Me! A disgraced celebrity! Starting by seeking justice for impoverished students.

The more Li Xue tried to comfort him, the more Jiang Chen sneered.

"We were colleagues?" Jiang Chen's tone turned cold.

"When Han Zihe was desperate and came to you to discuss the contract and profit sharing, why didn't you think of our past as colleagues?"

"When you were using company rhetoric to pressure him, threatening him with breach of contract penalties, and saying you'd blacklist him for life if he caused trouble, why didn't you think about our past as colleagues?"

"No need for condolence money!"

"His money is rightfully his; we will get it back through legal means!"

"Star Entertainment won't shirk its responsibilities!"

These words left Li Xue speechless, unable to utter a rebuttal for a long time.

After holding it in for a long time, all she could do was utter harsh words.

His tone carried a hint of anger and threat.

"Jiang Chen, don't think you're invincible just because you've won a few labor lawsuits!"

"Star Entertainment's legal team is no pushover. You want to sue us over a contract? Let me tell you, it's not that easy! We'll drag this out until you can't afford it!"

"Is that so?" Jiang Chen chuckled lightly, his tone carrying a hint of nonchalant certainty.

"Then I'll wait."

"beep--"

The call was ended abruptly and decisively.

In the office, Li Xue listened to the busy tone on the receiver, trembling with anger, and swept the water glass on the table to the ground.

With a "crash," the glass shattered, splashing water all over the floor.

"Good, very good! Jiang Chen, you just wait!"

She gritted her teeth, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.

Want to compete with Star Entertainment?

She wanted to see if this former artist who had switched careers could withstand their professional legal team!

The shattered glass was still dripping water nearby. Li Xue took a deep breath and suppressed her surging anger.

She found the number of Zhang Bingyan, the company's legal director, and quickly dialed it.

The phone was answered after ringing twice.

Zhang Bingyan's voice was slow and deliberate, as if he had guessed the purpose of Li Xue's call to him.

"Director Li? You contacted me about Jiang Chen's lawsuit, right?"

"Director Zhang, you already know?" Li Xue gritted her teeth.

However, she soon realized that she had said something pointless.

Zhang Bingyan is the legal director of Star Entertainment.

"Director Zhang, Jiang Chen is clearly deliberately causing trouble, trying to gain attention by associating with the deceased. It's even made it to the trending topics."

"President Zhou just called and got really angry, demanding an immediate response!"

"Hey, it's no big deal." Zhang Bingyan chuckled, his tone confident.

"Don't worry, Director Li, you don't need to trouble yourself. Our legal department is already prepared. He won't be able to cause trouble for long!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xue's eyes lit up.

"Director Zhang, what are your plans?"

"First, raise an objection to jurisdiction."

Zhang Bingyan chuckled softly and spoke slowly.

"It's clearly stated in black and white in the contract that disputes are under the jurisdiction of the arbitration commission in the company's location. It's against the rules for him to directly file a lawsuit in court."

"Let's file a procedural objection first. Just the jurisdiction issue alone can delay him for a while."

"When big companies like ours litigate, we rely on dragging it out until the plaintiff and their family can't afford to continue, and they naturally withdraw the lawsuit!"

"Secondly, the public relations department is already working on the public opinion aspect."

"Official statements and press releases from marketing accounts are all ready. First, we'll solidify the accusations of him 'exploiting the deceased and engaging in malicious litigation,' and muddy the waters."

"Once public opinion turns against him, his lawsuit will lose its credibility!"

After hearing this, Li Xue felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.

She leaned back in her office chair and gave a cold laugh.

"Okay, Director Zhang, you guys are really professional."

"I want to see if Jiang Chen's small law firm can withstand this!"

Then, Li Xue's tone softened.

"Director Zhang, then I'll have to trouble your legal department. You must suppress this matter."

"President Zhou is still keeping an eye on things; we can't let it affect next month's financing!"

"Don't worry, it's standard procedure," Zhang Bingyan said calmly. "We have plenty of ways to deal with lawyers who try to ride the coattails of trending topics!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Xue crossed her arms and a cold smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

"Jiang Chen, Jiang Chen, do you really think you can get away with messing with Starry Sky Entertainment just by winning a few lawsuits?"

"That's incredibly overconfident!"

Meanwhile, in Jiang Chen's office.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds and fell onto the tabletop.

The brokerage contract laid out on the table was covered with red circles marking it.

Jiang Chen's fingertips traced over clauses such as "Party A has the right to unilaterally calculate operating costs" and "Artist who unilaterally terminates the contract shall pay a penalty of three times the expected revenue," his brows furrowing slightly as he marked each clause as invalid.

It was at this moment that...

"Jiang Lu! Something terrible has happened!"

Chen Qiaowei pushed open the door and walked in quickly.

She was clutching her phone, looking a little anxious.

"Starry Sky Entertainment has made a move!"

"We just received a message from the court that the other party has raised an objection to jurisdiction, saying that the contract clearly stipulates that 'all disputes arising from this contract shall be under the jurisdiction of the arbitration commission at the domicile of Party A,' and that the court has no jurisdiction and requests that the lawsuit be dismissed and transferred to the arbitration commission."

"This is clearly a deliberate attempt to stall for time!"

Jiang Chen didn't even look up, his pen circling the word "Jurisdiction in Disputes" in small print on the contract, his tone calm.

"As expected."

"When large companies litigate civil cases, raising objections to jurisdiction is a more effective tactic; it's a common way to stall for time."

"But this agreement is useless." Jiang Chen changed the subject.

"This agency contract is a standard contract unilaterally drafted by Star Entertainment. The jurisdiction clause is a standard clause, and they have no evidence to prove that they have fulfilled their obligation to provide notice and explanation."

"Furthermore, brokerage contracts are personal and dependent on individuals, and are considered contracts for the provision of services. The place of performance is local, so our choice to file a lawsuit in the court of the place of performance is entirely in accordance with the regulations."

"The objection will most likely be rejected; it'll only drag on for ten days to two weeks, nothing drastic!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiaowei breathed a sigh of relief.

But then she remembered something else, and her brows furrowed immediately.

"Oh, right, Attorney Jiang, and online too!"

"Star Entertainment just issued an official statement, accusing you of 'exploiting the deceased, riding the wave of popularity, and maliciously filing lawsuits to gain fame,' saying that they are deeply saddened by Han Zihe's passing, but that someone intends to use the deceased for personal gain."

"They also bought a lot of marketing accounts and released press releases everywhere."

"Han Zihe's current online image is that of a rebellious, disobedient person who takes on side jobs!"

"The company also said that Han Zihe had long shown signs of depression, and subtly implied that you took money from a competitor to deliberately sabotage Xingchen Entertainment!"

"The online comments section... has already taken a bit of a turn!"

Jiang Chen then raised his head.

I picked up the phone and glanced at the official statement.

The words inside are grand and dignified, always standing on a moral high ground.

After reading this, Jiang Chen scoffed and handed the phone back.

"Heh... let them say what they want."

"Winning a war of words is useless; in the end, we still need to look at the evidence."

"The more enthusiastically you jump around now, the more embarrassed you'll be when we pull out the tab!"

Seeing Jiang Chen so relaxed, Chen Qiaowei was somewhat bewildered.

Even after all this, you're still saying it's okay?

Chen Qiaowei took a deep breath and said seriously, "Jiang Lu, what... what do we do now?"