Chapter 51 We'll Accompany You to a Proud and Upright Red
That evening, Xia Mian checked his phone and saw that all the headlines, news, and social media posts were about his contract termination. The media was discussing it heatedly. After all, a default fee of 100 million yuan was really rare. Nobody treated it as news; they all treated it as a joke.
However, some people questioned: This contract is in black and white, and Xia Mian saw and signed it herself, so why can't she see so many zeros?
Anyone who's gone to elementary school can surely count, right? What's with him complaining here?
At this time, Yuantong Media also responded to Xia Mian's Weibo post.
Yuantong Media: [This contract was jointly negotiated and signed by our company and Mr. Xia Mian, and bears Mr. Xia Mian's fingerprint and our company seal, making it legally binding. Mr. Xia Mian is hereby requested to immediately cease spreading rumors; otherwise, our company will file a lawsuit.]
Netizens suddenly realized what was going on.
Yes, you signed the contract yourself, not the other way around! It's clearly stated in big letters, so who can you blame if you didn't read it carefully and check it properly?
Besides, you yourself aren't much better. Since signing the contract, your professional skills have been lacking, and your personality is unlikable. Aside from providing amusement for netizens by being foolish, you're utterly useless.
Although things have changed recently, isn't it your own fault for pretending to be rich and showing off your superiority on airplanes?
These days, young celebrities are really something else. They learn a few words and then try to gain sympathy by playing the victim. Do they think we're all idiots?
Xia Mian didn't have many fans to begin with, but Yuantong had a large number of online trolls at their disposal. With a wave of money thrown at him, the fans and bystanders who were willing to speak up for him were quickly drowned out by the doubts, and the perception of Xia Mian returned to one-sided negative reviews.
As if things weren't going to go wrong, the marketing account soon released another video.
In the video, a beautiful girl, still recovering from a serious illness, looks pale and keeps apologizing to the boy opposite her. But the boy not only ignores her apologies but also mocks her, saying, "What goes around comes around."
He completely ignored the girl and simply told her to move aside. The girl even asked him how he got there and whether he was taking a taxi.
Finally, the boy got into a car with his face blurred out. The girl watched the car drive away, crying bitterly.
My God, is this something a human being could do?
Almost instantly, Summer Sleep's reputation plummeted to its lowest point!
He shifts the blame for the contract onto the company, bullies girls... He's not as stupid as he used to be, but he's much, much worse than before.
Get out of the entertainment industry, you bastard!
Xia Mian didn't read the comments and slept soundly. The next morning, she got up early and, with her documents, copies of contracts, bank statements, and other supporting materials, went to court with her lawyer.
The contract termination lawsuit quickly went into process; he filed the lawsuit, and Yuantong had to respond. Xia Mian had no choice but to endure Qian Hui's repeated harassing phone calls and her various gloating and opportunistic remarks.
—Because of the online trolls and the bullying of female students, Yuantong holds an absolute advantage. Various platforms, feeling obligated, have begun to constantly remove trending topics and reduce their popularity.
In an effort to suppress topics related to summer sleep, Far Eastern Entertainment even sacrificed a male artist whose contract was about to expire and was not being renewed, exposing his "glorious" act of sleeping with fans.
They've always done things this way, by any means necessary. This time, it concerns the company's reputation, so they can only win, not lose.
They will undoubtedly win.
If every artist has their darkest moment, then for Xia Mian, it wasn't when he signed a predatory contract, when the company didn't provide resources and he could only wait indefinitely, or when the company forced him to be used as a control group against Zhu Ziqi.
Right now.
Looking around, there wasn't a single person who wished him well. Only Yuantong could sit back and wait for the hype to die down before closing the door and beating the dog.
But how could Xia Mian allow herself to sink into darkness?!
On a sunny day, Summer Sleep directly released two audio clips.
"Sister Hui, I'll take the variety show."
"That's a good boy! I don't know what's wrong with you today, daring to refuse the company's arrangements! Don't you think about it? With your impoverished family background and your stupid, pig-like personality, where do you think you can fly to?"
"Listen to me, 'Infinite' is a well-made production. Even if we only record two episodes, it will be enough to gain a huge number of fans. As for other issues... you don't need to worry about them. Once the popularity rises, with your looks, as long as you play the rich kid character well, you'll definitely have no problem going down the path of becoming famous through controversy."
"But I don't want to be infamous. I want to be famous, and I want to be famous in a fair and square way!"
Ah... Netizens looked at each other in bewilderment. They had always said that Xia Mian liked to cultivate a rich kid persona and liked to show off, but it turns out that the company was forcing her to do it?!
Extremely poor... stupid as a pig, this mean-spirited and vicious old woman is actually qualified to be Xia Mian's agent?
It turns out that Xia Mian spent the past two years in this kind of environment; it's unimaginable how much he suffered!
The second audio clip is even more frightening.
"Think about your mother who has kidney disease. If you anger the company, do you know what will happen to you?"
"Yes, I was indeed stupid. If I weren't, I wouldn't have been tricked into signing that unfair contract because I was in a hurry to get money. But I'm different now. I've said I'm going to transform, starting with not being a fool anymore."
"Oh, I get it. You've got Bao Shili backing you up, so you've gotten too big for your britches, haven't you? How did you get together with that old man? You think he'll keep spoiling you? Once he gets tired of your chrysanthemum, he'll just dump you! Where are you going to get the money to treat your sickly mother then?"
"Sister Hui, don't resort to that 'chrysanthemum humiliation' nonsense just because you're in the wrong. Who says people from poor backgrounds have to depend on others? Can't we rely on ourselves? Besides, we're talking about serious matters, don't keep veer off-topic."
"Xia Mian, you, you..."
"Oh, right. Speaking of money, I just remembered. Since signing the contract, the company has only paid me for a few episodes of the web series. We'll settle the rest in court."
"...Xia Mian, don't push your luck! Do you think Yuantong is made of clay? This industry is so small. If you dare to mess with me, I'll make sure you regret it!"
So that's how it is...
It turns out that Xia Mian wasn't stupid; her mother was seriously ill and urgently needed funds, so she was tricked into signing this exploitative contract.
It turns out that Xia Mian had only received payment for a few episodes of web series since joining the company.
Even under such difficult circumstances, Xia Mian still persisted in being herself.
He refused his agent's insults, saying that he didn't need to depend on others because of his humble background.
He was clearly the lowest of the low, yet he managed to go against the wind and bloom in the mud.
Recalling the phrase "If I'm going to be famous, I'll be famous in a respectable way," netizens were filled with excitement and a mix of emotions—laughing and crying, praising and cursing their damned fate.
Finally, all their emotions turned into shouts—they wanted to cheer for summer sleep.
"Summer Sleep, from today onwards, we will accompany you—in the glorious red!"
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