Actresses

Chapter 74 Collapse

When Shi Jiahe woke up again, she found herself still lying on the living room floor, with nothing around her changed.

She glanced at her watch; she'd only been unconscious for about ten minutes. The takeout was still neatly placed in front of her, and the water she'd just poured was quietly sitting on the coffee table. Gasping for breath, Shi Jiahe weakly pulled herself up, leaning on the sofa for support. With her last bit of strength, she tore open the takeout and ate a few large bites. After a few minutes, the extreme dizziness began to subside.

She suddenly realized the problem; it must be low blood sugar.

Shi Jiahe has been suffering from insomnia recently, and she is also on the second day of her period. She is physically weak, and she hasn't eaten all day. It's very likely that several things happened at once, which is why she fainted.

Although she still didn't have much of an appetite and felt a little nauseous, she still managed to sit on the sofa and eat the takeout that was starting to get cold.

"Bring wealth...bring wealth...?" she gasped for breath, calling out to the side.

But no one answered.

Shi Jiahe then realized that there was no one in the house.

Well, I thought I'd be discovered and sent to the emergency room.

After finishing her takeout, she didn't bother to clean up. Dragging her weary body, she went back into the bedroom and threw herself back onto the bed. This time, having replenished her energy, she wasn't as weak as before. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

In truth, people are often unaware of how fortunate they are. When she fell asleep, Shi Jiahe didn't even think that if she had fallen asleep forever at that exact moment in the afternoon, it would likely have been a final farewell to everyone and everything she cherished in this world. Yet, dreams often offer the ultimate in splendor, taking her to the edge of the infinite universe, seemingly omnipotent, allowing her to soar with her eyes closed in a state of trapped imagination. The powerlessness she felt during the day was greatly diluted, even completely forgotten.

By evening, Shi Jiahe felt that her numb limbs had regained their usual sensation, and she could easily turn over and sit up.

Recalling her unconscious fainting spell that afternoon, she finally began to break out in a cold sweat, realizing what had happened.

—If this really passes... I'm still young! Only in my early thirties.

Shi Jiahe stood up and rushed to the living room.

The city outside was pitch black. Only the lights from buildings, streetlights, and car headlights formed a constellation of stars in the night. The feeling of sleeping until it was completely dark was truly surreal. She turned on the living room light and saw that the leftover food containers hadn't been cleaned up, and charging cables and power banks were carelessly tossed on the sofa. The folding bed was empty; still no one was there.

Shi Jiahe sighed. Zhao Cai must have found a place to live, otherwise why hasn't she been seen for the past two days? There's no one to talk to.

A voice echoed in my mind: I'm so lonely.

She used to be the one accompanying the artists, doing her best to protect their emotions, but when she herself wanted to confide in someone, there was no one by her side.

Feeling utterly empty, I opened WeChat and saw a new message at the very top, from Sister Stone.

"Jiahe, I called you but you didn't answer. Let's chat sometime. I'll wait for your reply."

Shi Jiahe stared at the WeChat message, then scrolled up her chat history with Sister Shi, pondering it for a long time. There was a three-day gap in the conversation. The message came around 5 PM, which should have been exactly the short time she had fainted.

Is this an ultimatum? Announcing they won't perform, but feeling that saying it on WeChat is too informal, so they'll at least make a phone call.

Shi Jiahe stared at Sister Stone's name for several minutes before suppressing her urge to call Wei Ning first, and replied, "I'm ready now."

Sure enough, the WeChat call came in a second later.

"Hey, what do you want to say?" Shi Jiahe closed her eyes, leaned back on the sofa, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible.

"Jiahe." Sister Stone's tone was very somber, giving one a bad feeling. "We've had a lot of internal matters to handle these past few days, so I haven't had time to reply to you."

"It's okay, I was prepared."

"No, let me explain, we haven't made a final decision yet."

"Stone, I feel like we're pretty close now. I even think I don't need to call you 'sister' anymore; those are just titles. What I want to say is that I trust your character. Even if we need Teacher Zhuang, I trust you more as a person, so you don't need to beat around the bush with me. I've experienced all kinds of setbacks. People come and go on every project; changes are normal, and I understand that because I'm an agent too."

"No, no, no! Listen to me first! This afternoon, there were some new changes to our project, but I can't tell you too much. I can only say that I'm still trying to persuade her."

Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "Since you insist on saying such polite things, then all my previous words about treating you as a friend have been for nothing. Oh well, I've done my best to befriend you, and I can't control the rest, so I'll just leave it to fate."

So he simply said, "Okay, fine."

Are you angry?

"Sigh, what about you? Not replying for three days, is that what a friend should do?"

"It's like this, because Panpan's emotions are constantly changing, I can't give you a definite answer for fear of disappointing you. I've been trying my best, and this is all I can say. But there's another big variable today, and I'm still relatively confident now."

While rubbing her head, Shi Jiahe said, "Shi Tou, we really don't need to talk nonsense anymore. We both ultimately need to stand with the artists, and I know that perfectly well. I won't force anything, but I really consider you a friend, and that's what I wanted to tell you."

"Jiahe! I consider you a true friend too, and I'm not just saying that casually."

"Okay, I understand. I'll hang up now."

After saying that, Shi Jiahe hung up the phone before Sister Stone could explain further. She didn't answer any subsequent voice calls, instead silencing her phone and placing it aside.

Several major events that happened today had a very strong element of randomness.

The boss suddenly went crazy and called her over, then suddenly got angry, then she suddenly fainted, and then Sister Stone suddenly replied to her message. It seems like everything happened randomly, and she doesn't know how they are connected.

Shi Jiahe's sense of control over her work was weaker than ever before.

She once thought that she could find her value and identity in making dramas, but she never expected that, like her agency work, it would become ethereal and have very little control.

Ultimately, if everything revolves around the artists, it may lead to this kind of feeling.

Because the anchor that determines the course of events is not herself, nor even in the script.

Although Zhao Cai was tormented to the point of near death because of the script revisions, at least the script was her own original work, and no one could take it away from her. Shi Jiahe is different. No matter how glamorous an agent is, they are only in a position to negotiate on behalf of the artist; they can't make decisions for others or for themselves.

Before Shi Jiahe could even stand there in a daze for ten minutes, she received another WeChat message.

It's Wei Ning. "Jiahe, there's a new situation I need to inform you of."

Shi Jiahe hadn't even typed anything when she saw the WeChat call; she was completely numb to it.

She knew Wei Ning too well; this combination of a text message followed by a voice call meant something was definitely wrong.

Let the storm rage on! Shi Jiahe held her phone to her chest, answered the call, and lazily replied, "Come on."

Wei Ning sensed something was wrong and hesitated before asking, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just lying at home."

"Myself?"

Shi Jiahe raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself, "Could there be a hidden meaning in his words?" "Who else can I live with? I live by myself."

"Oh, I see. Zhou Chun read the script for the first ten episodes and his evaluation was very good, but there is one small problem."

"Isn't this a minor issue?"

"Hehe!" Wei Ningqian chuckled twice. "Our Jiahe is really professional. It's not a small problem, but it's not a big problem either. It just might require some persuasion from the screenwriter."

"Isn't the script pretty good?"

"Yes, but the problem is that the screenwriter isn't famous. Zhou Chun always tells me that we need to find a well-known screenwriter to be credited first. So now I'm looking for that person."

"Why should I?" Shi Jiahe sat up abruptly. "This is Zhao Cai's original story. No matter who you ask to lend their name, they won't write the script themselves. Besides, what about Zhao Cai's scriptwriting fee?"

"This won't stop you from paying her screenwriting fees. We just hope to find another well-known screenwriter. This way, the audience will be more convinced of the sincerity of the production. You don't understand, netizens nowadays pay a lot of attention to who the screenwriter and director are. We can't just have the cast. After all, we haven't finalized the director yet. If we have a top-notch screenwriter, the appeal will be even better. Besides, you said that there might be problems with Zhuang Pan, so I need to have an extra layer of insurance."

"Zhuang Pan hasn't confirmed yet that it's not possible!"

"But you didn't agree to sign a contract with me, right?"

"Wei Ning, we all started as newcomers. If the boss were to steal our cases, would you agree? Zhao Cai may be a bit young, but if this drama is successfully filmed, she'll become famous!"

"But why should our platform give a new screenwriter a chance for no reason? There are so many new screenwriters, why should she get this opportunity? It's just sacrificing the first credit for one film, being the second screenwriter, she's not losing out. This is already a great opportunity, her first work has so many big stars supporting her."

"Do you feel guilty saying this? You discovered Zhao Cai yourself. We've had so many meetings, watched her break down and cry so many times, and revised the script so many times. Why are you torturing her like this now? She's lost her self-respect. How are you going to write the next ten episodes?"

"But wouldn't it be better to sacrifice some self-respect to make the project happen? We all need this project to succeed. Do you want it to fail? I'm not doing this to harm Zhaocai. I'm doing this for the good of the project and for everyone's good."

"I feel like your platform doesn't treat good screenwriters like human beings, and you'll ruin a perfectly good show!"

"Let's stick to the facts and not label the platform for everything."

Shi Jiahe was absolutely furious. "I'm talking to you about the facts right now! What gives you the right to deprive a young person of proper authorship attribution? She didn't write this for fun; this script is her talent and her hard work, something you and I have witnessed. Before saying these things, do you even consider yourself a human being?"

"I'm not arguing with you now, because we're working for the same thing." Wei Ning on the other end of the phone was also barely containing his anger. "Don't think I can tolerate you forever. No one from the production company dares to talk to me like that. It's only because you're with me—" Wei Ning sighed heavily at this point. "...After all, we're old comrades-in-arms. Although you don't have any experience as a producer, I'm willing to make an exception and let you work with me on this project. Do you think I'm doing this for myself? I want everyone to achieve their goals, and someone has to make sacrifices. Do you expect me to sacrifice? Do you expect your sister Ran to sacrifice? The screenwriter making concessions is the best option. Otherwise, even if you bring in a big star right now, she'll still make demands. Our platform has arranged for a top-tier screenwriter to interfere with the content as little as possible, which is already a very good result."

"I really don't understand, I really fucking don't understand at all, what are you doing? Why has this turned out like this?" Shi Jiahe held her head in her hands, feeling the intense pain from that afternoon surge up again.

She only felt nauseous.

An extremely strong urge to vomit.

I want to vent all the memories of this period of time—the efforts, the sadness, the excitement, the pain—I want to vent them all out, to empty them completely.

She wanted to forget about it and pretend it never happened.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be in so much pain right now.