After explaining the plot that required Xiao Bai to perform, Lian Heshu even gave Han Shuangshuang a script of Xiao Bai’s scenes.
After reviewing it, she confirmed there were no dangerous parts.
Just as Jin Cha and Chen Yao finished their discussions, both sides quickly signed a contract, and filming officially began.
Xiao Man’s muzzle, leash, and vest were all removed, and the makeup artist gave her a stray dog look for the movie.
Xiao Man hadn’t fully regained her weight yet and was thinner compared to other Huskies of her size.
Combined with her uneven fur, just a bit of dirt made her look particularly convincing, even more so than the previous dog that had suffered from diarrhea.
Having experienced Xiao Man’s fierce demeanor, Lian Heshu specifically explained to the lead actors that the new dog actor was very skilled and not to be afraid.
The rich second-generation character could show fear, but the veterinarian needed to control their expressions and movements.
The two young, unknown lead actors were puzzled until filming began.
The seemingly docile dog suddenly changed her expression, startling the rich second-generation character so much that they nearly fell off the swing.
Lian Heshu had to call “cut,” and Xiao Man returned to her normal state after Han Shuangshuang called her.
The stunned lead actors exclaimed,
“This dog is an acting genius! She’s way better than us!”
The two young, professionally trained actors felt a blow from a different species.
They could only be thankful that their co-star was just a dog; otherwise, they would have been completely overshadowed in the final cut.
With this expectation in mind, knowing the dog was just acting fierce and not actually dangerous, they performed much more calmly.
There were no further issues, and they smoothly completed the scene of the “stray dog intimidating people, and the veterinarian calming it down.”
As a director with some ambition, Lian Heshu kept several takes and shot many close-ups.
During the break, the lead actors couldn’t help but approach Han Shuangshuang to ask how she had trained Xiao Bai so well.
Han Shuangshuang proudly replied,
“I didn’t train her; Xiao Bai is naturally smart!”
After filming, Xiao Man quietly lay at Han Shuangshuang’s feet, nothing like the wary stray dog from the movie.
Upon learning that Han Shuangshuang had an account dedicated to recording Xiao Bai’s daily life, the two actors followed her.
Xiao Man followed back and noticed that these were verified actor accounts.
It was clear they had bought some followers, each having around a hundred thousand, but their engagement was far lower than her account with two hundred thousand followers.
Han Shuangshuang had also filmed some behind-the-scenes footage during the shoot, with Lian Heshu’s permission.
She was delighted, as she could now create a couple of content-rich videos.
Coming up with daily content was really taxing!
After a short break, filming resumed.
Xiao Bai, playing the stray dog, had to sniff around to find the scent of a cat and eventually locate a kitten with an injured leg, bringing it back.
Pretending to sniff wasn’t difficult; the challenge was the interaction between the dog and the cat.
This was Lian Heshu’s thought before filming the scene.
The cat actor was Jin Cha’s own pet, very friendly with both its owner and strangers.
Named Xiao Shu for its timid nature, it had red paint on its leg to simulate an injury.
It could lie still, but if the dog approached, it might just bolt away!
Lian Heshu thought they’d try it first; if it didn’t work, they’d use a fake cat and avoid close-ups to prevent it from being obvious.
To everyone’s surprise, when Xiao Bai approached Xiao Shu, the cat didn’t bristle or show fear.
When Xiao Bai barked a few times as if communicating, Xiao Shu meowed back.
Lian Heshu was thrilled watching this through the camera.
Then Xiao Bai picked up Xiao Shu and carried it back, with the kitten being very obedient, showing complete trust without any struggle or panic.
Xiao Man appeared calm on the surface but was inwardly very annoyed.
This cat was shedding! Its fur got in her mouth!
If it weren’t for the fact that carrying the kitten with her front legs would make her look like a fake dog, she wouldn’t have used her mouth!
As for the kitten’s obedience, it wasn’t out of fear.
During a team-building trip to a resort, a Ragdoll cat named Chocolate had slept on her as if she were a mattress, showing no hesitation.
Clearly, she was a dog with full cross-species affinity!
In any case, because Xiao Shu wasn’t afraid of Xiao Man, the scene was completed without a hitch.
Xiao Man earned her money easily, and Lian Heshu was pleased with the shoot.
By the end, it was only around 5 PM.
The crew had ordered boxed meals, and since the order was placed with prior notice, Han Shuangshuang and a few others who hadn’t tried the crew’s meals before eagerly took their boxes, took photos and videos, and sat down to eat together.
Peanut had just woken up from a nap, still a bit dazed and as cute as a little angel.
Zhou Jiang laughed, “Today was a new life experience, really interesting.”
Tang Youning chimed in, “It was indeed a lot of fun.”
As they enjoyed the delicious boxed meals, only Xiao Man had to eat dog food.
After the meal, the group drove away.
Xiao Man went home with Han Shuangshuang, while Zhou Jiang and her family returned to their apartment.
They kept the car as they still had a few days of travel ahead.
As soon as they got home, Han Shuangshuang hugged Xiao Man tightly and after a while said,
“Xiao Bai, do you like Zhou Jiang more? Am I not a likable owner?”
Xiao Man was taken aback and patted Han Shuangshuang’s back with her paw.
So that’s what Han Shuangshuang was worried about.
Although she couldn’t reveal the truth to Han Shuangshuang yet, she was helping her make money.
As the saying goes, where the money is, there the love is.
By that logic, she was clearly treating Han Shuangshuang better.
“But Xiao Bai, you still came home with me today, so you still want me to be your owner, right?” Han Shuangshuang talked to herself, thus comforting herself.
Xiao Man thought, Zhou Jiang has a whole family, but it’s just the two of us here, so we’re more suited to be together.
She pretended to be a real dog and snuggled into Han Shuangshuang’s arms.
Feeling the real warmth in her arms, Han Shuangshuang felt much more at ease.
Suddenly, she noticed something and exclaimed,
“Your stray dog makeup hasn’t been washed off yet!”
She quickly picked up Xiao Man and ran to the bathroom, where soon the sounds of laughter and commotion could be heard.
For the remaining days of the holiday, Han Shuangshuang continued to travel around with Zhou Jiang’s family.
On the day they were to return home, she suddenly felt extremely reluctant to part.
Although she had been a third wheel on the trip, the experience of traveling with a family like this was something she had never had before.
Her parents always took her younger brother out, leaving her at home.
Seeing Peanut, Han Shuangshuang sometimes wondered, if she had parents who loved her as much as Peanut’s parents loved her, even though she was a girl, what would she be like now?
Would she be more outgoing and popular?
Despite her reluctance, Zhou Jiang’s family left, and after another day, the holiday ended, and Han Shuangshuang returned to work.
After returning to work, Xiao Man also showed signs of post-holiday syndrome, feeling a bit listless.
Her confidante, who knew her secret, had returned to another city, and she felt lonely again.
In front of others, she could only be a somewhat smarter dog.
She had started to think that being a dog wasn’t so bad, but now she realized it was still better to be human.
At least as a human, she wouldn’t be disturbed by mechanical reading sounds in her dreams at night.
From the number of days she had been dreaming, Xu Yan had visited her at least three times during the National Day holiday.
She strongly suspected he was waiting for her to suddenly wake up so he could ask her what was going on.
Because one day in her dream, besides the mechanical reading sounds, she also heard him talking to her.
He said, “Xiao Man, you’d better wake up when I’m here next time.”
His tone was a mix of pleading and threat, but since it was a dream, it was hard to tell.
Hehe, even if she woke up in front of him again, he wouldn’t get an answer.
Some of the footage shot during the holiday had already been edited by Han Shuangshuang.
After Chen Yao reviewed it and found no issues, it was scheduled to be released gradually.
Her update frequency was stable, and her content was well-crafted, leading to a healthy growth in her account’s followers.
The growth was steady and reassuring.
For the video related to the web movie, Han Shuangshuang specifically included a close-up of Xiao Bai transforming from ferocious to docile in an instant.
Fans who were seeing Xiao Bai’s fierce side for the first time left comments expressing their amazement at her acting skills.
The data for this video was particularly outstanding.
Chen Yao praised, “Han, you’re really getting the hang of being an internet celebrity. Just going out and having fun can give you such great material. Well done!”
Han Shuangshuang was quite embarrassed by the praise.
Along with the growth in data came an increase in wealth.
Although her follower count wasn’t very high yet, and the price per commercial deal wasn’t very high, the sheer number of deals added up.
Han Shuangshuang was surprised to find that after just over a month as a small internet celebrity, besides the 20,000 yuan reward from CEO Xu, her balance had increased by nearly another 20,000 yuan.
In such a short time, and with her follower count still not that high, and some commissions still to be shared with the company…
No wonder everyone wants to be famous; the money comes so quickly.
Han Shuangshuang was afraid she might get carried away and quietly shared her concerns with Chen Yao, who laughed uncontrollably.
After laughing, Chen Yao said,
“You’re just getting started. Guess how much those real big internet celebrities make in a month? But your down-to- earth attitude is good.”
“Remember this feeling even when you become a million or ten-million follower internet celebrity.”
Han Shuangshuang nodded solemnly, “I will.”
The internet landscape changes rapidly.
Any inappropriate behavior, once spread online, could lead to disaster. She had to be very careful.
The Saturday after the holiday was a workday, and colleagues at their desks were all listless.
Only after clocking out did they perk up, leaving before their superiors could catch them.
Han Shuangshuang was no exception.
She quickly packed her personal belongings and slipped out of the company with Xiao Man, fully equipped.
Thinking of the upcoming Sunday, Han Shuangshuang smiled,
“Xiao Bai, Lin Ci suggested going to the pet park tomorrow. What do you think? Deng Lin, whom we met last time, asked me a few days ago when we could shoot some videos together.”
“She already has some good ideas, and I think tomorrow will be perfect. I also have some interesting ideas.”
Xiao Man remembered Doberman Lao Yu and its owner Deng Lin, who loved to dub voices for dogs.
She also recalled there was a man in that group who was very interested in Han Shuangshuang.
Lin Ci actually dared to take Han Shuangshuang there.
She barked twice.
She was a dog; what opinion could she have?
Just as the two walked out of the office building, a figure rushed over and grabbed Han Shuangshuang’s arm.
Upon seeing who it was, Han Shuangshuang froze.
Xiao Man looked up and saw a middle-aged woman in her forties, dark and thin, with an ordinary appearance and a somewhat harsh expression.
Her hands, with black dirt under the nails, gripped Han Shuangshuang’s arm tightly, as if clutching a lifeline.
The woman sobbed, “I finally found you, Shuangshuang! I’ve missed you so much!”
Not far away stood two men, clearly father and son, walking slowly towards them, their gait identical.
Xiao Man’s heart sank.
Was this Han Shuangshuang’s family, the one that favored sons over daughters?