Huayu: I am the manager of Xiaohua (a popular Chinese entertainment company).

Chapter 119 Zhang Jingyi was finalized

"Zhang Jingyi? Zhang Jingyi, the school leaders and Director Li Han are looking for you!" The boy's voice echoed in the classroom, and the previously noisy classroom instantly quieted down.

All the boys and girls turned to look at Zhang Jingyi.

Zhang Jingyi looked completely bewildered, and pointed to herself.

"I?"

"Yes, hurry up, your class teacher, our dean, and Professor Wang Rui from the directing department next door are all waiting for you," the boy urged.

"Oh, yes, where are you waiting for me?" Zhang Jingyi quickly stood up, her expression flustered.

"Go to your homeroom teacher's office quickly," the boy said.

Zhang Jingyi nodded and thanked her before quickly leaving.

The other students in the class followed Zhang Jingyi's retreating figure as she left.

The guys were fine; they were cast as the female lead, so they didn't have an interview and didn't feel any sense of disappointment.

But it's a different story for the girls. No, Zhang Jingyi didn't even wear makeup, which clearly shows she didn't take the interview seriously at all. So why was she chosen?

Upon learning that Zhang Jingyi was the female lead in the movie, all the girls in the school were shocked and asked who Zhang Jingyi was.

Does she have some kind of powerful background?

In the classroom, the boys resumed their conversation, while the girls had various expressions. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with regret and pity, while some even looked on with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Bai Yu lowered her head with some regret, but didn't say anything.

Li Kaixin was completely stunned. She chose Zhang Jingyi? That "country girl" Zhang Jingyi who didn't wear makeup or dress up for the interview, and even wore trousers instead of a skirt?

No, why should I?

For a moment, Li Kaixin's eyes showed not envy, but jealousy and hatred.

Her friends were also talking about it.

"Zhang Jingyi has been chosen?"

"Are you surprised? She just doesn't like wearing makeup. Do you think she's ugly?"

"Ha, why are you picking on me? Do you think I don't know she's pretty?"

"No, she didn't even wear makeup, she didn't seem to care at all, so why did the production team choose her?"

"Alright, stop talking!" Li Kaixin said, dissatisfied. She then crossed her arms, pouted, and returned to her seat. Her dissatisfaction was obvious to everyone.

— Meanwhile, Zhang Jingyi was unaware of the discussion about her in class. She quickly went to the homeroom teacher's office and knocked on the door with her small hand.

dong dong——

Zhang Jingyi not only has a small face, but also very small hands, looking like those of an elementary school student. After knocking on the door, she nervously shook hands.

"Come in." A voice called out, and Zhang Jingyi gently pushed open the door and peeked in.

In the office, besides her homeroom teacher, there were several school leaders and the three people who had just been interviewed. She blinked her big eyes involuntarily.

Looking at Zhang Jingyi, Li Han smiled.

"What are you standing there for, Zhang Jingyi? Come in," the homeroom teacher said.

"Oh, oh." Zhang Jingyi hurriedly came in, gently closed the door, stepped forward, and placed her hands on her lower abdomen.

She looked at the group of school leaders and the three members of the film crew in front of her, and was about to bow in greeting when Li Han spoke first: "Zhang Jingyi, we just discussed and decided to cast you as the female lead in 'Better Days,' playing Chen Nian. Do you know..."

What are you thinking?

"Ah—" Zhang Jingyi exclaimed. Although she had mentally prepared herself and knew why she had been called over, she was still very surprised to hear it with her own ears.

"I—" She was nervous and didn't know what to say for a moment. Her gaze involuntarily drifted to her homeroom teacher, and her hands clasped together at her lower abdomen.

"But I've only been enrolled for a short time, and I haven't had any systematic training in acting yet—"

"It's alright, I had that in mind too, so I just discussed it with your school leaders and the movie will be filmed at Beijing Film Academy," Li Han said.

Last year, when Li Han was filming "So Cute Us", he and Tian Xiwei were freshmen. The school leaders also provided a lot of help when they were filming at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Of course, the Shanghai Theatre Academy and Beijing Film Academy didn't provide assistance and school facilities for free—they had to pay extra.

"Ahem, Jingyi," the Dean of Performing Arts said with a cough.

"It's an honor for you that Director Li chose you as the female lead. Don't worry about your acting skills; your teachers will help you during filming."

He noticed that Zhang Jingyi seemed a little confused, as if she didn't understand what this meant. Her first work was a movie, which was unimaginable for countless artists in the industry.

Moreover, from his conversation with Li Han just now, he could tell that Li Han was very ambitious about this movie and expected the box office to be over one billion.

Li Han remembered that the film "Better Days," starring Zhou Dongyu and Yi Yangqianxi in his previous life, ultimately grossed 15 billion yuan.

Moreover, this film received numerous nominations and awards in its previous life, but in this life, Li Han is unlikely to win any major awards.

"Mmm." Zhang Jingyi nodded her head in response to the dean's words.

"Sit down, Jingyi." Seeing that Zhang Jingyi was still standing, Li Han gestured for her to sit.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingyi stepped forward and sat down.

"You don't have a management company yet, do you?" Li Han asked directly.

"No." Zhang Jingyi blinked upon hearing this, then shook her head.

"Then I'll just tell you directly, I plan to sign you as my artist," Li Han said.

"I currently have a personal studio with several artists under my management. I don't know if you've seen the drama 'So Cute Us,' Tian Xiwei is one of my artists. Today, I also signed a few more artists, and they've all basically started filming."

"Several important characters in this movie are artists under my management —"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingyi blinked and gently nodded her head, her expression somewhat adorable.

The news that the female lead and Li Han wanted to sign her came so suddenly that she was still a little dazed.

"What are your thoughts?" Li Han asked. He didn't want things to drag on too much and wanted to make a decision as quickly as possible.

"I, I'm fine—" Zhang Jingyi pursed her lips. With so many people in the office, and Li Han telling her that she would be the female lead, she couldn't say anything else.

Zhang Jingyi's homeroom teacher looked at her, then turned to Li Han, "Director Li, when do you plan to sign Jingyi?"

"Let's finalize this this afternoon. Then I need to talk to her about the movie and give her the script," Li Han said, then looked up at Zhang Jingyi.

"Jingyi, come back to my studio with me later, we'll talk about the contract."

"————Okay." Zhang Jingyi nodded gently, but it was hard to say whether she, an innocent 18-year-old college student, could truly understand the contract.

The dean of the performing arts department had also taken this into consideration. He glanced at Zhang Jingyi's homeroom teacher, who understood and said, "Director Li, I'll go with Jingyi. After all, she's still a child and doesn't understand some things."

"Sure, no problem." Li Han nodded frankly. He never intended to include any unfair terms in the contract; the contract he signed was just a normal industry contract.

Afterwards, the people in the office chatted for a while, mainly Li Han and the other two talking with the leaders of Beijing Film Academy, while Zhang Jingyi sat on the side listening, her eyes sparkling as she blinked.

In the end, the group changed their minds and decided to go out for a meal together, with Li Han offering to treat them.

"Let's go eat first—Jingyi, let's go together. After we eat, we'll go to my studio and we'll talk about the contract," Li Han said, getting up.

"Oh, oh." Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingyi quickly stood up and reached into her pocket—Huh? Where's my phone?

Oh no, I hope I left my phone in class.

"What's wrong?" Li Han asked, looking at Zhang Jingyi, who was keeping her head down and not speaking.

"Director Li, I think I left my phone in the classroom," Zhang Jingyi said with an embarrassed smile.

"Heh, then hurry up and get it." Looking at how cute Zhang Jingyi was, Li Han couldn't help but smile.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingyi quickly turned and left. She ran back to her classroom, glanced at her classmates without saying a word, and hurried inside.

Sure enough, I forgot to take it when I left in such a hurry.

When Zhang Jingyi returned, the students in the class quieted down for a moment.

Zhang Jingyi picked up her phone and prepared to leave.

"Jingyi." A female student who was on good terms with her called out to her, and Zhang Jingyi quickly turned her head to look.

"The production team has chosen you?" the man asked.

"Ah." Zhang Jingyi smiled, a smile appearing on her face.

"Yes, they said they'd let me give it a try. Director Li is having dinner with the dean and the others, and they want me to come along." After saying that, Zhang Jingyi quickly left.

Hearing Zhang Jingyi's words, Li Kaixin's face darkened, and she completely gave up. Looking at Zhang Jingyi's back, she pretended to be disdainful and mocked, "The fact that they chose her shows that it's not a good movie. I guess it won't even make tens of millions at the box office. It doesn't matter whether this kind of movie is made or not."

That's what they said, but anyone could sense the sour undertone in it.

Zhang Jingyi returned, and everyone rushed off to eat.

In addition, Li Han had another matter to attend to this morning: Wang Ran and her mother were already on their way, one from Shanghai and the other from Shandong.

This morning, Wang Ran contacted Li Han.

After lunch, Wang Ran told Li Han that she and her mother had arrived in Beijing and were heading to Li Han's studio.

After replying to Wang Ran's message, Li Han got up and took Zhang Jingyi and her homeroom teacher back to the studio. As for the others, they were still drinking there.

Upon arriving at the office, Li Han gestured for the two to sit down, and then prepared to take out the contracts he had prepared in advance.

"Director Li is truly a promising young man. He has made a name for himself at such a young age." Zhang Jingyi, the homeroom teacher, looked around Li Han's office and complimented him.

"Hey, it's just good luck, it's something I was born with." Li Han smiled, picked up the contract, turned around and walked over, placing the contract on the coffee table.

"In our industry, we believe in fate the most. Come on, Jingyi, take a look at the contract. I'll go get you the script." With that, Li Han turned and walked towards his desk.

At this moment, Li Han's assistant came in, poured two cups of tea for the two of them, and then left after putting down the teapot.

Zhang Jingyi reached out and picked up the contract to look at it, and her homeroom teacher also turned to look at it.

Looking at the various fancy industry terms and legal provisions, Zhang Jingyi couldn't understand them. She turned to look at her homeroom teacher.

Seeing this, her homeroom teacher reached out and took it, looking down at the contents of the contract.

Li Han then came over with the script. The script cover was white, made of textured paper without lamination, and had a slightly frosted feel. The words "You Are My Youth" were printed in irregular cursive script on it.

After sitting down, Li Han handed the script to Zhang Jingyi. Zhang Jingyi took it and looked at it in her hand. She stretched out her fair hand and gently stroked the cover, feeling the sand-like texture. Her eyes were fixed on the large characters.

Li Han didn't say anything. He glanced at Zhang Jingyi's homeroom teacher next to him, then reached for his phone and sent a message to Wang Ran, asking where she was.

—Looking up, Zhang Jingyi's homeroom teacher looked at Li Han, and then at Zhang Jingyi.

"Director Li, there's no problem with this contract."

Upon hearing this, Li Han looked up at Zhang Jingyi, the homeroom teacher, and smiled before turning back to Zhang Jingyi.

"Jingyi, you should take a look too."

"Okay." Zhang Jingyi reached out and took the contract, but she didn't really understand it.

Looking at the contents of the contract, Zhang Jingyi hesitated for a moment. Should she sign it here, or should she contact her mother and find a lawyer who knows about this to take a look at the contract?

"————" Looking at the contents of the contract, Zhang Jingyi looked up at Li Han.

"Director Li, let's sign now."

"Don't you want your family to see it?" Li Han said proactively upon hearing this.

Zhang Jingyi's family situation is the same as Wang Ran's; both of them have divorced parents and live with their mothers.

"No need." Zhang Jingyi smiled, a smile appearing on her face. In the current situation, she couldn't very well suggest taking it back to her mother or lawyer to see.

"I believe in my teacher."

Zhang Jingyi's homeroom teacher smiled upon hearing this.

"Okay." Li Han nodded, and then began signing the contract with Zhang Jingyi.

After the contract was signed, Li Han looked at Zhang Jingyi and extended his hand.

"Welcome to our family, Jingyi."

Zhang Jingyi smiled upon hearing this and extended her hand to shake Li Han's hand.

"So soft, so small," Li Han muttered to himself.

"Jingyi, let me tell you about our script and the production team. You've already looked at the script," Li Han said.

"Currently, the second female lead, Wei Lai, is played by Zhou Ye from our company, and Hu Xiaodie is played by Hu Lianxin. There's also a role played by Bao Shang'en, who plays Wei Lai's accomplice. And the male lead is played by me."

"Oh, oh." Zhang Jingyi nodded her little head.

"Take this time to memorize the script. Our film crew won't be starting shooting for long," Li Han said, picking up his teacup and taking a sip.

"So hasty?" Zhang Jingyi muttered to herself.

"Okay." She nodded her little head.