On the day of Gu Suisui's official wrap-up, her Weibo followers finally settled at over 400,000.
Thanks to the photo with Lu Chi, her follower count had initially skyrocketed, gaining 200,000 in just half a day. However, the momentum gradually waned. The majority of her new followers were fans of Lu Chi who hopped over out of curiosity, with little to do with Gu Suisui herself.
After all, her only film had no set release date yet. Without any work to support her fame and no other exposure, people could only appreciate her looks.
"Happy wrap-up to the 'Dormant' cast and crew!!"
Playing the role of the fallen nation's little princess, Gu Suisui finished filming on the same day as the male lead, Lu Chi. Director Chen arranged for the staff to prepare a large cake for the two of them.
The 'Dormant' team was having a wrap-up party that evening at a nearby five-star hotel. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring a child to such an event, so the cake ordered during the day was meant as a separate celebration for her.
Of course, Gu Suisui didn't care about attending the wrap-up party or meeting investors and producers. For a child her age, having something delicious to eat was satisfying enough, leaving no room for other thoughts.
After Gu Suisui finished the cake with everyone and changed back into her clothes, Feng Yaoqin arrived at the set.
"You must be Suisui's mother. Hello, I'm Lu Chi." Out of fondness for Gu Suisui, Lu Chi's attitude towards Feng Yaoqin was very friendly, showing no trace of a celebrity's airs.
Feng Yaoqin, holding her daughter's small hand, was flattered to see such a big star come over to greet her: "Hello, I'm Suisui's mother. My name is Feng Yaoqin. Mr. Lu, thank you so much for taking care of our Suisui these days. She often talks about you at home, saying how good you're to her on set."
She knew Li Fugui all too well. Despite his promises to treat Suisui like his own niece, she knew he wouldn't care if Suisui actually caused any trouble on set.
Lu Chi, however, was different.
The casual Weibo post he made that day undoubtedly brought significant benefits to the unknown Gu Suisui. Not to mention his strong background. It was because of his care that Suisui had been so happy on set, with no one daring to give her a hard time.
She and her daughter were poor and had no assets. With just the little money they had, Feng Yaoqin wasn't worried at all that a big star earning millions per film would have any designs on them. If anything, he should be the one worried about that issue.
Lu Chi smiled gently and said, "Little Suisui is so cute. I think anyone would want to dote on her."
With filming wrapped that morning, Lu Chi's manager was also present. Upon seeing Gu Suisui's mother, a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes. He hadn't expected such a difference in appearance between the mother and daughter. The daughter was exquisitely beautiful, like a doll from a display window, while the mother seemed rather ordinary. Although her looks could be considered above average among ordinary people, they were simply not enough to stand out in the glamorous entertainment industry.
Lu Chi had other appointments in the afternoon, so after greeting them, he had to leave in a hurry.
Feng Yaoqin stared at the expensive luxury car. It would be impossible to say she wasn't envious at all or had no other thoughts.
...Back when she was young, she had been smitten with Suisui's father's handsome face. Not caring whether he had money or a stable job, she threw herself into the relationship, even got pregnant before marriage. In the end, she had no choice but to give birth to this child. Reality had proven that choosing a man solely based on looks was utterly useless. One should be more practical in life and marry someone wealthy for stability.
If it weren't for her unreliable ex-husband, she wouldn't be struggling like this with her daughter.
Feng Yaoqin withdrew her envious gaze. As she hailed a taxi with her daughter, she saw Li Fugui driving towards them.
Li Fugui stopped his car beside them, rolled down the window, poked his head out, and said eagerly, "Xiao Feng, I happen to be going to Kaifu Road. Get in, I'll give you two a ride."
Feng Yaoqin smiled perfunctorily, her words not matching her heart: "Brother Li, we won't trouble you today. Suisui and I aren't planning to go home now; we have some other things to do. Drive safely by yourself, and let's make plans another day. I'll treat you to a meal then." She said 'another day', but in reality, it wasn't certain if they would have a chance to meet again.
If it weren't for getting the role of the fallen little princess for her daughter, Feng Yaoqin wouldn't have given Li Fugui a second glance. Not only was his appearance unsatisfactory, with a square face and thick, dark eyebrows, but he was also barely 1.7 meters tall, less than two centimeters taller than her.
With Suisui's father as a comparison, even if Feng Yaoqin lowered her standards for money, she couldn't possibly choose someone so unattractive. Besides, Li Fugui had no money. He was just an ordinary crew worker who didn't even own a house in the capital. She couldn't possibly have any interest in him.
Would she really choose someone even uglier just to rent an apartment together in the future?
Feng Yaoqin wasn't that foolish. Being naive once in her youth was enough. Repeating the same mistake would be beyond foolish.
Even if not for herself, she had to consider her daughter's future. This man couldn't even provide a roof over their heads. Feng Yaoqin couldn't possibly give him any other chances.
Owning a property and accepting her daughter were Feng Yaoqin's non-negotiable criteria for choosing a partner.
The payment for this film shoot had been deposited into her account this morning. The final payment was 14,000 yuan, plus the 30% paid upon signing the contract, which was 6,000 yuan, totaling 20,000 yuan.
"Suisui, we received the full payment for the film today. Mommy will take you shopping today, okay? It seems like we haven't gone out together in a long time."
"Okay!"
This was Little Cotton Candy's first time earning money. Previously, she had always relied on Sister Peach Blossom for support. This filled her with pride and joy.
At a large shopping mall near their home, the mother and daughter enjoyed a spicy boiled fish meal before heading to a children's clothing store.
Feng Yaoqin picked out two dresses for her daughter, one in red and white checks, the other in white. One looked cute and lively when worn, the other pure and innocent.
The sales assistant at the children's store was shrewd. Noticing Feng Yaoqin's hesitation, she seized the opportunity to say, "These are both our new summer styles. We're holding an event now, you can get 12% off if you buy two."
A discount!
Gu Suisui remembered Sister Peach Blossom telling her that discounts means saving money!!
"Then wrap them both up for me," Feng Yaoqin finally gave in to her daughter's expectant and eager gaze and bought both dresses.
Gu Suisui was so happy to get two beautiful new dresses at once that she almost jumped up from the ground. Her eyes curved into crescents as she leaned over and gave the person beside her a quick kiss on the right cheek.
"Mommy, you're so good."
Spending 500 yuan at once originally made Feng Yaoqin's heart ache a bit, thinking that the newly received 20,000 yuan wasn't much and if they should be more frugal. But all her considerations and hesitations instantly vanished with her daughter's affection.
There was a saying that raise your son with hardship, raise your daughter with comfort. Since her daughter was born, she had never given her a life of luxury. Now that they had a little breathing room financially, what was wrong with buying her daughter a few pretty dresses?
Thinking this way, Feng Yaoqin instead started feeling sorry for her daughter who had to earn money to support the family at such a young age. After leaving the children's clothing store, she went to the accessories shop downstairs and bought several hair ties in matching colors for Suisui, planning to pair them with the newly bought dresses.
Having spent money on new clothes for her daughter, Feng Yaoqin didn't let it go to waste. She planned to make full use of them, maximizing their purpose. While making her daughter happy, she also took a few photos and posted them on Weibo to help consolidate the existing fan base.
Photos of cute children always have a certain appeal to netizens. After these photos were posted, Gu Suisui's Weibo follower count saw another small increase.
...
With the filming of 'Dormant' completed, Gu Suisui, who was previously busy on set, suddenly had free time. Now she accompanied Feng Yaoqin to work at the convenience store every day.
While Feng Yaoqin was at the cash register handling transactions, the little girl would play on a chair nearby.
During this time, Feng Yaoqin also took the opportunity to inquire about another potential role.
Although the previous film payment was not small, and adding what her daughter earned as a child model before, they had saved a small sum of about 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. However, this amount was far from enough for the mother and daughter to live comfortably in this city. It might cover just half a year's rent and utilities.
This upcoming TV drama was a fantasy romance. The role Feng Yaoqin had chosen for her daughter could barely be considered the fourth female lead. She would play the youngest sister of the female lead, with a quirky personality. Rumor had it that the total investment for this drama reached over 100 million yuan, and the cast's pay was quite high.
Moreover, unlike movies, TV dramas pay based on the number of episodes a character appears in. This fourth female role had quite a few appearances, so for a drama with dozens of episodes, it would pay at least several tens of thousands of yuan.
However, before the audition date was even announced, the casting call for this role was suddenly canceled. Unwilling to give up such a good opportunity, Feng Yaoqin secretly inquired and eventually learned that the investors had already decided on someone for the role, leaving no chance for others.