Late at night, Sun Xiang picked up the phone.
“What? The Heartbeat production team sent Li Lu a contract.”
Seeing the message from assistant Marry, he immediately called back.
“Yeah, from the Heartbeat production team, a flat 200,000.
Should we take it? His contract expires in 2 days.”
“Of course not. He’s not our artist anymore. Let him go to hell.”
Sun Xiang didn’t even think about it. He had to refuse.
Heartbeat was a top-tier resource, a major network show.
How could it be given to a backstabber like him?
“They probably have his number. If we don’t take it, the production team will probably contact him directly.”
“Shit. Sign the contract first. Don’t tell him. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
……
Sun Xiang hung up. Was this kid’s luck turning?
After all these years, top-tier resources were actually coming to him again.
No, I’ll give him a B-list contract. Shouldn’t be a loss.
Li Lu rubbed his eyes. He had been too tired last night. He slept all the way until he woke up naturally. Awesome.
He opened his phone. He had put it on silent while sleeping. There were actually several missed calls.
From his mom, and from Sun Xiang.
There were probably text messages too, since he hadn’t answered the calls.
『Don’t answer the phone? Tired of living?』
『138… Lanlan’s number. Call her yourself and greet her. Don’t play dumb.』
『Don’t reply.』
His mom’s message gave Li Lu a headache.
He still couldn’t avoid it, so he saved the number.
Then he opened Sun Xiang’s message, which told him to hurry to the office.
He guessed Sun Xiang wanted to talk to him about a new contract. He had only been humiliated yesterday.
And now you send one message and I come running? I can’t afford to lose face.
He called back. Courtesy was still necessary.
“Brother Xiang, you looking for me?”
“Little Lu, get over here. Sign the contract.”
“What are the terms? Tell me over the phone first.
We’re all busy, right?”
『Fuck, you’re really playing hard to get.』
Sun Xiang cursed in his heart, but at this moment, he really did want to sign him back.
Maybe one variety show would make him popular again. There were plenty of examples like that now.
“No nonsense. A legitimate B-list star contract.
More resources will be tilted your way every year.
This is already the company’s best offer. No matter which company you go to now, you won’t be able to sign a contract like this.”
“Tch, not interested.
Old Sun, if there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
Li Lu chuckled. B-list? Who was he fooling?
“What the hell, kid? You want an A-list contract?
I’m telling you, this is your only chance.
I’m giving you one last chance. Don’t be ungrateful.”
Sun Xiang stopped being polite. He had given him enough face.
“To be honest, even if it were an A-list contract, I still wouldn’t sign with you.
Give your contract to whoever you want.”
Li Lu hung up directly. He couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
He was tired of being a star. If he had a choice, who would still sell their looks for a living?
He was a guy with a system. He had spoken with the system a bit last night.
Although he could still get reward opportunities later, the first one was always the most precious.
The system had thoughtfully given him a hint.
Now the problem was what to exchange it for.
Should he exchange it for a young Western wizard novel, with global sales of several billion copies and annual earnings of several hundred million?
Or exchange for a young hot-blooded battle manga, which was also wildly popular worldwide, earned many billions, and the key was that it could run for decades.
For the novel, he would need a big-name foreign director to take an interest in it and adapt it into a movie before it could be promoted better.
For the manga, he had no foundation at all. He would have to study for a while and also build a team.
Annoying. So hard to choose.
Billions or billions — which do I pick?
“What, he didn’t accept it?”
Marry saw Sun Xiang’s constipated expression and guessed the talk hadn’t gone well.
“That bastard hung up on me. Shit.”
“Then what do we do? The contract is already signed, and the money has been sent. They want him on set the day after tomorrow.”
“Deduct the commission, send him the Heartbeat contract along with the rest.
From now on, it’s not our problem anymore.”
Sun Xiang was furious. That guy was actually putting on airs.
He could only comfort himself… at least the company still made 80,000 in the end.
Not long after, the phone rang again. That bastard.
“Sun Xiang, what the hell do you mean?
My contract is up. What the fuck did you sign for me?
I’m telling you, I won’t go.”
Li Lu was furious. In his old work group, they were actually sending him notices again.
He looked at the title. It was a dating show.
“Go or don’t go. It’s not us who will be in breach.
I’m telling you, this contract is top-tier, a legitimate show.
Our contract doesn’t expire until tomorrow. You’re still our artist.
And Heartbeat is a major network show. If you dare to breach directly, I guarantee you’ll be blacklisted in the industry.”
Ungrateful bastard. We got you a show like this, and instead of being grateful, you’re acting up.
Sun Xiang cursed inwardly. If it weren’t for the clause in the earlier contract that gave him the right to refuse ordinary commercial gigs, during these two years of declining popularity, he would have sent him to town commercial shows every day.
How could he be so arrogant, doing nothing and acting like a big shot every day?
This contract was with a top-tier company. He couldn’t reject it unilaterally.
With that, he hung up.
Kid, only I get to hang up on you.
Li Lu looked at the bank text message he had just received.
『Transaction alert: xxx Bank, account ending in 8883… received 120,000. Balance: 250,000.』
Damn it. This month’s mortgage was covered.
He searched online for this show. A dating variety show. Pretty popular.
But he had never watched it. What guy watches something like that?
This season’s guests were still in the guessing stage.
First female guest: a super popular girl who walked out of a 2D world…
This description was a bit like Xiao Nuan. If you were talking about popularity, it had to be her.
Just broke up. If he ran into her on a dating show, that would be awkward.
Second female guest: the youngest Best Female Singer in history, a hit song machine…
Damn, this one seemed like Lin Lin. Way too easy to guess.
Third female guest: idol drama queen, childhood goddess to countless people…
Who was this? It seemed like most female celebrities had acted in idol dramas. Someone he was familiar with was… Yaoyao?
No, it couldn’t be her. No way it was that coincidental.
Fourth female guest: called the best actress among young actresses, nominated multiple times…
Damn, it wasn’t Li Shihan, was it?
Fifth female guest: in the industry for many years, called the male heartthrob collector, those she had worked with…
Shit, impossible. Someone as big a star as her would do a dating show?
Li Lu was a bit dumbfounded. These guesses… he was overthinking it, right?
After all, every female celebrity marketed herself hard.
He quickly opened the electronic contract and jumped to the last page, the penalty clause.
20 million???
A penalty 100 times the fee? Weren’t they afraid of being sued?