Back in his dorm, Song Shi'an flopped into his chair, pulled out his phone, and started doing the math.
Today's stall commission, plus what Xiaolin had transferred earlier, came to a total of 420 yuan.
He tapped away at the calculator for ages. After deducting costs, the net profit margin was absurdly high.
Press-on nails were cheap to buy and sold for a lot, and they barely required any skill. What a killing!!
He happily deposited the money into Yu'e Bao, then added another entry to his notebook.
Ever since transmigrating here, he had never stopped keeping accounts. Flipping back a few pages, he found the earliest entry: "Ying Qi acting fee +1,000," with a smiley face drawn beside it.
His balance was no longer at the level where he had to gnaw on cucumbers, but he was still a long way from financial freedom.
The short October holiday was only two or three days away. He would have to find another production to act in next month.
He had finished playing Meng Zhen in The Emperor's Ambition, and his next cannon fodder role was still nowhere in sight. The holiday would be a good chance to search through casting calls.
Early Saturday morning, for once, Song Shi'an didn't sleep until the sun was high in the sky.
He washed his hair, pressed down the strands sticking up as he looked in the mirror, and changed into a clean shirt.
Jiang Ye poked his head down from the top bunk, squinting as he watched him bustle around.
"Up this early on a Saturday, and dressed like that? Going on a date?"
Song Shi'an put on his baseball cap and adjusted its angle in the mirror. "I'm going to discuss signing a contract today."
At that, Jiang Ye gave a groggy "Oh" and pulled his head back.
Song Shi'an walked straight to the café. There were few people on campus on Saturday morning, and the leaves along Parasol Tree Avenue were beginning to yellow. The breeze carried a hint of chill.
He walked at an easy pace, going over the negotiating terms he had thought up last time.
When he entered the café, the wind chimes hanging on the door rang out. The place was empty except for a woman sitting by the window with her back to the entrance, drinking coffee.
Song Shi'an walked over and spoke politely. "Hello, are you from Stars Entertainment?"
Shen Lingshu lifted her head to look at him. Her light gray blazer was draped over the back of her chair, revealing an ivory silk blouse beneath, and her hair was loosely swept behind her shoulders.
She set down her coffee cup, her gaze lingering on his face for a second before she gave a slight nod.
"Yes. Have a seat."
Song Shi'an sat down across from her. Well, damn. A big company really was something. Even to discuss signing a small fry like me, they sent someone who looked like a big shot.
This woman clearly wasn't an ordinary manager. Her presence was even more imposing than Director Wang's.
Shen Lingshu got straight to the point. "I'm Shen Lingshu. Here's the contract. Take a look."
Song Shi'an's hand froze in midair as he reached for the contract.
Who? Shen Lingshu?!
The bullet comments in his brain instantly cleared, then exploded into a mushroom cloud.
Shen Lingshu! Wasn't she the novel's female lead? The Shen Group's heiress, Pei Zhiyan's fiancée, the standard-issue female lead of a domineering CEO novel!
Oh my sky, oh my coat, my brain's turned into a giant jujube! How had I managed to draw her here?!
Watching his changing expression, Shen Lingshu raised an eyebrow slightly. "What, do you know me?"
Song Shi'an abruptly hauled his soul back and shook his head, trying to keep his voice from sounding too guilty. "No. It's just that anyone in the entertainment industry would probably recognize that name."
The answer both flattered her and explained his lapse in composure. Perfect. He mentally gave himself a thumbs-up for his quick thinking.
Shen Lingshu didn't press him and gestured for him to read the contract first.
Song Shi'an lowered his head and opened the neatly bound draft contract, reading through it page by page. His brows furrowed when he reached a page toward the back.
"Must accept at least two company-designated S-tier projects per year, including at least one leading role." He read the line aloud and looked up at Shen Lingshu. "I can't do this. I only want supporting roles."
Shen Lingshu set down her coffee cup, her expression barely changing. "Why?"
"I'm still a student. My studies come first. Playing a lead takes months, and it locks up my entire schedule. I wouldn't be able to attend classes or take exams." Song Shi'an closed the contract. "Besides, I don't like being tied to one production for too long. A supporting role wraps after a few days. The schedule is flexible, and I can try more different kinds of roles."
"With your current popularity, you could absolutely take leading roles. Your pay would increase hundreds or thousands of times over, and you'd get better resources too."
"I know, but I don't want to."
Shen Lingshu watched him in silence for a few seconds, then leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers lightly against the rim of her coffee cup.
"What you've brought up is negotiable. But the company needs a return on the resources it invests in signing you. If you only play supporting roles, that return will take longer."
"Then let it take longer," Song Shi'an said calmly. "I'm in no hurry."
For nearly the next hour, the two went through the contract clause by clause.
Song Shi'an discovered that President Shen was far tougher to deal with than he had imagined. For every clause he objected to, she asked why, then offered a compromise.
But he refused to budge on several key terms: no compulsory leading roles, no mandatory commercial events he didn't want to attend, cooperation on social media was fine but no excessive packaging, and, most importantly, he had to have the right to turn down any role he didn't want to play.
Shen Lingshu held firm on some clauses and made unexpected concessions on others.
By the end of their discussion, she took a laptop out of her briefcase and revised the contract on the spot, then connected to the café's printer and printed a fresh copy.
"Take a look."
Song Shi'an took the new contract and read it again from beginning to end. The line requiring him to "star in at least one S-tier project per year" had been changed to "accept at least three company-recommended projects per year, with the type of role to be decided by the artist."
The other restrictive clauses had also been relaxed considerably, but one still made him uncomfortable.
"The manager has final say?" He pointed at the line.
"That's a standard company clause. It cannot be removed." Shen Lingshu's tone left no room for negotiation. "Your manager isn't there to control you. They're there to coordinate your schedule, screen scripts, and connect you with resources. You can refuse leading roles, but you can't refuse every production."
Song Shi'an thought it over. Having a manager help connect him with resources really would be better than sending his résumé everywhere himself. Besides, refusing leading roles didn't mean he couldn't take supporting ones. As long as his manager understood his career path, it would be fine.
He flipped to the final page, picked up the pen, and carefully wrote his name, stroke by stroke, in the signature field for Party B.
Shen Lingshu took the contract and signed in the Party A field as well. There were two copies, one for each of them.
"Welcome to Stars Entertainment." She stood and held out her hand.
Song Shi'an stood and shook it. Her fingers were cool, but her grip was much stronger than that of most women.
He was just about to let go and exchange a few pleasantries when Shen Lingshu pulled a thick script from her briefcase and pushed it toward him.
"A youth campus drama. It happens to be starting filming at your university. Since you said you don't want a leading role, you can look at some of the roles farther back. They're all good." She picked up her bag and glanced at him. "The company's investing in it. Better to keep the rich waters in our own fields, though I'd prefer you to play the male lead."
Song Shi'an quickly laughed it off. "I'll take a look when I get back. Thank you, President Shen."
A server approached with a tray and placed two exquisite desserts and two drinks on the table.
Song Shi'an froze for a moment. He hadn't ordered anything.
Shen Lingshu picked up her bag. "I'll be off. Take your time and enjoy. Remember to give it some thought." With that, she strode briskly toward the entrance in her heels, pushed open the glass door, and left.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Song Shi'an watched her walk toward a silver-gray sports car parked on the street corner.
The door popped open, and she got in. With a low roar of the engine, the car shot off and vanished around the corner in an instant.
Holding his coffee cup, Song Shi'an gazed in the direction the sports car had disappeared and shed tears of envy.
A sports car. What guy didn't like sports cars?
I had to hurry up and reach a hundred cannon fodder roles so I could achieve financial freedom.
Suddenly, he was motivated again.
He finished the dessert and coffee, then carefully put the contract in his backpack.
The sunshine was just right when he walked out of the café. As the wind rustled the parasol tree leaves, he took out his phone and sent Chi Xun a message.
"Signed."
Chi Xun replied instantly. "How were the terms?"
"Pretty good. Shen Lingshu came herself."
Chi Xun sent five question marks in a row, immediately followed by another message. "Wait. Who did you say? Shen Lingshu???"
"Yep."
"She came to sign you herself?! She's the boss of Stars Entertainment! Do you know how big a star you'd have to be for her to come in person?!"
Song Shi'an thought about it. He didn't know why Shen Lingshu had come in person either.
Perhaps the boss of a big company happened to have nothing to do on the weekend and wanted to personally assess a newly signed artist.
Or perhaps she simply valued everyone she signed and came in person regardless of their status. That would mean the company had a good culture.
He sent this analysis to Chi Xun.
Chi Xun replied, "A big boss had nothing to do on the weekend, so she came to sign a newcomer in person. Does that explanation sound reasonable to you?"
"Sure. What if she's just a workaholic?"
"You win."
Song Shi'an slipped his phone back into his pocket and headed toward campus, already turning that youth campus drama script over in his mind.
A company-funded production. The pay probably wouldn't be low.