Early the next morning, Li Jiao swung her voluminous wavy hair and stepped into “Gyrfalcon” as scheduled, wearing a fitted black miniskirt.
Oh, “Gyrfalcon” was the name of the small talent agency the original host had signed with.
Her former agent Chen Cheng was already waiting in the conference room.
Although she hadn’t known Li Jiao’s identity at first, anyone with half a brain could connect the dots after seeing how “Gardenia Star” suppressed Li Jiao and considering her surname…
It wasn’t hard to guess this was another case of a rebellious rich heiress chasing her entertainment dreams behind her family’s back.
Therefore, she didn’t dare neglect this “ancestor” who was about to terminate her contract.
“Jiaojiao, over these past two years… while the company really didn’t give you many resources, you know we genuinely didn’t dare to.
When the company first signed you, we truly hoped to make you famous. Who would have thought…”
“Alright, don’t worry. I’ve always been fair about gratitude and grudges. I won’t punish people indiscriminately.” Li Jiao leaned back in the leather chair, her legs crossed invisibly beneath the table as she flipped through the termination contract with little interest.
“Uh… that’s good, that’s good.” Chen Cheng nodded repeatedly. “Do you see any issues with the contract? It’s identical to the electronic version we sent you yesterday—we haven’t made any changes.”
Li Jiao didn’t respond further. She flipped through the contract twice and confirmed it was exactly as Chen Cheng had described.
Quite honest.
She silently assessed this in her mind, then closed the contract, placed it back on the table, and signed it with a flourish.
Having practiced her penmanship diligently after yesterday’s signing experience, her signature now somewhat resembled human handwriting.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Chen Cheng tremblingly accepted the contract with both hands, not forgetting to ask Li Jiao to repost their official termination announcement on Weibo.
Fans cursing talent agencies is tradition.
Although Li Jiao wasn’t popular, she still had some devoted fans who would tag “Gyrfalcon” daily to demand they “face the music.”
To avoid being dragged out for criticism occasionally in the future, a peaceful termination with mutual Weibo interaction was an unwritten industry norm.
“Fine.” Li Jiao agreed immediately. Having crammed entertainment industry knowledge yesterday, she knew this was standard procedure.
She opened her phone, entered the yellow big-eyed Weibo app, and found the post Chen Cheng had just published.
Gyrfalcon Entertainment: “Time flies. Thank you for two years of companionship. Sincerely wishing @Li Jiao a brilliant future and smooth sailing in her acting career.”
Li Jiao reposted: Pleasure working with you [fist bump] [fist bump] [fist bump].
Chen Cheng stared at the Weibo post, her pupils practically shaking with shock.
Was Li Jiao adopting an old cadre persona now? Impressive! As expected of “Gardenia Star”—a glamorous female star playing the old cadre role was such an unconventional approach, so different from ordinary agencies.
She silently admired this in her heart, then quietly liked the post and replied to Li Jiao with three hug emojis.
Li Jiao held her phone, idly browsing through the Weibo comments left by fans.
These included, but weren’t limited to:
– Continued agency bashing: “*^%# company, finally letting our Jiaojiao go, [crying] Jiaojiao stride forward boldly, you’re free now!”
– Comments from those who didn’t read the post: “Has Jiaojiao married me today? Not yet! [crying].”
And the particularly rational ones: “The contract expired normally. Wishing Li Jiao a bright future.”
Of course, there were also anti-fans cursing her as an “ungrateful wretch,” though these comments were quickly buried.
Li Jiao scrolled through her phone screen, skimmed about a dozen comments, then yawned slightly before replying herself: “As a new beginning, I’ve changed my name. From now on, I’ll be Li Jiao. Thank you all for your companionship along the way. I’ll continue to walk my path well in the future.”
“Is this acceptable?” She looked up at Lin Ru, the top agent from Gardenia Star standing before her.
“Yes, just post it like that.”
After watching Li Jiao press send, Lin Ru continued, “Director Li, I’ve reviewed your profile. Frankly speaking, among the general public, those who dislike you currently outnumber your supporters. If you don’t wish to pursue the Black Fame route, I’d recommend joining a variety show first to improve your image before taking on acting roles.”
“Variety show?” Li Jiao thought for a moment and nodded. “Fine, I have no objections.”
“Good. What kind of public persona would you like to adopt? My suggestion is not to deviate too much from your actual personality, otherwise it could easily lead to image collapse.”
“Public persona?” Li Jiao frowned, then chuckled lightly. “I don’t need a persona.”
What a joke – back in ancient times, she had ranked among the most desirable Husband-in-chief candidates in the entire capital. When had she ever needed to pretend to win people’s affection?
“…” Lin Ru didn’t know what to say. She was momentarily speechless looking at Li Jiao’s confident expression.
All video materials indicated that her actual personality wasn’t particularly pleasant, and her public appeal was extremely poor.
But who could argue when she was her boss… Lin Ru could only comfort herself thinking, it’s fine… variety shows can be edited.
With their team’s capabilities, even if Li Jiao turned out to be universally disliked in reality, the final edited version could forcibly transform her into everyone’s favorite.
“My apologies for the oversight. There’s one last matter.” Lin Ru shifted her gaze to the massive diamond ring on Li Jiao’s finger that had been impossible to ignore since she sat down. “If I may ask, are you married?”
Following her gaze, Li Jiao also looked at the ring on her finger. “Ah, yes, I just got married the day before yesterday.”
“…” Lin Ru felt extremely troubled. What had she done wrong to deserve being assigned as her new boss’s agent!
“Congratulations on your marriage, but…”
“Thank you.” Li Jiao’s rare expression of thanks only made Lin Ru feel worse.
She could only brace herself and continue: “But generally speaking, although most fans of female celebrities are women themselves and don’t include many ‘boyfriend fans,’ fans still prefer their idols to be single, or rather, they want their idols to remain unattached.”
“So I suggest and hope you won’t disclose your marital status, maintaining the appearance of being single in front of your fans…” As she spoke, Lin Ru noticed Li Jiao’s expression darkening slightly and quickly modified her following words.
“Of course, you don’t necessarily need to actively emphasize your single status – just neither confirm, respond to, nor clarify your married status!”
Li Jiao initially wanted to refuse – this “three no’s” policy sounded utterly absurd. But then she reconsidered the special nature of her marriage to Song Li Sheng and the other party’s attitude… Indeed, their relationship wouldn’t be publicly revealed to the masses for the time being.
“Fine, we’ll do as you say.” Propping her chin, she agreed.
“Remember not to wear that ring on your finger in public…” Lin Ru continued anxiously.
Truth be told, Li Jiao also found wearing such a large item on her hand rather uncomfortable, so she removed it right in front of Lin Ru and placed it in her bag.
“What else?”
“That’s all! Tomorrow I’ll submit the variety show proposals to you. Please look through them and see which one you prefer. After that, we’ll finalize the production team and other regular cast members.”
Li Jiao pressed her hand against the compartment where she had placed the diamond ring and casually responded, “Alright.”
Although the ring had been taken off, in ancient times this would have been considered something like a token of love. Even if not worn on the hand, it should still be kept close to one’s person.