When I Woke Up, I Had Three Romantic Partners - Chapter 38

“In that case…”

Before Chi Jinqing could finish her sentence, she heard Zhuge Wei say, “Actually, there’s an even simpler way.”

Chi Jinqing, who was about to ask for a loan, closed her mouth and asked, “What method?”

Zhuge Wei cleared her throat: “I’ve been preparing an album recently, and I’m still missing a chorus partner or a backup dancer. For story-based backup dancing, I can give you fifty thousand per second. For singing, I can give you five hundred thousand for one song. How does that sound?”

The price she offered was extraordinarily high, a standard many people couldn’t reach.

“Backup dancer?”

It wasn’t that Chi Jinqing didn’t want it, but the main point was…

“I can’t dance.”

She had never learned to dance and wasn’t from a dance troupe. However, compared to dancing, her singing was even worse. Fans had even given her the nickname “Double Trash in Singing and Dancing.”

While others sang for money, her singing was a danger to life.

Zhuge Wei:

Although it was true, she believed that as long as one put in the effort, these weren’t problems.

“Anyway, the MV is just a recording. You can practice the part you need to sing thoroughly, record it once you’ve practiced well, and that’s it.”

“And the dancing isn’t particularly difficult. You can find a teacher. Since you haven’t joined the cast yet, you can practice slowly. My album isn’t very urgent; I still have about half a year.”

She was genuinely considering Chi Jinqing, having thought of almost everything for her, from the price to other aspects. All that was left was for Chi Jinqing to nod.

Chi Jinqing was still hesitant: “But…”

Her sister’s illness couldn’t wait.

“Money isn’t an issue. I can pay you in advance. Then, when the album is released, we’ll calculate your final price based on your screen time and the number of songs you feature in.”

Zhuge Wei reassured her, “This way, you don’t have to worry about your loan amount increasing.”

While that was true, the next period would be very demanding.

Chi Jinqing gritted her teeth: “Alright, I accept.”

Zhuge Wei liked her straightforwardness and immediately transferred the money to her on the spot.

“You don’t have to worry too much. You’ll definitely have free time to practice after you finish filming your next drama. I’ll speak to your manager; she’ll agree.”

After all, the manager still wanted to cooperate with her and didn’t know yet that she had sold her out, so she would grant her this favor.

Sure enough, with Zhuge Wei stepping in, the matter became much simpler.

Su Yunhui thought about it and agreed, promising to keep Chi Jinqing’s schedule clear for the few months after she finished filming the drama, not accepting any commercials or other scripts for her.

Zhuge Wei shook her phone: “She agreed.”

Chi Jinqing sighed in relief. She was genuinely afraid that Su Yunhui wouldn’t agree. She couldn’t accept work privately without her manager and the company; otherwise, she would be penalized.

She was in a hurry now and couldn’t afford any penalties. It was great that Su Yunhui agreed.

“Don’t worry. You just need to focus on filming and practicing the songs. I’ll personally teach you the pitch and singing, and the dancing too.”

She was professionally trained, her skills were solid, and since she choreographed and wrote the songs herself, she knew exactly how to dance to make the routine as elegant and refined as possible.

Chi Jinqing: “What about the teaching fee…”

Zhuge Wei: “Tsk, could I possibly charge you?”

She was already giving Chi Jinqing money; how could she ask for money back?

Chi Jinqing thought Zhuge Wei misunderstood that she didn’t want to pay and quickly shook her head, “No, it’s not that I don’t want to pay…”

Zhuge Wei: “I know.”

“But don’t relax too much. My requirements are very strict. If you can’t meet my standards within the specified time, I’ll be very fierce.”

She said gravely, “I’ve polished this album for a long time, and I want you to look your absolute best in it, so I will be very strict with you.”

Chi Jinqing nodded heavily: “Mhm, I will try my best to do the best I can.”

Zhuge Wei stood up and took a deep breath: “Alright, I’m leaving now. The porridge should be cold by now, so don’t drink it. Just throw it away.”

Chi Jinqing: “Okay.”

After Zhuge Wei left, Little He wheeled the dining table in. Curious about what the two discussed, she arranged the cutlery while saying, “Sister, have some porridge. I just had this fresh millet porridge delivered; it’s still hot.”

“Good.”

The porridge was cooked very soft. After two sips, her stomach felt warm. Chi Jinqing picked up her phone, glanced at it, and transferred the money to her father.

He received the money without saying anything, presumably going to make the payment.

Chi Jinqing put down her phone, ignored the chat bubble that popped up from Si Jiamo, deleted the chat history with her father, and tossed the phone to Little He. She stirred the porridge and said lightly, “You reply for me.”

Little He fumbled to catch it. Seeing that it was a message from Si Jiamo, she looked troubled: “Sister…”

“Just reply anything.”

Chi Jinqing didn’t want to see the other person’s message at all.

Little He said miserably, “Okay.”

She gave Si Jiamo a stiff reply on WeChat. The other party asked if Chi Jinqing wanted to eat anything and offered to order it for her.

Little He replied that she was eating millet porridge and didn’t need anything else.

Si Jiamo, who was reading character bios and the script, picked up her phone and frowned slightly. This situation clearly wasn’t Chi Jinqing replying herself. Chi Jinqing wouldn’t reply so seriously about what she was eating.

So, she handed the phone to someone else to reply?

Si Jiamo held her phone, listening to the director explain the general plot and ask if she needed any modifications. This script wasn’t adapted from a novel; it was an original work by Yu Zhi’s wife, who was also the associate director.

Because he had previously suggested that the plot was missing something in certain areas, whether they should add a character to emphasize the tragic nature of the story, the character added for Si Jiamo was smoothly incorporated and didn’t result in his wife’s criticism.

On the contrary, upon hearing that Si Jiamo would be acting, his wife happily took the lead, saying she would give Si Jiamo a perfect ending.

Yu Zhi quickly held his wife back with a pen, worried that she might drastically change the entire script in a fit of excitement.

And Si Jiamo, listening to the couple’s suggestions for script revisions, started to drift off, thinking about the person who replied to her WeChat message on Chi Jinqing’s phone, narrowing her eyes slightly.

A figure flashed through her mind. She pursed her lips. Was it Chi Jinqing’s assistant?

She trusted her that much already?

To the point of letting her reply to WeChat?

Si Jiamo didn’t know whether to say Chi Jinqing was too trusting, or if she just particularly wanted to ignore her.

“Jiamo, do you think writing it like this works?”

“Jiamo?”

Yu Zhi called her twice, then waved his hand in front of her eyes, saying, “Jiamo, what are you thinking about?”

Si Jiamo snapped back: “Ah, ah, what is it?”

Yu Zhi showed her the newly written script: “I was asking you, what do you think of writing it like this?”

Si Jiamo took the script and read it. Good heavens, this was probably fate specifically targeting the unfortunate.

The character she was to play was a teacher named Zhu Qi, an inappropriate teacher who enjoyed bullying Duan Rong, played by Chi Jinqing, and was an absolute pervert.

Zhu Qi was psychologically twisted. She knew Duan Rong was being bullied at school, so she used the pretense of wanting to help her, took her back, forcibly locked her up, and humiliated her.

No matter how much Duan Rong begged for mercy, she wouldn’t let her go.

She also helped her apply for leave. Since Duan Rong’s grandmother was very old and had recently been bedridden, her grandmother passed away a week later.

Si Jiamo clicked her tongue: “You truly live up to your reputation; your ideas are so unique and unconventional compared to others.”

She had never played such a disgusting character before. This was going to be a first for her.

Yu Zhi pushed up his glasses and said seriously, “Originally, Duan Rong had no salvation to speak of. The period of happiness she experienced was brought to her by Qingchen.”

“When Qingchen also leaves, she will have nothing left but a mess and grievances.”

Qingchen would later be sorted into the same class as Bai Qi, while Duan Rong would be sorted into another class. This is when this incident would occur.

The reason why literary films are literary, aside from the pure filming techniques and cinematography, is the sense of reality and brokenness.

This was what he excelled at.

“The character of Duan Rong is a very important tragic character. If Chi Jinqing portrays her well, it will be incredibly brilliant.”

Duan Rong’s background and story are very complete. Compared to Bai Qi and Qingchen’s painful youthful romance, the tragic role of Duan Rong is more capable of stirring people’s emotions.

“Jiamo, you should also challenge yourself. This kind of crazy, twisted character hasn’t been seen on your big screen yet.”

Yu Zhi’s words indicated that the script couldn’t be changed, and Si Jiamo couldn’t refuse anyway, as this was a role she had fought for herself.

Si Jiamo sighed: “I understand. I’ll play it.”

Yu Zhi looked at the script with a smile: “Great. We’ll iron out the details in the next few days. It looks like your scenes will start soon.”

Si Jiamo: “Alright.”

With the script and casting finalized, she could go back and rest.

Thinking that Chi Jinqing’s situation wasn’t very good lately, she was worried about whether playing such a role would affect her mental state.

However, filming had already begun for some time, and no matter how difficult it was, it had to continue. She sighed, guessing that after this scene, Chi Jinqing would dislike her even more.

What if this dislike carried over into reality…

She felt a headache coming on.

Back at the hotel, she originally wanted to go find Chi Jinqing, but out of concern for the other person’s health, she could only stay in her own room.

In the evening, she was about to go out to eat when she happened to run into Zhuge Wei, who was preparing to leave. It was a bit too noisy here, and the equipment wasn’t sufficient for her to compose properly.

She just hadn’t expected her luck to be so good as to be staying right next to Si Jiamo.

It was their first official meeting, and Zhuge Wei recognized Si Jiamo instantly, whereas Si Jiamo didn’t recognize Zhuge Wei.

Si Jiamo nodded at her, preparing to leave. Zhuge Wei called out to her, “Si Jiamo.”

Si Jiamo turned her head: “?”

Zhuge Wei came empty-handed and was leaving empty-handed. Si Jiamo had thought the other person was also an actress filming here, which was why she was empty-handed.

But she was slightly confused by the sudden call.

“What is it?”