Global Film Emperor

Chapter 252 Contract Disputes
"The term of this contract between Party B and Party A is fifteen years. During this period, Party B shall abide by all obligations under this contract, and Party A shall comply with the corresponding conditions promised in accordance with the contract requirements."

When Li Jun read this line, his expression was a little strange. His voice became slower and softer. He gripped the A4 paper with his thumbs and applied a little more pressure. He turned to look at Lu Ze and gradually lowered his voice.

It's impossible to say that Hu Zhiguang's departure had no impact on Qian Shijia. At least when Hu Zhiguang was in the company, Qian Shijia was more humane. Even though the company was too harsh on the trainees, the human touch among the higher-ups was still quite strong.

While this might lead to various social obligations and gift-giving, it's still much better than the current trend of prioritizing profit above all else.

Since Lee Sun-kyun took over the company, the company's overall direction has changed, becoming more profit-driven. Just look at the last three months; the number of artists they've arranged to debut is more than the total number for the entire previous year.

If trainees have a decent appearance and some talent, the company will consider arranging for them to debut as a group. What does this mean? It means that the vast majority of these kids are sacrifices.

The company is heavily promoting a group, and the members will inevitably have varying levels of popularity. Eventually, the company will break up the group, allowing the most popular member to go solo, while the other members will be abandoned. Perhaps the ones performing in front of a small shopping mall will be these abandoned members.

Furthermore, the debut contract has been extensively revised. Not to mention the revenue sharing, the penalty for breach of contract has been increased significantly. If the abandoned children do not want to waste their youth in the next ten to fifteen years, they can only invoke the breach of contract clause and compensate Qian Shijia with a sum of money.

But this amount of money has now risen to a point that drives most of the children's parents to despair. If they cannot afford the money or find connections to buy their children's freedom, then these children's future lives will be ruined.

Isn't that disgusting? If the kids can't make it big, naturally no other company will be willing to pay that money for them, and they won't have the opportunity. Even if they're very talented, they won't have a stage to prove themselves.

Qian Shijia's current goal is this: it would rather these kids rot away in Qian Shijia than let go of a promising talent it misjudged.

As for lawsuits? Fine, is Qian Shijia's legal department just for show? Qian Shijia has increased its funding for the legal department precisely to fight these kids' parents in court!
But you think this will ruin Qian Shijia's name? Don't even think about it. There are plenty of kids across the country who want to be famous, and they're all incredibly arrogant. They all think they're capable, and if given a chance to become famous, they'll sign any damn contract.

Let's not even talk about the kids in China. Even these trainees in the company, which one of them wasn't praised by their families for being pretty since they were little? They haven't debuted yet, but they're all confident in themselves. Even if he brought them a contract with a 5% commission, they would dare to sign it. They all think they can make it big.

In Li Jun's eyes, Qian Shijia is now a veritable vampire company. When he took out the contract for those excited kids to sign, he really felt like he would go to hell after he died.

If it weren't for his wife being a housewife and their two children, he would have stopped doing this despicable thing a long time ago. Now, when he comes home and sees his children surrounding him, he always sighs, saying that his two children can do whatever they want in the future, but they absolutely cannot be in the entertainment industry.

But do you think the legal department is having an easy time now? Bullshit! They're getting paid so much, how can they not work? The lawyers in the department are all eager to go to court; they have to live up to their price tags, right?
Actually, Li Jun's life wasn't great either, because Li Shanjun looked down on him. Even though they shared the same surname, Li Shanjun didn't hesitate to deal with him. A month and a half ago, he transferred a deputy minister to Li Jun's position, which made Li Jun very uncomfortable.

The reason he's so surprised by Lu Ze's contract is because it wasn't even in his hands when it was drafted! Why did he come in person? Because he has no idea when his mother made the contract. He has a good relationship with Lu Ze, and he needs to keep an eye on things for Lu Ze so he doesn't fall into a trap.

But what he never expected was that the contract wasn't a trap at all! It was like they'd brought an excavator over and were about to dig up Lu Ze's head!

Li Jun glanced at Lu Ze, who remained calm, took a sip of coffee, leaned back in his chair, and sighed deeply. Seeing this, Li Jun placed the contract on the table, knowing that Lu Ze definitely had something to say.

As expected, Lu Ze looked at Meng Nixin's face and smiled slightly. He then turned to look at Li Jun, spread his hands, and spoke.

Would you mind if I had a cigarette in your office?

"Of course not, please go ahead."

"Minister Meng, do you smoke? No? That's a good habit. Brother Jun, would you like some? You don't want any either? Then forget it, I'll smoke it myself. Don't mind the secondhand smoke."

He took out a cigarette from his bag, lit it, tossed the pack lightly onto the table, took a drag, leaned over and pulled the contract Li Jun was holding in front of him, opened it, held the lighter between his right thumb and forefinger, flicked it with his middle finger, and the lighter spun 180 degrees before gently tapping it on the table with a clicking sound.

Exhaling a puff of smoke from his nostrils, Lu Ze expressionlessly flipped through the last clause—the fifteen-year contract—dipped his cigarette ash in the ashtray, and looked up at Meng Nixin. "Fifteen years isn't appropriate, is it?"

"How about this, I won't call you Mr. Lu anymore, I'll just call you Lu Ze. Otherwise, calling you Mr. Lu feels a bit too formal, is that alright?"

Meng Nixin wasn't stupid or blind, so she naturally noticed Lu Ze's dissatisfaction. Lu Ze clearly had something to say about it, but Meng Nixin didn't back down. She smiled and asked if she could call Lu Ze by his full name.

"Of course, no problem. Minister Meng, just say what you want to say. It doesn't matter what you call me, especially in the current situation."

"Alright, Lu Ze, you've been in this industry for quite a while now, and you've achieved so many honors. You're a star, so I won't use the same tricks I use on trainees to fool you. After all, you're already famous, and it wouldn't be right to keep making empty promises. I'm also too embarrassed to say that. I just want to ask one question: Is Qian Shijia the most suitable company for you?"

"Yes."

"Then what's the problem?"

Meng Nixin lightly tapped the table with her right hand, waved her hand, and revealed an expression of great agreement. You've already admitted that Qian Shijia is the most suitable company for you, so why are you still arguing about it?
Lu Ze now has to admit that Qian Shijia is indeed the most suitable company for him. If he says otherwise, it's pure nonsense. Actually, Meng Nixin's words are nothing, but the contract makes it even more powerful. It directly shuts Lu Ze up with the contract. You said that Qian Shijia is the most suitable company for you, and it's clearly written in the contract that you can have whatever resources you want. What more do you want?
Lu Ze didn't get angry just because Meng Nixin had shut him down. He took a sip of coffee before replying, "It's just a matter of time."

"I don't think there's a problem."

“I think there’s a big problem. If the cooperation goes well, I don’t mind retiring at Qian Shijia. But what you’re giving me now isn’t sincerity, but a binding offer. I don’t want to hear you trying to change things up. If it were when I first started out, I might have analyzed things carefully with you and expressed my views tactfully. But now, I’ve generated profits for the company, and I’ve proven my usefulness. So even if our positions are unequal, at least we can earn respect. I’m no longer a job seeker. Do you object?”

"I have absolutely no objection; the company highly respects your ideas."

"Then you shouldn't try to fool me with fifteen years. Don't tell me you don't know I won't sign. My last contract was for eight years, which should have shown you my attitude. Five years ago, I didn't agree to ten years, so now I'm even less likely to agree to fifteen years. I'm offering my terms: my original contract remains unchanged, but I'll add five more years to the remaining three, making it eight years in total. This is also my way of expressing my original intentions. I am what I was back then, and I am what I am now. You can decide on the signing bonus; I don't mind how much it is. This is my sincerity. What about the company's?"

"Lu Ze, you can't think like that. After all, you've seen the extent of the resources you've received since you signed this contract. That's the company's sincerity. Is there a big difference between fifteen years and eight years for you? There are no mandatory work requirements for you. Even if you take a fifteen-year break, the company won't interfere. We're mainly talking about resources, especially variety shows. You can earn much more money than filming. To be honest, the company has already arranged six variety shows for you. You can choose whichever one you want to go on. The prices they've offered are all quite high."

Lu Ze laughed, but Meng Nixin kept changing the subject, trying to confuse the contract term with resources. He was too lazy to talk nonsense, so he took out his wallet from his bag, took out a bank card and slammed it on the table.

"This is my bank card, and the password is my birthday. Go check my bank statements and see how much money I spend in a month. If I were just trying to make money, I would have been constantly taking on variety shows as soon as I became a little famous. Why would I wait for the company to find me resources now?"

Meng Nixin was still unfamiliar with Lu Ze and didn't know what kind of person he was. Her long-held perception of the entertainment industry was that people were willing to risk their lives to become stars, all for the sake of making money. And wasn't the whole point of being in the entertainment industry to make money?
"Lu Ze, don't say hurtful things now. I'll take the card back. How could I possibly check your bank statements? But to be honest, isn't everyone in this industry just trying to make money? Now the company has found you a more lucrative path. Isn't that a good thing? Don't tell me you're in the entertainment industry purely out of passion or love for acting."

Meng Nixin pushed the bank card next to Lu Ze and told him to put it away. Seeing this, Lu Ze lost interest, threw the bank card into his bag, picked up his bag, and got up.

"You're right, acting is really just a hobby for me. I know this is your job, and it's putting me in a difficult position. Mr. Li, are you at the company now? Have you changed offices?"

"My boss, Mr. Li, is still at the company; his office hasn't changed."

“Then I’ll talk to him myself. I’m leaving, Brother Jun.”

Picking up his bag, Lu Ze greeted Li Jun and, under Meng Nixin's helpless gaze, strode out of the artist management department office and headed towards Li Shanjun's office.

"."

(End of this chapter)