In the entertainment industry, the silly system claims it's the immortal realm.

Chapter 94 Yuanyuan & Mimi: "I'll earn money to buy you a Rolls-Royce"

Three goddess-like photos of Gao Yuanyuan joining the cast of "Detective Chinatown" have been circulating online for the past few days.

Yang Mi was so worried that she couldn't sleep all night.

However, Yang Mi still tries her best to be on time every day to report to Hehuan Film and Television.

She wipes tables, organizes scripts, and helps order takeout; she's even more diligent than the company receptionist.

Li Hua couldn't stand it, so he planned to give her an extra two thousand dollars for her services at the end of the month, with a note saying "internship allowance".

When Rong Xinda's assistant called for the third time.

She was holding the script of "Palace" and rehearsing her lines.

"Mimi, Mr. Li wants to ask you what your decision is."

The voice on the other end of the phone was polite but indifferent; it was Li Shaohong's assistant. "The terms of the five-year contract are already much better than those of other artists at the same time."

"I'm still discussing it with my parents." Yang Mi leaned against the wall, staring at the fire hydrant at the end of the corridor, her voice as calm as possible. "It'll be ready soon."

After hanging up the phone, she stood on the balcony for a while longer.

The weekend arrived.

The assistant did not call again.

The message was replaced with a text message: "Ms. Yang Mi, please give Meng a definite answer regarding the contract renewal by next Monday. Failure to do so will be considered as an automatic waiver of the original contract."

This is practically issuing an ultimatum.

Yang Mi stared at the text message for a long time, her finger hovering over the screen for a while. In the end, instead of replying to her assistant, she found another number and typed a few words.

Delete it. Type it again. Delete it again. In the end, only one sentence remains.

"President Li has given me an ultimatum."

send.

After waiting for about ten minutes, my phone vibrated.

It wasn't a text message, it was a multimedia message (MMS).

These days, MMS photos are ridiculously expensive; a single photo can cost several dollars, and most people can't bear to spend that much money.

The photo shows mango sticky rice, with golden mango slices laid on top of snow-white sticky rice balls, coconut milk slowly dripping down from the side, and a pair of unused bamboo chopsticks placed next to it.

The caption was just one line: The mangoes here are sweeter than those in China.

Yang Mi was speechless for a moment.

I almost suspected that Wei Yi had given the wrong answer.

She was so anxious she was on edge.

Is that all?

Fortunately, a second text message followed quickly:

Rong Xinda only has three cards to play. They want to cripple you with breach of contract penalties, resource constraints, and favors. The company can cover part of the penalty, which you can repay from your future income. I have plenty of resources. As for favors—even Li Shaohong has to consider my teacher's reputation. So, as long as you're determined, none of this is a problem.

Yang Mi read the text message three times over, and then she replied with a heavy heart: "Then I'll go talk to them tomorrow."

There's no need to rush. You can give her two more days to wait for you.

"Okay!" Yang Mi replied, feeling completely relaxed.

These past few days she has been anxious about how to reply to Rong Xinda, how to deal with her godmother, and how to say things without hurting feelings.

What seemed like an insurmountable pressure to her was resolved by Wei Yi with just two text messages.

She put her phone back in her pocket and tapped on Zhang Xiaofei's bed.

"Come with me to Xidan later, I need to buy some new clothes."

Two days later.

Li Shaohong's office.

A photo of Li Shaohong, Zhou Gongzi, and Chen Kun hangs on the wall, the frame polished to a shine.

However, these two are the same as Yang Mi who came today.

They have already changed jobs, or are preparing to change jobs, or are planning to change jobs.

Li Shaohong sat in the main seat, holding a teacup, her smile as gentle as an elder's.

She first chatted with Uncle Yang for ten minutes about everyday things, from children's education to public security, from rising prices to subway congestion, her tone as warm as if they were old friends reuniting, without mentioning the renewal of the contract at all.

Yang Mi's parents didn't come today. Her father is a policeman in Beijing and isn't good at this.

Yang Mi was accompanied by her uncle today; he is a mathematics professor at a prestigious university in Beijing.

Uncle Yang remained calm and chatted with her about everything from children's education to public security, from prices to the subway.

Yang Mi sat quietly to one side, wearing the white shirt she had bought in Xidan the day before yesterday, without saying a word, just sitting there.

"It wasn't easy for the company to cultivate Mimi."

Li Shaohong finally got to the point, putting down her teacup, her tone tinged with emotion, "From 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' to 'Wang Zhaojun,' it was all arranged by the company. I'm not saying we have to tie the child down, but there has to be an explanation. A five-year contract is normal for a newcomer. At this stage, what Mimi needs most is stability."

Uncle Yang pushed up his glasses, pulled an A4 sheet of paper from his briefcase, and slowly pushed it in front of Li Shaohong.

The table above clearly shows that Yang Mi has been signed with Rong Xinda for nearly four years, filmed a total of 8 dramas and 18 male roles, with a total revenue of 1280 million yuan.

The company took a cut of 768 million yuan, and Yang Mi received 512 million yuan. After deducting personal expenses such as clothing, makeup, and transportation, as well as taxes, her actual net income over four years was 117 million yuan.

"Mr. Li, although Mimi's income is only average compared to others at the same level, the profits she generates for the company have already exceeded the company's investment in her."

Uncle Yang pointed to the bottom line of numbers, his tone gentle yet firm, as if he were deriving a mathematical formula in class.

This is the first set of data.

The smile on Li Shaohong's face faded slightly.

Before she could even speak, Uncle Yang pushed over a second A4 sheet of paper.

"This is the second group."

Uncle Yang adjusted his glasses. "Mimi has 1 year and 4 months left on her contract. Assuming the company earns an average of 210,000 yuan per month from her, the remaining expected profit is 294 million yuan. The contract stipulates a penalty of 3 million yuan for breach of contract. Putting these two sets of data together, the conclusion is clear—Mimi did not take advantage of the company in any way."

A math professor is a math professor.

When they come to negotiate, they just list out the data directly, without considering personal relationships.

Li Shaohong stared at the two pieces of paper for several minutes.

The office was so quiet that only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard.

"Yang Mi, think this through."

Li Shaohong stopped looking at Uncle Yang and stared directly at Yang Mi. Her voice turned cold. "After leaving Rong Xinda, no one will support you like I do."

Her words weren't actually that harsh.

Yang Mi raised her head and looked directly into her eyes for the first time.

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was spoken steadily and clearly: "Mr. Li, I still want to give it a try."

Li Shaohong took a deep breath, and her eyes changed.

It's not because of the sentence itself, but because of the title.

Every time they met before, Yang Mi would call her "godmother".

Not today.

Li Shaohong gently placed the teacup in her hand on the table, making a very soft porcelain sound.

"Okay. I hope you won't regret it."

The day after the negotiations broke down, Yang Mi's agent stopped replying to her text messages and phone calls.

The contract was originally set to be signed soon for a skincare product endorsement, but the company temporarily replaced her with a newcomer.

At the same time, she was informed that she "didn't need to come" for an audition for the third female lead in a period drama.

On the third day, sporadic press releases began to appear online.

The headlines are all similar: "Newcomer actress Yang Mi suspected of being arrogant and replaced by her business partner" and "Rongxinda promotes newcomer, Yang Mi is marginalized."

There were no insults that named names, only ambiguous insinuations.

This kind of suggestion is more hurtful than a direct attack; it can penetrate the minds of people who don't know Yang Mi.

The moment they first heard the name, a seed of "this person is unreliable" was quietly planted in their minds.

The most ruthless blow was delivered to "Wang Zhaojun".

This is Yang Mi's first major drama since her debut, and also her first time playing the leading role.

As a result, Li Shaohong publicly claimed that "there were problems with post-production and the broadcast time is pending," but privately told the TV station that Yang Mi was not in good condition and was not suitable for broadcasting at this time.

Yang Mi saw this news on the third floor of Hehuan Film and Television.

She sat in the corner with her laptop, the news headlines on the screen hanging in bright red, like a mocking flag.

She couldn't hold back any longer. Holding her water glass, she quickly walked into the tea room, her back to the door, tears streaming down her face.

Li Hua pushed open the door to get water and bumped right into him.

The air froze for about two seconds.

Yang Mi quickly wiped her face with her sleeve, trying to force a smile, but couldn't.

Li Hua didn't say anything, took out a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed it over, then filled his water bottle and walked to the door before turning back.

"Give the boss a call. His flight back to China is this afternoon."

3 PM.

Terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport.

Wei Yi walked out of the arrival gate, still wearing the same white T-shirt with "Yanjing Film Academy" printed on it, straight-leg jeans, and sneakers.

Behind her was Xiao Wang, who was dragging two suitcases, and beside her walked Gao Yuanyuan, wearing sunglasses and with a look of ease on her face as she returned from vacation.

With Wei Yi around, she gave her female assistant a few days off.

Li Hua waited at the exit for almost half an hour before finally seeing Gao Yuanyuan.

He paused for a moment, then greeted her politely, before launching into a long explanation of what had happened over the past few days.

Gao Yuanyuan listened for a few moments and frowned slightly.

"Yang Mi? Is that the talented young actress you mentioned?" she asked Wei Yi.

"It's her." Wei Yi opened the car door, let Gao Yuanyuan get in first, and then got in himself. "Rong Xinda is suppressing her drama; that's not very ethical."

Gao Yuanyuan took off her sunglasses, thought for a moment, and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

"First, help her terminate her contract. Then sign her to my company, make her work like a slave to earn money for me, so I can ride in a Rolls-Royce."

Gao Yuanyuan chuckled and lightly slapped him, the force of which was no different from a caress.

"Then I'll sign with you. I'll make money and buy you a Rolls-Royce."

Wei Yi turned to look at her.

Gao Yuanyuan spoke casually, as if she were saying, "The weather is nice today."

"Anyway, I don't have a company right now. If I sign with you, you can arrange the filming for me. But we've agreed that I'll only do one or two movies a year at most; I can't handle more than that. The rest of the time I can take photos and travel, which is great."

Wei Yi looked at her for a while, didn't say anything sentimental, and just nodded: "Okay. I'll arrange a signing ceremony for you in a few days. Whether I can ride in a Rolls-Royce next year depends entirely on you."

Gao Yuanyuan smiled and gently touched him again.

He has muscles, and she's been enjoying touching them lately.

She then took a key out of her bag and put it in Wei Yi's hand: "It's my house in Beijing. I'll send you the address via text message later. You said you haven't bought a house yet, so you can come and stay here instead of always staying at the company or your school."

The key was still warm, carrying the warmth of her body from inside her bag.

Wei Yi glanced down at the key, then looked up at her.

Gao Yuanyuan had put her sunglasses back on, turned her head to look at the scenery of the airport expressway outside the window, and smiled.

Fifth floor of Hehuan Film and Television.

Wei Yi walked into the office, didn't even sit down, took out his laptop from his backpack, turned it on, plugged in the USB drive, clicked the mouse twice, unplugged the USB drive and threw it to Li Hua.

"There are two songs in it. One is called 'The Power of Love,' and the other is called 'To See or Not to See.' Yang Mi recorded them; they are the theme song and an interlude for the drama 'Palace.'"

Li Hua caught the USB drive, looked down at the thing in his hand, then looked up at Wei Yi who was taking off his coat, and was a little confused.

"When did you write this? Wait, you can write songs?"

"There's nothing to do on the plane." Wei Yi picked up his enamel mug from the table and took a sip of water.

of course not.

This was naturally something he had prepared in advance.

After all, this is an offering of love; asking about suicide again would be unacceptable.

He wouldn't accept anyone else singing this song besides Yang Da Mi!

Li Hua stood there holding the USB drive for a long time, finally managing to utter only three words: "You're awesome."

That evening, at the Chang'an Club.

Han Sanping and Tian Erzhuang hosted a welcome dinner for Wei Yi.

Old Tian was in a good mood tonight, and he was embracing a pretty girl who was supposedly a graduate of the Communication University of China, and they were singing softly there.

Wei Yi, holding his wine glass, mentioned Yang Mi's situation to Han Sanping.

"Third Master, hasn't CCTV-8 always wanted the first television broadcast rights for 'One Shot'? I have a small condition."

Han Sanping blew on the tea leaves, glanced at Wei Yi's expression, and sighed, "How many is that?"

"What number?" Wei Yi feigned ignorance.

"Fine. Keep pretending. Keep pretending."

Han Sanping put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Wei Yi with the eyes of someone who had been through it all. "Little Wei, you're still young."

"If you keep playing like this, by the time you're fifty, how many people will you have in your family? How much resources will you have to spend? Have you thought about that?"

"What is Third Master saying? I don't understand." Wei Yi continued to play dumb.

"You, you—"

Han Sanping understood that expression all too well.

Every time Wei Yi showed this expression, it meant one thing: you're right, but I won't change.

"Okay." Han Sanping took out his phone, dialed a number, and said, "I'll ask for you."

The call was connected very quickly.

Han Sanping explained the situation in a few words, and after a moment of contemplation, the person on the other end readily nodded.

"Wang Zhaojun" was originally a high-quality historical drama, and its production was completed long ago.

If it weren't for Rongxinda holding it up, it would probably have been broadcast by now.

Now, China Film Group and Wei Yi are willing to exchange the television premiere rights of "One Shot" for it, a sure-fire way to make a profit.

Only a fool would refuse.

Han Sanping hung up the phone, took a sip of tea, and found that Wei Yi had already refilled his teacup.

"You're quite diligent."

"Of course, Third Master."

The following week.

Yang Mi's life is like it's on fast-forward.

On Monday, V0GUE's official blog announced that Yang Mi would be featured in the May issue.

The accompanying photo was taken by Wei Yi himself. Yang Mi is wearing a white shirt and standing under a ginkgo tree at the Beijing Film Academy, with clear and firm eyes.

The copy reads only one line: "The infinite possibilities of the new generation of actresses."

As soon as the press release was sent out, Rongxinda's "arrogant" press releases were instantly stopped being shared.

Compared to official V0GUE certification, these anonymous press releases are barely even a ripple.

Netizens left comments such as, "Isn't this the young Guo Xiang?", "She actually made it onto the international version of Vogue?", and "Gong Li and Fan Binbin were on it before, Yang Mi is really going to be a star."

On Wednesday, CCTV-8's official blog announced that the TV series "Wang Zhaojun" will premiere next Monday during prime time, airing three episodes consecutively.

The article was deliberately published at 10 a.m., the time when traffic is at its peak.

The public relations department of Rongxinda didn't even have time for lunch before urgently removing all the smear articles that were still circulating.

Li Shaohong locked herself in her office and smoked cigarettes all afternoon.

On Friday, Hehuan Film & Television officially announced that Yang Mi will sing the theme song "The Power of Love" for the TV series "Palace".

A 30-second preview version was also released.

Less than an hour after the preview link was posted, it had been played over a million times.

The comments section was filled with comments like "It sounds so good," "Looking forward to the TV series," and "What an amazing combination!"

On Saturday morning, Tian Erzhuang dialed Li Shaohong's number.

"Old Li, that's enough. You've earned what you're supposed to earn. If the young woman wants to take risks, let her take risks."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, so long that Tian Erzhuang thought the signal had been lost.

Then Li Shaohong's voice came through, slightly hoarse: "The penalty for breach of contract is 1.5 million. Let's just forget about it."

Cutting it from three million to one and a half million, a single stroke of the penny.

After hanging up the phone, Tian Erzhuang sent Wei Yi a text message: "It's done, 1.5 million."

Wei Yi replied with a single word: "Thank you."

Tian Erzhuang sent another message: "You'd be grateful if you just gave me less trouble."

Wei Yi didn't reply this time.

Tian Erzhuang stared at his phone for a long time, but no text message came back.

He only cursed once and that was it.

the next day.

Yang Mi got up very early and specially wore the white shirt she bought in Xidan.

The last time I wore this outfit was to go to Li Shaohong's office to discuss terminating my contract; this time, I'm wearing it to sign a new contract.

She went to Rongxinda first.

Li Shaohong did not see her. The legal department handed her the termination agreement. The procedure was completed, the official seal was affixed, and the thin few pages of paper announced the complete end of the past four years.

One million five hundred thousand.

She contributed 500,000 yuan of her own money, which was almost all the savings in her bank account.

Wei Yi lent her the remaining one million in the company's name, and wrote an IOU.

She noticed that the IOU did not specify a repayment date or interest rate; instead, it only had a small note in the remarks section: "To be deducted from future income."

In the small conference room of Hehuan Film and Television, the welcome cake has already been laid out.

Li Hua ordered it in advance: strawberry cream chocolate. The chocolate label had "Welcome Mimi to the Hehuan family" written crookedly on it, and judging from the handwriting, he had drawn it himself with jam.

The company's dozen or so employees were crammed into this small conference room.

Zhang Xiaofei, Zhang Xuan, and Yuan Shanshan stood in a row, winking and making faces at Yang Mi.

Li Hua was adjusting his camera in the corner, preparing to take a picture.

Xiao Wang was carrying a plate of sliced ​​fruit from the break room when he almost tripped over the door frame.

Yang Mi took a knife and cut the cake. After making the first cut, she hesitated for a few seconds and handed the largest piece to Mu Tingting, who was standing in the corner.

"Sister Tingting, come and have a taste!"

Mu Tingting was taken aback.

She had originally come to the company today to work on the script for "Palace," but Li Hua dragged her here to attend this welcoming ceremony. She stood in a corner the whole time and didn't say much.

She reached out and took the cake, saying softly, "Thank you."

Yang Mi smiled, her tone unusually gentle: "Please take care of me in the future, Senior Sister."

Mu Tingting nodded, looked down at the cake in her hand, then looked up again: "You need to work harder too."

Just as Zhang Xuan leaned close to Zhang Xiaofei's ear to speak, Zhang Xiaofei swiftly stuffed a large bite of cake into her mouth.

The two of them puffed out their cheeks and glared at each other in the corner, looking like two hamsters caught stealing food.

Wei Yi was the last one to come in.

Holding a white employee badge, he walked through the crowd to Yang Mi and threw the badge at her.

"You won't have to do free cleaning anymore. The basic salary is 5,000 yuan per month, with the company taking 35% of the income. Check out the other benefits yourself."

Yang Mi caught the employee badge and looked down at the words: "Artist Department - Yang Mi," along with an employee number: [Contract Film & Television ID:]

38]

The photo was taken a few days ago while shooting for the inside pages of V0GUE. It has a white background, looks clean and neat, and she is wearing that white shirt.

She looked up as if to say something, glanced at Wei Yi, then at everyone around her who were laughing, and suddenly her nose stung with tears, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Li Hua raised his camera in the corner and snapped a picture, capturing the moment.

"Why are you crying!"

He put down his camera and shouted, "From now on, we're all on the same side! Don't leave tonight, it's my treat, let's go out for hot pot!"

While having hot pot that night, Yang Mi drank two bottles of beer and her face turned as red as a boiled shrimp.

She held onto Zhang Xiaofei's hand tightly, her tongue almost tied, and kept saying, "Sisters, I never thought we'd be in the same dorm and now working at the same company. We have to work hard together, we absolutely have to work hard together—"

Zhang Xuan was scooping up tripe on the other side, not even looking up: "You should straighten your tongue first."

Zhang Xiaofei patted Yang Mi's hand and said softly, "Okay, let's work hard together from now on."

Yuan Shanshan poured tea for everyone, then sat down next to her without saying a word, just sitting very close.

Mu Tingting sat at another table with Wei Yi.

He is discussing the final preparations for the start of filming of "Detective Chinatown" with Li Hua.

Hearing the boisterous laughter coming from Yang Mi's table, I glanced in that direction once more, then looked away and continued drinking my Arctic Ocean soda.