The next day, Hui Yin got up feeling healthy and energetic. She had purged all of the alcohol from her system, and decided that she didn't want to drink anymore in the future.
She got a call from Sister Su just after she woke up, telling her of the contract she needed to sign.
"The director sent me a copy of it, and I already validated that it only requires you to commit to a number of years of employment if this TV show was picked up for multiple seasons. There'll be ten hours of filming per day, and there are no exclusivity provisions that can prevent you from appearing in other productions during the shooting. It's safe to sign."
The image of her manager rose even taller in Hui Yin's mind. As expected of Sister Su, she's so capable!
She even sent Hui Yin a precise timetable schedule, so that she could take a break once in a while during the filming process and even take time to practice her script and dancing.
Hui Yin felt that Sister Su was not only her manager, but her life coach as well.
Hui Yin followed the directions in her phone as she searched for the apartment the director told her about. The crew and the other actresses were already in Shanghai as well, and the director sent the address to Hui Yin early that morning.
When she finally arrived at the location, Hui Yin was more than a bit surprised. She even checked a few times with the locals to ask if she was indeed at the right place. When they confirmed that it was indeed the one she had been searching for, Hui Yin felt like she had been duped.
What 'tiny apartment building'? Were they trying to be humble when they described it to her? Or were they blind?
This apartment was obviously huge!
There was a bush of puzzlegrass standing trimly on each side of the polished wooden gate, and the apartment itself was designed like a bachelor's pad with its incorporated rustic elements, geometric accents, and edgy design.
When Hui Yin lightly pushed open the door, she saw that they were already gathered at the living room, sitting in separate lounge chairs. Hui Yin spotted the director, and the six actresses surrounding him. She hadn't met any of them yet, including her 'bestfriend' on the show, Chen Lin.
"Ah, there's our Gao Mei!"
Director Peng smiled when he saw Hui Yin making her way towards him. His warm demeanor slightly surprised her, but she realized that he was just as warm to the rest of the other actresses when he introduced them to her one by one.
"That's Yu Qiang, she's the one who's going to play 'Chen Lin'."
A petite girl with brown shoulder-length hair and a wispy fringe smiled and nodded slightly at her. Hui Yin returned the gesture. It was unexpected that the bossy 'Chen Lin' was such a cute girl.
"That's An Chu Hua, she's 'Yoon Peizhi'."
"Geng Niu, acting as 'Dai Wan'."
"Bao Bai, playing the role of 'Cheung Annchi'."
"Tan Na, she's going to be 'Tang Xia'."
"And..."
Hui Yin met the eyes of the last girl, and her eyebrows raised when she realized that it was someone she knew. Ha, what were the odds? It was true that enemies do meet in a narrow road.
"That's Guo Liqin, she's 'Shi Xiaoli'." [1]
Hui Yin's lips curved as the actress jerkily nodded to her. She nodded back as well, not bothered in the least with the notion that she was going to work together with an enemy. If she was being honest with herself, Hui Yin felt that everything became rather fun after she saw Guo Liqin.
Wasn't she always making fun of Hui Yin for being a D-list actress and the 'trash' of CY?
Well, let the two of them compete using their acting skills. Hui Yin was determined to overshadow Guo Liqin for the entirety of the show, and see if this little pompous actress have the ability to corroborate her words. If not, then it would really be a pity, because this would mean that Guo Liqin was even lower than the 'trash' she had insulted.
Director Peng was pleased at seeing the actresses interact well with each other. They were going to be housemates and co-actors from now on, so it was better to foster good camaraderie between them.
"Hui Yin, you haven't signed the contract yet, right? Here."
Hui Yin's jaw dropped when she saw the thick sheaf of papers Director Peng handed over. What the heck, Sister Su read all of this?!
Hui Yin casually flipped through it, and saw that the page number reached up to three hundred. Was that even possible for a mere actor employment contract? Do they need to be so detailed?
Since she couldn't read it all, Hui Yin decided to read the first few pages, the ones in the middle, and the last ten pages. Everything seemed to be as Sister Su had said. The usual offer and acceptance, mutual obligation and consent, salary fee, so on and so forth.
Hui Yin accepted the pen Director Peng had offered and signed her name.
"Since everything's settled, you girls can go now and pick your room. Their sizes are all uniform, so you don't have to fight with each other. After you're done arranging your things, you can just use the rest of today to get to know each other and relax. We moved the filming for tomorrow."
The seven of them nodded.
[1] Guo Liqin's first appearance was at Chapter 21.