My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 124

Gu Zhinan’s mind was buzzing. He knew that making movies was expensive, but this expensive?

Four million?!

He could marry the most beautiful girl in the city back home with that kind of money! The town’s beauty queen wouldn’t even make his shortlist anymore.

Gu Zhinan fell into deep thought. An idea suddenly sprang up in his mind and the more he thought about it, the more it grew, refusing to go away. With that thought, his expression turned solemn as he stared at Lai Jingming.

“Fatty, if I give you four million, you can make this movie, right? I’m not looking to fund some garbage film.”

Lai Jingming blinked and looked down at the script of A Little Thing Called First Love in his hands. He murmured, “I can. I haven’t directed anything myself, but I’ve studied how a lot of directors work.”

But then he looked at Gu Zhinan in disbelief. “You want to be my boss?”

“Boss?” That hadn’t even crossed Gu Zhinan’s mind. He’d just had a sudden moment of clarity, money comes and goes. No point clinging to it so tightly.

He clenched his teeth. His normally delicate face contorted slightly in pain as he looked at Lai Jingming. “If this movie loses money, I’ll personally drag your ass to the morning market and hang you up for sale!”

He didn’t even have enough money himself. The only person he could think of turning to was his landlord. She was basically a little tycoon now. Gu Zhinan figured he’d try to borrow a million from her, and once the sales from the new single came in, it would offset the debt.

But would she actually agree to lend it? That was the real problem.

After all, a million was something he wouldn’t have even dared dream about in his past life. Guess the success had gone to his head…

“I don’t need it,” Lai Jingming mumbled. “I’ll go work on a film crew and save up.”

“For how long? Five years? Ten? Even if you get in, you think you’ll be the one calling the shots on investments?”

Gu Zhinan hit him with a barrage of hard truths, leaving Lai Jingming speechless.

“Stop being dramatic. I’ve still got a little cash. My parents run a small supermarket back home. They’re self-sufficient now and loving life.”

Lai Jingming had nothing more to say. Gu Zhinan didn’t bother with him any further. He walked outside, pulled out his phone, and scrolled to his landlord’s number. Strangely, he felt a bit nervous.

After all, she’d just handed him 1.6 million yuan in sales money a couple of days ago. And now he was about to ask for a loan, would she think he was doing something shady in Hangzhou?

Meanwhile, Xia An’ge had just returned to Haipu and gone straight to Starlight Entertainment. She found Lian Mingzhi to submit her request to change the album’s title to Love Song and make the song Love Song its lead track.

Lian Mingzhi was baffled. He hadn’t known she’d left Lin City at all, he just assumed she’d been resting at the artists’ dorm for two days.

No one at Starlight Entertainment dared interfere with Xia An’ge anymore, let alone send someone to spy on her. As long as you kept things civil, she’d still cooperate with certain arrangements. That’s why they’d been letting her do her thing.

But then, out of nowhere, she showed up that afternoon and requested a change to the album and lead single. Lian Mingzhi was stunned. Why the sudden change after just two days of rest?

“Did you write a song?”

That was his first instinct, if she wrote something herself and it was good, then making it the lead track wouldn’t be a problem. But Xia An’ge shook her head and gave him an even bigger surprise.

“Gu Zhinan wrote it.” 

He wrote another one? This guy, who debuted with a chart-topping double hit and even won a Golden Melody songwriting award, was now the hottest name in Lian Mingzhi’s mind!

Tons of entertainment companies were trying to get in touch with him. But none had succeeded. Gu Zhinan left no contact info behind.

The Chinese Lit.Net. was like a piece of sticky gum, you couldn’t shake it off. And that editor-in-chief, Cheng Mengxi, had them all dancing in circles. So Starlight Entertainment decided to set their sights on the most obvious connection, Xia An’ge.

They’d tried multiple times to get her to share Gu Zhinan’s contact details, hoping to recruit him with the best terms possible. But Xia An’ge kept her stance vague. Even though they offered her the kind of deal usually reserved for top-tier stars like Yue Wen, her response was always the same:

“I’ll think about it. There’s still time.” There were still four months left, but they were getting anxious. Lian Mingzhi didn’t know much about music, so when Xia An’ge’s sharp-tongued manager handed him the music sheet, he immediately called in the music director.

After reading the sheet, the director looked at Xia An’ge in astonishment.

He approved the switch on the spot. With the professionals on board, Lian Mingzhi had no choice but to agree, even though it raised more questions in his mind about Gu Zhinan. Still, he had no better option.

Word soon got around to Yue Wen and Qu Taoyu. Yue Wen was eaten up with jealousy, but she couldn’t do a thing, her authority within Starlight Entertainment had been curbed!

She was fuming, but even her father warned her not to try anything foolish.

Capitalists only care about profits.

Qu Taoyu, meanwhile, had stopped feeling jealous and started admiring Xia An’ge. Seeing Yue Wen’s behavior these past few days made her realize, Xia An’ge had truly taken flight.

Ring…

The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered, just as Gu Zhinan was about to give up. No one spoke at first, but he could hear her slightly uneven breathing.

“Back in Haipu?”

Xia An’ge’s cheeks were flushed, she’d been dragged to the gym by Cheng Mengying and Ruan Ying. They had the nerve to say she was getting fat!

She saw the call from Gu Zhinan, and once she noticed her two friends weren’t around, she quickly stepped onto the balcony to answer.

Her breathing was still a little off.

“Mhm.” She answered softly.

Gu Zhinan was nervous. It was his first time asking a girl for money. “What are you doing?”

“Gym workout.”

“Losing weight?” He blurted it out and instantly, her breathing got even heavier.

“None of your business!”

Uh oh. Gu Zhinan felt the air shift. He scrambled to fix it.

“I already told you, didn’t I? You’re not fat. Your figure is perfect, golden ratio, seriously. Instead of running around, you should be eating more!”

“Shut up!” Xia An’ge bit her lip, clearly annoyed. Her face flushed even deeper. He totally said she was fat back then!

Gu Zhinan winced. The line fell quiet for a bit. Then he finally asked, cautiously, “Do you have any money to lend me?”

Lend him money? Xia An’ge was puzzled. Didn’t he just get 1.6 million yuan from the single?

“How much?”

“Uh… a million?” She didn’t respond for a long while.

Gu Zhinan quietly added, “500k is fine too. If the worst comes to worst, I’ll give up all future royalties from Love Song…”

Xia An’ge pouted, clearly displeased. This idiot!

“Fine.”

“You agree?!”

“Mhm. But I have one condition.” Her bright eyes gleamed mischievously.

“You still owe me one too. How about we call it even?”

Gu Zhinan’s eyes lit up. He chuckled, “Then we’re square?”

“Not lending anymore!”

“…” Gu Zhinan broke into a cold sweat. That switch-up was way too fast! “No no no! I agree, I agree!”

“Good.” Her voice carried a hint of delight.

“I haven’t thought of the favor yet, but when I do, you have to say yes. No take-backs.”

Great. Just like how he did it back then.

Gu Zhinan sighed. The landlord sure learned how to play the game fast. He could only nod helplessly. Once she got his agreement, Xia An’ge’s lips curved into a satisfied smile. She took a deep breath of the rooftop air, and even felt less tired from the workout.

“I’ll have Mengying wire it to you tomorrow.”

She let her manager Cheng Mengying manage her personal funds, like a mini housekeeper.

“An’ge! We bought milk tea!” Ruan Ying’s voice rang from the elevator outside. Gu Zhinan heard it too, and of course, so did Xia An’ge.

“I’m hanging up. Bye!” She sounded a little flustered. Gu Zhinan answered quickly, and then she ended the call.

What was that about? And weirdly, she didn’t even ask what he needed the money for. He had this whole speech prepared, too.

“An’ge!” Cheng Mengying walked in sipping milk tea and handed Xia An’ge a bottle of lemon water. Just as she stepped back onto the treadmill, the two girls were sizing her up.

“Did you slack off?” Cheng Mengying narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Xia An’ge shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. She took a sip of her water and stammered, “No.”

She only took a call from that brute Gu Zhinan. 

“Really?”

Xia An’ge looked away, eyes drifting to Ruan Ying fiddling with the treadmill. Then her eyes widened in horror. Crap!

“Gotcha! You totally slacked off! The treadmill was off for over ten minutes!”

“What?!” Cheng Mengying jumped up instantly.

Startled, Xia An’ge jolted and nearly toppled over. Her peach blossom eyes looked almost teary. Cheng Mengying softened, about to say something when Ruan Ying ran over.

“Add ten more minutes! Don’t go easy on her!” Ruan Ying said righteously, “She weighs 97 pounds now! Don’t let her height fool you, if she were our height, she’d be chubby!”

“I’m not fat!”

“Then get back on and run.”

Xia An’ge couldn’t take their looks any longer. She angrily slurped her lemon water and stomped back onto the treadmill.

“I don’t think An’ge is fat,” Cheng Mengying whispered, eyes a bit too appreciative. “She’s got all the right curves in all the right places. Hehehe.”

“Shush!” Ruan Ying rolled her eyes. Xia An’ge used to stay between 90 and 94 pounds. Now she is way over! No idea who spoiled her so much!