Chapter 141.2: Bosen Manor
Wu Heng had been silently observing the whole exchange and now thought to himself: the internet was right—Shen Xiu really did seem to have a good relationship with the members of The Galaxy.
At Shen Xiu’s words, Wu Heng bent slightly and held the car door open. “Please, everyone, get in.”
“Thank you,” Shen Xiu replied. Since he had been walking behind Wu Heng, he was closest to the door and naturally bent down and got in first.
The others followed, getting into the car one after another.
Song Chengwang was the last to get in. Once everyone was seated, Wu Heng closed the door, returned to the front, and got into the passenger seat.
After fastening his seatbelt, he turned to ask, “Where would you all like to go?”
Since Xiang Yueting was the only one aside from Shen Xiu who had looked through the booklet, everyone immediately assigned him the decision-making role.
“Old Xiang, you pick.”
“You’re the one who brought up hotpot in the first place—it’s your call.”
“Same here, I don’t care where we go.”
“Just say it, Old Xiang.”
…
After hearing them all out, Shen Xiu also nodded toward Xiang Yueting. “Mm. You decide.”
Where they went or what they ate didn’t matter—what mattered was that they were together.
Xiang Yueting had already made up his mind when flipping through the booklet earlier, so he didn’t hesitate. He handed over the folded page he’d marked and said, “This one.”
“Got it.” Wu Heng took the address, passed it to the driver, then returned the booklet to Xiang Yueting.
—
Half an hour later, in the private dining room.
After all the dishes they ordered were served, Xiang Yueting couldn’t resist taking a photo. He asked everyone if they were okay with him posting it, and once no one objected, he uploaded it to his social media account.
@XiangYueting: (First hotpot of the winter with my buddies!) Yuan-yang pot — my final act of stubbornness! [Photo x1]
The others weren’t in the habit of taking pictures or posting on social media, so only Xiang Yueting ended up sharing a photo of The Galaxy members having hotpot in Yicheng.
He was eager to start eating, so he only took one picture — in it, not only was the turntable-style round table filled with an array of delicious and enticing dishes, but every member of The Galaxy was also visible, seated around the table.
The room was heated, so after entering the private dining area, everyone took off their down jackets or coats, leaving only their sweaters or inner layers.
Online comments quickly followed:
— Look what amazing stuff just popped up on my feed! Fresh content, everyone! Aaaah they’re all so handsome!
— Why does Boss Xiu still look so cold and aloof in just a sweater? Not a bit softened at all — why do I want to ruffle him so bad?!
— No filming today? A group dinner? Why don’t I see any crew members?
— Aaaah I know this restaurant! I’m heading to Yicheng right now for a chance encounter! Wait for me!!
— Woke up too fast — is that really the main point? The real kicker is that it’s not even 9 a.m., and they’re already eating hotpot? That’s wild. Who came up with this idea?
— Blind guess: a certain husky who shall not be named.
Even the staff at the hotpot restaurant were just as stunned as the fans in Xiang Yueting’s comments. In all their time working there, it was the first time they’d seen anyone show up for hotpot so early in the morning.
#TheGalaxyInYicheng
#YuanYangHotpot
#FirstHotpotOfWinter
#WhoEatsHotpotAt9AM
—
Meanwhile, at the hotel—
Xuan Yushu saw the trending topic about The Galaxy having hotpot in Yicheng and looked toward Lu Wen with a look of approval.
“As much as I hate to admit it, this time around, everything about this commercial film — from the movie itself to the casting — has been a success.”
Even something as simple as eating hotpot managed to get them trending as a group. Fan engagement was sky-high, and the film’s box office baseline was rock-solid.
Lu Wen was speechless.
“Can you please stop thinking about box office all the time?”
Xuan Yushu didn’t hesitate.
“Sorry, no can do.”
After speaking, he suddenly remembered he hadn’t seen Shi Yu all morning. He turned to Lu Wen to ask:
“By the way, where’s Old Shi? It’s almost noon and he’s nowhere to be seen. Don’t tell me he forgot what I told him. I haven’t heard a peep from him. Did he mention to you whether he secured the location for tomorrow’s shoot?”
If the location couldn’t be secured, Xuan Yushu would have no choice but to use the backup option.
He wanted to showcase the luxurious setting described in Lu Wen’s script as perfectly as possible — and the first priority was nailing that tone of opulence.
That’s why the Storm production team was trying to borrow a renowned estate in Yicheng worth billions.
The nine lead actors didn’t know any of this. They genuinely believed the production had intentionally given them a rest day.
“Still no news from Old Shi,” Lu Wen replied, clearly exasperated. He even felt a bit sorry for Shi Yu, who, after all, was the producer.
Lu Wen answered Xuan Yushu’s questions one by one.
“It’s not even ten yet — try being a little more reasonable with your sense of time.”
“The reason no one’s seen him is because he got a call from the butler at Bosen Manor early this morning. He didn’t have time to tell you before heading out. I only found out when I bumped into Jin Can while looking for you — he was the one who told me.”
Shi Yu was said to be the producer, the big boss of the crew, but unfortunately, he was also Xuan Yushu’s junior. When Xuan Yushu came to Yicheng wanting to temporarily change the filming location, Shi Yu still had to go out and handle it.
Although the luxurious scenes in the script were written by Lu Wen, even he thought Xuan Yushu’s standards were really high. Any fancy villa or estate would’ve been good enough, but Xuan Yushu insisted the crew reach out to Bosen Manor.
He said something like, while they’re all luxurious, the heritage is different.
Of course Lu Wen knew the heritage was different—just showing up in Bosen Manor would be enough. Without needing much introduction in the drama, the audience watching would automatically assume the Han family was truly the top-tier aristocratic family described in the script.
After saying that, Lu Wen was afraid Xuan Yushu would get his hopes up too much and be disappointed, which might affect the filming due to personal emotions, so he added, “I’ll say it again—don’t get your hopes too high.”
Xuan Yushu took a sip of tea. “I didn’t have much hope to begin with. Asking doesn’t cost anything, right? You never know.”
Lu Wen: “……”
That “one in ten thousand chance” was even smaller than the odds of Mars crashing into Earth.
…
At noon, Shi Yu returned to the hotel and immediately knocked on Xuan Yushu’s door.
Inside the room were not just the director team but also the screenwriters—a whole room full of people.
As Shi Yu closed the door, Lu Wen spoke up before Xuan Yushu could: “Old Shi, you got rejected? It’s fine if you did, we can just go with the backup—”
Shi Yu interrupted him: “When did I say I got rejected?”
Xuan Yushu shot to his feet: “They agreed?!”
Shi Yu grinned and nodded. “Of course!”
“Not only did they agree, they even had me stay for lunch. I’m telling you, even though the manor’s owner wasn’t there, the entire estate still runs like someone important is living there. We don’t even need to set up anything—it’s all ready to use as is.”
“What surprised me even more is—they’re not charging a single cent!”
Shi Yu’s face was flushed from excitement and joy.
Lu Wen: “?”
“For real?”
Everyone else in the room had the same thought as Lu Wen. The producer said the Bosen Manor’s butler had agreed to let them use the location for filming and that they could freely use everything inside—that already sounded too good to be true. And now he was saying it was completely free?
Did the producer get scammed?
After all… how could the butler of Bosen Manor take the initiative to call a small production like Storm?
Xuan Yushu also calmed down and looked at his junior.
“Old Shi, if you hadn’t managed to borrow it, your senior wouldn’t have blamed you.”
Shi Yu clicked his tongue. “I knew you guys wouldn’t believe me!”
Before anyone could speak, Shi Yu muttered to himself, “Alright, I admit—when I first got the call from Bosen’s butler, I also thought I was being scammed.”
“Anyway…”
Shi Yu looked around the room, head held high with confidence. “Tomorrow morning at 8, we’ll leave the hotel. We should arrive at Bosen Manor around 9. You’ll all see for yourselves whether it’s real or not.”
“…Fine.”
In any case, the producer had the final say. They’d just follow along. If they got kicked out, at least they’d all be embarrassed together.
—
At 5 PM, the group dinner ended.
After spending the afternoon playing billiards and having dinner together, the members of The Galaxy had just returned to the hotel when Jin Can followed closely behind and informed them: they needed to gather at 7:30 the next morning, have breakfast together, and then depart for Bosen Manor promptly at 8.
As soon as Jin Can left, the members of The Galaxy, who were hanging out in Xiang Yueting’s room, immediately started chattering and speculating.
“Bosen Manor?”
“You mean that Bosen Manor?”
“Are you serious? We’re actually allowed to film there? The owner agreed?”
“Wait, what are you guys talking about? Why don’t I understand any of this?”
“Old Xiang, shut up. You don’t need to understand. Just listen.”
“…Alright then.”
Shang Yu concluded, “We’ll find out tomorrow. Maybe the crew really did manage to borrow it.”
Shen Xiu didn’t understand what they were talking about either. He felt just like Xiang Yueting—completely clueless. So he silently stood behind Xiang Yueting, sharing the role of “guy who doesn’t get it.”
The discussion didn’t go anywhere in the end. Everyone said their goodbyes and returned to their rooms to rest.
—
The next day.
At 9 a.m., Storm’s crew arrived at Bosen Manor, passing through the gates without a hitch.
As they got off the vehicle, the first thing they saw was a man in a suit and gloves, his graying hair slicked back neatly, standing not far away with a pleasant smile on his face.
As he spotted the crew of Storm, Butler Shen stepped forward. His gaze quickly swept across Shen Xiu before settling on the other members of the production team. With a warm smile, he spoke, “Hello, everyone. My surname is Shen. You may call me Butler Shen.”
As the producer who had arranged to borrow the manor, Shi Yu stepped forward. “Hello, Butler Shen. I’m Shi Yu—the one who contacted you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Butler Shen extended his hand and shook Shi Yu’s, then let go. “Everyone, please follow me.”
“Thank you for the trouble.” Shi Yu led the group behind Butler Shen.
Looking at the seemingly endless driveway ahead—every inch of it radiating wealth—Xiang Yueting glanced at the person nearest to him: Shen Xiu. He was about to say something, but when he saw Shen Xiu’s cold, stoic profile, he hesitated, slowed his pace, and instead walked alongside Xia Wenhao.
“Old Xia, tell me… just how big is this place?” Xiang Yueting’s voice had grown quieter in this setting.
Staring at the dreamlike, lavish manor before him—so extravagantly grand that even heavy snow couldn’t conceal its opulence—Xiang Yueting felt like he was dreaming. Even in his dreams, he wouldn’t dare imagine something like this.
He truly admired Shen Xiu. Even with black-clad security guards patrolling everywhere around Bosen Manor, while the rest of them were too nervous to even breathe loudly, Shen Xiu still walked calmly as if none of it fazed him. Unlike Xiang Yueting—his legs were trembling, his steps light and unsteady, like he was walking on cotton.
Although Xiang Yueting had spoken in a hushed tone, once the entire Storm crew had entered the manor, everyone’s breathing instinctively softened as well, making it impossible not to hear his voice.
His question echoed what most people in the Storm crew were wondering deep down—they all wanted to know just how big this place really was.
Before Xia Wenhao could respond, an elderly but gentle voice answered:
“Six thousand six hundred and sixty square meters.”
Xiang Yueting: “!”
His pupils widened at the number.
With wobbly legs, he reached out and grabbed the arm of the person beside him. “Captain Xiu, hold me… my legs gave out…” It really was something he didn’t even dare dream of!
As Shen Xiu supported him, Xiang Yueting swallowed hard and whispered, “Captain Xiu, do you think… this is real?”
Hmm