), plus 3% in copyright royalties.
Everyone else, including Gao Wencang and Liu Neng, was making even less.
The rest of the budget was going into equipment rentals, set fees, props, extras, lighting, and post-production.
Yu Youqing carefully read the contract, double-checked every clause over the course of half an hour, and, finding nothing sketchy, signed without hesitation.
"Looking forward to working with you," Jing Yu said.
Yu Youqing looked at his outstretched hand. After a brief pause, she reached out and shook it.
Soft and slightly cold.
Jing Yu didn't hold on long—it wouldn't have been appropriate.
"Oh, right. I wanted to ask…" Yu Youqing hesitated, now officially part of the crew and no longer bound by secrecy. "Who's playing the male lead?"
After all, their characters were a couple—and according to the script, they even had kissing scenes.
As a trained actress, she'd already accepted this sort of thing back in school. But still, she hoped they could film those scenes using a plastic card or cling film between them.
Ideally, they could shoot it using camera tricks. But nowadays, viewers in Da Zhou hate "cheating" shots like that. They thought: If you're in this industry but can't even commit to a kiss scene, what are you doing? Go raise pigs at home instead. So most production crews didn't dare shoot around it—they didn't want to alienate the audience.
Of course, she couldn't start making demands on her first day. She just wanted to know: who would be playing her on-screen boyfriend for the next two weeks?
"Huh? I didn't tell you?" Jing Yu tried to recall.
Right. He hadn't.
"Me," he said, looking at her.
"…Eh?"
"I'm the writer and also the actor playing Gaoshan."
Jing Yu repeated calmly, "Nice to meet you, Miss Shou Aimei. I'll be your lover for the next two weeks."
Finally, his tightly wound nerves started to relax, and he even felt up to teasing her a little.
"Alright, let's not waste any more time. In thirty minutes, the crew will be ready to roll. This is the storyboard script that Gao Wencang reworked—today's shooting schedule is in here. We'll keep refining the rest of it as we go. You've got half an hour to figure out how to bring Shou Aimei to life. Good luck."
With that, Jing Yu left to help with set arrangements—trying to make up for the day lost yesterday.
Today was November 19. The already-filmed episodes of White Lovers would only last through November 28.
So exactly one week later, on Sunday, December 5th at 8 PM, the first episode of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' would air on Jinhui TV.
Then, on December 12th, the second episode would air.
After that, the last three episodes of White Lovers would be shot after the female lead's leg healed, airing in a hastily extended broadcast slot over the following two weeks.
Yu Youqing watched as Jing Yu walked toward Director Gao Wencang.
He's playing the male lead?
I'm doomed.
Her best friend, Zhao Xin, was definitely going to follow this drama. And then she'd find out that the male lead of the show was none other than her infamous blind date—the one who skipped out on the bill.
How was she going to explain that?
Yu Youqing descended once again into a spiral of mental self-torment.