Chapter 13: Role Change Storm

Yan Yaoxuan stood at the door and had a panoramic view of everything. His eyes suddenly fell on Shen Jintai’s ass.

…

He hadn’t noticed before but Shen Jintai’s butt looked a little plump, but it was still through his pants.

Yan Yaoxuan’s throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed. His lips were slightly dry.

Shen Jintai closed the closet. When he turned around, he saw a gap in the door of the room, and there was a person standing outside the gap.

Holy shit! The sight startled him.

“Yaoxuan?” He didn’t know how long Yaoxuan had been standing there.

Yan Yaoxuan opened the door and said, “Your door wasn’t closed. I didn’t mean to peek at you.”

Shen Jintai laughed and said, “Are you looking for me? Come in.”

Yan Yaoxuan shook his head and said, “I still have something to do, and I am about to go out. I want to go racing with my friends. Do you want to come?”

Shen Jintai: “I have to go to the crew today.”

Yan Yaoxuan didn’t speak, closed the door, and left.

Shen Jintai checked the time and called Xiao Yang.

—

For today’s script reading, neither Bai Qingquan nor Yang Lizhi came. They were both top stars and their itinerary was full so they could not make all the script reading. Because the main male and female lead weren’t present, the parts that could be read around them by the supporting roles were very limited. The script reading was mainly used as a trial run.

During the trial run, Shen Jintai went to the entrance of the corridor to smoke. After just two puffs, he saw Zheng Siqi come towards him.

Zheng Siqi seemed a little guilty: “I’m sorry, I had dinner with you yesterday, but I didn’t expect to be photographed by paparazzi.”

Shen Jintai took a puff of smoke, narrowed his eyes slightly in the smoke, looked at Zheng Siqi with a smile, and said, “It’s okay.”

He took out a cigarette and gave it Zheng Siqi. Who knew that Zheng Siqi smoked? Just looking at his smoking posture, it was obvious he was a novice.

The sunlight outside shone in from the window. It had just rained, so the sun rays were light. Zheng Siqi took two puffs from his cigarettes, lowered his head and said, “That hot search was bought by our company.”

In the end, he was a newcomer that was thin skinned. He felt bad for using Shen Jintai to rub heat off him. Shen Jintai comforted him and said, “Then I have to thank your company for getting on the hot search for free. This is a matter of mutual benefit and win-win situation. You don’t have to feel sorry for me. On the contrary, shouldn’t you be more concern about it affecting you? My reputation is not good.”

Zheng Siqi blushed and said: “I just listen to the company.”

Shen Jintai chuckled.

Zheng Siqi was always a little nervous when facing Shen Jintai. Though he was 20 years old like him, two months younger than him, he felt that Shen Jintai had a very mature feeling. He debuted early but it was different. Although he was young, it felt like he has already seen the world. Zheng Siqi felt that despite Shen Jintai’s extreme personality, he was still an existence that he looked up to.

Zheng Siqi: “Sister Wen said that our company will issue a statement at eight in the evening to clarify… Sister Wen is my agent.”

Shen Jintai nodded, tapped the cigarette in his hand, and saw a group of people coming from the other end of the corridor.

The group had about seven to eight people, was headed by a man with a beard. Following him was a handsome guy that was hotly dressed. When he saw them, he tugged at the bearded man, look at Shen Jintai and said: “He’s the one who stole my role.”

The bearded man was a bit fierce. He glanced a Shen Jintai and went straight into the director’s room, leaving behind the rest of the men in black clothes to stand in the corridor like bodyguards.

A battle was about to start.

“Do you know him?” Shen Jintai asked Zheng Siqi.

Zheng Siqi: “His name is Liu Hui. He was one of the last two alternative for your role… I saw it posted on a forum.”

Whether it’s a movie or TV series, as long as it’s a place where money is spent, it would attract those who would bring their capital. Even a top director must have close contacts. Liu Hui was one of those contacts. His local tyrant*, the bearded man, was one of the important investors in <The East Palace is Coming.>

*金主 – Investor refer to as “local tyrants”, “rich people”, and generally refer to local tyrants with entangled interests.

The little lover wanted to act, and the local tyrant pays for it. This was a common thing in showbiz. The bearded man wanted to gift him the second male lead.

The little lover was sulky. While he was good looking, his acting was too terrible. Guo Rui tried him for a while, but he couldn’t accept it, so he could only drag it out. This was also one of the reasons why the role of Li Xu wasn’t settled… He needed to find someone who was capable to play Li Xu, either by reputation, or by skills so ineffable that no one could criticize them. In the end, Shen Jintai was decided. On the one hand, his acting skills were ok. On the other hand, he had an infamous reputation. Besides, his relationship with Bai Qingquan was simply a free publicity.

Although the contract had been signed, Shen Jintai was still nervous. A signed contract didn’t mean anything. Not to mention the filming hadn’t started yet. In the past, he had experienced being replaced by someone else halfway through the filming process.

There were a lot of noises coming from the room that sounded like quarrelling. Shen Jintai went to the bathroom between photoshoots. As he was lowering his head to wash his hand, he saw Liu Hui come in. He leaned on the door frame while crossing his arms staring coldly at him.

Shen Jintai pretended not to see it and turned off the faucet.

“The role of Li Xu is mine.” Liu Hui said, raising his eyebrows.

Shen Jintai pulled out a paper towel to wipe his hands and asked: “Is it settled?”

Liu Hui: “Not yet, but it will be decided soon. I will tell you in advance, don’t try it on again. Those clothes will be redone according to my size.” He was a flamboyant little beauty with sharp eyebrows.

“Then we’ll leave it at that.” Shen Jintai said lightly. He was calm on the surface but panicked on the inside. He felt that the director liked him better, but the director is no match in face of capital. The bearded man must really wanted to please his little lover. As for Sunshine Media, the biggest investor was Yan Qiuchi. It’ll be even more difficult to change his heart. If the two major investors wanted to change him, he’ll be finished.

Everyone had probably heard the news, so the afternoon reading was very quiet. The director wasn’t there.

Bai Qingquan, who was traveling, heard the news through the WeChat group, and frowned while sitting in the lounge.

“What’s up?” Wei Ge asked: “Something wrong?”

Bai Qingquan raised his head, his handsome face full of surprise: “I heard Xiao Wang say that Shen Jintai is going to lose his role.”

Wei Ge also knew about this a long time ago: “Didn’t you regret recommending him? Wouldn’t you be relieved if he lose his role?”

Bai Qingquan: “But I’m so entangled. Should I say something for him?”

Since the fight against Shen Jintai was settled, he had been harrowing between regret and non-regret.

He wanted to enjoy the competitive rivalry between him and Shen Jintai, but he was afraid that Shen Jintai would outperform him and steal his limelight. Bai Qingquan let out a sighed.

Bai Qingquan: “Shen Jintai used to be so rich. When he debuted, he use money to buy fans to take away the C position. Later, I competed with him for the same drama. I was about to sign the contract when he dumped tens of millions in investment to squeeze me out. He was so beautiful at that time*.”

*那时候他多风光. Not sure about this translation. Doesn’t really make sense in the context.

The result was someone had replaced him in the drama.

Don’t believe it, look up*!

*Reminder: Idiom means good and evil will eventually be repaid. In other words, karma.

Wei Ge had the same idea: “If there’s a cause, there’s an effect.”

Bai Qingquan leaned on the chair and chuckled. He felt that his heart was still not hard enough. Perhaps it was because he had also experienced being replaced before, knowing how frustrating and disappointing it would be, seeing Shen Jintai going through the same thing like this didn’t make him feel happy at all. If Shen Jintai was really replaced, he would intercede.

‘I’m so selfless!’ Bai Qingquan thought. ‘Such a kind-hearted male artist like me would continue to be popular for thousands of years!’

—

Because of the anxiety in his heart, Shen Jintai did not speak on the way back. He was lying down to recuperate.

Li Meilan comforted him: “I’ve asked. The director is still fighting for you and the contract has been signed. It’s not that easy to change people.”

Shen Jintai opened his eyes and asked: “Is there any company that wants to sign me recently?”

Li Meilan was stunned for a moment: “You want to sign with a company?”

Shen Jintai: “I don’t think it’s enough with just the three of us. Only by leaning against a big tree can we take advantage of the coolness*.”

*Idiom referring to have backing, to do things easily, and to enjoy the blessings. In this sense, he referring to having a backer.

People like him who has no support, when encountering this kind of thing, can only accept the outcome*. No one would fight for him.

*Original was 任人鱼肉. Translated directly would be “Can only be let people fish (renren fish meat)”. This is an idiom meaning to be slaughtered by others. Basically, his fate is left in the hands of others. I’ve taken liberties with the translation here since putting the idiom won’t really make the translation flow well. The meaning is still the same.

“There are many big companies that wants to sign you. In the past since you kept rejecting their offers, everyone thought you didn’t want to sign with a company, so they stopped contacting you.” Li Meilan said: “You need to be cautious when signing with a company. You can’t just sign with any company.”

Shen Jintai nodded: “Let me think about it again.”

When encountering an unscrupulous company, their only goal to suck your blood dry. It’s better to be alone and to be free. He will come out of the muddle in the future, open his own studio, and be his own boss.

While thinking about it, his phone rang. It was Guo Rui who was calling.

Shen Jintai sighed. He said in a trembling nervous voice: “Director Guo.”

Guo Rui: “Ah, you have already gone back?”

“Yes.” Shen Jintai asked: “Do you need me to go back again?”

“No,” Guo Rui said: “I called you to tell you not to worry. Li Xu’s role is still yours, and it won’t change.”

Shen Jintai emotions surged, and his eyes turned red. This incident evoked many painful memories of his past. What he had gained was suddenly lost. This kind of loss was uncomfortable and only those who have experience it can relate.

“Thank you, director,” Shen Jintai said: “I know that that you fought for me. Don’t worry, I will act well, and I won’t let you down.”

Guo Rui smiled and said: “In fact I’m only half responsible for this. In the end, it was President Yan who made the final decision to keep you.”

Shen Jintai was floored.