A Max-Level Film Queen Takes on the Scumbag Alpha Script [Transmigration] - Chapter 52

The winter snow in City G always lasts for a very long time.

After a clear night, fine snowflakes began to flutter in the air again, as if the immortals in heaven were idly scattering salt in all directions.

Jiang Baihe and Yan Shu got out of the car at the foot of the mountain. The two had risen early today just to come to the temple here to pray to the gods and, while they were at it, browse the lively temple fair.

The Dayin Temple they chose was a well-known ancient temple in the vicinity. Every year during the New Year festivities, many people would brave the early light to come and offer incense. People were coming and going; even though it was early morning, the surrounding streets remained brightly lit, as if guiding the way for the arriving tourists.

“There are quite a lot of people here,” Jiang Baihe said softly to Yan Shu, carefully avoiding a woman carrying a child.

“Mm.” Yan Shu smoothed the wool scarf wrapped around her neck and looked up slightly at the stone steps leading up the mountain. Dayin Temple was situated on this mountain, so they still had a bit of a trek to reach it. The distance wasn’t great, and since neither Jiang Baihe nor Yan Shu were in a hurry, walking up slowly served as a morning exercise while allowing them to breathe in the fresh air.

While lost in thought, Yan Shu suddenly felt someone grab her wrist. She looked down, startled, and found that it was Jiang Baihe standing beside her.

“It’s snowing; be careful of the slippery path,” Jiang Baihe said with an air of perfect confidence, as if that were her only thought.

However, the movement of her hand wasn’t nearly as upright as the expression on her face. Her hand slid quietly down from the wrist, easily slipping between Yan Shu’s fingers to interlace with her slender digits. To prevent Yan Shu from pulling away, Jiang Baihe applied a bit of subtle pressure.

Seeing that Yan Shu showed no sign of resistance, she curled her lips into a smile and led Yan Shu forward. “Let’s go, let’s head up the mountain.”

The scenery on the mountain was beautiful. The further they went, the more people they encountered. Neither Jiang Baihe nor Yan Shu were religious; they had come today simply to relax. Thus, they took a simple stroll around the temple, not as solemn or earnest as the other visitors.

“Did you come here often before?” Jiang Baihe asked curiously as she walked slowly, holding Yan Shu’s hand. They weren’t just walking aimlessly; whenever they reached a fork in the path, Yan Shu would point out the correct direction. She seemed very familiar with the area.

“I came here as a child,” Yan Shu nodded, her voice soft. “Grandmother used to bring me here to see the festivities, but that was many years ago.”

Since taking over Sihai, she rarely had the chance to return. In previous years, she would rush back on New Year’s Eve for a reunion dinner and then rush back to City A the next day; there was never any spare time to come here. Moreover, as Grandmother Yan grew older, Yan Shu didn’t want to make the elderly woman endure the strenuous mountain paths. Consequently, it had been many years since she had visited. Fortunately, the layout of the temple hadn’t changed much in recent years, and she still recognized a few of the paths.

The two chatted as they walked, and just as they rounded a corner, an unknown ancient tree appeared before them. Rounds of sturdy red ropes were wound around the tree, and from those ropes hung thousands of red silk ribbons. In the snowy air, the ribbons fluttered gently with the winter wind; the sight of the vibrant red was like sparks of fire, exceptionally dazzling.

Jiang Baihe praised the beauty of the scene for a moment, and then heard Yan Shu say beside her, “This is the Dayin Temple Wishing Tree. People say it’s very effective. Do you want to hang one?”

“Sure.” Jiang Baihe nodded. Since fate had brought them this far, she certainly couldn’t miss it.

The two went over to a nearby stall. Each bought a silk ribbon and took the pens provided by the shopkeeper to write at a table. However, after a minute, Jiang Baihe was still gripping her pen tightly without having written a single word. She stole a glance out of the corner of her eye and found that Yan Shu, opposite her, also hadn’t written anything.

“Yan Yan, why aren’t you writing?” she asked.

Yan Shu countered, “Aren’t you doing the same?”

The two shared a look, and Jiang Baihe burst into a laugh, feeling much more certain in her heart. She picked up the pen and, stroke by stroke, wrote two words on the ribbon: Yan Shu.

She hoped Yan Shu would be safe and healthy, hoped Yan Shu’s body would recover soon, hoped she could hurry up and win Yan Shu over… She had many wishes in her heart, but no matter how they wound around, they always returned to those two words.

Seeing the utter seriousness in Jiang Baihe’s features, Yan Shu hesitated for a moment and then also began to write.

The two finished their writing, quietly covering their ribbons before returning the pens to the shopkeeper. The woman selling the ribbons was a middle-aged lady who was organizing items returned by others while her young daughter helped. Seeing Jiang Baihe and Yan Shu approach, she said to them with a smile:

“If you don’t mind the trouble, guests, it is said that if you walk three laps around the ancient tree while silently chanting your wish in your heart, your wish will be bolstered by the power of the vow and will be more likely to come true.”

Jiang Baihe looked toward the tree. No wonder people were circling it; so that was the reason. However, she found the idea of circling a tree a bit odd, so she asked Yan Shu, “Yan Yan, what do you think?”

“Either way is fine with me.”

Since Yan Shu had no objection, Jiang Baihe had no further thoughts. The two stepped down to the tree. The ancient tree wasn’t particularly large, so circling it didn’t take much time. While walking, Jiang Baihe saw many of the ribbons left by others—some seeking academic success, others seeking wealth.

Her curiosity piqued, she asked, “Yan Yan, what did you write?”

Yan Shu was silent for a moment before asking, “What about you? What did you write?”

“I…” I wrote Yan Shu.

The words got stuck in Jiang Baihe’s throat. She reached up to rub the tip of her nose, feeling too embarrassed to say it out loud. Writing someone’s name in secret like that was truly a case of “Sima Zhao’s heart”—completely obvious to everyone.

Before the atmosphere could turn awkward, the two had finished their laps and returned to the shop. To prevent disputes, customers were not allowed to hang the ribbons themselves; they only needed to hand them back to the shopkeeper, and professional staff would hang them all together later. The two returned their ribbons and, having finished their tour here, decided to head back home down the mountain.

In the cold wind, the thousands of red ribbons under the tree continued to flutter. The shopkeeper’s young daughter was carefully organizing the ribbons people had handed in. In a moment of distraction, the topmost one was swept away by the wind, landing on the ground not far away. Thinking that the two elder sisters hadn’t gone far and fearing they might look back and see the ribbon wasn’t being taken care of, the girl quickly ran to pick it up and caught a glimpse of its contents.

“The moon in the ocean is the moon in the sky,” the little girl scratched her head. “Mom, what does the message the pretty sister wrote mean?”

Hearing her daughter ask so curiously, the shopkeeper looked with some surprise at the silhouettes of Jiang Baihe and Yan Shu in the distance. Then, she gently hugged the little girl and said, “When our Nannan grows up, you will understand.”

The leisure of the New Year holiday slipped away quietly. After returning from the mountain, Jiang Baihe and Yan Shu stayed at the Yan house for a few more days before returning to City A to begin a new year of work.

The two-week holiday was quite long, and the Sihai Group had a mountain of tasks that required Yan Shu’s personal attention, meaning she was leaving early and returning late every day. Jiang Baihe herself was just as busy; no sooner had she stepped into Sihai Entertainment than she was caught by her manager, Song Jia, for a meeting in the conference room.

“Regarding the popular variety show I mentioned before, the production team sent the itinerary a few days ago. We leave next Monday.”

“The shoot will take about a week, and the final cut will be divided into three episodes. Prepare yourself over the next few days.”

“Also, the audition for The Splendor of Great Yu has been set for early March.” Song Jia pushed a stack of documents toward Jiang Baihe and raised an eyebrow. “Lin Qiming just gave me a tip: they’ve secured Yan Zhengjun as the director for this drama.”

Jiang Baihe had been about to reach for the variety show information—since that date was closer—but upon hearing Song Jia’s words, she froze and asked in surprise, “Director Yan?”

If Song Zhishu, who directed The Eternal Tribulation, was well-known in the TV world for producing high-quality hits, then Yan Zhengjun was an “evergreen” of the film world. In his ten-plus years in the industry, he had personally launched several Best Actors and Best Actresses. He had spent recent years exclusively in the film circle; the production crew must have paid a fortune to convince him to direct a TV drama.

“Lin Qiming wouldn’t lie to me about something like this, so…” Song Jia crossed her hands under her chin. “If you get the chance, you must secure this role.”

An excellent script, a legendary director, and a well-funded crew—as long as the drama was successfully produced, even if it wasn’t a record-breaking hit, its reputation and quality wouldn’t be poor. Only a fool would pass up such an opportunity.

Jiang Baihe nodded, taking the audition for this drama much more to heart. She asked Song Jia for more details before settling down to look over the documents for the variety show she would be attending in a few days. The show was titled The World is So Big. Jiang Baihe hadn’t paid much attention to it before, only glancing at the summary when she received the invitation.

However, after seeing the detailed information, Jiang Baihe’s face was a mask of complexity. “This variety show is this hardcore?”

“Mhm. A Buddhist-style variety show—the ‘Victorious Fighting Buddha’ kind of Buddhist.”

Jiang Baihe: “…”