AD Chapter 25
He occasionally missed his real boss, but was quickly overwhelmed by the endless new stunts Chu Zichen came up with, leaving him no time to daydream.
Chu Zichen brought all sorts of things, many of which were completely unnecessary here. For example, he actually brought a mini fridge. All he did was say the word, and it was Su Ning who did the heavy lifting—hauling it over with great effort and, eventually, having to haul it back again.
So now they had a fridge, but no chilled juice that Chu Zichen wanted, let alone ice cream. So once again, Su Ning had to play delivery guy—driving out to buy them.
But with Chu Zichen’s picky standards, it was never just a matter of buying something. He’d either complain the ice cream didn’t have the right texture, or say the pearls in the milk tea weren’t the kind he liked. Or sometimes Su Ning would bring everything back only for Chu Zichen to be in the middle of a shoot, and by the time he came down, he’d declare the ice cream wasn’t fresh anymore, that it had absorbed weird smells—so Su Ning would have to make another trip.
Basically, even when Chu Zichen was filming, he wouldn’t give Su Ning a moment of rest—always finding ways to keep him running around. The whole film crew watched this play out with a mix of amazement and sympathy, casting pitiful glances at Su Ning and silently judging Chu Zichen for treating his assistant like this.
That said, Chu Zichen, though bossy and demanding toward Su Ning, wasn’t particularly terrible to others—though he wasn’t exactly nice either.
His attitude on set was that he showed basic courtesy only to the director, the producer, and maybe Fan Xin. He’d greet them politely. As for everyone else? They might as well not exist—he carried himself like his eyes were permanently fixed above everyone’s heads.
Somehow, word got around that Chu Zichen had powerful backing, and everyone believed it—figuring that with his kind of arrogance, if he didn’t have connections, he would’ve been dealt with long ago. So even though many people disliked him, no one openly challenged him, let alone stood up for Su Ning. At most, they’d gossip behind his back. In person, though, they still respectfully called him “Teacher Chu.”
After being run ragged by Chu Zichen for just two days, Su Ning had become more familiar with the local area than even the director who had done location scouting. He knew exactly where to go to buy whatever was needed.
Eventually, this led to people asking Su Ning to pick things up for them too whenever Chu Zichen sent him out on errands. Chu Zichen hated this, of course, but couldn’t exactly forbid Su Ning from doing favors for others—he’d be offending everyone at once. So instead, he doubled down on taking his frustration out on Su Ning, treating him even worse.
One day, Chu Zichen sent Su Ning ten kilometers away to get milk tea. By now, Su Ning had memorized Chu Zichen’s exact preferences, so he made sure to follow them to the letter. He drove out, got the drinks, and rushed back to the set.
Even with a car, he was drenched in sweat by the time he returned. Chu Zichen was in the middle of a scene. Wiping sweat from his brow, Su Ning grinned and pressed a cold herbal jelly drink against Shen Yueyue’s cheek.
“Here, herbal jelly drink—just for you.”
Shen Yueyue let out a surprised squeal from the chill, then lit up when she realized it was her favorite. “Thanks, Brother Ning—” She cut herself off halfway, suddenly remembering something, then quickly lowered her voice and darted a glance toward the filming area. Seeing that Chu Zichen was still occupied, she stuck out her tongue and gave a little relieved sigh.
Su Ning chuckled and shook his head, thinking she was being overly dramatic. But Shen Yueyue was dead serious as she warned him:
“Brother Ning, that Chu Zichen is always picking on you. If he sees you giving us snacks, who knows if he’ll use that as an excuse to go off on you.”
Su Ning smiled and said nothing. He handed her another milk tea, this one for Fan Xin, who was currently filming a scene with Chu Zichen.
Over the past few days, Su Ning had built a good rapport with the crew, mostly because he often brought back little treats for everyone when running errands for Chu Zichen. Before, when Chu Zichen gave him a hard time, people just gossiped about it in private. Now, they openly sympathized and even voiced their support for him.
For those who helped him out regularly—like Fan Xin and Shen Yueyue—Su Ning would always make a point to bring back something nice.
Su Ning seemed like an easy target. He never talked back when Chu Zichen gave him a hard time. But deep down, he kept score. If someone treated him well, he’d return the favor. If not, he wouldn’t necessarily retaliate, but he’d definitely keep his distance in the future.
“Cut! What is this?! Where’s the energy? Take ten—then we’re reshooting the whole thing!”
The director’s angry roar snapped Su Ning out of his thoughts. He turned and saw that the atmosphere on set had gone heavy. Everyone kept their heads down, busily pretending to work, too afraid to even breathe loudly.
The director’s face was dark. So was Chu Zichen’s. Even Fan Xin didn’t look too pleased.
Su Ning blinked, unsure what had just happened. Shen Yueyue had been about to say something else but quickly ran off with a towel and water bottle to help Fan Xin.
Su Ning walked over to Chu Zichen and handed him a clean towel.
Chu Zichen looked absolutely livid. Even though the director hadn’t named names, everyone knew the scolding had been aimed squarely at him.
Being told off like that in public—accused of underperforming—was a humiliation Chu Zichen had never faced since his debut.
Still breathing heavily, Chu Zichen glared sideways at Su Ning. He found Su Ning especially irritating at that moment—particularly that fake, formulaic smile on his face. It felt like a silent mockery, a taunt.
“You think this is funny, huh? Watching me get scolded in front of everyone? Does it make you feel good?”
Su Ning was stunned for a second and quickly replied, “No, you’ve misunderstood—”
Chu Zichen didn’t let him finish. He snatched the milk tea from Su Ning’s hand, then flung it right back at him with force, hissing through clenched teeth, “Why don’t you keep it for yourself?!”
The milk tea splashed all over Su Ning.
The entire set fell instantly silent.
[Author’s Note: Su Ning: …Well, at least it’s refreshing!]
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