Chapter 16: So It Was You!

Monday.

It was not yet six in the morning when Galen received a call from Wu Chaoyang, urging him to come downstairs immediately.

By the time Galen, yawning, emerged from his building, a full ten minutes had passed. As soon as they met, Wu Chaoyang couldn't help but complain, "Why do you live in such a shabby place? The company’s apartment complex is so much better!"

Galen laughed softly. "It’s all the same to me. I’m used to living here, and I’m too lazy to move."

"Nonsense! The company apartments are full of our artists. They may not be big stars, but at least you’re in the same circle—more chances to network, you know?"

"Ha, let’s talk about it another time." Galen deflected, climbing into the car and closing his eyes to rest. Ironically, after a whole day off yesterday, he felt even more exhausted. This, perhaps, was his last-minute attempt to brace himself.

Wu Chaoyang glanced at him in the rearview mirror with a smile. "Didn’t sleep well, huh? Were you nervous last night?"

"Yeah," Galen replied absently, still in a daze.

"Haha, I knew it! What's there to be nervous about? Let me tell you, when Liu Tianhua first took the stage, he was so nervous he sang off-key the entire time. But did that stop him? No! He didn’t care about the mockery, kept going, and eventually became a superstar! You’re new in this industry—you need to learn from your predecessors..."

Wu Chaoyang continued talking energetically all the way, but Galen was different. He was truly tired. Last night, after watching several fantasy films, his mind was filled with their images, and he barely slept before dawn.

"Hey! Galen, wake up! We’re here!" Wu Chaoyang called out twice. "You look dead tired. What were you up to last night? You weren’t out partying, were you?"

"No, just didn’t sleep well," Galen replied, stretching and crawling out of the car.

"Alright then, I’ll take you to makeup. Time waits for no one!" Wu Chaoyang pulled Galen toward the company entrance.

It was just past six, and the company building was still mostly deserted.

Inside the makeup room, however, it was already bustling. There were four or five artists in makeup, and even more stylists and apprentices.

"Xiao Song! My guy’s here!" Wu Chaoyang called out as soon as he entered. Instantly, all eyes turned to him and Galen.

Galen, hazy with sleep, suddenly felt alert under their collective gaze. His mind cleared considerably.

He scanned the room quickly—there wasn’t a single big name. After all, the stars had their own stylists and would arrive fully made up, never bothering to come to the company for this.

Most of those present were vaguely familiar faces—probably minor actors who had appeared in bit parts but hadn’t made a name for themselves.

"Mr. Wu!" called out a somewhat effeminate young man with a braid and black-rimmed glasses, waving at Wu Chaoyang. "I’ll do your guy’s makeup as soon as I finish up here. Have him take a seat for now."

"Alright! You finish up first." Wu Chaoyang found an empty makeup station for Galen and told him, "I’m going to fetch something. Wait here, I’ll be back soon."

"No problem, Wu. Go do your thing," Galen nodded. As soon as Wu Chaoyang left, drowsiness overtook him again, and he slumped back into the chair.

"Hey, did you hear? He’s the new singer the company just signed!"

"A singer? Really? Isn’t this a film and television company?"

"Absolutely true! You were off filming these past few days, so you probably missed it. Rumor has it Brother Hui wants to break into the music industry..."

Half-asleep, Galen heard the gossip. Though his eyes remained closed, his mind sharpened, eager to hear what was being said.

"This is so out of line. We’re his seniors, and he just comes in and dozes off? Is he really that tired?"

"Exactly. Which one of us isn’t working ourselves to death every day? He’s a rookie who hasn't even debuted—how hard can his life be?"

"Still, we can’t say too much. The guy was personally recruited by Brother Hui. Maybe he’s just putting on airs."

"Ha! Forty percent of the company’s artists were signed by Brother Hui himself. If not for him, the company wouldn’t have grown so fast. We all owe him our careers. Even if we don’t sacrifice everything for him, we should at least have a clear conscience."

"True! But this kid really does act high and mighty. Did you see his agent just now? That’s Wu Chaoyang! Even Wu Chaoyang has been assigned to him!"

"Wu Chaoyang? Who’s that?"

"You don’t know Wu Chaoyang? For someone in showbiz, that’s embarrassing! He was once the agent for the Four Heavenly Kings. Later, he started his own agency and nurtured a bunch of stars—now all top-tier or second-tier. He’s the big shot behind the big shots."

"No way! Seriously?"

"Yeah! The company gives a rookie such a heavyweight agent—who wouldn’t be jealous?"

"Right! We work ourselves to the bone and get nothing, while he’s coddled and put on a pedestal..."

And so on and so forth—their banter was relentless, tearing Galen down at every turn.

He was furious, several times wanting to leap up and curse them out, but restrained himself.

Ha! He hadn’t debuted yet, had no status or influence. His words would carry no weight. Better not stoop to their level. And even in the future, if he made it big and became influential, he still wouldn’t bother with them—because he didn’t care about people like them.

Galen deliberately tuned them out, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

He’d barely slept for a few minutes when the door suddenly opened, followed by a chorus of respectful greetings.

"Sister Shan!"

"Sister Shan, you’re here!"

"Sister Shan, come sit over here! I’ll make room for you!"

Upon hearing this, Galen cracked open one eye, curious to see who had arrived.

What he saw shocked him—it was none other than Gao Zishan.

She was currently starring in several popular dramas, and she was with Yida too? Galen suddenly recalled glancing at the introduction of “The Year We Graduated” a few days before, where she played the third female lead.

Today was the premiere of “The Year We Graduated.” For such a big name to show up here at this hour—what was she doing?

She entered without responding to anyone’s greetings, went straight to a stylist, and said, "Xiao Zhu, hurry up! Do my makeup first or I won’t make it to the premiere!"

"Ah? Alright, I’ll take care of you first!" Xiao Zhu said apologetically to a minor artist she was working on, "Sorry, I need to help Sister Shan first."

The small-time artist was delighted. "No problem at all! Our business can wait—Sister Shan’s is way more important!"

Gao Zishan managed a faint smile at this, but quickly grew impatient again, pulling Xiao Zhu along to find a seat and grumbling, "I’m so mad! My usual stylist is useless—had some kind of fit this morning and quit! I’m furious!"

Xiao Zhu seemed to understand, smiling wryly. "Alright, let’s get you ready first. We can deal with the other business after the premiere."

"Fine!" Gao Zishan replied.

Coincidentally, she sat in the vacant seat right next to Galen, complaining about her former stylist to Xiao Zhu as she had her makeup done.

With such a beautiful woman beside him, Galen forgot all about sleep. He listened to her ceaseless chatter while stealing glances at her.

After all, she was a solid second-tier star in the industry—hardly someone one encountered up close every day.

"Hey?" After a while, Gao Zishan finally noticed Galen. "Who are you? Are you new here?"

"Yes, hello, Sister Shan. My name is Galen," he replied, polite but unyielding.

"Galen?" Gao Zishan nodded, then asked offhandedly, "Which school did you graduate from?"

Most of Yida’s artists were graduates of the Beijing Film Academy or the Central Academy of Drama, and Gao Zishan herself was a graduate of the former—a senior in that lineage. If a new recruit was from her alma mater, she’d naturally look after them.

Galen scratched his head. "Uh… I never attended any professional academy. I used to sing in bars."

"Never…" At first, she thought he might be a background actor who’d worked his way up—such types were usually quite deferential, so why wasn’t he flattering her? But then, hearing he’d been singing in bars, she was surprised. "How did a bar singer end up at a film and TV company?"

Xiao Zhu, applying her makeup, chuckled. "Sister Shan, you’ve been so busy with your drama shoots, maybe you haven’t heard. Galen is the company’s newly signed singer. Most of our future TV and film soundtracks will be written and performed by him."

"Oh…" Gao Zishan nodded, then asked Xiao Zhu, "You know him?"

"Who doesn’t? This is the first time the company’s signed a singer—it’s all over the place!"

"Is that so?" Gao Zishan looked at Galen with interest. "What songs have you done?"

Just as Galen was about to answer, Xiao Zhu chimed in again, "Hey! Sister Shan, all the songs in your new drama ‘The Year We Graduated’ were written, composed, and performed by Galen. Haven’t you heard? Especially that song ‘Those Flowers’—every woman in the company knows it by heart!"

Another chatterbox. Galen could only nod and smile, unable to get a word in.

"Oh! So it’s you!" Gao Zishan exclaimed. "Of course I’ve heard them—I just listened the other day. ‘Those Flowers’ is really good! But I like ‘What I Miss’ even more. Wow, I didn’t expect you to be the singer—impressive!"

Immediately, she peppered Galen with questions, even forgetting to hurry through her makeup.

The other artists in the room were green with envy. When had they ever seen Gao Zishan so proactively chat with anyone? Normally, she was cold and impatient—who would have guessed she’d show such interest in a newcomer?