Chapter 58 Joining the Cast

For Chinese Entertainment, or more specifically for Karen Tsai, the benefits of Shen Yan's rising popularity were self-evident!

After all, he was just a supporting actor in both dramas.

And in *The Vigilantes In Masks*, he was even... the primary antagonist!

His acting fee had already been negotiated: fifty thousand yuan for *A Weaver on the Horizon*, and fifty thousand yuan for *The Vigilantes In Masks* as well...

Contracts for both dramas had been signed before he gained any real fame.

Of course, at this stage, he was still the least well-known cast member in *The Vigilantes In Masks*...

As for the main lineup, Wallace Huo went without saying—he had been famous for a long time. Xing Yu had been a film actor ever since *Kung Fu*. Liu Shishi... *Chinese Paladin 3* was still airing!

As for Ma Tianyu, he also counted as a senior in the industry; back then, his song *Damn Tender* was a nationwide sensation...

Thinking of *Damn Tender*, Shen Yan suddenly realized what his upcoming debut EP was missing—it lacked a runaway hit, the kind of song that would sweep across the entire country...

Tracks like *A Little Bit*, *Stray Birds*, and *Light*... even *Shan Hai* and *Better Go Home and Drink Tap Water* leaned a bit too much towards the niche side.

He really needed to "write" a few familiar crowd-pleasers!

Traditional Mandopop ballad love songs were the easiest to popularize...

*If Love Has Forgotten*, *Chasing the Dream's Innocent Heart*, *Unable to Learn*, *The Brightest Star in the Night Sky*—all of these could be arranged...

Right, there were also *Dida*, *Hello Tomorrow*, and *Cruel Moonlight*...

Just as he was pondering, the car had already pulled up in front of the hotel...

Oh, right, the vehicle arranged for him by the company.

A Mercedes-Benz business edition, worth eight hundred thousand yuan.

After some custom modifications costing about fifty thousand yuan, it served well as a place to rest...

The company had footed the bill for this.

After all, Shen Yan now counted as a proper celebrity, however large or small.

***

The filming locations for *The Vigilantes In Masks* were mostly in Hengdian, and the hotel provided by Chinese Entertainment was quite decent.

They had switched to a new hotel this time.

Shen Yan was still staying in a suite; the outer room featured a sofa and coffee table for receiving guests, while the inner room contained a bathroom, a bedroom, and a small balcony.

The windows in the room could be opened completely, providing decent ventilation.

Shen Yan hadn't brought much luggage, just two large suitcases...

A few pieces of clothing and some shoes...

This time, there was an extra Doraemon plush toy and a water cup, both gifts from Shishi.

She had said that she had a Doraemon plush toy herself, so Shen Yan had to have one too!

In return, Shen Yan had bought her a bracelet...

And two sets of Guan Aiyi...

Which were traditional Chinese bodice undergarments...

***

What a pity, no opportunity to test them out yet!

After unpacking and preparing to lie down for a short rest, he received a call from Shishi.

"I'm at the hotel..."

"I knew you'd arrive!"

"...What's wrong? Miss me?"

"I've made plans with Wallace and Ma Tianyu, want to grab a bite together later?"

"...Okay... Is Alina Zhang not an option?"

Shishi explained: "She's a special guest star; she won't join the crew until next month..."

Shen Yan remarked, "Oh, what a pity!"

"What? Do you like her?"

"No, I have scenes opposite her..."

"I'm waiting for you downstairs..."

"Alright, I'll be there in five minutes!"

He quickly freshened up, washing his face and straightening his hair—he currently had long hair, aiming for a Japanese Miyamoto Musashi topknot look...

As for filming, wearing a wig cap would do the trick!

Downstairs, Shishi was sitting on the lobby sofa playing with her phone, wearing a spaghetti-strap mini dress...

Shen Yan sneaked up behind her and covered her eyes: "Guess who I am?"

"...Big brother, at least try changing your voice!"

Shen Yan leaned over and gave her a quick kiss: "I forgot the moment I saw you..."

Shishi hurriedly pushed him away: "...There are so many people here..."

Shen Yan sat down right next to her: "It's fine, they're all hotel staff, they have professional standards!"

Shishi looked at him with a hint of tenderness and handed him a cup of coffee: "...You must be exhausted these past few days?"

Shen Yan took it and took a small sip: "...It's alright, quite novel, a lot of things are first-time experiences..."

Indeed, they were all firsts...

Music festivals, performing on the Global Chinese Music Awards, media interviews, and magazine photo shoots...

Right, he had shot a couple of magazines, not extremely famous ones, called *BQ Beijing Youth Weekly* and *UDesign*...

Third-tier fashion magazines!

After all, he had just debuted, and he wasn't one to suck up to the fashion circle anyway...

According to Ji Xiang, there were too many non-straight men in that circle; once you became famous enough, they would come crawling to suck up to you!

At most, Shen Yan was open to older women; fencing with men was an absolute impossibility!

The two chatted briefly before heading out to the restaurant...

***

After *Fast and Furious*—wait, *The Proud Twin*—no, *The Legendary and the Hero*—after *The Royal Swordsmen*, Wallace Huo had become quite famous, but unfortunately, his subsequent works couldn't exactly be called major hits...

Xu Changqing from *Chinese Paladin 3* was yet another breakout role for him.

He was quite grateful to Chinese Entertainment, which was why he accepted *The Vigilantes In Masks*...

Shen Yan felt rather... sympathetic towards Wallace Huo. He had been driven crazy on the set of *Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace*...

Initially, he thought Wallace's acting was subpar, but later, as details about *Ruyi's Royal Love* emerged, his sympathy grew...

Wallace's acting habit was to memorize his script lines thoroughly the night before.

When filming *Ruyi*, he would go to the set the next day only to be confronted with a "new script" completely rewritten on the spot by Sanjin according to her whims.

Furthermore, Wallace had zero say in that crew; whenever he made suggestions, the director and producer would completely ignore them. During the scene where he delivers a sobering hangover soup, Wallace suggested they skip the physical struggle and just drop the bowl, but the entire crew ignored him and went strictly according to Zhou's suggestions.

After finishing *Ruyi's Royal Love*, Wallace took a break of several years...

Many people said his acting was poor, but no—with the way *Ruyi* was acted out, if you brought in Chen Daoming, Chen Baoguo, and Tang Guoqiang to try it one by one, none of them could have pulled it off either...

You memorize your lines all night only to have them all changed on you the next day, and your co-star doesn't even receive your cues, acting entirely in their own world—how could anyone maintain a connection?

Oh, and Sanjin not only gave the male lead the cold shoulder, she ignored the director too—behind-the-scenes footage of the scene where "Ruyi sends her child to school" showed the director suggesting the Emperor should walk out first, but Ruyi insisted on walking out first herself. When the director weakly suggested, "Then at least give a bow before leaving," Ruyi completely ignored him and turned around to walk away.

This directly undermined the Emperor's authority...

When actors perform, there still needs to be logic. Once you lose the ability to sort out the logic, you have no idea what expression to make or what emotion to project.

Anyway, today's meeting was just to get acquainted, since Wallace genuinely didn't know Shen Yan yet.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, getting to know one another, and having a meal, they parted ways.

Shen Yan and Liu Shishi returned to the hotel as well...

Although the two of them desperately wanted to go out for a stroll, it wasn't appropriate; Shishi was quite popular right now...

Most importantly, having not seen each other for a long time, both of them were practically bursting with pent-up energy!

Thus, dry tinder meeting blazing fire, positive energy erupting, joyful rounds of applause, intoxicating melodies, moving from the sofa to the balcony...

Feel free to combine these phrases into sentences however you like...

It was a completely normal occurrence; young lovers reunited after a long separation would mostly end up in a storm of passion.

Romance, to a large extent, is something built through physical action.

That quote by Eileen Chang was quite right...

After taking a shower, Shen Yan suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, you should play the female lead in that movie of mine!"

"...Didn't you say Li Bingbing is the female lead?"

"Li Bingbing is the adult female lead, and you'll be the female lead during her school days..."

Shishi nodded: "Sure, I don't have much planned for next year anyway... Though, to be honest, I don't really like this female lead character."