Signing a Contract
The first person she wanted to share with was actually Jin Shuilan.
Lu Zhenqiu lowered her head and entered the main hall. Her hand holding Maomao’s leash tightened, and she bit her lip for a few seconds before entering the elevator. It was quiet inside the elevator; she could hear her own heartbeat, each beat thundering against her eardrums. Maomao leaned against her leg, its bottom sitting directly on her shoe. Lu Zhenqiu moved her leg a little and stood ramrod straight.
After getting out of the elevator and returning home, Maomao barked once towards the opposite door as she opened hers. Afraid she would disturb others, Lu Zhenqiu quickly pulled it inside the door of her home.
Ever since they started living together, she would most often see Jin Shuilan when she opened the door. That person would either be lying slanted on the sofa, sitting and watching TV, or in the study. Now, the entire house was quiet. Sunlight shone in from the window, illuminating the living room, making it look bright and spacious.
With no one leading it, Maomao familiarly trotted onto the balcony, lowered its head, and drank water with loud lapping sounds. The noise was quite loud. Lu Zhenqiu followed it to the balcony and looked down; Jin Shuilan was already gone. Maomao squeezed over, wanting to look too. It couldn’t reach, so it put its two front paws on the windowsill. Lu Zhenqiu patted its paws, and Maomao whimpered twice before pulling back.
After getting home, Lu Zhenqiu took a quick shower. Maomao was already habitually lying at the door to Jin Shuilan’s room. Coming out of the bathroom, Lu Zhenqiu called, “Maomao.”
Maomao wagged its tail and trotted over, licking her arm. Lu Zhenqiu sat at the dressing table to blow-dry her beautiful hair, her peripheral vision occasionally glanced towards the front door. Deep down, she had a faint, contradictory feeling.
She wanted the door to be opened by someone, yet she was also afraid of it being opened.
After blow-drying her hair, Lu Zhenqiu lay directly on her bed to take a nap. Xiao Yu called her. “Have you reached home?”
“Yeah.” Lu Zhenqiu pinched the bridge of her nose. The window wasn’t closed, so she used her hand to block the sunlight. Xiao Yu said, “Have they told you which hotel we’re staying at for the streamer annual meeting?”
Lu Zhenqiu sat up. “Not yet.”
“It’s at the Huasheng Hotel1. Two people to a room. The person in my room is someone I get along with quite well. In your section, is there anyone you get along with?”
Lu Zhenqiu thought for a moment. “Me?”
She had been in this section for less than two months. Because she had occupied the number one spot on the voting charts for both months, the older streamers’ attitudes towards her were average, and she didn’t know many of the new streamers. She didn’t even know as many people as she did from the radio drama side.
She shook her head. “No one I’m very familiar with.”
“We’re not on the same floor.” Xiao Yu cursed. “Otherwise, we could have shared a room. You’d better go and ask. If it turns out to be someone difficult to get along with, that would be really annoying.”
Lu Zhenqiu agreed. After hanging up on Xiao Yu, she sent a message to the administrator. The administrator replied to her: 【This is arranged by HR. There hasn’t been a specific room notification for the entertainment section yet.】
Because the entertainment section had hosts and people with performances, the room assignments were rather late, around the time they were about to move in. Lu Zhenqiu replied with an expression pack2 and put down her phone.
She tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. She went online and browsed Weibo for a while. There were still many messages in her DMs. Besides some confessing their love for her, there were also many potential collaborators for things like massage chairs, snacks, and even adult fun products. Lu Zhenqiu, her face slightly red, replied with a “thank you” and that she wasn’t accepting promotions, then closed the dialog boxes. There were also offers for radio dramas.
Ever since her duet with Zhang Xin got on the hot search, her followers had grown by another two hundred thousand or so. Her follower count was now over four hundred thousand. In the voice acting circle, she was considered a voice actor with a relatively large number of fans, and her influence was not small. This was especially true since she didn’t have a very famous work yet, which made other studios are wriggling and wanting to move3, because finding her now meant it would be easy to create a classic character with her.
The prices they offered were each higher than the last. Lu Zhenqiu still had the drama from Bai Miao next, and she estimated it wouldn’t be finished before the new year; the earliest would be March after the new year. She replied to the drama crews one by one, explaining her schedule clearly: if they wanted to book her, it could only be after March. While she was replying to them one by one, someone sent her a private message asking if she was interested in taking on just a theme song—not voice acting, just singing the theme song.
Lu Zhenqiu’s heart was moved for two seconds. She asked for clarification. It was a radio drama adaptation of a television series. The person messaging her was the planner; she had seen that Lu Zhenqiu followed the official account for this TV series, which was why she had boldly sent a private message to ask if Lu Zhenqiu was interested in the offer.
It was a television series she liked.
Lu Zhenqiu gave her contact information, and the other party quickly added her. She kept calling her Teacher Zhenqiu, and Lu Zhenqiu felt a bit embarrassed, telling her to just call her Qiuqiu. The person said the radio drama was already in preparation, and the theme song needed to come out first. They had listened to her duet with Zhang Xin and had gone to her stream to re-watch several days of videos. Only after confirming that her vocal tone was exactly what they wanted did they dare to send a private message, and they hoped Lu Zhenqiu could give them a chance.
It was a modern urban romance drama. Lu Zhenqiu had watched it and really liked the female lead’s story of struggle. She asked the other party: 【Which drama troupe is it?】
Lili4: 【It’s the Chang’an5 Drama Troupe. Have you heard of it, Qiuqiu? We’ve produced many excellent radio dramas…】
Lu Zhenqiu’s phone almost fell onto the bed.
Chang’an!
Romance, danmei, baihe—every channel had some well-known drama troupes that were deeply rooted, the top-recommended choice in the hearts of fans.
For baihe, Ji Zibo’s drama troupe was number one, and for romance, Chang’an was number one.
The Chang’an Drama Troupe was the earliest to produce radio dramas. Back then, many people didn’t even know what a radio drama was, but they lifted the main beam6. They did both radio dramas and audiobooks, and they also made quite a few authors famous. So later, when many radio drama troupes began to emerge frequently, Chang’an was still a single branch of a flower growing beautifully alone7, steady and stable. The romance genre also has a wide audience, unlike danmei and baihe which have limitations, so they could promote without restrictions. The voice actors that Chang’an first worked with now all do specialized voice acting for television series; their prospects and fanbases are immeasurable. They are also nostalgic and remember Chang’an’s kindness, so as long as Chang’an needs them, they will help out anytime.
There was a saying in their circle: there was no cast that Chang’an couldn’t assemble, no voice actor that Chang’an couldn’t invite. Seeing the two words “Chang’an,” Lu Zhenqiu was a bit stunned. She even suspected the person on the other end was joking with her.
Zhenqiu: 【Is it really Chang’an?】
If it’s really Chang’an, then they could even book professional singers.
Lili: 【Yes, Qiuqiu, it’s Chang’an.】
Zhenqiu wasn’t a person who would suspect others, but Chang’an’s reputation was just too great. While she was still in a daze, the other party directly sent her a Weibo link. It was a trailer for a radio drama, but it didn’t announce which one. Below, people were guessing one after another. The person said: 【Qiuqiu, this is our trailer.】
Lu Zhenqiu held her phone in her hands and patted her own cheeks. Seeing her hitting herself, Maomao barked at her, woof woof woof. Its barking brought Lu Zhenqiu back to her senses. She sent: 【But I don’t have any significant works yet.】
Lili: 【That’s okay! Qiuqiu, you’re so excellent, I believe you can definitely do it.】
The other party’s words made Lu Zhenqiu’s eyes grow hot. She sent: 【Then I can give it a try.】
Lili: 【Okay! If it’s convenient, could you come directly to our studio?】
She sent an address, which was near the place Ji Zibo and the others had rented before. Lu Zhenqiu had no objection: 【Okay.】
Lili: 【Then let’s talk when we meet.】
Lu Zhenqiu breathed a sigh of relief and sent a “talk to you later.”
Right up until her stream started, she was thinking about this matter. She even went to search for the Chang’an Drama Troupe, and when she clicked “follow,” she discovered they were mutuals—the other party had already followed her. Lu Zhenqiu felt more at ease. During her stream, she kept smiling very sweetly. The bullet comments asked her: 【Is Qiuqiu very happy today?】
【Does Qiuqiu have some happy news?】
【Share it with us, Qiuqiu!】
Lu Zhenqiu smiled. “It is something I’m a little happy about. I’ll share it once it’s confirmed.”
【Yay! If wife is happy, I’m happy!】
【Don’t snatch my wife!】
【I see the rich older sister isn’t here, so you all are running wild. Aren’t you afraid of being put in the little black room8?】
【Ahem, I still prefer to eat9 Qiuqiu and Teacher Jin.】
Lu Zhenqiu saw the bullet comments had already gone off-topic, so she just smiled without saying anything and continued to sing and chat with everyone as usual. At dinnertime, she habitually thought of sending a message to Jin Shuilan, only remembering when she opened the chat box that Jin Shuilan wasn’t here anymore. She put down her phone. In a rare move, she didn’t order takeout and just made a bowl of instant noodles. Maomao squeezed over to sit next to her. After she finished eating, Lu Zhenqiu rubbed its head and went back to her stream.
She woke up very early the next day. She put on her makeup, put on her down jacket, and gave instructions to Maomao before heading out. It was freezing cold outside. Although it wasn’t snowing, a fine drizzle was drifting down, stinging her face painfully as it blew against it. Lu Zhenqiu took a taxi to the studio. Just as she got out of the car, she saw a girl in a red down jacket standing at the entrance. She called out tentatively, “Lili?”
“Qiuqiu!” Lili was quite cheerful, looking to be about twenty-three or twenty-four. When she smiled, she had dimples by her mouth, which was very charming. Lu Zhenqiu stood beside her as Lili said, “You look even better than on your stream. Hasn’t anyone tried to scout you for the entertainment industry?”
There actually has been, Lu Zhenqiu thought. She was amused by the comment. Lili said, “Let’s go inside, it’s too cold out here.”
The two went inside. There was no one in the studio. Lili explained, “We haven’t started yet. We need to record the song first.”
Lu Zhenqiu understood. She said, “A voice test first?”
“Yes.” Lili smiled. “The office is inside.”
Lu Zhenqiu followed her in. There were two other people inside, discussing something. Seeing that she had interrupted their chat, Lu Zhenqiu said embarrassedly, “Sorry.”
“Are you silly?” Lili pushed the woman in front of her. “You were praising her for ages last night, how come you’re mute now that you’ve met her?”
The woman’s face turned red. “What nonsense are you talking about.”
Then, she smiled and greeted, “Teacher Zhenqiu.”
Lu Zhenqiu generously introduced herself. The two changed their form of address: “Qiuqiu, I heard your duet with Teacher Zhang Xin. It’s really amazing.”
“Right,” Lili said. “She was the one who recommended you, that’s why I tried to contact you.”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded at her. “Thank you.”
The other woman had a smile on her face.
The voice test was very simple because they had already figured out Lu Zhenqiu’s vocal tone clearly. They knew what techniques and timbre she excelled at. As people who worked with sound, they were not at all vague when it came to work. Lu Zhenqiu held the lyrics and hummed a section first. Lili sat in front of the computer. “How is it?”
“OK.”
“I think it’s OK too. Don’t we have a radio drama in the second half of the year that we can’t find a voice actor for the female lead? I think she’s quite suitable.”
Lili said, “She’s probably quite busy. I heard in the circle that many people are trying to book her.”
The circles were all interconnected; there were no secrets that could be kept. Lu Zhenqiu was a hot topic recently, so many people were trying to book her.
“Let’s try to book her first. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll talk again. Before, when I suggested booking her for the theme song, you all said she wouldn’t have time.”
Lili thought about it and agreed, nodding. “Then I’ll ask her later.”
Lu Zhenqiu put down the lyrics and stood before the three of them. Before she could even speak, all three applauded in unison and said, “That was great.”
The heart that had been hanging in suspense all this time settled back into place, and she was no longer anxious. Lili said, “Then, Qiuqiu, if there are no problems, shall we sign a contract first?”
“Okay.” Lu Zhenqiu looked over the contract once. The price offered was not low. She had no problems with it. After signing, she asked Lili, “Can I tell my friends?”
“Of course, you can.” Lili smiled. “We’re about to start promoting soon. When the time comes, we’ll ask Qiuqiu to share it a lot.”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded. “I can do that.”
After she spoke, she fiddled with her phone, scrolling through a few names: Xiao Yu, Hua Luo. As she scrolled further down, she froze. Having just finished signing the contract, the first person she wanted to share the news with was, unexpectedly, Jin Shuilan.
The author has something to say:
Thirty red envelopes, memeda.
Jin Shuilan: Are you missing me?
Lu Zhenqiu: No.
Jin Shuilan: Your mouth says one thing, but your heart says another. “No” means “yes.”
Lu Zhenqiu: Then yes.
Jin Shuilan: I knew you missed me.
Lu Zhenqiu: …
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