Chapter 24: 22

When Sun QiMing looked at Jiang Se, his eyes no longer had any of the scorn from earlier in the interview, and his present demeanor indicated that Jiang Se had won the role for herself.

Jiang Se heaved a sigh of relief and smiled happily back. She took a few quick steps to the table and reached out her arm for a handshake. Sun QiMing nodded approvingly at her and briefly shook her hands, after which the short-haired woman cut in and courteously directed her to the door.

“Well done,” the woman said as she turned to look at Jiang Se with a smile, the whites of her teeth showing. “Sun-ge has already gone through many applicants this morning, but you are the first one to pass and be assigned a role. Congratulations.”

“Then I guess I’m really lucky,” Jiang Se quipped, following the woman across the conference room and into a small office.

Amused, the woman pursed her lips and motioned to an office chair before telling her to wait in the room while she made some preparations.

 Five minutes later, the woman returned, followed by another person with a stack of documents.

Jiang Se’s role this time could be considered a very minor supporting role, and with several speaking lines and more than one appearance throughout the movie, the probability of the camera focusing on her was high, too. Her part was not a pivotal one, all the same, it was much better than what she had been given in ‘Operation Rescue.’ That was why the film crew not only prepared two sets of contracts but also arranged a copy of the script for her.

“The film crew has set the date for the filming on July 16 and your scenes will be filmed according to the schedule…” The person giving the explanation was a young woman in a pink dress, her hair tied up in a neat ponytail. She carefully outlined the details of the job, focusing on the locations for the filming and what she would need to do. Her gaze would occasionally stray to Jiang Se’s face, and a dazed expression would appear on her face.

“Excuse me,” she said with a contrite smile and looked down at the file in her hand. Apparently, she noticed her own gaffe after it happened a few more times and embarrassedly shook her head. “Anyway, if nothing major happens, then your shooting schedule should proceed as planned. You are slotted between the end of July and the first week of September. There aren’t that many scenes so you should be done in a few days, five at most if things go accordingly.”

This type of slot-based scheduling was arranged because filming would generally center around the movie’s male and female leads while the rest of the cast adjusts accordingly, especially in case of an ‘accident.’

Jiang Se was well aware of this and had no complaints; it was a common practice in every industry, and since she was just a rookie, it was only natural that she would have to make room for the bigger stars. 

Seeing that Jiang Se had no questions, the young woman brought out the contract and pushed it over to Jiang Se for a look.

She was not yet signed to any management company, nor was an attorney available to her, so Jiang Se could only pour through it carefully by herself. She slid the paper closer and went over the contract line by line, going over the particulars several times. There was no look of impatience on her face, which surprised the young woman, but instead it was one of concentration.  

Jiang Se was the only candidate who had so far passed Sun QiMing’s screening; based on what the young woman had observed as she passed by the conference room, the remaining candidates had all so far failed. There was no need then to rush Jiang Se so the woman merely glanced at her wristwatch and quietly waited for her to finish.

With only about nine pages, the contract was not particularly lengthy. The rules and regulations stipulated were straightforward as were the consequences in the case of a breached contract, several more minutes went by and Jiang Se finally nodded her head and looked up while she pushed the contract back towards the young woman: “The remuneration is not specified?”

“Ah, yes. With regards to the remuneration…” the young woman began, glancing at Jiang Se.

This beautiful young girl sitting in front of her was clearly a newbie in the circle, and was definitely not some big star, yet, somehow she still felt an invisible pressure coming off of her. Jiang Se did not do or say anything unusual in the time they sat in the room, in all honesty, the only thing that went through her mind when she saw her was that ‘Jiang Se looked very young.’ Nevertheless, the amount the young woman in the pink unconsciously decided to offer to this ‘Miss Zhang’ was the highest the crew allowed for the role.

“The crew would like to offer you 7,500 yuan, which would be about 6,000 after tax,” the young woman continued, unthinkingly biting her lip. “The pay is usually settled by giving an advance payment of 30% of the total first, then the remaining 70% will be given after your scenes are done filming. If you don’t have any other problems with it we can go ahead with the signing and I can transfer the 30% immediately. What do you think?”

Jiang Se noticed the young woman’s shift in attitude and surmised there was no room for negotiation. A look of remorse had briefly flashed across her face, and her brows had tightened into a frown once she finished speaking—Jiang Se could not help but be suspicious.

Jiang Se was mildly amused but also very satisfied. The amount was more than she had expected to receive. Not wanting to dwell on it too long, she nodded in confirmation, grabbed a pen, and started signing her name as Party B.

“I’ll write down my contact number another time, is that okay?” Jiang Se asked as she placed her signature on the final page.

“That’s okay but try to do it as soon as possible,” the young woman readily agreed. She then took out a seal and stamped it on the relevant areas as Party A, then neatly put away one of the contracts.

“Oh, by the way, are you eighteen yet?”

The country’s laws mandated that citizens could apply for their driver’s license and would be granted certain privileges at the age of sixteen.This did not, however, imply that sixteen-year-olds could be regarded as adults legally.

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Only after reaching the age of majority, or eighteen, could someone be freed from their parents’ custody.

For citizens below eighteen, legally binding contracts required at least one parent or guardian to be present, signing and making the decisions for them on their behalf.

It goes without saying that Jiang Se would never ask Du ChangQun or Zhou Hui to go with her because if she did, the money would never get to her at all.

Jiang Se nonchalantly nodded and smiled as she thought of the contract. “Of course.”

With a straight face, Jiang Se made a bald-faced lie and the young woman did not doubt her one bit.

“In that case, follow me then,” the young woman said with a nod then efficiently gathered all the documents and placed them firmly back in her folder.

Jiang Se obediently trailed after her and for about an hour, did rounds in the various departments, completing all the formalities required. Later, when she received the check, Jiang Se became distracted.

She held the check up to her face and saw the amount 1,800 yuan. She savored the conflicting feelings of both relief and doubt inside of her. This was the most amount of money she had held ever since she woke up in this body, not to mention that there were still another 70% she was to receive in about more than a month. It took her only half a day to get more than what Du ChangQun would have to work for in half a month’s time. She absentmindedly smoothed out the check with her fingers a few more times, then folded it in half and stuffed it inside her jeans pocket.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she walked with the staff to the office entrance and then waved goodbye once she reached the lobby. The number of applicants seemed to have doubled in the time she was gone, and the open area was nearly packed with young people.

Multiple gazes filled with envy and amazement flitted her way when they saw the staff nod at her in farewell. The place was even busier than before, with lots of gorgeous women and handsome men patiently waiting for their turn to take the screen test among the crowd.

Jiang Se took a cursory look around the room but still did not see Lu BaoBao’s figure. Perhaps she was not coming at all.

Jiang Se went to the elevator and immediately descended to the first floor. She went to the corresponding bank and had the check converted to cash right away. 

She exited the building and wandered around the area for a while looking for the electronics section. Even though she had frequented this area of the city before, she was completely unable to recall where the electronics stores were. 

After searching for over an hour, she finally found a small store and paid 300 yuan for the most basic mobile phone. She applied for a number, put some money on it, and as a result, the amount of cash she had left fell to 1,600 Yuan plus change.

She debated what to do with the rest of the money. She was still living with the Du family, after all, she was not allowed to lock her door.

From her observations in the past month, Zhou Hui was very casual about entering and leaving her room, regardless of her opinions. It would be unsafe to leave the money as Jiang Se did before, slipping in between the pages of a notebook, as she could not be sure whether or not Zhou Hui would also look through her belongings one day.

In the end, Jiang Se decided to open a bank account and deposited 1,600 yuan in. She left herself several small changes, just enough for her daily use.

Jiang Se made a quick trip back to the ‘From Make Believe to Reality’ film crew and gave them her phone number. With her last errand out of the way, she returned home and patiently awaited the outcome of her college entrance exam.  

__________

On June 17, Jiang Se returned to school and filled in the application form of her college choices. Her classroom advisor frowned unhappily when she saw Jiang Se’s first choice: the imperial capitals’ top university. In a gentle but firm voice, the teacher tried to counsel her against it and listed several key schools that were ‘up to her level.’

Choosing the right university was a major event for any person and the teacher had personally seen Jiang Se’s continuous hard work and progress throughout the last month. She had seen Jiang Se gradually improve her grades and move up the school rankings, so now that the situation had reached this point, she fervently hoped that her student would not make the wrong decision and choose a university that was out of her league.

Jiang Se smiled and nodded politely as she listened to the teacher passionately persuade her, even so, Jiang Se did not change her mind.

The teacher sighed and lamented to herself, Jiang Se acted too carelessly about her choice, following along with her mood and failing to recognize her own true abilities. She had a sneaking suspicion that Jiang Se only did this out of vanity, as if she were trying to prove something to herself or appease her ego.

She had taught Jiang Se for many years and she had some understanding of the young girl’s nature.

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