In the contract, Tang Li’s pay per episode was 1,000 yuan.
She was cast as Ying Xuaner, the crime suspect in the second case of the novel.
The television series was set to shoot a total of 60 episodes, and the part she was in accounted for one-sixth of the total number of episodes, so Tang Li could earn a pre-tax salary of ten thousand yuan.
Among new actors, this price isn’t high, it’s only fair.
Tang Li finished reading the contract and signed her name on the last page.
Seeing her sign so promptly and decisively, a flash of appreciation crossed Fan Xin’s eyes. When Tang Li asked if she could bring a classmate along as an assistant to join the crew, Fan Xin, knowing that Tang Li was studying acting, guessed that these young girls wanted to broaden their horizons, so he did Tang Li the favor.
"As long as it doesn’t affect anyone else’s work, bring whoever you want," said Fan Xin. At this point, he stared at Tang Li with a gaze that seemed to penetrate the heart, and cautioned, "Even though your audition was good, and you’re Ying Xuaner, who Teacher Xu Yuan is fond of, I have to say the ugly part upfront—if you don’t perform well on set, I will still replace you."
Tang Li, upon hearing this, did not show displeasure at being questioned.
She only looked back at Fan Xin and assured, "I will work hard to do the best I can."
Her neither servile nor overbearing attitude earned a satisfied nod from Fan Xin.
After signing the contract, Zhang Hansheng instructed the secretary to hand Tang Li a portfolio: "Inside you will find the scripts for the first three episodes of the second case. Take them to read over. Even though the series is scheduled to start shooting at the end of November, since the Ying Xuaner you play has several dance scenes in the series, Director Fan doesn’t like using stand-ins, so you will have to join a few other dancers at the beginning of the month for ballet classes and training."
Tang Li had no objections to this.
As soon as Tang Li left the meeting room, Wu Xuehan, who had been waiting in the reception room, was already standing in the hallway. She ran over to her, all smiles with excitement, and took out a notebook from her bag. Pretending to be mysterious, she asked Tang Li, "Guess who I ran into?"
"Guan Xiao?" Tang Li guessed cooperatively.
Wu Xuehan pursed her lips, shook her head, and while stepping backward said, "Guess again."
"... Could it be Guo Dequan?"
"How did you know?!" Wu Xuehan was surprised. She hadn’t expected Tang Li to guess correctly. She turned to a page in the notebook to show Tang Li and said gleefully, "Teacher Guo gave me an autograph, and we took a photo together!"
While they spoke, they had arrived at the elevator entrance.
Tang Li pressed the elevator button: "Didn’t you call him ’Guo Deluo’ yesterday in the dorm, saying he looked like a mule? Now he’s Teacher Guo?"
Wu Xuehan hurriedly covered Tang Li’s mouth.
She looked around to make sure no one had heard, then sighed in relief and explained awkwardly, "I didn’t really understand Teacher Guo’s character, I admit I was very superficial and shouldn’t have judged people by their appearance."
With that, she asked Tang Li, "Ah Li, how did you guess it was Teacher Guo?"
"I browsed Jiahua’s official website on my cellphone yesterday. Guo Dequan is one of the few contracted artists with their company," Tang Li answered truthfully, "If you said it wasn’t Guo Dequan, my next guess would have been Li Dabao."
Li Dabao, a famous comedian, has a... distinctive appearance.
Wu Xuehan’s face scrunched up.
Upon exiting the Jiahua office building, Tang Li noticed it was getting late. She was just about to suggest finding a place to have lunch with Wu Xuehan before returning to school, when a silver-gray Jaguar happened to stop in front of her.
The passenger side window rolled down, and Tang Li looked intently only to find that the man in the car was Qin Yansheng.