Oh No, My Tail Has Been Seen! - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

◎Because I’m Three Days Late◎

As soon as Su Miao said that, she regretted it. If Bai Jin were to ask her why she was crying, what would she say? I’m crying for you? That was obviously not an option. Her mind was blank, and she couldn’t come up with a lie to cover it. But after thinking for a long time, she still didn’t expect Bai Jin to just nod indifferently without asking any more questions.

A sense of loss instantly rose within her. It seemed that Bai Jin didn’t need to ask why she was crying. They were just partners. In a deeper sense, Bai Jin was her mentor in the entertainment industry, but she had no obligation to care about her emotional life. When they signed the contract, it was agreed that Bai Jin would help her clean up any messes she made in her love life, but she wouldn’t interfere. Compared to other agents who forbid their artists from dating, Bai Jin was considered more lenient.

But for some reason, Bai Jin’s lack of interference made her feel a little sad. Su Miao was slowly getting used to being on her own, but the emotional leniency only showed that Bai Jin didn’t have any special feelings for her.

“Try not to cry on camera. Smudging your makeup is a small thing. I’m worried that the production crew will dig into why you’re crying. Did you not get along with the other guests? Or are you not used to this kind of group living? These things can be exaggerated, so try to keep your emotions in check. This is something you need to do as an actress.” Bai Jin analyzed the situation for her and saw that her eyes were slowly regaining their spirit. She brought the script to Su Miao, who quickly took it. Finally, she saw happiness in Su Miao’s eyes again.

“I was going to have Xu Qingqing bring it over, but she suddenly got sick and was delayed.” Su Miao was happy to get the script, but when she heard Bai Jin’s words, her mood suddenly sank. She asked anxiously, “What kind of illness does Xu Qingqing have? Is she okay? Should I go see her? I have some medicine in my bag.”

“She has a fever and a cold. I told her to rest well first and to come find you after she gets better.” Since the script was already in Su Miao’s hands, Bai Jin’s task was halfway done. “Go fix your makeup first. When I came in, I also told the cameraman not to come in, so you weren’t filmed.”

“Okay, okay,” Su Miao said. She couldn’t wait to go and wash off the smudged makeup on her face. But Bai Jin was still in front of her and hadn’t left. Su Miao held onto the door, not knowing if she should close it. She couldn’t just kick Bai Jin out.

“I’ll come in and sit for a while and tell you about what’s been happening recently.” Bai Jin didn’t take a step back. When she saw the shocked look on Su Miao’s face as she moved to the side, she walked straight in and sat down at the desk, taking out her laptop from her computer bag.

Su Miao was still staring at Bai Jin’s back. After a while, she finally came to her senses and closed the door. Bai Jin not allowing the cameraman to come in meant that she had a way to make sure this wouldn’t be aired. But even if the production crew did record it, it wouldn’t cause any misunderstandings. After all, they had a contract. This was a filming location for a variety show. As an agent and an artist, they had many things to discuss that couldn’t be leaked. It was normal for them to talk in the same room.

After realizing this, Su Miao stopped worrying and obediently went to wash her face. Then she pulled up a chair and sat down next to Bai Jin. Bai Jin had even prepared a PowerPoint presentation to reveal the current state of the entertainment industry and the potential unspoken rules that could happen in the future.

“You can ask questions at any time,” Bai Jin said, seeing that Su Miao was listening intently and even taking notes on her phone.

“I don’t have any questions,” Su Miao said quietly, accepting all the knowledge Bai Jin was giving her about the entertainment industry. As a film school student, she knew some of the rules of the entertainment industry. Some people couldn’t be offended, and some fights had to be lost. There were even many rumors among her classmates. A certain student suddenly stopped going to class and even dropped out, and later, people found out that she had a “sugar daddy.” At first, Su Miao couldn’t accept these things, but after three years in school, she had gradually gotten used to them. Even so, she still hoped she could just purely love acting and, more importantly, love Bai Jin.

Thinking this, Su Miao looked up at Bai Jin. To her surprise, Bai Jin wasn’t looking at the laptop but at her. At that moment, their eyes met. Su Miao was the first to look away, back at the PowerPoint. The content on the screen was about dinner parties.

“I remember you can’t drink alcohol.” When Bai Jin brought this up, she thought of Su Miao’s low tolerance and the lips that had grazed her cheek. For some reason, she glanced at Su Miao’s lips. Before the makeup was removed, they were a vibrant rose color, but after the makeup was removed, they were still a faint pink and looked a little more vulnerable.

“Mm, I can’t drink,” Su Miao said. She knew this was a characteristic unique to mermaids. Humans with a low alcohol tolerance could practice and get better, but mermaids couldn’t. Even a single drop was enough to make her confused for an entire day. She did hear that her aunt could drink human alcohol normally, and she really wanted to learn how she did it. She would have to ask her when she had a chance.

“Since you can’t drink, you have to be completely sober at dinner parties. This is for your own safety. I’ll be there to help you fend off drinks. You just have to say you’re allergic to alcohol. We’ll be on the same page.” It was a disadvantage for an actress to not be able to drink, but she didn’t want Su Miao to force herself to drink, as that would be an even bigger disadvantage. When she thought of Su Miao in a daze, being at someone’s mercy, she was suddenly grateful that Su Miao had met her that day.

“Okay, I won’t drink at dinner parties,” Su Miao said seriously, believing that Bai Jin would not let her drink.

Bai Jin then told Su Miao about the different levels of celebrities in the entertainment industry. The Film Emperors and Queens were naturally at the top, with all kinds of scripts being sent to them for them to choose. Below them were the A-list celebrities, who were basically guaranteed to play the lead role in any TV show. The B-list and C-list celebrities would occasionally get a lead role, but they were mostly supporting actors who were there to build connections for the lead actor’s project. Of course, some actors were chosen by a director for a lead role right after they entered the industry and became overnight sensations. But these were a minority.

“Instead of you getting famous overnight, I’d rather you slowly gain experience and grow,” Bai Jin said, finally showing her the blueprint she had planned for her. In the beginning, Su Miao’s main focus was to gain experience in acting and get a good reputation with the public. This might take a long time, but it was a much more stable approach than a sudden rise to fame, which could easily lead to criticism. The thing an actor feared the most was an award that didn’t feel deserved.

Su Miao took pictures of Bai Jin’s plan on her phone. She had to remember all of it. She hoped that Bai Jin’s shadow would be with her every step of the way.

“Okay, that’s all for today. You can take some time to digest it. I’m going back to my room to rest. My room is right next to yours, so you can come find me whenever you need me.”

Bai Jin packed up her laptop and walked out the door. Su Miao followed her all the way to the door and watched her enter the room next to hers. When she first arrived here, she was confused why the room next to hers was empty and why Xu Qingqing wasn’t staying there. It turned out it was for the agents. She noticed that Bai Jin’s dark circles were a little heavy, and her face was a little thinner. She must have been working too hard lately. Sigh, it was a shame she couldn’t help her with anything. She was even spending Bai Jin’s time to plan her career.

She had to do a good job for Bai Jin, and she couldn’t let Bai Jin’s efforts on her go to waste. With such a dedicated agent, it was no wonder An Yixin thanked her first when she won the Magnolia Award for Best Actress. If it were her, she would also mention Bai Jin in her acceptance speech.

Su Miao sat on the bed and read the script. She gradually got sleepy and fell asleep, still hugging the script. When she woke up, she did as Bai Jin had said and sat down in a spot where the camera could see her and started reading the script.

“I think I saw your agent, Bai Jin, come over.” Zhang Linyu walked over to the sofa next to Su Miao and curiously looked at the script in her hand. “Is this a role she got for you?”

“Mm,” Su Miao said. She knew that Zhang Linyu paid close attention to her. Since they were from the same company, some things weren’t secrets. “Yes, I’m joining the crew next week.”

Zhang Linyu nodded after hearing her. She didn’t even ask for the name of the show. “My agent was also going to get me a supporting role in this show, but it conflicted with another online drama, so I had to give it up.”

“That’s a shame,” Su Miao said with a sigh of regret, but she quickly went back to reading her script.

Su Miao spent the entire day engrossed in the script. The other guests saw how focused she was and didn’t disturb her. Everyone was doing their own thing.

It wasn’t until the next day that the production crew gathered everyone for a “Pictionary” game. Since they were all actors, they were all trained in imitation and memorization. To make it more difficult, the production crew didn’t do a simple one-on-one game. Instead, the word would be passed through four people, and the last person had to guess it.

The participants weren’t just the new artists, but also their agents. Bai Jin had some things to take care of today. Su Miao waited for a while before going with Bai Jin. When they arrived at the designated location, everyone was already there. All eyes were on them. Agents admired the agent who had trained a Film Queen, and artists wanted to be noticed by a top agent. So most of the attention was on Bai Jin.

“Everyone seems to be looking at you,” Su Miao said in a low voice.

“That’s because I’m three days late,” Bai Jin said, her expression cold and unreadable.