Not long after Jiang Dao returned to the private room, Lu Zhengrong also came back.
Everyone chatted for a while and the banquet soon ended.
Jiang Dao carried the drunk Zhu Yao back to the guest room upstairs. He did not take good care of him and left him there to fend for himself. He just stayed by his side to prevent any accidents.
Zhu Yao fiddled with himself for a while, washed his face, took off his coat and shoes, sat on the carpet beside the bed, and waved to Jiang Dao: "You...you go back, I...don't need you to take care of me."
Seeing that he wasn't drunk to death, Jiang Dao didn't feel worried and stood up to leave.
Unexpectedly, before he reached the door, he was grabbed by Zhu Yao again.
Zhu Yao frowned, "Where are you going? You...you are not allowed to go anywhere! This crappy company arranged...a social event, why do I feel that there is no good intention...that, uh, that director...you must not go to him. Come back, sit down...you sit down! You are not allowed to go anywhere!"
Jiangdao: ...
He understood the principle, but what did it mean to pull him to sit on the carpet?
Helplessly, Jiang Dao sat cross-legged on the ground, holding his chin and looking at Zhu Yao.
Zhu Yao tore off his tie and threw it aside, leaning his head back on the mattress. After a while, he sighed heavily and muttered, "I have a guess... but I didn't expect that such a big company as Xinghe and Xinghe Media would also do this... I thought... Xiaodao, you must not go to find Li Cheng."
"Well, I'm not going." Jiang Dao had no choice but to agree casually.
In the original book, there is very little description of Zhu Yao. He always appears on screen a few times, looking cold and unapproachable. In addition, the villain Jiang Dao in the original book does not have a good relationship with him.
After spending these days together after the time travel, Jiang Dao also felt that Zhu Yao was a very calm and ruthless person who only knew how to do his job... No, rather than a "person", in Jiang Dao's eyes, he was more like a "character card" attached to a book, with only skin but no flesh and blood.
But once he gets drunk, he looks like a "human".
The phone vibrated. Chu Yinlong called on WeChat. Jiang Dao picked up the phone and asked, "What's up?"
Chu Yinlong asked knowingly, "Is the banquet over?"
Jiang Dao said, “Hmm,” “It just ended.”
Chu Yinlong: "You're not drunk, are you?"
Before Jiang Dao could answer, Zhu Yao beside him muttered a few words and suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.
"I should remind you that there might be something wrong with this bureau. I'm not sure myself, but..." Zhu Yao's words were incoherent, "...I shouldn't have brought you here! But, but I have no choice. I can't resign again. My family is in trouble now, I..."
"Is there someone next to you?" Chu Yinlong's tone became serious.
"It was Zhu Yao." Jiang Dao said helplessly, "He blocked a lot of alcohol for me, got drunk, and acted crazy."
"...Oh." Chu Yinlong was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can you take care of it? Do you need help? I can ask Lu Zhengrong to send an assistant over."
Jiang Dao paused, curious: "Are you familiar with Mr. Lu?"
Beside him, Zhu Yao suddenly yelled, "Boss Lu can't do that either! You can't... you can't go find them. You're not allowed to go anywhere!"
Jiangdao: ...
Chu Yinlong: ...
"Zhu Yao knows that there is something wrong with today's drinking party?" Chu Yinlong asked.
"From what he said, it seems like he has a guess, but he's not sure." Jiang Dao laughed, "However, when our company arranges social events, we should try our luck."
Chu Yinlong was silent.
Jiang Dao was in a good mood, and asked again with a smile: "Are you familiar with Mr. Lu?"
Chu Yinlong sighed: "Yes, very familiar."
Jiang Dao clicked his tongue: "Then why did you only mention the scheduling issue when you said you would help me? Since Ms. Lu is the investor, she can squeeze out my small role with just one word. There's no need to reserve a role for me in your movie, right? How scheming."
Chu Yinlong was speechless.
After a moment, he said helplessly: "Do you really not want to act? If that's the case, I'm embarrassed to persuade you anymore... I'll tell Lu Zhengrong to eliminate you later."
Jiang Dao glanced at Zhu Yao and found that he was asleep on the carpet, so he got up and went to the balcony.
"We can actually talk about what you proposed earlier."
Jiang Dao overlooked the city at night, his tone as calm as water.
"You also know what I want. If you can settle the penalty, I can let you act in a few dramas in return...but I will not sign an agency contract."
Otherwise, if I go there and get tied up for several years, there would be no essential difference from staying in Galaxy Media.
After a moment of silence, Chu Yinlong smiled bitterly: "This matter is not something that Lu Zhengrong or I can directly decide. Using funds to help the artist pay the penalty for breach of contract, the artist has not signed the agency contract, and the funds cannot be applied for... Let's talk about business. Longqi Entertainment is not a charity. I can't use my personal relationship to hold it hostage."
This is indeed true. The larger the family business, the less able one is to act arbitrarily, otherwise trouble will easily arise.
However, Jiang Dao had already considered this, and continued, "What if I borrow money in my personal name? You and I will sign a personal agreement and repay it with the film remuneration I may receive in the future."
There was silence on the other end of the phone again.
Then Chu Yinlong's chuckle was heard.
"This seems..." His tone was much lighter, "...it is also a solution."
"But we are not familiar with each other after all, and a million is not a small amount of money." Jiang Dao said half-jokingly, "I wonder if you believe me?"
"We'll have a face-to-face meeting when you come back from Lin City," said Chu Yinlong.
"Okay, it's a deal."
After temporarily deciding on the future development direction, Jiang Dao hung up the phone and went back inside.
Zhu Yao was sleeping on the carpet and snoring loudly. Jiang Dao did not force him to bed. He left quietly and returned to his own guest room next door.
The next morning, Jiangdao was awakened by a series of hurried knocks on the door.
He took off his headphones, got out of bed and opened the door, only to find Zhu Yao standing outside with a messy hair.
The moment he saw Jiang Dao, Zhu Yao was obviously relieved.
He stepped into the room, closed the door, and asked, "You didn't...you slept here last night?"
Jiang Dao turned into the bathroom and said casually, "Yeah, it's always there, don't worry."
Zhu Yao pushed his glasses and seemed to want to say something, but in the end he didn't open his mouth. His expression was as cold and indifferent as usual.
Jiang Dao squeezed the toothpaste, held the cup of water, and asked, "Anything else?"
Zhu Yao was slightly embarrassed and coughed lightly: "It's okay, I just want to tell you that I will leave for the airport in an hour and come to see if you oversleep."
After saying that, he turned and left Jiangdao's room.
…
When the two of them got on the car to the airport, Zhu Yao had completely regained his previous calm and relaxed appearance: "Fortunately, your role should be secure this time. When you go back to the company--"
"Maybe it's not stable." Jiang Dao interrupted ruthlessly, "You were drunk, you didn't know. Later I offended Lu Zhengrong, and she said she would not let me join the group no matter what."
Zhu Yao almost hit his head on the steering wheel.
"How could you offend Lu Zhengrong?" He stared in disbelief, "Could it be that she..."
He stopped talking halfway and said in a serious tone, "Well, there are some things you can't do. If it doesn't work this time, there's always next time. You're still young and you have plenty of opportunities to become famous."
After staring at Zhu Yao for a few seconds, Jiang Dao silently withdrew his gaze and said nothing.
After returning to Yan City and just getting off the plane, Zhu Yao received news that Jiang Dao was eliminated.
The two of them tacitly agreed not to mention the matter again, returned to the company, and went about their own business.
Jiangdao actually has nothing to do.
Apart from recording variety shows and yesterday's audition, he actually doesn't have any work arrangements recently. After returning to the dormitory and packing up briefly, he made an appointment with Chu Yinlong on WeChat, and then ran to class in high spirits.
…
On Saturday, Jiang Dao came alone to the coffee shop where he had an appointment with Chu Yinlong.
Seeing the person standing outside the door, Chu Yinlong didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Why are you dressed like this? No wonder my friend didn't dare to open the door just now and insisted that I come out to pick him up."
Jiang Dao took off his sunglasses and said, "It's normal for artists to take taxis and disguise themselves when traveling. Isn't that normal?"
Chu Yinlong was speechless: "Then there's no need to dress so... rustic."
Jiang Dao looked down at his clothes and said, "Shirt tucked into the waistband, keys hanging on the belt, sandals with socks, I see a lot of people wearing this."
Chu Yinlong's friend brought tea to the two of them, and when he heard this, he couldn't stop laughing.
Jiang Dao sat down on the sofa in the booth, raised his hand to pull the plaid shirt out from his waistband and unbuttoned it - well, he was wearing a white vest underneath.
Chu Yinlong was speechless, then he remembered something and asked, "Why did you take a taxi? You don't have a driver's license yet?"
"Yeah, I haven't learned to drive yet." This was something Jiang Dao had already confirmed. The original owner just happened to not have a driver's license either, which saved him the trouble. "I plan to learn after the contract is terminated."
"That's a coincidence," Chu Yinlong said, "The role I reserved for you has a car racing scene. You really need to get a driver's license, otherwise you can't touch the steering wheel."
"You've already reserved your role?" Jiang Dao was surprised. "Why don't we talk about the personal agreement first, and then talk about what kind of drama we'll play in the future?"
Chu Yinlong smiled: "Because I believe that you will not refuse the conditions I offer."
As he spoke, he took a document from his assistant and pushed it in front of Jiang Dao: "It's just a draft. If you want to add or change any clauses, just say it directly. There's no need for us to be polite to each other."
"Well, let me take a look first." Jiang Dao opened the document and read it carefully with his eyes lowered.
As he had requested before, Chu Yinlong agreed to lend him money in his personal name. The amount has not been written yet and needs to be negotiated with Xinghe Media first. Chu Yinlong Studio will send a professional team to take over the negotiations with Xinghe Media, so Jiang Dao does not need to handle it personally.
Next, Jiang Dao can repay the loan by participating in the film being produced by Chu Yinlong Studio with 60% of the fair remuneration for the project until the loan is fully paid off. If Jiang Dao is not satisfied with the script provided by the studio, he can refuse to perform and wait for the next opportunity.
The terms were simple, and there was no restriction on Jiang Dao's personal freedom, nor was there a stipulation that he had to use his film pay to repay his debts - that is, if Jiang Dao won a million dollars in the lottery one day and used the money to pay off his debts, he wouldn't have to star in any films for Chu Yinlong Studio.
Jiang Dao looked at the black words on the paper in his hand and felt a little touched.
No wonder Chu Yinlong believed that he would not refuse, because this agreement was essentially just an IOU, and Chu Yinlong did not use this debt to force him to do anything.
"I have a suggestion. Change this here." Jiang Dao put the agreement back on the table and pointed to one of the sentences. "Change it to 'During the period of the debt, Jiang Dao is obliged to obey all work arrangements of Chu Yinlong Studio.'"
Chu Yinlong looked at Jiang Dao in surprise.
At the same time, Jiang Dao raised his eyes with a smile on his lips: "You know I want freedom, and of course I know what you want."
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