“You’re right, I am just a voice actor, and I’m not qualified to talk to a superstar. I should be thankful and honored to be speaking to a star like you, but I’m speaking to you today as Su’s good friend,” Luosang mocked him angrily.
Shi Xiang looked up at her for a while and said suddenly, “Miss Xu, the reason why you are so angry today is because I refused to help you when Su asked me to, right? Because I said no when Su asked me to help you secure the lead role?”
Luosang was stunned. She had had an alright impression of Shi Xiang before this. Now that impression was completely tarnished.
“I hope Su explained to you that it wasn’t appropriate for me to step in,” Shi Xiang said matter-of-factly. “Didn’t you land the role anyway with your own capabilities?”
“You are really unbelievable!” Luosang couldn’t stand being in the same room with him a minute longer. “I can’t teach you voice acting. You should look for someone else.” Luosang turned to leave.
Shi Xiang’s Korean assistant approached her and said in broken Mandarin, “Why did you come out?”
“We have a gap in our understanding of his character. I won’t be able to teach him,” Luosang said and walked towards the exit.
“I think you were chased out because you had other motives talking to Shi Xiang, not because you can’t teach him,” the assistant suddenly said. “I saw the two of you conversing the whole time behind the glass window. Although I couldn’t make out what the two of you were saying, I could tell that he was getting upset. I’ve seen many staff members like you. Are you trying to gain his attention? We won’t be asking you for help anymore. Please stay away from him from now on.”
Luosang laughed, incredulous. She had seen all sorts of people in the industry but never had she met anyone so obnoxious as this assistant. “Rest assured, I don’t want to interact with this crappy team anyway. You guys are always late for the sessions, and you expect me to stay ’til one or two in the morning. I don’t need this in my life.” She walked away after saying her piece.
The assistant looked enraged. He turned around and said to the director’s assistant, “If we knew that you hired voice actors like her, we wouldn’t have agreed to join the project. Who does she think she is? She’s just a voice actress. Shi Xiang is the Prince of Asia. This is only day two. You’d better swap her out, or we won’t cooperate with the rest of the production.”
“Don’t be angry.” The director’s assistant chuckled and handed over a cigarette. “If we find someone new, we would have wasted two days.”
“How much does it cost to find someone new?” The Korean assistant said unceremoniously, “You do as you deem fit!”
“David, don’t make things hard for all of us.” Shi Xiang suddenly appeared behind them and said, “We plan to concentrate on the market over here this year. I don’t wish to have a bad reputation here.”
“But…”
“Drop it.” Shi Xiang turned and walked back into the studio. He wasn’t trying to help Xu Luosang, but he was worried that she would say bad things about him to Yan Su if her role was stripped. He was seriously concerned as to whether she would sow discord between him and Yan Su.
…
Luosang was infuriated after her encounter with Shi Xiang and his assistant. She decided to buy supper to vent her frustrations. She brought a bowl of ramen, lamb and beef skewers, squid strips, and grilled squid back to her hotel.
When she arrived at her floor, she looked down to search for her room key. When she looked up, she saw Nian Junting pacing around in front of her door.