Chapter 6
Meng Xi spent the entire morning in her room, reading and listening to music while basking in the sunlight streaming in through the window, feeling comfortable and at ease.
Before transmigrating into the novel, she rarely had time to enjoy life like this.
Her father died of illness before she was born, and she lived with her mother until she was ten years old, when her mother also died in an accident.
From then on, she lived in her paternal uncle's house.
But living under someone else's roof was not an easy life.
She was well aware that she was a burden to other people's families, so she was very frugal and never spent a penny recklessly.
Starting from junior high school, she worked at a classmate's factory during winter and summer vacations and earned all her tuition fees up to university.
In the first semester of her junior year, a month before she transmigrated, she received a role as the second female lead in a TV series on the recommendation of her teacher.
Before she could even showcase her superb acting skills, she found herself transported into this novel.
Fortunately, the original owner was also an actress, which allowed her to continue fulfilling the dreams she hadn't had time to complete.
After reading a few more pages, Meng Xi asked Jian Yue for the phone number of the director of the web series.
She dialed the number, and the other party answered very quickly.
"Hello."
"Hello, is this Director Chen Fei?"
"Yes, who are you?"
"I am Meng Xi."
"..."
The person on the other end was clearly surprised that Meng Xi would call him.
He was stunned for a few seconds before he came to hs senses. "You... hello Miss Meng Xi, may I ask what you need from me?"
"I'd like to ask, has Director Chen found a suitable female lead for your web series 'Sweet Little Time'?"
“Not yet.”
"Then what do you think of me?"
Chen Fei was stunned once again.
What did Meng Xi mean by that? Was she recommending herself?
But why would someone like her, who didn't lack resources, be interested in such a low-budget web series? The salary for an entire series might not even be as high as the salary for a single episode of a big-budget drama.
In addition, her marital relationship with Huo Mingcheng was just revealed yesterday.
How could the wife of the president of the prestigious Huo Group be reduced to filming web dramas?
Moreover, the other party came to him on her own initiative.
"Miss Meng," Chen Fei couldn't help but wonder, "Are you joking with me? Deliberately teasing me?"
Meng Xi could understand his feelings and could only explain, "I'm not that bored. The reason I made this call to Director Chen is because I read the original novel when I was in high school and I really liked it."
"But……"
Chen Fei paused for a moment, "Ms. Meng, as you know, this is just a low-budget web series, and the pay was very low."
The implication was that they simply can't afford to invite her, this big shot.
Upon hearing this, Meng Xi couldn't help but chuckle. "I made this call on my own initiative. Director Chen thinks that even after all this, why would I care about the salary?"
"This--"
"How about this," Meng Xi gave him some time to think, "Director Chen, why don't you discuss it with the producer first, and then give me an answer, okay?"
"Okay...okay."
Chen Fei hung up the phone, feeling as if he were dreaming.
Due to funding constraints, he originally planned to cast college students as the female lead.
Currently, he and producer Lu Yang have just stepped one foot into the gates of the film academy.
After he finished his call, Lu Yang immediately asked, "Was that Meng Xi? Why would she call you?"
"She asked us if we had found a suitable female lead, and even recommended herself to me, saying that she had read the original novel in high school and liked it very much," Chen Fei said.
Lu Yang was also surprised, "Didn't she know we can't afford such a high salary?"
Chen Fei: "She knows. She said she didn't care about this and asked us to discuss it and then give her an answer."
"Could it be..." Lu Yang recalled the post he saw on the Huaban forum, "Is what that post online is true?"
"What kind of scoop post?"
"It is said that Huo Mingcheng's love interest is Meng Yao, and because he couldn't have her, he married Meng Xi, who had plastic surgery to look like Meng Yao. In fact, their relationship is very strained, not at all like what they show on VB."
Lu Yang turned to look at Chen Fei, "I don't think this is baseless. Otherwise, since Huo Mingcheng invested in 'The Long Song of Prosperity,' would Director Qin not know that Meng Xi is his wife? Even if he really didn't know before, now that their relationship is public knowledge, why didn't he speak out immediately?"
Even if they don't directly replace the female lead with Meng Xi, shouldn't the original second female lead role be returned to her?
This was evident.
In Huo Mingcheng's eyes, Meng Xi was probably just a substitute for Meng Yao and not that important.
"So what do you think? Should we use her, or not?" Chen Fei couldn't make up his mind.
Lu Yang weighed the pros and cons in his mind and analyzed, "She is at least a third-tier actress and she is currently very popular. We won't lose out by using her. In addition, her appearance is very suitable for the female lead's character. She is indeed a very good choice."
“Okay,” Chen Fei said, “I’ll call her and arrange a time to have a meal together and have a good chat.”
Meanwhile, Meng Xi got up and prepared to go downstairs to see if Ah Lan had prepared lunch. She planned to go out for a walk after lunch.
Last night she saw a charity donation drive online and wanted to buy some clothes and school supplies to donate to children in impoverished mountain areas.
This was also one of her dreams before she transmigrated into the novel—
Do one’s best to help those in need.
Turning around, she was surprised to find that Fatty had come in at some point and was squatting by the door, staring at her with his two round eyes.
"Hey, when did you get here? Why aren't you with Huo Mingcheng?" Meng Xi said as she stepped forward, bending down to hold Fatty.
However, agile Fatty immediately turned around and quickly ran back to Huo Mingcheng's study.
Huo Mingcheng's mind kept replaying Meng Xi's words from breakfast, so he did nothing all morning but sit there in a daze.
When Fatty returned, he tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk.
“What is she doing in the room?”
[Reading and listening to music.] Fatty jumped onto Huo Mingcheng's lap and reported truthfully: [Later, she called a director named Chen Fei to ask if he had found a suitable female lead for the web series "Sweet Little Time," and also offered herself up.]
Upon hearing this, Huo Mingcheng's gaze darkened.
The woman rejected his offer, which he assumed was because she had other valuable resources at her disposal.
Unexpectedly, she actually took the initiative to call the director of a lousy web series.
[She might have really reformed and don't like you, the dog man anymore,] Fatty guessed.
"Don't like me, so she reformed?" Huo Mingcheng's brows furrowed suddenly. "Also, who gave you permission to call me those two words? Don't you want to eat lunch?"
[That's not what I meant.]
Fatty quickly explained, [I meant she... I meant…]
Ugh, why couldn't it explain this clearly?
"Fine, I'll let you off the hook this time, fat cat."
Huo Mingcheng threw Fatty on the ground and prepared to go downstairs. Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he faintly heard a conversation coming from downstairs.
It sounded like Meng Heqian and Tang Jing, who were Meng Yao and Meng Xi's parents.