Chapter 30: Receiving the First Script

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She could not say that aloud, but she assured her, “Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t switch roles. If you’re still uneasy, we can sign the contract right now.”

That was enough to put Qi Fei at ease.

Zhou Ying had never expected Qi Fei to actually land the role. Now, staring at the contract in her hands, she was grinning so broadly that the corners of her mouth nearly reached her ears.

Although it was not the female lead, even she could see that this character was far more striking than the lead by more than a little. If Qi Fei played the role well, it would be immensely beneficial to her future transition.

What pleased her even more was that Director Wang’s offered pay was entirely worthy of Qi Fei’s status.

“The drama probably won’t begin filming for another two or three months, but the director says the intensive training will start more than half a month in advance.”

Qi Fei would naturally have to take part as well.

Zhou Ying was worried that the training would be too grueling, so she was giving Qi Fei a warning in advance. But as far as Qi Fei was concerned, intensive training was not only no hardship—she was actually looking forward to it.

“By the way, Qiqi, when did you learn taekwondo?”

Qi Fei had known she would not be able to evade that question. After all, Zhou Ying had known the original Qi Fei for so many years. It would have been strange if she had not been puzzled by this sudden display of skill.

The only thing Qi Fei could do was attribute it to the years she had spent training abroad as a trainee. Those were the only years Zhou Ying had not been by the original Qi Fei’s side.

“I’m actually very skilled. You’ll see for yourself later.”

Qi Fei was giving Zhou Ying another warning. After all, there was no way to keep her abilities hidden forever.

The moment Qi Fei heard herself say it, a voice rang in her mind: [Keep blowing your own horn.]

Qi Fei: “…”

Although Zhou Ying was still suspicious, the explanation was at least plausible. As for Qi Fei’s claim that she was highly skilled, Zhou Ying did not believe a single word of it. Since she was in such a good mood, however, she did not press the matter.

If she did not believe her, so be it. Once she saw Qi Fei’s abilities with her own eyes, she would naturally believe her.

On the way back, Zhou Ying received a phone call. After hanging up, she turned to Qi Fei.

“You may be very busy soon. The web drama starts filming in three days.”

They had already said filming would begin sometime soon; only the exact date had not been settled. Zhou Ying was not surprised by the call at all.

She was merely a little worried that the schedules of the two dramas would overlap. Qi Fei would be exhausted when that happened.

The web drama was not what concerned her. They were well aware that Qi Fei had been set up, and it was unrealistic to expect her to turn down every other project and film only the web drama. What worried Zhou Ying now was whether Director Wang would object.

The contract had already been signed, and the money was already in their hands. Asking Qi Fei to pay it back now would be no different from asking for her life.

“We’ll take things one step at a time and deal with it when the time comes.”

Seeing Qi Fei’s carefree expression, Zhou Ying shook her head helplessly. But she had no better solution either. For now, this was all they could do.

“The web drama’s script arrived two days ago. Don’t go out for the next three days. Stay home and memorize your lines properly.”

Qi Fei nodded. She did possess a certain degree of professional dedication.

She had still wanted to make things unpleasant for the other party, but it seemed she no longer had the spare time.

After the subject was dropped, Qi Fei stared at the phone in her hand. She was unsure whether she should tell Su Xiang that she had not gotten the role. Regardless of whether she had landed it, she owed Su Xiang a personal favor for giving her the opportunity in the first place.

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But if she told him… would he think she had other motives? What if he misunderstood and thought she was blaming him?

Before Qi Fei could finish agonizing over it, she saw the messages in the group chat.

Well, there was no need to worry anymore. Su Xiang already knew.

Su Xiang had not expected Director Qian to be so unreliable. He had clearly promised everything, only to pull something like this at the last moment. Did he have no pride at all?

This was especially humiliating because it was the first time he had tried to help her. How was he supposed to hold his head up in front of Qi Fei after this?

At the time, he had made it sound so easy. He had said that as long as Qi Fei was willing to act, she could sign the contract directly. Yet today, he had suddenly told her that the role had been given to someone else. How was he supposed to explain that to her?

Not only had he failed to help, he had also made Qi Fei come all that way for nothing.

“Sorry, Qiqi. I only found out the female lead had been cast when I received the call just now.”

Before Qi Fei could reply, that fellow Shi Lin jumped in first.

“Who is this? How dare they disregard you?”

Even Shi Lin, Su Xiang’s childhood friend, had assumed that once Su Xiang spoke up, Qi Fei getting the role would be a certainty. He had never expected something like this to go wrong.

“Although I didn’t get that role, I happened to land another role in Director Wang’s new drama, so the trip wasn’t entirely wasted.”

“Wang Xiao?”

After thinking for a moment, Su Xiang replied, “Yes.”

“The female lead?”

“No. A supporting female villain.”

That answer surprised Su Xiang somewhat.

As far as he knew, roles in Wang Xiao’s dramas were not easy for just anyone to obtain. Wang Xiao was famous for refusing to yield to either force or persuasion.

Wan Yang was also somewhat surprised when he saw the messages in the group.

He had dealt with Wang Xiao before. The man was hot-tempered, blunt, and straightforward. After becoming famous, he had opened his own studio. Thanks to the reputation he had built over the years, his productions never lacked investors.

Unless the actor was someone Wang Xiao personally wanted, no one else’s recommendation was of any use.

Wan Yang happened to know a little about the production Wang Xiao was currently preparing. The character was a female antagonist—ruthless and vicious—and he had a fairly clear impression of it.

It was not that he lacked confidence in Qi Fei. The problem was her acting in the past. It would be an exaggeration to call it painfully awkward, but she had always seemed to play every character from the same mold. It was difficult to believe that she had actually landed a role in one of Director Wang’s dramas.

Before learning that Qiqi was Qi Fei, all Wan Yang had heard about her was that she was beautiful, had a good figure, and could not act—a mere pretty face.

Only after discovering Qi Fei’s identity had he gone back and watched some of the dramas she had appeared in.

To be honest, although the judgment had been somewhat exaggerated, it was not entirely wrong.

Even so, if Qi Fei played this role well, it would not only greatly benefit her transition but might also win recognition for her acting from the audience. It was far more worthwhile than filming some shallow idol drama.

Wan Yang did not know exactly what had moved Wang Xiao, but as her friend, he was happy for Qi Fei to have secured the role.

“By the way, I’m joining a production in a few days, so I may not have time to play games.”

“That historical web drama?”

Everyone knew that Qi Fei’s company had tricked her into signing on for a livestream and a web drama. Since the livestream had ended, the web drama should indeed be about to begin filming.

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“Yep. It starts filming in three days.”

The moment Shi Lin saw the message, he grew frantic. He had only just climbed to a higher rank. If Qi Fei joined the production and Tong Sheng was not around, who would play with him?

“Qiqi, if you don’t go film the drama, you can pay the penalty.”

Pay it? Fine. He had nothing if not money.

Shi Lin immediately put on an expression that said money was no object. Then Qi Fei said, “Fifty million.”

What? Fifty million?

“The penalty is fifty million.”

Shi Lin: “…”

The game was not so important that he had to play it.

“Your company is really that ruthless?”

A fifty-million penalty for a web drama? Why not just rob people outright?

Although he said that, Shi Lin knew perfectly well that Qi Fei’s former company had planned this from the beginning. They had deliberately set the penalty so high.

If it had not been so exorbitant, Qi Fei would never have swallowed this loss so easily.

Although filming would begin in three days, the location was not in the capital. So after spending only one day at home, the two of them set off for the production site the following afternoon.

Neither Qi Fei nor Zhou Ying expected to see the director waiting outside the airport the moment they emerged.

All the way there, Zhou Ying had been grumbling on Qi Fei’s behalf. Forget Qi Fei’s status—even a minor celebrity would not have considered a web drama worth taking. But when she saw how respectfully the director treated them, much of her anger disappeared at once.

On the way to the hotel, the assistant director acted as their personal assistant the entire time, carrying their luggage and even serving as their driver.

Zhou Ying was not the sort of person who refused to let matters go once she had the upper hand. Since things had already happened, all she could do was accept them. And with the director showing them such consideration, there was even less left to complain about.

After settling Qi Fei in, Zhou Ying said goodbye to the director and immediately boarded a flight home that same day.

The day before, the two of them had gone to look at the studio they would be using in the future. Although the paperwork had been completed, Zhou Ying still had to handle the interior arrangements and recruit staff. After delivering Qi Fei, she turned around and went back to deal with everything else.

Zhou Ying was not worried in the slightest that Qi Fei would be mistreated. After all, Qi Fei was the only well-known actress in the production—and by far the most prominent. Zhou Ying had never even heard of the male lead.

And things did indeed unfold exactly as she had expected.

When everyone gathered in the conference room, they nearly worshiped Qi Fei. The assistant director was exceptionally attentive, pouring her tea and fetching her water.

Everyone else wore broad smiles and showered her with flattery, addressing her as “Teacher” at every turn.

Once everyone had arrived, they naturally began discussing the script.

Moreover, every time the discussion touched on one of Qi Fei’s scenes, the director would turn to her and ask, “Is that all right?”

The result was that Qi Fei sat there with a baffled expression. She was not the screenwriter.

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