My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 127

“Holy crap, Zhinan, you really pulled that off!”

The moment Lai Jingming came out, his first words were praising how convincingly Gu Zhinan had put on an act, he was getting better at it!

Gu Zhinan was speechless. That wasn’t an act, that was just him being himself. “That guy clearly has his own plans. Anyway, he read the script, and we laid out our terms. Whether he agrees or not is up to him.”

“What terms?” Lai Jingming looked confused.

“You didn’t tell him we haven’t secured funding or cast any actors yet?” Gu Zhinan looked at him suspiciously.

“Nope!” Lai Jingming replied honestly. “While you were outside taking that phone call, he finished reading the script, and I started talking to him about dreams!”

“???” Gu Zhinan was stunned. “So you’re the damn pyramid scheme leader? You just handed him a dream on a platter?”

“Tsk, so vulgar. Don’t be so crude. Brother Situ isn’t that kind of shallow guy. He’s a dreamer, just like us!” Lai Jingming said with a straight face.

“Great, let’s keep searching. Not much hope left now. Guess all that acting was for nothing.” Gu Zhinan wanted to kick Lai Jingming straight into the flower bed.

Who jumps straight into pitching dreams without laying down the facts?

“Come with me to Beijing tomorrow. I’ve got a business meeting. I’ll transfer the money to you tomorrow, find a crew while I’m gone.” Gu Zhinan sat in the passenger seat and gave the instructions.

“Why give the money to me? You’re the director, I’m just the assistant director. I’ll go with you to Beijing Film Academy, see if I can recruit a couple of freshman actors. We don’t have the budget for big-name idols, so we’ve got to work with what we can. Let’s go together.”

“I’m the director?” Gu Zhinan pointed at himself.

“Of course. Your notes in the script already outline the whole production process. If you’re not the director, who is? With me by your side, don’t worry!”

“Can we really pull this off? Fatty, I’m telling you, I’m in debt right now!”

“Of course we can! I’ll even get you an award for fun when the time comes! Tomorrow we’ll go ‘scam,’ I mean recruit some students from the acting department. Let’s aim to start filming in early November!”

“Alright then.” Gu Zhinan nodded. The fees for hiring big-name idols were definitely beyond their tiny 4-million yuan budget.

And what if they brought in someone who’d end up dancing with chickens or something? That would be a disaster, might as well do it themselves. He even thought about convincing his landlord to play the female lead.

That idea made him laugh. With her captivating beauty, she might actually pull off the role of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. But with one look from her seductive eyes, the whole illusion would probably fall apart.

Besides, she never accepted roles in movies or TV. If she had, she’d be a household name by now. Knowing her personality, she probably turned every offer down flat.

Back at the old studio, Gu Zhinan decided to stockpile some chapters for his novel. He scheduled them for automatic release to avoid any gaps, otherwise Cheng Mengxi would kill him. Lai Jingming, on the other hand, just grabbed a blanket and pieced together a sleeping spot on the couch.

At least he was considerate.

The night passed quietly. Their flight was in the afternoon, so both of them got up early. On the second day away from his little apartment, Gu Zhinan was already feeling a bit nostalgic.

Right before noon, a message popped up on his phone, 200,000 yuan had been deposited into his bank account. He was stunned. His royalties had just come in and were already sent to his parents. This must be a loan from his landlord.

He immediately called her.

Ring…

“Hello? Teacher Gu?” It was Ruan Ying who answered, An’ge was in the studio practicing.

“Xiao Ying? Why do you have An’ge’s phone?” Gu Zhinan suddenly felt like he was being caught doing something sneaky.

“An’ge-jie is practicing that love song you wrote. It’s so beautiful!” Ruan Ying explained.

“Oh, okay then.” Gu Zhinan said a couple more words and was about to hang up.

Just then, Xia An’ge came out of the studio, and Ruan Ying quickly added, “An’ge’s out, I’ll hand the phone to her!”

A+ assistant. Gu Zhinan mentally gave Ruan Ying a thumbs-up.

“Hello.” Xia An’ge’s cool, quiet voice came through the speaker.

“Got the song down?”

“Mm.”

“When do I get to hear it?”

As soon as he brought it up, Xia An’ge remembered how his ringtone in the apartment was the first version of her playing and singing The Summer Wind.

If he hadn’t taken a call and left for Hangzhou right after, she definitely would’ve asked about it. Now that the chance had come, she pressed her lips together and responded casually.

“Your ringtone.”

Gu Zhinan was startled. He’d completely forgotten! “Ahem, I just thought it sounded good at the time, so I set it as the ringtone. It didn’t mean anything. And the song was already released by then!”

“Didn’t sound good.” Xia An’ge pouted. She hadn’t captured the right lazy, breezy feeling in the first version.

“I thought it was great. Can I hear the new love song too?”

“No.” She walked to the window in the break room, the breeze lifting her hair, her ears tinged red.

“Stingy.” Gu Zhinan chuckled, then shifted to the real reason for the call. “Why did you transfer me 200,000? Didn’t you only have 260,000 left?”

“I’ve got money.” A proud little rich girl?

“Aren’t you afraid I won’t be able to pay you back?” Gu Zhinan joked. Honestly, he wasn’t that confident, he was putting his faith in Fatty.

There was a short silence on the other end before she softly replied. “I’m not afraid.”

Gu Zhinan suddenly felt the weight of responsibility hit him.

“Gu Zhinan.”

“Yeah?”

She’d been calling him by his full name more often lately. That or “Zhinan the brute.”

“Are you going back to the apartment?”

“Maybe in a few days. I’m heading to Beijing this afternoon.” He told her the truth.

“Oh.”

They chatted for a few more minutes, ending with Gu Zhinan’s promise, “I’ll definitely find a way to pay you back.”

Xia An’ge hung up on him. Seemed a little annoyed. Gu Zhinan was kind of used to it by now, he could only smile helplessly.

“Zhinan!” Right after he hung up, Lai Jingming ran over, grinning ear to ear. “Brother Situ said he’s coming to check things out!”

Unexpected win? Gu Zhinan was pleasantly surprised.

Their flight was at four. It was still noon, so they had time to wait in the building and hope Situ Hongwei would take the bait.

Last night, Situ Hongwei couldn’t sleep. After hearing what Lai Jingming had said, he looked up Gu Zhinan and was stunned.

A 22-year-old who’d already made waves in multiple creative fields, how talented did you have to be for that?

A young man’s lofty dreams, vowing to be the best in the world.

Situ Hongwei didn’t sleep a wink. He had a family now, ran a modest bridal shop, and managed over a dozen employees. But inside, he felt empty. The dreams of his youth had turned into little more than a plaque hanging in his heart.

That plaque read, Dreams Wedding Studio.

By morning, he couldn’t focus on work. He decided to come over and see what kind of magic this Gu Zhinan and Lai Jingming could pull off. 

But when he arrived, he was stunned.

The first and second floors of the building were completely empty. Only the third floor, where Lai Jingming lived, had a few pieces of furniture left.

If this wasn’t a scam, what was?

He tried to leave, but the door was locked. Lai Jingming had locked it on his way in!

“What is this?” The last time he’d been here was six months ago, back when the place was bustling with equipment and staff.

Now it was a ghost town.

“Don’t even bring it up, it’s ancient history,” Lai Jingming waved it off with a sunny smile.

“We’re thrilled you came, Brother Situ! I believe that together, we can build our own film empire!” He slapped the table with flair.

Situ Hongwei’s smile was strained. “I didn’t say I was joining. I just came to check things out. You were too vague yesterday. I want to know the budget, the cast, this story needs young leads.”

“Budget’s 4 million. It’s an indie project. As for the cast, haven’t found anyone yet. Can’t afford big names. I’m planning to go recruit some students from Beijing Film Academy! Team’s just me and Zhinan. And now… you!”

Lai Jingming rubbed his hands eagerly. Gu Zhinan was a little embarrassed. This guy was acting way too much like a pyramid scheme boss.

“Four million? No cast? Just the two of you?” Situ Hongwei felt his head pounding. He was ready to break the door down.

“Come on, don’t be like that! It’s three of us now! You’ve read the script, it’s solid, right?” Lai Jingming chuckled.

Situ Hongwei rolled his eyes and turned to Gu Zhinan, who remained calm and collected. “I looked you up last night. You’re clearly talented. Honestly, what you said last night is one of the reasons I came back. I want to hear your thoughts.”

Caught off guard, Gu Zhinan thought for a moment and smiled. “You won’t know if dreams come true until you try. Welcome aboard?”

Situ Hongwei hadn’t expected such a blunt answer and fell silent.

Lai Jingming looked on nervously. He really needed someone like Situ, who had solid production experience, practically a co-director. They’d make sparks fly working together.

“Sigh,” Situ finally said, holding out his hand to Gu Zhinan with a smile on his square-jawed face. “For the next few months, I guess that makes you my boss, President Gu!”

Gu Zhinan quickly shook his hand, feeling a bit awkward. “Don’t call me that. Welcome aboard! As agreed, I’ll cover any losses your shop takes while we’re filming. You won’t lose money.”

But Situ just shook his head.

“If the film hits big, just give me a bigger cut. Between the investment and the shop’s overhead, not much is left.”

Gu Zhinan was surprised, then nodded seriously. “Deal!”

The most excited one was, of course, Lai Jingming. “Once Zhinan and I get back from Beijing, we’ll register the company and get things rolling!”

“What?! You haven’t even registered a company yet?” Situ Hongwei was floored. This really does feel like a scam!*

“Hehehe… just getting started,” Gu Zhinan scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.

Situ already wanted to run again.