Chapter 9: Who's Next?

After jerking off and going Buddha-serene, Ye Yu was studying his demon notebook. It was bound to him; even if someone snatched it away, it was useless, because he could summon it back in seconds.

More importantly, even if anyone else got hold of the notebook, they still couldn't see the contracts written on it. Only the notebook's true owner could see them. And in fact, the notebook could never be filled up; it could generate pages endlessly, despite looking thin, ordinary, and completely unremarkable.

Even though Ye Yu hadn't been at the Beijing Film Academy long as the gatekeeper - barely half a year - that was only because it was still early 2008, and Class 07 had only just entered its second semester.

But thanks to Liu Yifei, the fairy sister, and the other upperclasswomen who spread the word, Ye Yu had become something of a minor name in the acting department at the Beijing Film Academy; otherwise he would have been kicked out long ago. His position had countless people eyeing it, especially the restless boys in the acting department, who ground their teeth at him and hated his guts.

Too bad it all meant nothing. If Ye Yu had any backing, it was Tang Guoqiang, the dean of the Beijing Film Academy, because he had been Ye Yu's first trading partner. And it was precisely through that deal that he had become one of the most unusual figures in the entertainment industry - the special-type actor who portrayed Chairman Mao.

Don't underestimate that. You can dismiss almost any actor, but not the special-type actors who portray certain top leaders. Those are the real people's artists, people whose words can reach the highest levels. That's why the Beijing Film Academy could get away with playing dirty; let someone else try it and see.

He glanced at the contract Tang Yan had signed. A mysterious hexagram had already appeared on it, a symbol that only showed up once a contract was fully fulfilled. And the hexagram was changing: a mark like blood was steadily flowing along the lines, filling in the originally dark, black hexagram array.

Once that hexagram was completely filled, it would mean the other side had broken the contract they had originally agreed to. The hexagram blood seal would then appear on her body, turning her into the devil's slave, in other words, having traded away everything she was to the demon.

Ye Yu of course wasn't going to go out of his way to remind Tang Yan. If she really insisted on playing dirty, then she couldn't blame him. He had already warned Tang Yan to behave herself.

Just the thought of Tang Yan as such a fragrant, gorgeous mature sex slave had Ye Yu throbbing with excitement. If only he could get her and Liu Yifei lined up together again someday, pounding the left side a few times and thrusting into the right a few times - that would be the real paradise, a life with no regrets.

The so-called celebratory banquet was really just a few of the Xian 3 leads getting together for a simple meal. The current billing order was Hu Ge, Huo Jianhua, Yang Mi, Tang Yan, and Liu Shishi. But Tang Yan knew perfectly well that Liu Shishi was actually the second female lead, the real fourth billed; at most, Tang Yan herself was only the third female lead, or fifth billed.

Huo Jianhua's fame wasn't low at all. Strictly speaking, there wasn't a true first-tier star in this lineup. Hu Ge had gained plenty of popularity through Xian 1 and several Tangren dramas, but unfortunately he had been in a car crash last year, so he still wasn't first-tier now, only second-tier.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, Huo Jianhua was just a second-rate idol star; the real heavyweights there didn't do idol dramas. But in mainland China, Huo Jianhua's status wasn't low. He still wasn't quite first-tier yet, but he was definitely on the cusp, and you could see that from his paycheck.

Hu Ge was getting a one-million fee. The female lead, Yang Mi, was getting three hundred thousand. Liu Shishi, because she was one of their own, was getting the same as Yang Mi, but after the commission split, what she actually took home was quite a bit less than Yang Mi's. Tang Yan only got one hundred thousand.

Huo Jianhua, meanwhile, was the highest paid in the entire crew at two million. He was signed for 25 episodes, with a per-episode fee of 80,000, just one step away from 100,000 per episode.

By current market rates, top-tier small-screen actors started at 100,000 per episode. The highest at the moment was 300,000 per episode, a price tag only a handful of veteran film kings like Chen Daoming could command, and even then they wouldn't necessarily take a role just because you offered the money.

Thirty thousand to eighty thousand counted as second-tier pay, but second-tier itself was a fuzzy category. So when a role was important enough and the resources attractive enough to help his future development, taking a pay cut to accept the part was a very common thing. That in-between position was actually pretty awkward.

Now that the five leads were all gathered together, Huo Jianhua was clearly the real center of gravity. Both he and his agent, Sister Hong, were being treated with great deference.

After all, Cai Yinong and Li Guoli both came out of the Hong Kong and Taiwan circles. Even though they now ran a film and TV company in the mainland, at heart they were still like many Hong Kong and Taiwan filmmakers nowadays: they considered themselves superior and didn't think much of their mainland peers.

Sister Hong was very interested in Tang Yan. Over the years she'd accumulated plenty of resources herself, so she wanted to sign another promising female artist. She was optimistic that Xian 3 could copy Xian 1's ratings miracle, so she was extremely warm toward Tang Yan. Anyone with eyes could see exactly what scheme she was cooking up.

"Tangtang, are you close with Liu Tianxian? By rights you two are only one class apart, so you should get along pretty well, right?"

"I'm not that familiar with her. Mimi gets along with her really well; they even shot The Return of the Condor Heroes together before."

Yang Mi realized that Tang Yan was actually tossing the ball to her, so she could only say, with a stiff smile, "We got along really well when we were on set before, but she's already gone off to shoot big Hollywood productions now. How would she still remember a broke friend like me? She probably forgot all about me a long time ago."