I'm a novelist

Fan Jing sent Lin Fengmian a friend request on WeChat, but he never accepted it.

After it expired, she sent another one. She waited a day, but he still hadn't accepted. This time, she added a note: [I'm Fan Jing. I need to talk to you.]

Fan Jing's profile picture was a photo of herself. Lin Fengmian had only met her the day before yesterday; there was no way he could have forgotten her so quickly.

He was deliberately refusing to add her, yet the girl was being so cute, even reminding him who she was.

Lin Fengmian sat on the piano bench with his back against the piano, his long fingers wrapped around his phone. His eyes curved with amusement as he replied beneath the verification message.

[I know you're Fan Jing.]

It was Fan Jing's first time seeing someone reply through a friend request. He clearly didn't want to add her.

As expected of a close buddy-his mind worked differently.

[Could you add me first so we can talk?]

[Nope. I promised Xia Qinghe I wouldn't add you.]

Fan Jing: "..."

Since he wouldn't add her, she could only get straight to the point.

[I'm a novelist.]

[So?]

[One of my novels is being adapted into a TV drama. I'd like you to play the third male lead, a beautiful, powerful, tragic character.]

The corner of Lin Fengmian's mouth twitched. He looked so manly. What did he have to do with being beautiful, powerful, and tragic?

[I only like being powerful. Beautiful and tragic are out.]

Fan Jing: "..." You must have some misconception about yourself.

[Why don't you read the script first? You really suit this third male lead.]

Lin Fengmian belatedly remembered that he had money to pay back and needed to earn some. He hesitated.

[How much are you offering? I'm not doing it for less than a hundred million.]

[...Yen?]

Lin Fengmian burst out laughing. This girl really was fun.

[Give me a call. I'm still not adding you on WeChat, though. I promised Xia Qinghe.]

No sooner had Lin Fengmian enabled calls from unknown numbers than one came in. It was Fan Jing.

The girl's voice was steady. "The other characters have already started filming, but I haven't been able to find the right person for the third male lead. His scenes keep getting pushed back."

Just when she'd thought she would have to settle for second best, she unexpectedly met Lin Fengmian, whose bearing fit the third male lead perfectly.

"I'll make you an overnight sensation."

Lin Fengmian didn't care about fame. He cared about money. "How much?"

"One hundred thousand per episode. Would that work?"

"How many episodes?"

"The third male lead has about three episodes' worth of scenes."

That meant three hundred thousand. After taxes, he'd take home over two hundred thousand, more than he'd earned back when he was in a band. "I'll give you my agent's contact details. Get in touch with him. He'll discuss it with you."

Professional matters should, of course, be left to professionals.

"You're an entertainer?" Fan Jing really hadn't expected Lin Fengmian to be in the industry.

With that face, even if he were a complete airhead, he shouldn't have been entirely unknown.

"Don't I look like one?" Lin Fengmian touched his face, only then remembering that he hadn't really worked in the industry. He was merely listed under his mother's studio.

"Write down this phone number and email address." Lin Fengmian gave Fan Jing Lin Sui's contact information.

Fan Jing contacted Lin Sui.

Lin Fengmian taking the initiative to ask for work moved Lin Sui to tears. "Bro, you've finally remembered you're an entertainer and are going to start working."

With his eyes closed, Lin Fengmian's fingers flew deftly over the black and white keys, the lovely notes dancing through Lin Sui's heart.

At Lin Sui's words, Lin Fengmian opened his eyes. "You're a year older than me. If my mom hears you calling me your big brother, I'll get scolded."

Lin Sui scratched his head and chuckled. "I didn't expect Miss Fan to be the queen of fantasy dramas. A lot of her novels have been adapted into TV dramas. They're incredibly popular."

"I've done the background research. One of Miss Fan's immortal fantasy dramas has been filming for over a year. Many of the characters have nearly wrapped up their scenes. Only the third male lead's scenes are left. They haven't found the right person, so they keep putting them off."

"I suppose that pursuit of perfection is why she's so popular."

Lin Sui took the script out of his briefcase. "These are the third male lead's scenes. I also bought you a set of the original novels. Read them and give it some thought."

"If you think it's a good fit, let's sign as soon as possible. The production team is in a hurry."

"Mm." Lin Fengmian accepted the script and novels. The novel covers were quite beautiful, with swirling clouds and mist, very ethereal. "I'll make some time to look at them in a bit."

"All right, I'll head off, then. Don't take too long. They're eager to wrap up filming. If it won't work, get back to them as soon as you can so they can find someone else." Lin Sui left in high spirits.

After finishing a piece on the piano, Lin Fengmian sat cross-legged on his bed. He looked at the script printed on A4 paper, then at the full-color novels.

Without hesitation, he reached for the novels. He'd read the prettier ones first.

No matter how glamorous Yi Qiang was in the entertainment industry or how much influence he wielded in those circles, a barrier still separated him from the investors. That was especially true of a towering behemoth like the Xia Corporation. Xia Qinghe simply wasn't someone a person at his level could get access to.

For several days running, Yi Qiang had been pulling strings, hoping to apologize to President Xia in person.

But no matter how much running around he did or how many gifts he handed out until his hands grew weak, he couldn't get a meeting with Xia Qinghe.

Producer Yu from Empire Singer had also come calling, hoping their company would send someone to participate in the show and clean up the shit Yu Huan had left behind.

Yi Qiang had lost a great deal of weight in just a few days. When he saw Producer Yu, he sighed along with him. "I'm afraid picking someone at random would hurt your show's reputation, but we were the ones at fault in the first place. Who in our company do you think would suit this show? As long as they're available, we'll give you our full cooperation."

Producer Yu went through the choices but wasn't satisfied with any of them. In the end, he could only pick the best of a bad bunch, choosing someone barely passable.

"Let's go with this Chen Mu. I heard him sing, and he's pretty good." His looks were just rather ordinary.

Yi Qiang didn't even remember having such a person in his company. Only after thinking for a long while did he recall that Chen Mu seemed to have been signed at the same time as Yu Huan.

Of that batch of trainees, only Yu Huan had achieved anything. The others didn't even qualify as supporting players.

Once the two had settled on him, they summoned Chen Mu.

The young man had a bowl cut and wore black-framed glasses. His clothes were utterly unremarkable, too. In the glamorous entertainment industry, he wouldn't even qualify as an extra.

"You're Chen Mu?"

Chen Mu hunched his shoulders and nodded, standing there without the slightest presence.

Producer Yu and Yi Qiang: "..." Looking like that, wouldn't he make a fool of himself onstage?!

"Sing a couple of lines a cappella for me."

Chen Mu steeled himself. The moment he opened his mouth, he gave Producer Yu and Yi Qiang quite a shock.

His vocal tone was beautiful. As soon as the producer heard it, plenty of songs suited to his voice came to mind. He slapped his thigh. "He's the one."

"Then arrange a guest singer to support him, too."

Producer Yu was very pleased with what he'd heard. He'd already figured out how to package Chen Mu.

Yi Qiang didn't much care about this stand-in who had a voice but no looks. "All right, sort out the guest singer yourself. If there's nothing else, you can go."

After finishing his training, Chen Mu took out his phone and left a message for the good buddy he'd met online.

[Buddy, I've got work. I'm going on some show called Singer something, and I need to bring a guest singer. How about helping me out? You're my only contact in the entire singing industry.]