Chapter 9: Are You Really Not Dating?

Why did Zhang Yang encourage Liu Shishi to play the second female lead?

First of all, it was definitely not because he wanted to take advantage of their roles during filming for some ulterior motive.

He was simply considering the closeness of their relationship and wanted to help Liu Shishi out.

After the drama "Xuan Yuan Sword: Scar of the Sky" aired, the second female lead’s character and performance attracted more fans than the female lead, who also had quite a few glaring flaws.

Secondly, Zhang Yang knew he could give Liu Shishi an edge.

[Successfully helped Liu Shishi out of trouble, earning her favor; Opportunity achieved, gain 2 opportunity points!]

[Opportunity points: After use, you can experience a character’s entire life within a dream. There is a chance to bring into the dream the person playing the character most important to the role’s heart, depending on the closeness of their relationship (measured by biological magnetic resonance).]

[After the dream experience ends, depending on the degree of character compatibility, you can inherit some of the character’s talents and abilities (subject to weakening due to different world rules).]

In short, by completing this opportunity, Zhang Yang could not only gain friendships or leverage involving entertainment industry figures but also earn opportunity points that allowed him to live the life of a character in a dream.

Depending on compatibility, he could inherit a portion of the character’s abilities, which might grant him extraordinary means.

Therefore, he suggested Liu Shishi take the second female lead role, as their relationship made it likely she would enter his dream.

Liu Shishi was an experiential actor—entering the dream once meant a real boost; she would truly become that character.

If it were Tang Yan instead, Zhang Yang felt it was almost impossible to bring her into the dream.

But these reasons were not something he could openly share with Liu Shishi.

“You want me to act opposite you, and I’m just supposed to agree?”

Zhang Yang’s gaze made Liu Shishi’s heart skip a beat. She smoothly turned her head and said, “But there’s a big difference between the second female lead and the female lead.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yang said no more.

Too much is as bad as too little!

At that moment, they had arrived at Cai Yinong’s office.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Zhang Yang knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Cai Yinong’s voice came from inside.

Zhang Yang opened the door and entered, with Liu Shishi following behind.

“Good afternoon, Sister K,” Zhang Yang greeted proactively.

He was no longer the reckless youth of a few years ago.

Since he still had to make a living at Tangren for three years and use it as a stepping stone to become a first- or at least second-tier star, feigning respect towards the boss was no big deal.

A man must know when to yield and when to assert.

“I’m not easy to please,” Cai Yinong feigned displeasure, or perhaps truly was unhappy. “None of my artists ever give me peace of mind.”

“Sister K, are you talking about Lao Hu, Brother Yuan Hong, or Lin Gou? It can’t be the newly signed Jiang Jinfu,” Zhang Yang said indignantly. “Tell me, and I’ll scold them for you.”

Cai Yinong: “...”

Only a few months apart, yet Zhang Yang seemed shamelessly changed.

When a man loses his scruples, he might just find success.

“Don’t joke with me,” Cai Yinong’s expression turned serious. “Let me be clear: this time is compensation for not giving you the Xu Changqing role back then. If you want roles in the company later, you must renew your contract in advance.”

“Of course, you can choose to take roles outside, but the company will only provide support within the contract’s scope.”

“Hope you consider carefully how to choose during filming.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yang smiled as usual and said, “I will carefully consider and seize the opportunity.”

Tangren was soon to sabotage itself with "Feng Zhong Qiyuan," a show that insulted national heroes. He had no interest in it and preferred not to act if not allowed to.

“Sign the role contract,” Cai Yinong said without further ado, handing the contract to Zhang Yang.

He picked it up and glanced over it, mainly looking at salary, breach conditions, and obligations.

Artist salaries hadn’t skyrocketed yet but were starting to rise, with many producers now calculating pay per episode. After “Gong” aired, Da Mimi’s single-episode external fee was 400,000 yuan.

Zhang Yang was no Da Mimi and was a Tangren in-house artist. His pay was only 20,000 yuan per episode. For 36 episodes, that’s 720,000 yuan, which after Tangren’s 40-60 split was less than 500,000 yuan before taxes.

But considering that Jiang Jinfu, the male lead, only earned 2,000 yuan per episode, Zhang Yang felt balanced.

He was negotiating with Cai Yinong over a few thousand yuan more, with risks involved.

As long as the loss wasn’t too great, performing well and becoming famous quickly was the priority.

“No problem, I’ll sign,” Zhang Yang said decisively after confirming the contract was in order.

Cai Yinong was a bit surprised by his decisiveness and looked at him with newfound respect.

“Shishi, you’ll sign too?” Cai Yinong asked Liu Shishi.

She didn’t quite understand what their top artist was thinking.

“No problem,” Liu Shishi nodded slightly. “Sister K, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll sign for Du Gu Ningke.”

Taking the second female lead was not a sudden decision for Liu Shishi but an ongoing dilemma.

Cai Yinong preferred she play the female lead but agreed with her choice for the second female lead. In this version of "Xuan Yuan Sword: Scar of the Sky" produced by Tangren, the second male and female leads had roles no less important than the leads.

Tang Yan, boosted by "The Three Thousand Gold of the Xia Family," was currently more popular and better able to carry a drama than Liu Shishi.

“Have you thought it through?” Cai Yinong confirmed.

“Yes,” Liu Shishi said, reaching out to take the pen from Zhang Yang.

“You two are getting more and more willful,” Cai Yinong sighed but still handed over the contracts.

She and her agent had reviewed the contracts, and apart from different roles, the terms were the same.

The actor’s status was the main factor determining salary—Jiang Jinfu’s less than 100,000 yuan total for the male lead was proof.

Swish—

Liu Shishi quickly skimmed it again and signed her name.

Cai Yinong collected the two contracts and looked at Zhang Yang once more.

“I’ll inform the production leader to ensure you get leave.”

“The crew has started preparations. Filming will officially begin in May at a date to be announced. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with the script and don’t embarrass yourself in front of your junior.”

Embarrass himself in front of Jiang Jinfu? Impossible!

“Thank you for your care, Sister K. I’ll set a good example,” Zhang Yang responded obediently.

His obedient demeanor left Cai Yinong swallowing all her complaints.

“Let’s go, everyone out,” Cai Yinong waved her hand impatiently.

Zhang Yang and Liu Shishi left together.

As they reached Hu Ge’s exclusive lounge, Zhang Yang suddenly turned to Liu Shishi with a formal tone and said, “Princess Du Gu, I look forward to working with you.”

Liu Shishi was momentarily stunned but then smiled brightly. “Ayang, I thought you’d call me Ningke.”

Zhang Yang winked and smiled back. “Our relationship isn’t close enough for that yet; otherwise, I’d certainly make that bold declaration as written in the script.”

“What declaration?” Liu Shishi’s beautiful eyes brightened.

Since she hadn’t yet decided which role to play, she wasn’t fully familiar with the lines.

Zhang Yang changed his expression and stared at her with mock anger: “Two great immortals avoid me yet wound my Ningke here—don’t you think that’s too much?”

Liu Shishi’s heart skipped a beat again.

This younger brother’s command of lines was impressive.

Just as she was about to speak, the lounge door creaked open slightly, revealing half of Hu Ge’s face.

“You two really weren’t talking?” he asked.