SAE CH5

Shen Tianqing left the young assistant behind to help Jiang Fanxing, while he himself busied himself with studio affairs. This included, but was not limited to, registering various name trademarks for Jiang Fanxing, liaising with stylists, coordinating with publicity staff, and other such administrative tasks. Moreover, with Jiang Fanxing’s permission, he had contacted his parents; it was necessary to meet them in person.

In the past, Shen Tianqing wouldn’t have found it necessary to meet every single artist’s parents, but with Jiang Fanxing, he believed it was absolutely essential. If one day Jiang Fanxing started acting up, his own brain might not be fast enough to outsmart him, and he would have to resort to playing the emotional card.

Capable managers do not constantly follow their artists around; instead, they go out to secure other work. The ones who follow the artists are either assistants or junior managers.

“After you finish shooting this little web drama you’re currently on, get ready to attend the acting, singing, and dancing masterclasses. I’ll contact the teachers for you and arrange the corresponding RV, apartment, and so on,” Shen Tianqing was well-accustomed to handling these matters. “If anyone approaches you to shoot a drama or a commercial, you must tell me first so I can negotiate. Sometimes if you refuse people directly, it’s easy to offend them. If I step in, that won’t happen. You absolutely must not act on your own.”

Clearly, Shen Tianqing had been thoroughly spooked by Jiang Fanxing.

“Mm-hmm. Don’t worry, our compensation is split 50/50; I will absolutely not do the work you’re supposed to do,” Jiang Fanxing swore seriously to Shen Tianqing. If that previous project hadn’t concerned his grand debut, he wouldn’t have bothered putting in so much effort.

Niannian Studio had only signed his artist contract; his lawyer contract would require separate billing, alright?

“You should go rest too.” After Shen Tianqing left, Jiang Fanxing said exactly this to the young assistant. “What’s your name?”

“Jiang-ge, you can just call me Little Zhou,” Little Zhou smiled. “The temperature has dropped a bit these past few days. I’ll go prepare a utility kit first, and after I grab it, I’ll go rest.”

“Alright, then rest early, Little Zhou,” Jiang Fanxing didn’t urge him further. Little Zhou was quite sharp. Once the studio made some money, he would talk to Shen Tianqing about giving Little Zhou a raise.

Asking about someone’s well-being isn’t as good as sending them a huge sum of money.

On this point, Jiang Fanxing was exceptionally clear-headed.

At noon the next day, Jiang Fanxing properly attended the crew’s boot-up ceremony and was even given a piece of roast pork that looked delicious but actually tasted like chewing wax.

And so, this shoddily produced historical idol drama tentatively titled Young Master, You Are Mine began filming.

The female lead, Liu Yinyin, was an actress who frequently appeared in short vertical-screen videos. While her acting wasn’t exactly great, it was sufficient, and she belonged to a company—a large one, at that. Back when Jiang Fanxing was running around as an extra, he had worked on her short-drama sets several times, so they were somewhat familiar with each other. This time, knowing that Jiang Fanxing had also signed with a studio, the two could finally chat properly.

It couldn’t be helped; that’s just how film sets were. Signed artists and unsigned extras almost never mingled. It was like the difference between a professional and a regular passerby; everyone’s time was limited, so they only spent it on people who might intersect with their work.

After chatting with her, Jiang Fanxing learned that her company was the very same Muyu Film and Television Company that had sent him a contract—the one with the 30/70 split.

“Our company is big, but we also sign a lot of artists. My batch alone had at least fifty girls and fifty boys signed. Originally, we were supposed to participate in an idol survival show, but who knew that before the show could even launch, it got hit with rectification orders because the venue failed fire safety inspections? It’s been under rectification ever since, and there’s still no word on it,” Liu Yinyin sighed. “The company can’t just feed us for free, so they dispersed us to different short-video crews. Whoever manages to stand out gets to act in more impressive dramas.”

“When you signed, didn’t they promise to provide you with any resources?” Jiang Fanxing was incredibly puzzled. “You signed even when they offered nothing?”

“Muyu is a big company; as long as they can make you famous, you’ll sign anything in the contract. Plus, in the early stages, we were practicing singing and dancing.” Liu Yinyin shook her head. “Even though I’m professionally trained, I only graduated from a third-rate arts college. Being signed by a company is already impressive enough. Out of my entire class, I was the only one selected—how could I negotiate with the company? Our company’s breach of contract penalty isn’t set too high, so relatively speaking, it’s already quite good. I’ve heard there are even more disgusting companies out there that make their money solely through breach penalties.”

“You have good conditions; if you sign, you’ll definitely be valued more than us,” Liu Yinyin said helplessly. “Look at me. My double eyelids, nose, and chin all had to be micro-adjusted just so I could barely look good on camera. There are too many beautiful girls nowadays, and plenty of them never make it. If I eventually have to leave the industry, I’ll just shoot a few more works now. Opening a class and being a training instructor in the future can also be very lucrative.”

Jiang Fanxing nodded. Although this girl might not have been too smart when signing her contract, she had a very clear plan for her future.

“It’s fine, maybe one of your dramas will suddenly blow up one day,” Jiang Fanxing comforted her.

“You do your best too. I heard you signed with a studio as well. I know that manager, Shen Tianqing. He has a great eye; all the artists he signs make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry. He just has really bad luck.” Liu Yinyin wasn’t particularly envious; after all, everyone in the industry clearly understood Niannian Studio’s current situation. It could collapse at any moment.

The male lead didn’t arrive on set until the fourth day after shooting began.

Jiang Fanxing’s scenes were basically all opposite the male lead. If he didn’t show up, Jiang Fanxing could only sit on the side and play on his phone.

Sigh, why did I arrive so early?

Jiang Fanxing was somewhat helpless; he was just about to play a few more matches to push his rank to King.

As soon as the male lead arrived and saw Jiang Fanxing, he started frowning. “Why haven’t you gone to get your makeup done yet? Time is limited, don’t waste everyone’s time.”

Jiang Fanxing took two looks at the guy and finally understood why he needed to yield his makeup. Not only did the other party’s face look far too modern, but he was also short—the heels on his boots were so thick they were practically high heels.

And coming at me right off the bat to assert dominance. Sure enough, you can meet these kinds of idiots everywhere in life. He really thinks picking a fight first gives him the upper hand.

“Are you the producer?” Jiang Fanxing replied sarcastically. “No way, no way—is there really someone here who doesn’t know that the producer and director are the ones paying me?”

Even the producer and director haven’t said anything. Which rock did this demon crawl out from to point fingers at me?

Jiang Fanxing directly rolled his eyes, conveying all his contempt without another word.

Little Zhou immediately puffed out his chest and walked over carrying his utility kit.

“Jiang-ge, stick on a heat patch first. You’ll have to do your makeup and change clothes soon. It’s the dead of winter, it’s a bit cold,” Little Zhou even thoughtfully handed over a thermos containing pre-boiled ginger cola—the sugar-free kind.

“Mr. Artist, if you need to discuss work issues with our Jiang-ge, please have your studio coordinate directly with our studio,” Little Zhou turned his head and said with a beaming smile.

“You—” The male lead glanced at the young assistant beside Jiang Fanxing and realized that this minor supporting actor must have already signed with a company, so he had to swallow his anger for now.

It was fine to bully independent actors who hadn’t signed, but signed artists were difficult to deal with.

“I’ll speak to the producer,” the male lead huffed coldly and stomped off in a huff.

“Don’t be angry, Jiang-ge, there are plenty of people like that in the entertainment industry. The artists who can truly become famous are actually exceptionally polite. It’s only these half-buckets of water who like to play these diva games,” Little Zhou smiled with a look of disdain. “What year is it, who still acts like a diva? That offends so many people.”

Who knew if the person playing a servant girl or a guard next to you might become an overnight sensation? How could you offend people so casually?

“Of course I understand that. Little Zhou, you did well just now, you really gave me face. However, next time you speak ill of someone, could you not smile like that?” Jiang Fanxing earnestly suggested.

“What’s wrong, Jiang-ge?” Little Zhou didn’t quite understand.

“When you say things like that while smiling, you really look like a villainous cannon fodder. It’s incredibly inauspicious.”

“Understood, Jiang-ge,” Little Zhou hung his head, slightly crestfallen. He had seen many assistants acting as sycophants to comfort their artists just like that in the past.

“I’ll have Shen-ge send you a bonus.”

“Alrighty, Jiang-ge!”

As long as the money was in place, everything was easy to discuss.

This shoddily produced drama was originally scheduled to take twenty days to finish filming, but under the male lead’s tireless efforts to cause trouble, Jiang Fanxing finished all his scenes in just ten days. More accurately, his screentime was heavily slashed. The director was tormented until he had no temper left, but the remuneration stipulated in the contract still had to be paid. Jiang Fanxing was also perfectly happy to do half the work.

This male lead was still too naive. Actually, he should have made Jiang Fanxing shoot for the full twenty days, and then, during the final cut, have the editor delete all of his scenes so that he worked for free and wasted his time. That would have been much better, and it wouldn’t have offended anyone outright.

Unfortunately, the male lead didn’t understand this principle, which proved his homework wasn’t done thoroughly enough.

Jiang Fanxing couldn’t be bothered to argue with the guy. He could get paid for arguing with people in court, but arguing with an idiot would only yield unhappiness.

“Jiang-ge, Shen-ge sent a message. The apartment at the studio has been cleared out for you, and you can move in immediately; the studio will cover the cost. The acting, dancing, and vocal teachers have all been found. When the time comes, you’ll study together with the other artists in the studio, and you can meet everyone else then. It’s not that we can’t give you private lessons, but with things like acting, you need to compare yourself with others to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie,” Little Zhou explained dutifully, his tone exceptionally polite.

He even used the formal “you.”

“I understand,” Jiang Fanxing couldn’t help but sigh inwardly about how difficult Little Zhou’s previous artists must have been. Did something this obvious really need to be explained so clearly?

“The car won’t be ready for a few days, so we’ll still have to take a taxi back today—”

With Little Zhou’s help, packing up and terminating the lease only took half a day. Jiang Fanxing even specifically treated the extra bro he knew to a meal before temporarily bidding farewell to Hengdian.

“Little Zhou, what do you want to eat tonight? It’s my treat.” Having simply dropped off his luggage and moved into the fifty-square-meter apartment, Jiang Fanxing was quite satisfied with his treatment. Since his assistant would be following him every day, he needed to maintain a good relationship.

Food, housing, and training were all covered, and even without work, he was given a guaranteed base salary of five thousand yuan. No wonder everyone wanted to enter the entertainment industry.

“Jiang-ge.” Little Zhou had already separated out all the food and drinks from Jiang Fanxing’s luggage and had specifically brought over a scale.

“You’re overweight. Your training officially starts in a few days, so you need to lose weight. Shen-ge said you’re joining a xianxia drama crew, so you have to be extremely thin to look good in the costumes and styling. Therefore, starting right now, you need to eat fat-loss meals,” Little Zhou said cautiously.

“I’m 181.5 cm tall, and I only weigh a little over 130 catties [65 kg]. I’m already this thin and I still need to lose weight?” Jiang Fanxing was stunned. He thought his weight should have passed with flying colors; on camera, he looked perfectly proportioned, not fat at all.

“Xianxia costumes have five or six layers, they aren’t on the same level as the wardrobe from those small crews. Plus, before you sign the contract, you have to go in for a costume fitting. There’s not enough time, so we have to use the most ruthless method to lose weight. You need to lose ten catties [5 kg] in half a month,” Little Zhou emphasized. “I didn’t stop you during the meal you ate at noon. Don’t worry, you can still eat tonight.”

“What kind of meal?”

“A box of lettuce leaves. You can eat them raw or boiled in water.”

I knew there was a reason you suddenly became so polite. So you were waiting for me right here.

During the night, Jiang Fanxing woke up completely starving.

He never expected that he, Jiang Fanxing—who was strong enough to become the main force of A University’s debate team, who could snatch the Male No. 3 role in a major S-tier project, who could chat and laugh cheerfully with a famous manager without taking the slightest loss—would actually almost surrender on the very first day of his diet?

Life truly isn’t smooth sailing; it always slaps you in the face when you least expect it.

Hehe, did you think Jiang Fanxing would directly rebel and say he quit?

No, he would offer up the other side of his face for life to slap as well.

Jiang Fanxing gave himself a pep talk, allowing his irritable mood to gradually calm down.

Let it starve, let it starve.

If being an artist had absolutely no downsides, he wouldn’t even have the conscience to take all that money.