Chapter 83: Rehearsal
Two days before the finals, all the contestants packed their things and headed to the hotel. They had to change the competition venue again.
This competition was going to be broadcast live, so the production team took it very seriously. There would be two days of rehearsals.
After this round, the competition would be completely over.
In the car, since only the last nine contestants were left and everyone was exhausted, the atmosphere was very quiet. It wasn't like the lively chatter during the music festival trip.
Su Jinli leaned back in his seat to take a nap, while An Zhihan fidgeted restlessly.
"What are you doing?" Su Jinli, sitting next to him, couldn't help but ask.
"I haven't argued with Wu Yu for days. It's making me uncomfortable," An Zhihan muttered.
Su Jinli sighed, not understanding An Zhihan's feelings of emptiness and loneliness, and went back to sleep.
After a while, An Zhihan shook him awake.
Su Jinli looked at him in confusion and asked, "Are we there yet?"
"Why do you sleep so intensely even in the car?" An Zhihan asked, rubbing his arm.
"Did I hit you? Does it hurt?" Su Jinli immediately reacted and leaned over to help An Zhihan rub his arm.
At this moment, Wu Yu reclined his seat and laughed at them from the back row.
An Zhihan finally seized the opportunity and asked Wu Yu, "What are you laughing at?"
"It makes me happy to see you get hit."
"Why are you like this?"
"Maybe it's because of envy, jealousy, and hatred."
After Wu Yu said this, An Zhihan was at a loss for words. It was like wanting to insult someone by calling them shameless, only for them to admit it first.
An Zhihan couldn't just say, "You're right."
Wu Yu looked at An Zhihan with a complicated expression but still smiled.
At this moment, Su Jinli leaned over and said, "Wu Yu, have you been paying attention to An Zhihan for a long time? You mentioned him the first time we had hot pot together."
Wu Yu was taken aback by the question. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "I was just curious about how you could be so close to someone like him."
"You sure are nosy," An Zhihan continued to criticize.
Wu Yu glanced at An Zhihan again but said nothing, putting in his earphones to sleep.
An Zhihan couldn't help but whisper to Su Jinli, "Is he crazy? Why does he look at me like that? It makes me uncomfortable."
That look was too complicated, making An Zhihan feel strange.
An Zhihan naturally wouldn't know that he and Wu Yu share the same family background.
An Zhihan was spoiled from a young age. Even before entering the entertainment industry, he was constantly in the news, earning a reputation as a little tyrant. When he decided to enter the entertainment industry, many people supported him.
Wu Yu, on the other hand, was an illegitimate child. His father refused to acknowledge him and even suppressed him.
Wu Yu had known about An Zhihan for a long time. His feelings were complicated, but mostly, as mentioned earlier, they were a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment…
________________________
Upon arriving at the theater, the contestants saw their previous assistants or agents waiting for them in a circle.
Su Jinli walked over and handed his luggage to Hou Yong, asking, "Can you accompany us this time?"
"Yes, you're busy with rehearsals, so we've been arranged to take care of your daily needs," Hou Yong replied.
Xiao Mi suddenly appeared in the crowd and waved at Su Jinli, "Hi, big star."
Su Jinli was surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"
"An Zhihan arranged it," Xiao Mi replied.
Su Jinli looked at An Zhihan, who turned his head and waved his hand, "No, no, no, I don't dare look. I'm afraid if I look at you, Su Jinli will beat me up."
"Not really. I don't think you like my type. I've only had double eyelid surgery," Xiao Mi said frankly.
"You had double eyelid surgery?" An Zhihan finally looked at Xiao Mi, examined her carefully, and nodded, "Not bad, it doesn't look botched."
Wu Yu stood alone with his bag, watching them from the outside. He wasn't surprised that no one came to pick him up; instead, he seemed quite calm.
Su Jinli noticed and pointed at Wu Yu, saying to Xiao Mi, "Brother Yong can take care of me. Can you help Wu Yu? He has nowhere to put his luggage."
Xiao Mi immediately made an "OK" gesture and walked over, saying, "Hello, if you don't mind, I can take your luggage to the hotel. Do you need anything prepared in your room? Like... water in the bathtub?"
Wu Yu handed his luggage to Xiao Mi, "Just leave it at the door. I'll be satisfied if the room looks like you never entered."
Xiao Mi agreed immediately.
An Zhihan couldn't help but pout after hearing this. "This guy is really hard to please, so annoying."
Su Jinli reassured Wu Yu, "Xiao Mi is very reliable."
"Leave it at the door, I'm counting on you," Wu Yu emphasized, as if to stress his point.
Xiao Mi didn't mind. She already knew Wu Yu's personality from the videos. She just picked up the bag and said to Su Jinli, "Sister Yura brought you a lot of delicious food. I'll give it to you tonight!"
"Okay, okay, okay," Su Jinli replied repeatedly.
At this moment, An Zhiyan walked over, and a group of people immediately greeted him.
An Zhiyan beckoned to Su Jinli, who ran over immediately. An Zhiyan led him backstage, stretching his neck as he walked, looking very tired.
"Why is your brother so protective?" An Zhiyan asked, turning to Su Jinli.
"Huh?" Su Jinli was caught off guard by the sudden question.
"The contract for that movie was about to be signed, but Hou Yong reported to your brother. Then, your brother's people came over to change the contract details. Shen Cheng insisted that all the dangerous scenes be done by a stunt double, which made Jiang Ting very unhappy."
Su Jinli didn't quite understand, so he asked, "Is it for safety reasons?"
"I was worried that old fox Jiang Ting would back out. We had agreed on the pay, and I wanted to sign quickly. But your brother intervened, making things awkward, like he was stirring up trouble."
"Uh... he's just concerned about me. Don't mind him. If necessary, I'll apologize on his behalf."
An Zhiyan waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, it's a minor issue. Your brother has a point. He said he'd assess your ability on set and only use a stunt double if you really can't handle it. He's worked with Jiang Ting before, so Jiang Ting knows what kind of person he is. These things can be discussed privately, but emphasizing that a newcomer needs a stunt double can make the director think you're being pretentious."
An Zhiyan had never used a stunt double in all his years of acting.
It was his first time negotiating contract details with Shen Cheng, and their styles were completely different.
An Zhiyan prioritized securing resources and was willing to make concessions on some issues.
When faced with difficulties, An Zhiyan would find a way to solve them, always managing to do so.
Shen Cheng, on the other hand, preferred to address all issues upfront, writing everything clearly in the contract from the start.
"Was it resolved?" Su Jinli asked, following An Zhiyan.
"Of course it was. Do you know how many people were vying for this role?" An Zhiyan raised four fingers. "I know of at least four, all professionally trained and popular young actors with plenty of experience."
"Oh, I'm glad it was resolved," Su Jinli sighed in relief.
"Aren't you happy? The role is yours."
Su Jinli didn't quite understand and asked, "Is the pay high?"
That was what he was most concerned about.
"Not high. You're a complete newcomer and desperately need this role, so they didn't offer much," An Zhiyan said, making a gesture.
"Eight thousand?" Su Jinli asked, thinking it wasn't much more than his salary, and he'd have to film for several months.
"Eighty thousand. Considering your screen time, it shouldn't be this low."
"Eighty thousand! That's a lot!" Su Jinli's eyes widened.
Seeing Su Jinli's reaction, An Zhiyan found his naivety endearing.
"You've got the opportunity, so make the most of it," An Zhiyan said with a smile, patting Su Jinli on the shoulder. "Let's practice our song together."
________________________
Su Jinli and An Zhiyan went on stage without changing costumes and rehearsed the song "Bird and Fish."
Initially, Su Jinli felt uneasy being alone with An Zhiyan. He didn't know how to face him.
He wasn't sure how to handle their relationship properly.
Fortunately, An Zhiyan hadn't been persistent lately and hadn't made any unreasonable demands. When they met, they only talked about work, and there were no intimate gestures.
This made Su Jinli feel very comfortable.
After they finished rehearsing, Su Jinli stood at the edge of the stage and asked An Zhiyan, "Why doesn't Boruo Pineapple value Wu Yu? He has some popularity now, but they haven't even assigned him an assistant."
An Zhiyan also found it strange. "I'm puzzled too. Boruo Pineapple has a talented newcomer like Wu Yu, so they should be securing resources for him. However, when I inquired on behalf of you, Zhihan, and Fan Qianting, there wasn't a single project Wu Yu was involved in. There was even a variety show that invited all the top nine contestants, but Boruo Pineapple declined."
"They declined an invitation?" Su Jinli asked in surprise.
An Zhiyan nodded. "It's as if they want to... freeze Wu Yu out. Maybe it's because he's too uncontrollable?"
"Indeed, Wu Yu came to this show secretly."
"But I really can't manage his affairs. My influence doesn't reach Boruo Pineapple. If you're really curious, you can ask Shen Cheng."
"Okay."
An Zhiyan glanced at his watch and then said to Su Jinli, "You should follow the rehearsal schedule. I need to talk to Fan Qianting and see if he's willing to join Sejia Legend."
"His current company doesn't seem to want to let him go."
"Don't worry. If Fan Qianting wants to join, I'll find a way to get them to release him peacefully."
"Oh..."
With that, An Zhiyan walked away without hesitation.
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