My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 152

Gu Zhinan was chatting idly with Yu Lei when his phone suddenly rang. 

“Where are you now? When will you come back~”

Gu Zhinan quickly pulled out his phone, gave Yu Lei an apologetic smile, and stepped outside to answer.

At first, Yu Lei thought nothing of it. He had first heard Summer Wind from his wife, it was sung by some little-known singer who had shot to fame with it. He had even enjoyed listening to it for a while, and wasn’t the songwriter and singer none other than Gu Zhinan?

As Yu Lei thought about this, he realized something about the ringtone he’d just heard felt a little off… but he couldn’t quite figure out what.

“Landlord?” Gu Zhinan stepped into a quiet stairwell corner before picking up the call. It was noisy on the other end, along with the sound of announcements, it sounded like she was at the airport.

“Where are you?” Xia An’ge asked calmly while waiting to board her flight. She had suddenly wanted to hear that rascal Gu Zhinan’s voice, especially since Ruan Ying had gone off to handle check-in. She forced down her restless feelings as she asked.

“Beijing Film Academy.” Hearing her voice instantly reminded Gu Zhinan of how she’d cried like a mess last night in the haunted house, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

The moment Xia An’ge heard him laughing, she felt annoyed, she knew he was laughing at her! She frowned, biting her red lips under the mask in embarrassment and anger. “What are you laughing at?”

“I remembered something that made me happy.”

“What?”

“I’m not afraid of ghosts.”

“Gu Zhinan!” Xia An’ge’s earlobes instantly flushed red. This awful guy really knew how to poke her sore spots! Stupid straight man!

“Just kidding, just kidding. Heading back to Haipu?”

“Mhm.” Xia An’ge sounded glum, obviously still a little upset. “When are you coming back to the apartment?” 

Gu Zhinan had been away for days. “Not sure yet. Maybe in the next couple of days. I can’t let Legend of Sword and Fairy go without updates for too long, the outline’s all in the apartment.”

“Oh.” Xia An’ge pouted. She felt he was brushing her off again. ‘Next couple of days, next couple of days,’ always the same excuse. She got annoyed. “Bye.”

Beep, beep, beep…

Staring at the disconnected call, Gu Zhinan sighed helplessly. The landlord’s moods were really unpredictable. She’d been so cute last night at the amusement park.

Putting his phone back in his pocket, he spotted Lai Jingming coming up the stairs. His expression didn’t look great. Gu Zhinan waited as Lai Jingming reached him. “Not going well?”

Lai Jingming shook his head. “Professor Yu Lei’s class has good students. I picked several, they all agreed to come to Hangcheng with Chen Yuze. The pay depends on the role. The ‘best friend’ types get 20,000 each, the extras who just need to show their face won’t get paid but we’ll reimburse travel costs when they’re called in.”

“Give everyone something.” Gu Zhinan disagreed. Every effort deserved some reward. “Why the sour face if things went well?”

Lai Jingming’s expression grew awkward for a moment, but then he forced a smile. “I ran into some unpleasant people.”

Unpleasant people? Gu Zhinan thought for a moment, then nodded seriously. “Say goodbye to Professor Yu, then I’ll take you back to Hangcheng to ‘cleanse your eyes.’”

They returned to the tea room just as Yu Lei was coming out.

“Yuze said you two finished choosing. I was wondering where you’d gone. It’s almost noon. How about lunch at my place?” Yu Lei offered. He lived nearby, having bought a house close to the campus.

Gu Zhinan politely waved his hands. “No need to trouble you, Professor Yu. We’re heading straight back to Hangcheng, we have a tight schedule. When the movie’s done, I’ll treat you to a big feast!”

Yu Lei laughed heartily and didn’t insist, he just reminded them not to mistreat his students.

After saying their goodbyes, Gu Zhinan and Lai Jingming decided to walk out of the campus rather than ride the shuttle cart, might as well enjoy the sight of this grand “dream factory” for actors.

“So, who’d you see? One or both of them?” Gu Zhinan asked. Only those two traitors could upset Lai Jingming like this.

“Both. They’re picking seasoned fourth-year students from Beijing Film Academy to take to Hengdian.” Lai Jingming answered seriously. “We need to hurry and start filming, aim to release our film alongside theirs after New Year. Crush them.”

Just as he finished speaking, a shuttle cart stopped beside them. Turning their heads, they saw it was full of those traitors. The strong aura they gave off made Gu Zhinan squint slightly.

“Lai Jingming? I thought you looked familiar.” The first to speak wasn’t either of the two leaders, but a former lackey from Lai Jingming’s old studio, also a student here.

“What are you doing at Beijing Film Academy?” Lu Gao Chi asked, but his gaze was on Gu Zhinan. Gu Zhinan smiled harmlessly and innocently.

“None of your damn business.” Lai Jingming shot back without hesitation, one of those rare gems not polished by years of “civilized manners.”

“What did you say? Can’t even speak properly? Seeing your face makes me want to scrub my eyes clean!”

“Trash stays trash.” Their old lackey sneered at him.

“I heard you’re shooting a movie?”

“None of your business! You couldn’t even set up a camera angle before, you begged me to teach you, remember? What now, begging your new sugar daddy?” Lai Jingming spat venom like a mad dog, making the guy blush with shame but unable to retort.

“You think you can shoot a film? Even with Professor Liu helping you, I heard him slip up. Four million budget? What’ll you shoot, a one-take film?” Lan Fang chuckled without hiding her disdain, looking down on him more and more.

Lai Jingming spat. “Bitch, I will shoot this film. And when your movie premieres, so will mine!“

“Hahaha!”

“Hahahaha!”

His words drew laughter from Lu Gao Chi, Lan Fang, and the rest of their crew.

“Let’s not pretend here, four million wouldn’t even buy shoe polish for my crew. Where’s your confidence coming from?”

Lu Gao Chi sneered arrogantly.

“You two? Compete with me? My film has a fifty-million investment! Starring the hottest idol! You think you can match that? Four million? Hengdian extras king?”

Lai Jingming’s face turned red, fists clenched tightly, ready to punch that disgusting face. But Gu Zhinan smiled. Lai Jingming was still too young, so easy to provoke. He patted his shoulder and smiled gently.

“Want to hear a song?” He said it to Lu Gao Chi with an innocent, harmless smile. Lu Gaochi and Lan Fang’s expressions immediately changed, they knew what kind of troublemaker this guy could be, terrified he’d really start singing to humiliate them here and now.

“Fatty Lai, remember what you said! I’ll be waiting to see you release your film alongside mine!”

With that parting shot, Lu Gao Chi told the driver to leave, giving them nothing but a retreating back to stare at.

“So those two traitors are also here, scouting for Professor Yu’s students?”

Lai Jingming nodded. “I saw them just now. I sent Chen Yuze and Meng Xingye to find out, they’re picking senior students for supporting roles. The leads are supposed to be a top traffic idol, but they haven’t revealed who yet, probably saving it for the launch ceremony.”

“What’s the film?”

“Magic City” a romantic sci-fi film.”

Gu Zhinan was stunned. Sci-fi and romance? Why not just blow stuff up and fight villains instead?

But fifty million in special effects… Gu Zhinan realized he had no clue what this world’s CGI quality was like. Time to brush up.