Owing Money
Zhou Jueming tilted his head slightly to avoid the file flying straight at him.
The freshly printed A4 pages had sharp corners and still smelled of ink. They struck him hard in the chest, then fell to the coffee-colored floor.
Zhou Jueming bent to pick them up. His gaze swept over the large characters at the top: “Contract Termination Agreement.” Below them was a list of the company’s partners.
In the little star Zhou Jueming’s memories, he had been afraid of his iron-fisted manager, Li Miaosi. The details of their conversations never stayed clear in his mind. All he could recall was her icy tone and meticulous professionalism.
Zhou Jueming straightened the worn corners of the papers and set them on the large desk in front of Li Miaosi.
The aftereffects of the drug were strong. He felt drained and weak from sweating so much, and his head was throbbing, as if he might be coming down with a fever. He pulled over a wooden stool and sat down.
Li Miaosi had just jumped to her feet in a rage. Seeing him sit there so calmly only made her angrier.
Before she could start cursing, Zhou Jueming spoke first. He folded his hands on the desk and looked up at her calmly.
His voice was steady. “Sister Li, I admit to the things that have come out online these past couple of days, the things people specifically warned you about. I let myself get carried away and did something stupid. I accept that the company wants to terminate my contract. I just want to discuss the details of the termination with you today.”
His composure gave Li Miaosi an opening to vent. She slammed the folder down on the desk, rattling the things on it.
Her voice was shrill. “Discuss? You really think that highly of yourself, don’t you? What right do you have to discuss anything? Huh? Forget all the disgraceful things you’ve done behind everyone’s backs. You drugged someone! Do you understand that’s a crime? A crime can land you in prison! You went to a proper university, so how can you not know even the most basic laws? I must have been blind to sign you!”
“What you did was an invasion of someone’s sensitive privacy, so it didn’t make it into the news, but who in the industry or at the company doesn’t know? The big bosses upstairs were furious. Who do you think you are, huh?”
“You set your sights on Chen Yueqian, the Golden Prince? You’re stupid, incompetent, and jealous. You wanted more than you could handle, and now look at you! And you want to negotiate with me? What makes you think you’re so important?”
“You’ve been under contract with the company for six months. We haven’t seen a penny back from our initial investment in you, and then you turn around and drag the company through the mud, ruining its reputation and image. We’ve signed plenty of people over the years, but no one’s ever been like you.”
Li Miaosi let out a long breath and looked at Zhou Jueming, who remained calm, almost at ease. Nine out of ten artists she reprimanded at the company would cry, and Zhou Jueming, the affected little schemer, was usually the most dramatic crier of them all.
She stared at him, but his expression remained placid. Only the sweat sliding down his temple seemed unusual. She took another deep breath, calmed herself a little, and asked, “You just came from President Jiang’s office?”
Zhou Jueming raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Li Miaosi kept her eyes on him. “What did President Jiang say?”
Zhou Jueming answered in a calm, even voice. “We signed a variety show contract.”
Li Miaosi nodded. “Bring me a copy of the contract later.”
Then she flung another contract in front of him. Zhou Jueming realized that in the two short hours since he’d arrived in this world, he’d spent most of them getting papers thrown at him.
The little star’s body was terribly weak. The constant sweating and heart palpitations had left him dizzy. He bit the inside of his cheek to stay alert and looked down at the latest document.
It was the penalty he owed the company, a seven-digit sum beginning with a 2.
From what he’d pieced together of those memories, the little star had saved almost nothing. He’d spent it all on networking and entertaining, and on smearing Chen Yueqian. He hadn’t bought any property, and the only thing he owned was a decent car, nowhere near enough to cover more than two million.
Zhou Jueming couldn’t help coughing softly as he read the printed figures.
The drugging incident hadn’t been included. The most serious breaches listed in the contract were violations of the “moral image” he was required to maintain in public, failure to cooperate with the company, and malicious false advertising. The company wasn’t demanding much for those, having shown him some leniency. Most of the sum came from the money it had spent “building” his career.
As Zhou Jueming tried to figure out how the little star could scrape together that much money, Li Miaosi spoke again. “You’d better do a good job on the variety show President Jiang gave you today. It’ll be your last one as an artist with the company. The fee you earn can go toward part of the penalty. You have to pay off the rest within a month. You don’t want to end up in court, do you?”
Zhou Jueming tapped the A4 page with a finger. “Sister Li, could you extend the payment deadline to six months? I don’t have enough on hand right now.”
Li Miaosi frowned at him and gave a mocking laugh. “You can guarantee you’ll pay it all back in six months?”
“Yes.”
Li Miaosi stared at him for a while, then typed rapidly at her computer. The printer spat out a fresh page. She slapped it down in front of Zhou Jueming. “Fine. Sign this. If you haven’t paid it all back in six months, the penalty doubles.”
Zhou Jueming didn’t hesitate. He picked up the pen and signed his name on both documents.
Li Miaosi watched him sign calmly and steadily from across the desk. He wasn’t crying, throwing a tantrum, or trying to drag things out. She still found his behavior unnervingly strange.
Afraid he might pull something again, she gave him one last warning. “The company’s already gone above and beyond for you. You’ve caused us enormous losses, and we’re only handling this as a business matter. We haven’t kicked you while you’re down. Think carefully, and use your head for once. If there’s a next time, it won’t be this simple.”
Zhou Jueming wiped the red ink from his fingers with a tissue. “Understood. Can I leave now?”
Li Miaosi paused. For some inexplicable reason, she found herself thinking that this Zhou Jueming, famous for being a green tea white lotus and a drama queen, had an imposing presence. She even nodded along with him before she could stop herself.
Zhou Jueming rose, tall and upright. He gave her a slight nod and turned to leave. Once he was out of the company, he no longer had an assistant or a car, and he was saddled with a debt of more than two million.
But what concerned him most was how awful and weak he felt, the discomfort unrelenting. He was afraid he’d collapse in the middle of the road if he didn’t hurry.
Ordinary anesthetics didn’t usually have severe aftereffects once they wore off. But the little star’s body was so frail that it couldn’t withstand such a powerful drug, and the symptoms had yet to pass.
He put on a mask and glasses and hailed a taxi. As soon as he got in, he received another call. A woman’s voice on the other end calmly introduced herself as someone from the school’s academic affairs office and told him to come in as soon as possible.
Zhou Jueming rubbed his temples. The little star was a third-year student, but his class attendance was abysmal, and he’d failed courses year after year. The school had already put him on academic probation. Expulsion was the next step.
He asked the driver to change course and head to the Film Academy. Ignoring the driver’s curious look in the rearview mirror, he logged into the school system and pulled up the little star’s transcript. Every required course was marked in red; he hadn’t even taken the electives. With a maximum GPA of 4.5, the little star hadn’t even managed a 1.5.
Top student Zhou Jueming had never seen a transcript like this. His temple gave another sudden throb.
Before going to the academic affairs office, he went to the restroom and washed his face. The sweat had left him looking pale, and his makeup hung on his face like a mask.
But his back was still ramrod straight, so no one would have thought he was weak.
When he finally reached the office, two teachers, a man and a woman, were already waiting there.
The male teacher adjusted his glasses, the corners of his mouth turned down. “Classmate Zhou, a few of us department heads discussed your situation with your homeroom teacher and counselor. We’ve realized that studying might be too much of a burden for you. You’re not suited to the pace here, and we can’t teach a student like you. So please take care of the withdrawal paperwork as soon as possible.”
The female teacher was printing documents at the computer nearby. She added impatiently, “Just submit your application through the system when the time comes. We’ll approve it, and then you’ll be free.”
Zhou Jueming lowered his head and let out a breath. He softened his voice. “Teacher, could you give me one more chance? I can repeat all my courses at a lower level, and by this time next year I’ll raise my GPA above 4.0.”
He’d thought of this on the way over. It hadn’t been easy for the little star to get into this university. Even though he’d never studied seriously once he got there, and had hired people to do his assignments, found substitutes to attend class, and filled in answers at random during exams.
But a university degree was extremely important in modern society. The little star had genuinely worked hard to get into this school.
Besides, Zhou Jueming needed a degree to make plans for his future.
The male teacher gave a short laugh. “Are you joking? Do you know what kind of students get a 4.0 GPA? What makes you think you can bring yours up in a year? All talk, huh, kid?”
Zhou Jueming didn’t smile. He met the teacher’s gaze steadily and spoke in an even voice. “Teacher, please believe in me once more. If I can’t meet that standard next year, I’ll withdraw on my own. I’m willing to sign a written pledge. It wasn’t easy to get into this school. I accept responsibility for the mistakes I made before, but I deeply regret them now. Please give me another chance. I’m asking you.”
The two teachers exchanged a look, then turned to the young man standing straight across from them. The male teacher said, “Six months. The semester’s already over, and summer break is about to start. We’ll give you six months to raise your GPA to 4.0. Otherwise, there’ll be nothing left to discuss.”
Zhou Jueming calculated the credits he’d need to earn and the grades he’d have to get, then nodded and answered steadily, “I can do that. Thank you, teachers.”
By the time he finally returned to the little star’s small rented two-bedroom apartment in the city center, the sky had grown dark.
Severely dehydrated and feeling awful, Zhou Jueming went to the bathroom first. Half learning, half experimenting, he took out his colored contacts and removed his makeup. A young man’s face appeared in the bright mirror.
The little star had gotten into the Film Academy in the capital on his own merits, so it was only natural that he was good-looking.
He had a high, narrow nose, slightly long, thin lips, a sharply defined face, and relaxed brows and eyes. A classic handsome male face.
His heavy makeup had softened the sharpness of his features, making him look more gentle, but it had also made him less distinctive.
After showering, Zhou Jueming drank two large glasses of warm salt water to speed up the drug’s metabolism and rehydrate himself, then went straight into the master bedroom.
The layout of the apartment and the piles of belongings made it easy to see how chaotic and lazy the little star’s life had been. Zhou Jueming hastily changed the sheets and got into bed, closing his eyes.
He didn’t think he’d slept for long when the phone beside him began vibrating frantically and woke him up.
He’d always kept a regular routine for work. He hardly ever needed an alarm, since his body clock kept him on schedule.
But when he opened his eyes and saw that it was still light outside and the room was unfamiliar, the events of the past few hours gradually returned to him.
A delivery driver had called to tell him a package had arrived at the front desk and asked him to come downstairs and collect it. It was an ordinary brown cardboard box, about half a foot long.
Several unopened boxes and bags had piled up in the entryway, even gathering a thin layer of dust.
Zhou Jueming couldn’t stand the mess. He went to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of milk, and found some biscuits. After finishing them, he grabbed a mat and sat down by the pile of packages near the front door to sort through them.
The first one he opened was naturally the one he’d just brought up. He sliced through the yellow tape with a small knife, and a nauseating smell of blood burst out.
A small, slender snake had been pierced through the middle of its body with a sharp blade. Its head and tail had both been cut off and set aside. The sight was brutally bloody.