Volume Two: Shadows of the Past, Chapter Twenty-Nine: One’s Own Fate

Chen Jing’s work was a guarantee of quality. That was the unanimous opinion of everyone in the music world. As a singer, there was no one who did not dream of getting a song written by Chen Jing.

Even now, the song in Li Manru’s hands had been written by Chen Jing. It was one of the three songs Chen Jing had recently handed to the company. Li Manru could not get songs directly from Chen Jing, but as for the ones he gave to the company, she always found a way to claim one or two for herself.

The last time, she had taken two of Chen Jing’s songs from the company for release, and both had broken into the top fifteen of the most popular songs chart on China Music. Having tasted the sweetness of success, Li Manru found herself unable to let go.

She even regretted it now. If she had known earlier how gifted Chen Jing was, she should have built a good relationship with him from the start. Just look at Xue Yue and Ling Ruohan: every song on their entire album was written by Chen Jing, and even the arrangements had been handled by him. How enviable that was.

At the thought of it, Li Manru gritted her teeth in resentment. She felt that the reason Chen Jing refused to give her any songs was entirely because of his manager, Lin Xi.

Back then, in order to strike out on her own, Li Manru had secretly played many underhanded tricks and eventually succeeded in breaking apart the girls’ group of traditional Chinese style. That was why her relationship with Lin Xi had become so awful. Li Manru knew this very well herself.

She had once thought that after achieving some success as a solo artist, she could swagger in front of Lin Xi and show off a little. She had not expected that in the end, she would still be constrained by the artist under Lin Xi’s management.

“Hello there, Manru.” Chen Jing still wore that harmless, signature smile.

Li Manru searched for something to say. “Have you just finished recording in there?”

Chen Jing nodded. “Mm-hmm. I was helping Brother Hao produce a single.” After all, there was nothing secret about it. If anyone quietly asked around, they would find out anyway, so there was no need for him to hide it.

Li Manru’s smile stiffened. “Brother Hao?”

“Yeah. Huang Wenhao. He was my judge during Voice of China before, remember? Back then I promised to write a song for them, and now I’m here to keep that promise.”

“Oh, I see. Heh heh.” Li Manru knew about this too, but she still could not help feeling indignant. Why could Chen Jing make song appointments with everyone, yet refuse to make one with her? It had to be that bitch Lin Xi’s orders.

In truth, Li Manru was wronging Lin Xi. Lin Xi generally never interfered in Chen Jing’s songs. Whoever he wanted to give them to was his business. Chen Jing simply disliked Li Manru for some personal reasons. Well, not everyone likes taking the bus.

After thinking for a moment, Li Manru smiled again and said, “By the way, Jing, this is the song you gave the company. Would you like to take a look and help me go over it?”

Chen Jing was not surprised at all that Li Manru had gotten hold of his song. After all, he had never clearly stipulated that the company could not let her sing it. And he only disliked Li Manru; there was no need to target her specifically. If she could get one of his songs, that was her own ability.

Everyone had their own way of living. Some people’s way of living might not be very ethical, but as long as it did not affect others, no one could say they were wrong.

Chen Jing shook his head indifferently. “Oh, this song? No need. I believe you’ll handle it well, Manru. Anyway, I have something else to do, so I won’t bother you. I’m heading off first.”

With that, he smiled at the two of them and left.

Li Manru stared after his departing figure, grinding her teeth in frustration.

“Manru, you really should try to get along with Chen Jing,” her manager said, shaking her head.

Hearing that, Li Manru said in annoyance, “I want to get along with him too, but look at him. The moment he sees me, he acts like he’s seen a flood beast. I don’t even have a chance, okay?”

“I believe you can do it. Building good relationships with people is your strong point, Manru. You’re so beautiful; you should be able to handle Chen Jing too,” her manager hinted tactfully.

She knew that Li Manru had unclear ties with some of the company’s senior executives. So she thought Li Manru could use the same trick on Chen Jing. In her mind, as long as the woman throwing herself at a man was beautiful enough, there was no man in the world who would not take the bait.

Besides, she did not think there was anything improper or shameful about it. It was simply a woman making reasonable use of her own body. An exchange of interests: you enjoy yourself, I enjoy myself, everyone enjoys themselves. What was wrong with that?

After hearing her manager’s words, Li Manru narrowed her eyes slightly, as though plotting something.

“Could it really work?” she thought silently.

At noon, after lunch, Chen Jing arrived at the set on time. As soon as he got there, he saw the crew filming a war explosion scene, with Zhang Qishan concentrating intently behind the camera.

That was how making films was: there was no fixed rest time. If the actors were in the right state, the director would keep them shooting continuously, because next time the actors might not be able to find that state again.

“Ji...ng...”

From far away, Chen Jing heard someone calling him. He followed the sound and saw that it was an acquaintance, so he smiled and walked over.

The first to spot Chen Jing was the extra Liu Manqiang. Since there were no scenes for him at the moment, he was crouching at the side watching how the others acted. By chance, he turned his head and saw Chen Jing entering the set.

After returning home yesterday, Director Zhang Qishan had spoken with him once and planned to add a small supporting role for him. He had been so excited that he could hardly speak, and could only keep nodding and thanking the director for his guidance.

At the time, Zhang Qishan had waved a hand and said, “No, no, you don’t need to thank me. If you want to thank anyone, thank Chen Jing. To be honest, he’s the one who made this opportunity possible for you. Otherwise, I was planning to let you get through this film first and give you a role next time we shoot. Heh heh…”

Only then did Liu Manqiang learn that the “A-Jing” he had been calling was Chen Jing. After thinking it over, he hesitantly asked, “A... Chen Jing... who exactly is he?”

Zhang Qishan looked surprised. “Oh? You don’t know who Chen Jing is?”

“Um, no, I don’t.”

That immediately piqued Zhang Qishan’s interest. “Hmm! You don’t even know who he is, and yet you still agreed to pull him into that shot?”

Liu Manqiang said bashfully, “Back then I was an extra with A-Jing, and we chatted for a bit. I just felt he had a real eye for film. Later, Brother Le told me there was a shot with my face in it, and on impulse I asked whether I could bring A-Jing along too. Brother Le agreed.”

After hearing Liu Manqiang’s explanation, Zhang Qishan nodded in satisfaction, feeling that all of this was Liu Manqiang’s own good fortune.

“Not bad. Very good. The A-Jing you’re talking about is the most popular musical talent in the entertainment industry right now, Chen Jing. The one who composed and originally sang your favorite song, ‘Drifting Northward,’ was none other than Chen Jing. Oh, and he also won Voice of China, I think, right? That’s what I heard from you all.”

“Chen Jing is A-Jing? The musical genius Chen Jing?!” Liu Manqiang stared at Zhang Qishan in disbelief...

Today, Chen Jing was dressed rather sharply, so when he walked over to Liu Manqiang, he attracted a great deal of attention from the people on set.

“Hey! Who’s that guy? Dressed up like a proper gentleman.”

“Keep your voice down. Isn’t he the extra from yesterday’s explosion accident? The one with those two very beautiful women?”

“Oh, it’s him! Ha, looks really are everything. Yesterday he was in that extra’s costume, and today he’s like a completely different person.”

“Hey, don’t you think he looks familiar? I keep feeling like he must be some celebrity, but I can’t place the name.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen a celebrity like that. Which celebrity would secretly come here to be an extra? It’s not like he’s some rich kid here to experience life.”

“Fair enough...”

Amid the murmured speculation, Chen Jing reached Liu Manqiang.

Smiling, Chen Jing asked, “Manqiang, nothing happened yesterday, right?”

Liu Manqiang shook his head, then said solemnly, “Thank you, Chen Jing.”

Chen Jing was just about to say there was no need, when Liu Manqiang continued, “Not only for saving me yesterday, but also for helping me get this extra role from Director Zhang.”

Chen Jing paused, then nodded. After that, he changed the subject. “Do you know what scene Director Zhang added for us? I left in a hurry yesterday and forgot to ask him.”

“Oh, the script was printed this morning. I happen to have a copy here. Wait a moment while I find it for you.” As he spoke, Liu Manqiang pulled several sheets of paper from his chest and handed them to Chen Jing.

Chen Jing took the pages and saw that the script, though only three pages long, had not only the original copied scene details but also dense annotations written all around the margins.

Chen Jing looked at the densely packed handwriting with surprise. Silently, he read through every note beside the script. Only then did he put the script down and ask Liu Manqiang, “You wrote all these notes by hand yourself?”

“Mm.” Liu Manqiang nodded, a little embarrassed. “I really like studying scripts, and I especially like writing my own thoughts on them. Is there too much writing? Was it too messy and hard to read? If so, I’ll go ask Brother Le for another copy for you.”

Chen Jing shook his head and handed the script back. Smiling, he said, “No, you wrote it very well. Those notes are clear and easy to understand. Even someone like me, a beginner at acting, can tell how to perform from them. They’re excellent. When it comes time for us to shoot, I might even need to borrow this copy to take another look.”

Hearing Chen Jing say that, Liu Manqiang actually refused to take the script back. He waved him off and said, “Mm-hmm, of course. You can look at it for as long as you want. Otherwise, just keep this copy and I’ll go get another one.”

Chen Jing insisted on handing it back. “No, take it back. I’ll go get a new one. I also want to see how far my own understanding of the script can go. Later, I’ll borrow yours as a reference.”

“All right then.” Liu Manqiang hesitated for a moment, but still took the script and put it back into his pocket.