Song Yuanxi’s expression turned serious as he sent a message to the small group: 【It’s time. The company says they have time to see me.】
The group consisted of the people Liang Han had found for him to handle the contract termination. Upon hearing this, they all became professional and focused.
Lawyer: 【Good. Remember, when you go to talk, you must keep an audio connection open. We will listen in together to find loopholes. If there are problems, we can discover them in time.】
Although a recording pen could capture the entire event, they couldn’t be certain if Song Yuanxi would make a mistake during the dialogue. Thus, a real-time audio feed would allow them to spot issues and call him, interrupting the conversation to warn him.
Song Yuanxi replied that he understood. He then focused on Manager Wang. Since mobile calls are automatically recorded, his tone was clear: “I have time this afternoon, Manager Wang. I’ll head to the company now.”
Song Yuanxi stood up, preparing to change clothes and head out. However, Manager Wang told him there was no need to go to the office: “Oh, not the company. The boss isn’t at the company today.”
Song Yuanxi’s brow furrowed: “Not at the company?”
If he wasn’t at the company, why say he had time to discuss the termination? Was he playing him? Was this going to be like last time, where he was called in to hear audition results only to be told he failed? If it was just those few words, why go through the trouble of making him travel? They could have just said so over the phone. Could Manager Wang be trying to stall for time?
However, Song Yuanxi wasn’t angry. The more “shameless maneuvers” the opponent made, the better it was all evidence of breach of contract that favored him.
“Of course I’m not playing you. What would I gain from that? I don’t get any money out of it.” Seeing that he was annoyed, Manager Wang quickly explained, “The boss is just too busy. He finally managed to return to Haicheng from his business trip today, but he has to discuss matters with people and won’t have time to return to the office.”
Song Yuanxi remained silent, skeptical of this explanation. Was the boss really that busy? Not even enough time to return to the office? He saw that Liang Han was much busier than the Huanhai boss, yet Liang Han still frequently returned to his studio to handle affairs.
Manager Wang used a tone that suggested he was seeking credit: “Originally, he indeed didn’t plan to chat about your termination today. I was just worried about making you wait too long. Since I mentioned the weekend before, I couldn’t go back on my word, right? So I put in a word for you. The boss happens to have an hour of free time after finishing his business, so he told me to have you go there to talk with him.”
He added one last thing: “If we can’t talk today, it’ll have to wait until next month.”
After Manager Wang finished speaking, he held his breath, listening for Song Yuanxi’s response. Beside him, the boss stared at him. Manager Wang wore a smiling expression, but he wasn’t sure if Song Yuanxi would agree.
In the past, based on his understanding of Song Yuanxi, he would have been certain. But not anymore. Ever since the fallout with the boss, Song Yuanxi had become a completely different person in his eyes. He used to look obedient, but now they found out he would defy the boss, seek out Liang Han directly to ask for results, and dare to propose contract termination. He was too individualistic and thoughtful, not someone he could predict.
Although the boss said Song Yuanxi would definitely agree, he wasn’t certain.
However, after a few seconds of silence, Song Yuanxi did indeed agree: “Fine. Where is it? I’ll take a car there shortly.”
Manager Wang breathed a sigh of relief and gave the location: “Come to Room 206 on the second floor of the Yunlang Hotel. You’ll need to be quick. Otherwise, if the boss leaves, don’t blame me for not reminding you.”
After hanging up, Manager Wang looked at the boss with a smile: “He agreed. He’s coming this afternoon.”
The boss snorted: “I told you he’d agree. He’s obsessed with terminating and joining Liang Han’s crew; he doesn’t have the time to stall with us. The longer it drags on, the more leverage he loses. If the crew starts filming and he misses his chance to join, everything will have been for nothing. As long as he isn’t stupid, he’ll naturally be anxious to come. You’re the only one being so cautious, overthinking everything.”
When he first signed Song Yuanxi, hadn’t he researched the man? He had no background or connections; there was nothing to be wary of. Once the opportunity with Liang Han was gone, he would be a toy at their mercy. As for his previous “tough” attitude, it was just a bluff—even an angry kitten can scratch out a few drops of blood.
Manager Wang naturally lacked the boss’s confidence. He gave a dry laugh and offered a casual compliment: “Of course, Boss, you are clear-sighted. How could I compare?”
The boss waved his hand and sent the assistant off to work: “Go see if he’s arrived. Don’t let him be late; it’ll affect my plans.”
The assistant hurried out of the private room to check the back entrance, where he happened to meet the people they were looking for and led them upstairs. Just as they reached the elevator, the assistant heard a noise behind him. He turned his head and saw Liang Han walking into the hotel entrance.
Having been by the boss’s side every day, his ears were practically calloused from hearing about Song Yuanxi and Liang Han. The assistant naturally knew there was a connection, but he didn’t know if it would affect today’s plan. He quickly led the people into the private room and told the boss: “Boss, I just saw Liang Han downstairs.”
“He came here today too!?” The boss was a bit surprised, his expression changing slightly. Why would Liang Han come here? Was he really going to protect Song Yuanxi? But intervening in this matter wouldn’t benefit him.
Manager Wang looked worried and suspicious: “Could he be in cahoots with Song Yuanxi?”
“No!” The boss looked at him and dismissed the idea, not wanting to demoralize his team. But in his heart, he wasn’t entirely certain either. He then instructed the assistant: “Go check what Liang Han is here for. If he’s here to talk business with someone, then ignore it.”
After all, many people in the industry came to the Yunlang Hotel for meetings. He had often met partners here himself; a random encounter wasn’t impossible. It might not be what he feared.
Manager Wang asked softly: “But what if he comes looking for us…”
The boss shot him a look, and Manager Wang fell silent. The assistant said: “I understand. I’ll go check it out right away.”
…
Downstairs, Shao Dong informed the front desk of the situation. The front desk then arranged for someone to lead them to the meeting room; the people from the platform had already arrived and were waiting there.
“Alright, let’s go.” Shao Dong looked back at Liang Han and noticed his cold expression. He seemed to be in a bad mood: “What’s with you? Your face has been looking worse every day for the past two days. Is there something I don’t know?”
Two days ago, Liang Han could talk about a blue streak over the phone because of Song Yuanxi, but now he has returned to his “words like gold” state. As Shao Dong spoke, his gaze drifted toward Liang Han’s assistant. The assistant shook his head and he didn’t know either. Last time, the boss had also been mysteriously black-faced for several days, creating a heavy, high-pressure atmosphere, and it had suddenly returned today. Maybe… It was because work had gotten busy. The assistant could only guess that.
Liang Han ignored Shao Dong. Suddenly, the phone in his pocket chimed. His expression shifted slightly; the face that had been as cold as frost a moment ago suddenly thawed a bit. He pulled out his phone to look.
He found it was just some group messages reporting on work.
His expression turned cold again. He scrolled down; Song Yuanxi’s chat box was no longer visible, buried under other people’s messages. This person hadn’t sent him a single message since the last time he sent that emoji!
What was he thinking? Was he in a bad mood because of the contract termination? Shouldn’t he take the opportunity to act pathetic and gain sympathy in front of him? He really couldn’t understand Song Yuanxi’s “routines.”
Or had he said something too harsh that day, making the boy afraid to message him? He clearly hadn’t; hadn’t he just told him to prepare well for the termination? He hadn’t been mean, right? His tone and attitude had been quite good.
Liang Han couldn’t figure out the situation, his mind involuntarily replaying his communications with Song Yuanxi. Or perhaps, when he told him “not to overthink it,” he actually listened? Is that why he’s been so restrained lately?
Logically, this was a good thing. He listened, he wasn’t pestering him, it really should be a good thing. But Liang Han just couldn’t feel happy. He felt stifled and uncomfortable, and his face showed it. Perhaps it was because the other person had received his help but was already preparing to “burn the bridge” before even finishing the termination?
He then dismissed that thought. No, Song Yuanxi shouldn’t be that utilitarian.
Shao Dong glanced at him, finding his expression extremely bizarre. He was suddenly startled: “There isn’t actually a bad situation, is there?” Why did his face suddenly look so terrible? He looked worried: “If there’s a problem with the project, don’t hide it from me, you have to tell me! I’m one of the people in charge, after all! I can help you share the burden.”
Although he handled almost all affairs, it was possible for Liang Han to have new information he was hiding; after all, Liang Han was the primary person in charge. If something was truly wrong, Liang Han might know more than he did.
“There is no bad situation.” Liang Han put away his phone and walked toward the elevator, saying calmly, “I am simply pondering a question.”
Shao Dong asked softly: “What question?”
Liang Han looked at him: “Nothing. A private matter. I can’t explain it to you.”
“Can’t explain it to me?” Shao Dong pondered in his heart. What kind of question couldn’t be explained to him? And a private matter. Liang Han didn’t have any romantic entanglements, and he knew all about his family situation; it shouldn’t be “unexplainable.” Could it be a financial problem?
Ever since leaving the studio, Shao Dong hadn’t intervened in Liang Han’s financial situation and didn’t understand it. Could Liang Han be short on cash? Logically, it shouldn’t be so; Liang Han had plenty of savings, and he must have earned a lot recently. He didn’t have bad habits like gambling, so he shouldn’t be short on money. And even if Liang Han himself was temporarily short, his family had money.
Recalling the expression of anticipation when looking for a message just now, followed by the look of disappointment, Shao Dong’s face also changed. Could it be he was really short on money, asked his family for a loan, and was rejected?
This is bad! Everything at work had been progressing smoothly; they should be happy. Once Song Yuanxi’s termination contract was done, they could start filming. Shao Dong frowned as he entered the elevator, thinking: Could Liang Han’s financial trouble be because he wants to lend Song Yuanxi money?
Liang Han lowered his gaze slightly, staring outside the elevator doors, unaware that in Shao Dong’s mind, he had already become someone with potential financial issues. He was still pondering why Song Yuanxi hadn’t messaged him.
Perhaps because he was thinking about it so much, he suddenly seemed to see Song Yuanxi. He looked up and it wasn’t “seemingly,” he actually saw him. Outside the slowly closing elevator doors, Song Yuanxi was walking into the hotel alone, approaching the front desk to speak, seemingly asking questions.
Liang Han’s mood instantly brightened. So, the reason he hadn’t sent a message was to come here and create a “chance encounter.” First make someone disappointed, then give them a surprise playing “hard to get” in reverse. Song Yuanxi was quite good at this. His methods were indeed impressive, quite sophisticated.
Shao Dong stood beside Liang Han, struggling for a moment. Finally, he steeled his heart and spoke up: “Say, why don’t I support you a bit? I still have some savings, and a house I can mortgage…”
He didn’t finish; his voice died in his throat because he suddenly saw Liang Han’s expression had turned good again. There was even a smile at the corner of his mouth, reflected on the walls of the closed elevator doors; it was almost radiant.
“…” Shao Dong couldn’t help but pat him, asking directly: “What is actually going on? Are you short on money?”
Liang Han snapped out of it and looked at him: “What ‘short on money’? Who’s short on money? You?” Liang Han pulled out his phone: “How much do you need? I’ll lend it to you.”
Shao Dong stared at him speechlessly: “I’m not short on money!”
Liang Han was baffled, staring at him with a confused face: “If you aren’t short on money, why are you asking me for a loan?”
Shao Dong was even more speechless and confused: “When did I ask you for a loan? I was clearly worried you were short on money and asked if you needed me to lend you some!”
“Oh,” Liang Han realized, and then put away his phone. “No, I’m not short on money. Do I look like someone who’s short on money?”
Shao Dong snorted: “…I can’t tell. I can only tell that your face changes every day like a chameleon. Capricious, right, Xiao Zheng?”
Liang Han’s gaze moved over. Xiao Zheng gave a dry smile: “Not really. The Boss’s emotions are very stable.”
Shao Dong clicked his tongue and pointed a finger at Xiao Zheng: “Flatterer! Lackey!” Xiao Zheng gave an embarrassed smile, saying nothing and offering no rebuttal, just carefully following behind Liang Han into the private room.
…
Song Yuanxi inquired at the front desk and learned that only the Huanhai boss and his manager were currently in 206. His heart settled slightly. While walking toward the elevator, he sent a message to the group: 【Asked the hotel staff. Confirmed only my manager and the boss are there. I’m going up. You guys wait for me outside. If my phone connection breaks or something happens, come up.】
He had been worried the other side would bring a bunch of people to pressure him, like the “pimping” incident last time. If that were the case, he would have had the group go up with him. But for now, he didn’t want the termination team to appear before the boss yet. If Huanhai saw the situation, they might come up with other ideas to mess with him.
Let them think he was weak. The more they thought so, the more arrogant they would be—and the more arrogant they were, the easier it was to make mistakes. Mistakes would give him the chance to seize leverage. So he had them wait at the hotel entrance.
The people in the group reminded him: 【Keep the call open, don’t close it.】 【Mm. If anything happens, you guys come up.】
He had no intention of joking with his own safety. Song Yuanxi was prepared. He took the elevator upstairs and reached 206. Sure enough, he only saw the boss and the manager.
The assistant had just finished scouting and returned to tell the boss that Liang Han was here today to talk shop with people from the Penguin Video platform. This completely put their minds at ease. The boss looked even more triumphant: “I told you, how could Liang Han possibly be standing up for him? When have I ever been wrong!”
The manager smiled and agreed repeatedly, then fell silent upon hearing a knock. Song Yuanxi opened the door and entered.
“Yuanxi, you’re here!” Manager Wang was feeling much more relaxed now, smiling as he pulled out a chair. “Sit. The boss just finished his work.”
Song Yuanxi glanced at him and asked in a curious tone: “When did you arrive, Manager Wang? You got here earlier than I did.”
Manager Wang was startled, thinking he had noticed something wrong. He had been here all along and hadn’t left, but he still had to lie: “No, no. It’s not far from the company. I knew you were coming, so I hurried over by car.”
“Oh.” Song Yuanxi didn’t continue questioning, though his own place wasn’t that far away either. Manager Wang’s words were suspicious. But Song Yuanxi said nothing, turned his face toward the boss, and got straight to the point: “Boss, you already know I want to terminate the contract. What do I need to do for the company to be willing to sign the termination agreement?”
His attitude was the same as that day stubborn and pushing himself, yet seemingly with a hint of lacking confidence.
The boss had been looking down at his phone; only now did he look up at him and smile: “Yuanxi, I think our cooperation has always been quite pleasant. I believe the company hasn’t mistreated you. In these past few years, we’ve given you plenty of resources to cultivate you. Why leave when everything is fine? Isn’t it good to stay with the company?”
He spoke as if the act of blacklisting Song Yuanxi had never happened. Song Yuanxi didn’t argue with him; the lawyer had reminded him that arguing wouldn’t benefit him. Song Yuanxi’s tone softened a bit, adopting an attitude of weakness: “I acknowledge the company cultivated me before. If I need to pay a penalty for breach of contract, I’m willing. But for the past six months, the company hasn’t given me any resources. It’s not without reason the company breached the contract first by not arranging resources for me. What can I do? I can only leave.”
The boss looked at him, his attitude seemingly softening a bit as well: “It’s not that I don’t want to give you resources. Wasn’t it last time, when I introduced a resource to you, that you ended up offending the person! The lack of resources isn’t me intentionally making things hard for you; it’s that people don’t want you.”
Song Yuanxi watched the boss lie with eyes wide open, but he wasn’t angry. He just continued to refute weakly: “But I contacted Teacher Liang Han, and he said he didn’t ‘not want me’.”
“Ha, that’s just what he said. He was being asked to his face; he was embarrassed and just coaxing you. If he really wanted you, why would he accept Huang Yi for an audition later? Think about whether that makes sense.”
Song Yuanxi wore a stubborn expression of refusal to accept this: “But no matter what, the current situation is that the company isn’t giving me resources, so I can only leave. I’m willing to pay the penalty for the resources of the past two years, as long as you let me go.”
The boss looked at him and sighed: “If you really want to terminate, I can’t stop you. Fine. As for the penalty, I’ve had them calculate it for you. For the past two years, your average annual income was about ten million. There are eight years left. The penalty, calculated out, is eighty million.”
It was a massive “lion’s mouth” opening. He was just a minor artist, barely better than an 18th-tier actor. To dare ask for that much for a penalty not to mention, when did his previous income ever reach that much?
Fire rose in Song Yuanxi’s heart, but he held it back, restraining his temper. But the boss across from him seemed to know he was asking for too much: “However, considering the contract split, plus the fact that you said you’ve been without work for this period which indeed counts as the company mistreating you, I’ll give you a discount. Let’s cut twenty million. You only need to pay sixty million, and I’ll sign the contract right now and let you go.”
Cutting twenty million seemed like a grand gesture. Beside him, the manager chimed in: “That’s twenty million. The boss waved it for you. How great is that.”
Song Yuanxi: “…”
Although Liang Han might have that much money and might be willing to lend him that much, Song Yuanxi couldn’t let the boss lead him by the nose, nor could he actually give him that much money. He remained silent, plotting in his heart how to obtain more opportunities to lower the penalty fee.
Song Yuanxi’s silence was within the other two’s expectations. The boss was certain that Song Yuanxi could never produce this sum of money; he simply couldn’t have that much.
The boss laughed: “Or, if you want me to lower the penalty a bit more, that’s also possible. But you have to show some ‘sincerity’.”
Song Yuanxi hadn’t thought of a way yet, but hearing this, his heart stirred. He knew the purpose of today’s specially arranged meeting at the hotel was coming. He looked up at the boss with a questioning gaze: “How should I show it?”
The boss gave Manager Wang a look. Manager Wang pulled out ten bottles of alcohol from a nearby dining cart and placed them on the table.
The boss said: “There are ten bottles of alcohol here. If you can drink two, I’ll lower it by ten million. If you can drink all ten, I’ll only take ten million and let you go! How about it? I, your boss, am being quite generous, aren’t I?”
Song Yuanxi swept a glance at the alcohol. Strong liquor, high concentration drinking it all was likely a lethal level.
A call came into his phone a vibration. Without even looking, he knew the interface must be full of group messages, instructing him not to drink and to refuse. They weren’t on the scene; who knew what kind of alcohol this was or if there was a problem? If something happened from drinking, the penalty might be lower, but the person would be in trouble.
Song Yuanxi raised his hand and set the phone to silent, not answering the call. They had discussed this before and if he didn’t answer, they would come up to help take him away at any time.
Song Yuanxi had a plan in his heart. He said apologetically: “My alcohol tolerance isn’t good, I can’t drink this much.”
The boss smiled: “Then don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”
Manager Wang added: “It’s fine, just drink it like water! Think about it! This is five million a bottle! Ten bottles is seventy million! Where else would you get the chance to drink such expensive liquor? Right?”
Song Yuanxi didn’t speak, showing a look of difficulty. The boss raised an eyebrow: “What, surely you don’t think there’s a problem with this alcohol?”
Manager Wang placed the alcohol in front of him: “Check it yourself. It’s unopened, just brought up from downstairs in the hotel. Or if you’re worried, I can have the hotel bring up ten more bottles.”
It was indeed unopened. It seemed they weren’t tampering with the alcohol itself; rather, they wanted to use the alcohol as a cover to do something else. They wanted to get him drunk first, then do other things.
Song Yuanxi thought for a moment, put on an expression of “burning his boats,” and grabbed a bottle: “Fine! I’ll drink!”
…
A few private rooms away, Liang Han sat in his room, frequently looking toward the door. The platform representative sitting opposite stopped talking, feeling uneasy, and couldn’t help but ask Shao Dong softly: “Is someone else coming today?”
Shao Dong paused, then shook his head: “No. We agreed on both sides to talk business; why would we arrange for others to come?”
The other party turned to look at Liang Han: “Then does Teacher Liang Han have something on his mind? Or is there something inappropriate about the plan we just discussed?”
Shao Dong turned his face and lightly elbowed Liang Han. Liang Han looked up at him, snapped out of it, and smiled at the representative: “No, the plan is quite good.”
But after he finished speaking, he stood up and said apologetically: “I need to step out to the restroom for a moment.”