"Lu Chen, listen to a word of advice from your brother. Why don't you just submit to President Wang?"
Inside a meeting room, manager Zhao Tianyu looked anxious as he earnestly tried to persuade the handsome man before him.
Lu Chen stood with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Sunlight filtered through the glass, refracting off his light eyelashes and seeming to ignite a pair of deep, dark eyes.
His eyes looked precisely like the brightest stars beneath a late-night sky. His dense, sword-like brows lifted slightly, adding a touch of firmness and stubbornness to his gaze.
"Brother Yu, say no more."
Lu Chen turned around wearily and shook his head. "I'll say it again: you can ask me to sing, or participate in all sorts of events. But as for spending a night with President Wang... I... I just can't do it."
"Oh, you really are the bane of my existence!" Zhao Tianyu stomped his foot, reached out, and pointed upward. "You aren't one of those fresh trainees who doesn't know anything. You can't afford to make the same mistake twice!"
"Besides, President Wang takes pretty good care of himself. Even though he's almost sixty, he doesn't look much different from a forty-year-old. You aren't getting the short end of the stick."
Zhao Tianyu hurried over to stand before him, continuing his persuasion. "Look at the people who debuted the same time as you. At the very lowest, they've made it to bronze-tier singers, and some have even reached silver. I heard your classmate Fang Bin is even preparing to make a run for gold-tier singer lately. And you? Two and a half years, and you're still an unranked singer?"
Hearing Zhao Tianyu's words, Lu Chen instantly fell silent.
How could he not know about the "rules" the other man was talking about, nor about his old classmate?
Three years ago, just after stepping out of school and following half a year of hard work, he had finally signed with the Huizhou branch of Starlight Entertainment, officially becoming an unranked singer.
He had originally thought he could hold onto his musical dream and quietly focus on creating music. Yet for the past two and a half years, the company had arranged too many cumbersome events, some of which had almost nothing to do with music at all.
For example, last year in Yanzhou, a charity auction had been held.
The performing guests on stage were all young male singers who had debuted fairly recently, while the audience below consisted of wealthy women from different regions across the country.
That's right, wealthy women!
At the time, he had been naive enough to think it was just a normal charity auction. The company arranged for them to perform both to entice the wealthy women into buying precious items—the proceeds of which would go to charity—and to help build their popularity and craft a wholesome public persona.
But once his performance ended, when backstage company personnel told him to go to a specific hotel room that evening, he finally understood.
Rather than a charity auction, it was more akin to an "imperial concubine selection" for wealthy women.
It was precisely because he refused that time that he was immediately frozen out by the company, and his popularity had never recovered its former glory.
As for his old classmate Fang Bin, who possessed excellent personal qualifications and fully cooperated with the company's arrangements, his current success was hardly difficult to understand.
Reflecting on his original aspiration when he first resolved to become a singer, and then considering his current plight.
Such a life could be summed up in two words: suffocating!
Lu Chen turned back and took a deep breath. "Brother Yu, I've made up my mind."
Zhao Tianyu stopped his nagging. After a brief pause, he said excitedly, "You should have done this long ago. You have to trust my eye—with your qualifications, you'll definitely catch up in no time..."
"I want to terminate my contract."
"Oh, no problem, terminate it then... wait." Zhao Tianyu's eyes widened as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Are you out of your mind?!"
Lu Chen nodded with resolute eyes, asking with a hint of pleading, "I'm tired. Will you let me go, Brother Yu?"
Rather than continuing to suffer this kind of torture, leaving early on and starting his own studio to become an independent musician probably aligned better with his pursuits.
"I..."
Looking at Lu Chen's utterly exhausted face, Zhao Tianyu opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.
The previously high-strung Zhao Tianyu seemed to instantly lose all his spirit, collapsing limply into a chair.
After a long silence, he finally raised his head and said in a low voice, "Your contract hasn't expired yet. If you terminate it now, you'll have to pay at least ten million in breach-of-contract penalties."
"I understand. I'll figure something out about the penalty," Lu Chen replied calmly.
"Bullshit, don't I know how much money you have, kid!"
Zhao Tianyu rolled his eyes. "That little apartment of yours by the Xin'an River could probably sell for around three million. Your savings are probably down to about a million or so. That little bit of money might barely cover the tip of the penalty."
Lu Chen didn't answer, because Brother Yu was speaking the truth.
To be precise, the earnings he had left from participating in events over the years amounted to 1.12 million. While that was considered quite good for an unranked singer, compared to the penalty, it was undoubtedly far from enough.
"I must have owed you a debt in my past life."
Seeing Lu Chen remain silent and unmoving, Zhao Tianyu stood up, muttering curses. "You stay quietly at home these next few days and don't cause any trouble. I'll represent you to talk to the company about the penalty—we'll slash off whatever we can. As for the rest, I'll see if I can help you borrow some!"
With that, he didn't linger, heading straight out the door.
Lu Chen's gaze flickered as he deeply watched the other man's departing back.
Thanks!
***
By the Xin'an River
Even as dusk approached, pedestrians carrying professional photography equipment could still be seen coming and going everywhere.
That was simply because the region's largest film and television base was located nearby.
Any film and television company in Huizhou would prioritize shooting at this base.
Not far outside the film and television base, Zhong Lan crushed out the slim cigarette in her hand, then pulled a stack of scripts she had written three months ago out of her knockoff LV belt bag.
Today, it was time to make a change.
In her past life, she was a film directing graduate, though unfortunately, right up until her transmersion, she had never actually directed a single movie or television series. Mostly, she had just shot minor commercials, promotional videos, and the like.
She had thought that upon arriving in this world where the entertainment industry was highly developed, she could fully stretch her muscles, strive to become the queen of the entertainment circle, and escape the life of an overworked laborer.
However, ideals were plump, while reality was skeletal.
Even though she had transported film and television scripts from her past life, she couldn't even get past the doors of production companies, let alone submit scripts or secure investment.
And all of this stemmed from Hua Nation's entertainment system.
Hua Nation was divided into twelve prefectures, and every prefecture maintained a unified grading system for entertainment practitioners.
Namely: unranked, bronze, silver, gold, and the top-tier ace!
Only by reaching at least the rank of unranked director was one qualified to go to film and television companies to pull investment.
Had she graduated from a regular university's directing department, she would have automatically obtained an unranked director certificate.
Unfortunately, her identity in this world was merely a liberal arts graduate from an ordinary university, so naturally, no such certificate existed.
Without a certificate, there was no way to secure investment. Without investment, the scripts she wrote were entirely useless.
Therefore, in order to break this closed loop, Zhong Lan knew very well that she could no longer be a goody-two-shoes and obediently follow these rules.
She needed to find a sucker through other channels—no, wait... a partner to invest in her film.
Looking toward the parking lot of the film and television base, all kinds of luxury cars were parked around the perimeter.
Zhong Lan's crafty gaze continually sized up the passing fat sheep.
"Hmm, that one's too old; he's probably a cunning old fox, definitely not easy to fool."
"Oh my, that guy looks doable, seems quite young. No, why is he still bringing bodyguards when he goes out? Scary."
"That auntie looks so fierce; she probably shouldn't be messed with either."
...
Until an hour later, during which she had also tried communicating with a few people, with a predictable result: total failure.
Walking out of the parking lot, she arrived at the riverside.
Looking at the wind-rippled waves under the setting sun, Zhong Lan sighed helplessly.
These fat sheep didn't seem so easy to find after all!
Just as Zhong Lan was thinking whether she should come back and try again tomorrow, a figure entered her peripheral vision.
Zhong Lan turned her head to look, and her eyes instantly lit up.
The young man was strolling by the riverside, and judging by his attire, he ought to be a wealthy person. Especially since his facial features also looked quite kindly. Even if she didn't succeed, at least she wouldn't get a tongue-lashing.
Yet for some reason, this person looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.
Zhong Lan furrowed her brow slightly, but didn't dwell on it.
She had finally bumped into a suitable fat sheep; she couldn't let him run away.
Without hesitation, Zhong Lan hurried forward.
"Stop right there!"
"Huh?"
Hearing the shout from behind, Lu Chen instinctively turned his head, looking left and right, but saw no one else.
He pointed at himself, looking doubtfully at the red-faced, panting short-haired woman who had stopped before him. "Are you talking to me?"
"C-could you... please... take a look at... my script."
Zhong Lan genuinely wanted to slap herself and then lower her head and flee the scene.
I actually got so nervous I started stuttering!
This was completely different from the scenario she had envisioned.
What happened to talking eloquently and painting a magnificent, flawless picture?
Now she had messed it up; would the other party doubt her capabilities?
After all, if you can't even speak fluently, it's very difficult to earn the trust of these wealthy folks. Countless examples from her past life proved that anyone capable of pulling in investment possessed at least two outstanding skills.
Being able to speak, and knowing how to make a PowerPoint presentation.
Yet now the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.
Zhong Lan forcefully calmed her trembling heart, put on as confident a look as she could manage, and handed over the script in her hand. "Please believe me, this really is a good script. As long as you invest, you'll definitely make money!"
Lu Chen: "?"