Chapter 747: Jiaojiao 27

"And, you’re Little Liu, right?" Zong Qi’s gaze landed on a wiry young man. The boy was only about eighteen or nineteen, with a particularly frail frame, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him away.

His thinness made his eyes seem especially large. Hearing Zong Qi call his name, he looked up at him blankly.

Zong Qi said, "You were born with a weak constitution. Miss Chen has prepared some medicine for you. After you go back, take one pill a day for three months straight, and your health will be greatly improved."

Little Liu’s eyes lit up. "Really? Thank you, Miss Chen! Thank you, Brother Qi!"

Zong Qi pushed a small bottle toward him. "A lot of expensive ingredients went into this medicine. Don’t tell anyone where it came from."

Li Shun was even more excited than Little Liu. "This is great! Little Liu, your grandpa won’t have to worry about you anymore. Brother Qi, thank you so much, and thank you so much to Miss Chen too!"

Zong Qi just lowered his gaze and smiled. "You trust her that much?"

Little Liu clutched the bottle of medicine, feeling incredibly emotional. He had been weak since birth. While others could run effortlessly, he’d be gasping for breath after just a few steps. He was guaranteed to get seriously ill every time the seasons changed and was constantly drinking medicinal decoctions.

’If I can get completely healthy, my family’s situation will be so much better!’

"Of course I trust Miss Chen. She’s an incredible person," Little Liu said, nodding seriously.

Seeing their fanboy-like expressions, Zong Qi thought to himself, ’Men really do admire the strong.’ Now that Chen Jiao had used both kindness and authority, it seemed these guys were completely and utterly devoted to her.

"It’s about time, let’s wrap it up." After a moment’s thought, Zong Qi pulled out 10,000 yuan and handed it to them. "Go home and get cleaned up today, and buy a new set of clothes. When you show up at the factory tomorrow, you don’t have to look fancy, but you should at least be clean and tidy."

"One new outfit is enough. Once the factory is up and running, you won’t be short on clothes."

"Split the rest of the money among yourselves. I know you all have families to support. When you get home, explain everything to your families so they don’t worry."

It was Zong Qi’s first time managing a crew, so he made sure to arrange everything down to the last detail. After all, he was the oldest. In Li Shun’s group, the oldest member, Li Shun himself, was only eighteen, while the youngest, the big guy, was just sixteen.

’They all look pretty clueless, but that’s okay. As long as they follow orders, it’ll be fine.’

Li Shun’s eyes reddened, and he choked out an affirmation. When Zong Qi looked at the big guy, his eyes were already swimming with tears. Zong Qi pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache brewing. "That’s all. You’re dismissed."

After parting ways with them, Zong Qi headed back to the film set. Li Shun’s group, however, had no intention of separating yet. The eight of them all lived in roughly the same area, and they all implicitly followed Li Shun’s lead.

In truth, they had all been scraping by on the streets. But with no education or connections, with some in poor health like Little Liu, and others who were all brawn and no brains like the big guy, finding a proper job was extremely difficult.

So, Li Shun had led them in trying all sorts of ways to find odd jobs. The decision to seek out Ye Rong was one Li Shun had carefully considered. He just wanted to find a way for his brothers to eat. Since Ye Rong’s crew had recently taken a hit, he figured they’d need more manpower. He only planned to have his group hang around on the fringes, not rush into the thick of things.

But who could have guessed their luck would be so bad? On their very first day with Ye Rong, they ran into a brick wall. Still, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Suffering through that ordeal had somehow led them to a real opportunity.

Though that ordeal really was tough to get through.

Li Shun held the money, a whirlwind of emotions in his heart. Ten thousand yuan split eight ways was 1,250 per person. It wasn’t much compared to what other mob enforcers made, but for legitimate work, it was a huge amount.

At the time, a senior white-collar professional in G City might make around 10,000 to 15,000 yuan a month. But young people from the bottom of society were nowhere near that level; many who went to work in factories earned 2,000 a month at most.

Opportunities for even those jobs were incredibly scarce, and people had to fight tooth and nail for them. An entire village might only have one person with a steady job, while everyone else had to go out and try to make a living doing odd jobs.

And now, by following Chen Jiao, they had all actually gotten jobs? At this thought, Li Shun and his friends all broke into smiles.

Li Shun roughly wiped his eyes. "Let’s go home! Let’s tell our grandparents that from now on, we’re working men!"

The big guy added with a simple-minded grin, "My grandpa will be so happy!"

Little Liu clutched the bottle tightly. "Everyone will be happy."

Li Shun stood up. "Let’s go. We’ll follow Brother Qi’s instructions. First, we’ll get haircuts and clean ourselves up. As for clothes... Little Liu, you’re the best at being frugal. Where do you think we can get the best deal on clothes?"

Little Liu glanced at the sky and lowered his voice. "We should take the money home first. It’s not safe carrying this much cash around."

Another one of the boys chimed in, "Let’s listen to Little Liu. Besides, I have clothes I bought last year that I’ve barely worn... They’re not torn..."

Li Shun clasped his hands behind his back, his steps jaunty. "Alright, let’s head home and give the money to our families first. Then we’ll see what we can do. We should be able to pull together one clean outfit each."

Watching Li Shun make these plans, Chen Jiao, who was observing them during a break in filming, couldn’t help but smile. ’These guys are pretty clever,’ she thought. She was thinking of Li Shun, who had a talent for accurately identifying people’s strengths and putting them to good use.

He noticed the big guy was the best at stashing things, so he had him hold anything important. He knew that while Little Liu was frail, he was sharp, so he always consulted him before making any decisions.

Knowing another boy was nimble, he had him stick close to the big guy and act as a lookout. You could say Li Shun was a natural-born leader, always able to give everyone the most fitting role.

Chen Jiao rested her chin on her hand and sighed. "Comparing myself to them, I suddenly feel like I’m not good at anything. Even my acting has only just reached a passable level. People like Li Shun just lack an opportunity."

Tan You, who was sitting across from her sketching designs, said, "That’s only because you aren’t interested in that stuff. You only pour your heart into things you love. Don’t you do a great job when you’re dissecting a script? Since you’ve chosen to be an actress, just stay firmly on this path."

Chen Jiao clenched her fist. "Yeah, I know! I’ll give acting my all."

Tan You didn’t need to give Chen Jiao a pep talk; the girl was remarkably good at pumping herself up. Every time Tan You saw her clenching her small fists and making a vow, she found it incredibly amusing.

When Zong Qi got back to the film set, Chen Jiao was in the middle of a scene. Seeing that she was perfectly fine and hadn’t come to any harm, Zong Qi finally let out a breath he’d been holding.

He gathered Chen Jiao’s notebook and script. Noticing her thermos was empty, he went to a corner of the set and refilled it with hot water. Zong Qi didn’t find these small chores tedious in the slightest.

The film crew had gradually grown accustomed to the stern-faced assistant who followed Chen Jiao everywhere. He looked like someone you didn’t want to mess with, but he was always quiet on set and never caused any trouble.

Moreover, whenever someone tried to pull him aside to gossip, he was always tight-lipped and never spread rumors. Because of this, Zong Qi gradually found his own small circle on the set, and he would even occasionally spar with the martial arts director.