"It was this afternoon," Liu Yu hesitated before continuing, "a director came to find me and asked me to play a cameo in his movie."
Upon hearing this, Chu Liangxia's actions paused.
She turned her head to look at him.
A great foundation, with a bit of grooming, he wouldn't be extremely handsome, but he could definitely hold his own against the popular young actors.
"Who?" Chu Liangxia thought for a moment before asking.
"I think his name is Shan Xian," Liu Yu said.
He wasn't well-versed in the film and television industry, but he had heard that Shan Xian was a young and promising new director who had achieved success before thirty, with each of his movies being both a commercial and critical hit.
"Oh," Chu Liangxia nodded, placing the travel bag she was holding down, then added, "As long as he doesn't exploit people and the price is reasonable, you can go."
"Do you know the entertainment industry well?" Liu Yu asked curiously, looking at her.
"Heard it through the grapevine," Chu Liangxia's gaze slightly narrowed, "My colleagues are quite gossipy."
"Then what's considered a reasonable offer?" Liu Yu asked earnestly.
"More than you make from selling skewers." Pushing up the glasses on the bridge of her nose, Chu Liangxia spoke casually.
"..." After a moment of silence, Liu Yu spoke again, "I have another question."
"What is it?"
"You price your services so high," he pointed to the sign she had taken out, Liu Yu asked with puzzlement, "Do you really make money?"
Chu Liangxia fortune-telling setup consisted of five items.
A tiny stool for her to sit on.
An Eight Trigrams Array Diagram spread out on the ground.
Three Copper Coins on the diagram, a stack of Talisman Papers, along with a placard propped up vertically, which read in bright red characters—
Wealth and Joy for three hundred, Misfortune and Happiness for five hundred, Destiny for seven hundred, Future Prospects for nine hundred, Marriage Bonds for a thousand.
When Liu Yu first saw those lines, he thought she was an unprofessional street swindler because he saw many tourists pass by and steer clear of the sign.
"I don't have the time to cheat that many people," Chu Liangxia lifted her eyelids, "occasionally catching one or two big fish is enough to cover my living expenses."
"..."
Liu Yu was speechless.
Alright, he could now conclude that Chu Liangxia was a semi-professional street swindler.
While he was zoning out, Chu Liangxia had already taken her bag from his hands, pulled out the money and stuffed it into his hand, and then took the mutton skewers from him.
"You get back to your work."
Chu Liangxia took a bite of the mutton skewers, subtly hinting for him to leave.
Liu Yu left dejectedly.
Hurrying to finish the mutton skewers, Chu Liangxia borrowed an extension cord from Uncle Liu's barbecue stall next door and then took out her laptop.
There were editing tasks to do for the TV station. She was new and couldn't take on big projects, and being responsible for program editing was a special case. Normally, she was assigned miscellaneous small videos, which were numerous but relatively simple to handle.
Since she had to do it, Chu Liangxia didn't like to wait idly; she naturally seized the limited time to do things that could bring profit.
Placing the laptop on her knees, Chu Liangxia put on her headphones, opened the editing software, and then her fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard.
The barbecue stall on the left and the fried noodle stall on the right, it was extremely busy at this time. Yet, in front of her stall, numerous people walked by, but not a single one lingered.
She kept busy until nine o'clock, Chu Liangxia finished editing two and a half short videos, and just as she was about to rush to finish, she got interrupted.
"Working again?"
Liu Yu came by again with a skewer of chicken wings next to Chu Liangxia.
Bending over, he extended the chicken wings towards Chu Liangxia, and before she could speak up, he quickly explained, "It's from the old man. He said it's not good for you to be in front of the computer for so long, have a chicken wing and take a break."
Chu Liangxia was a bit puzzled and looked up to the left, her gaze meeting with the good-natured smile of Uncle Liu, and Chu Liangxia responded with a light nod and a smile.
"Thank you."
Chu Liangxia took the string of chicken wings from him.
"Thank what? You always take such good care of my dad's business."
"Does your dad give them out to everyone?" Chu Liangxia asked leisurely.
"..." Liu Yu was at a loss for words again.
Chu Liangxia held the chicken wing in her left hand and ate it unhurriedly, while her right hand was still busy moving the mouse to continue editing.
The crowd was thinner at this time, and Liu Yu was in no rush, so he simply squatted beside her and watched.
The black long knit cardigan was somewhat loose on her, hanging down to the floor from the edge of the stool, and the white vest inside outlined her exquisite figure, faintly visible.
Her slightly bent legs supported a laptop, her soft shoulder-length hair draped loosely, with the wire of the black headphones peeking out from between the strands, and a pair of black-framed glasses sat on her nose, obscuring most of her delicate and pretty face, while her beautiful phoenix eyes squinted, staring intently at the screen.
This was Chu Liangxia's usual state.
Even though she was a fortuneteller, she had her own job, using software Liu Yu had never seen before, which he guessed was for post-production work, based on the few videos he had occasionally seen.
However, deep down, Liu Yu felt that Chu Liangxia was much prettier than those actresses in Hengdian.
In terms of both looks and temperament, she was not on the same level.
"Aren't you leaving?" After finishing her chicken wing, Chu Liangxia looked at him with suspicion.
"Just taking a break."
Suddenly coming back to his senses, Liu Yu scrambled for an excuse, unaware that a hint of red had appeared on his handsome face.
Thankfully, the light was dim and hazy, making it hard to see clearly.
"Give me a hand," without prying any further, Chu Liangxia put the bamboo skewer in a bag with the previous ones and handed it to Liu Yu, "Thanks."
It was implied that he should help throw away the trash.
Liu Yu took the trash bag without a word.
"Remember to take a break," Liu Yu stood up, advising like an old man, "Auntie Li who you read fortunes for last week said you were accurate, and she wants to invite you over for some flavored shrimp. There's no business here anyway, so if you want to move around after sitting for a while, just go visit her place, I'll cover for you here."
"Hmm." Chu Liangxia hummed distractedly, her eyes still fixed on the screen.
Liu Yu left, feeling helpless.
However, no sooner had Liu Yu left than someone stopped in front of the stall.
"Fortunetelling."
Two simple words, tinged with a hint of mockery.
"What about?" Chu Liangxia didn't even lift her head.
"My future."
"Nine hundred."
With a "smack", nine hundred-yuan bills were flung harshly onto the stall.
Chu Liangxia's fingers paused slightly.
Soon, she heard a cold question from above, "I want my future read."
Frowning slightly, Chu Liangxia lifted her eyes to scan the person in front of the stall.
Despite the early summer weather, she wore a brown high-neck sweater that enveloped her figure, a brown wide-brimmed hat on her head adding a touch of elegance, and her face was further concealed by sunglasses and a mask, wrapped up tightly.
Gongsun Shiqi.
After studying her on the screen for half a month, Chu Liangxia recognized her without even needing to see her face clearly.
Heh, she came here?