There were two scenes to film in the afternoon.
The first scene was about the postman coming up the mountain to deliver an acceptance letter. Upon learning she'd been accepted to a good school, he encouraged her to study hard and strive for a better life. When the villagers heard the news, they all rushed over to join the excitement.
The second scene was about a county official who, after learning of her excellent results, followed right after the postman to deliver an award, solving her tuition problem.
With so many extras, all of whom were inexperienced amateurs that Ni Bingyan didn't know, the blocking took some extra time.
Once they officially started filming, they had several bad takes. By the time they wrapped for the day, the sun had already set.
Ni Bingyan had anticipated this, so she remained calm and patient no matter how many takes they blew.
After all, she had been in crowd scenes that took two full days to shoot before. This was nothing.
However, wrapping up so late meant she couldn't do the livestream to sell potatoes, which made her feel quite bad.
The poverty alleviation official was very understanding and kept reassuring her, saying that her work was more important and not to worry. A day or so wouldn't make a difference.
The film crew had rented most of the houses in the village, but there still wasn't enough room. Many people had to sleep in trucks at the base camp at the foot of the mountain.
The officials from the poverty alleviation office, having finished their work as extras, had planned to head down the mountain by flashlight that night and return early the next morning. But the villagers insisted on putting them up for the night, even if it meant sleeping on the floor themselves.
If they hadn't already heard that the film crew provided meals, they probably would have brought food over too.
The touched officials went with the villagers. Ni Bingyan sighed and went to find Director Deng.
"If it's possible, could you schedule my scenes more closely together? I'd like to free up some time for more livestreams to sell as many of their potatoes as I can."
According to the poverty alleviation office's statistics, about 5,000 mu of potatoes had been planted throughout Wutong County this summer. Based on past yields, they estimated a harvest of over twenty million jin.
The local market was saturated. Even in the city, they could only fetch a few mao per jin. Combined with the difficult mountain roads, the villagers often went through the trouble of hauling them out only to be unable to sell them, so they would just keep the potatoes to eat themselves.
After harvesting, they would dry the potatoes in the sun until the skins turned pale. Stored in a cellar, they could last for several months. If a family couldn't eat them all, they'd make them into starch noodles or use them as pig feed.
Despite all their hard work, they often didn't see a single cent in return.
Online, however, they could sell for over one, nearly two yuan per jin. If they could sell everything, even after deducting costs for logistics, packaging, and spoilage, each family would still earn a considerable amount.
Deng Yu was a man of deep yet reserved emotions. Hearing her words and realizing her genuine desire to do good, he couldn't help but respect her even more.
"Don't you worry. You just focus on your livestream. We'll take care of everything else!"
'In the first scene today, he'd made her carry sacks of potatoes back and forth for several takes, and she hadn't uttered a single word of complaint.'
'He had assumed that because she looked so delicate, she must have a pampered personality. That's why he'd secretly tried to put her in her place, hoping to break her in a bit to make the rest of the shoot go smoother.'
'But now he saw that the kid was kind-hearted, not some naive fool who didn't understand how things worked. She had probably seen right through his little test but chose not to say anything. That was truly rare.'
'After all, her agency was a powerhouse that was famously protective of its talent. If she had complained, her company would have stepped in, and citing scheduling conflicts, the production would have been forced to carefully cater to her pace.'
'He wasn't some famous director, after all, and this wasn't some big-budget production.'
Her handling of the situation, in turn, made him feel rather guilty.
This was part of the government's poverty alleviation program. Given the circumstances, rescheduling was the right thing to do. The fact that she had come to him personally to discuss it showed great consideration.
Deng Yu gave a rare, gentle smile. "You worked hard today, too. We'll film the other actors tomorrow, so you can focus on your livestream. By the way, the official Weibo account already posted an announcement about you selling products tomorrow. I hope you don't mind?"
Ni Bingyan smiled faintly. "Is the livestream channel already set up? Can I see it?"
'When an actress did a sales livestream, whether the channel was under her name or the production's name was a very big deal.'
'She was selling potatoes for the villagers entirely on her own initiative, using her own personal time. While she wasn't doing it for the fame, since she was the one doing the work, no one was allowed to just take the credit she was rightfully owed without asking!'
'This was a matter of principle.'
'If they used the production's official account, wouldn't that imply that the livestream was the production's idea?'
'Then the production would be praised as the "people's champion," and she would just be a tool they used.'
'Her contract with the production certainly didn't include getting paid for this.'
Deng Yu didn't quite grasp the nuances of this. Seeing her gentle, smiling expression, he just thought she was curious. The producer, however, immediately understood and smilingly showed her the Weibo post.