Chapter 50#
“Devoted” Film Emperor (4)#
Although it was near mealtime, most employees in the companies hadn’t clocked out yet. The car sped along the road, smoothly arriving at Building 106 of Hejin Apartment, which Lu Xingchen had rented, just before rush hour.
Lu Yi unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car. Kong Si followed him down.
Seeing him follow, Lu Yi explained, “I can handle this matter myself.”
Kong Si looked at him, didn’t get back in the car, but only said verbally, “I don’t even know where you live—how do I know you’re not lying?”
Just now, when they drove up to the building, he had been thinking that earlier he shouldn’t have told the other party to shut up; instead, he should have corrected him and said to call him “husband.”
But so much time had passed, and adding that now would just feel weird, so he gave up.
Lu Yi couldn’t guess what his newlywed wife was thinking. Anyway, there was nothing shameful to hide, so if Kong Si wanted to follow, so be it.
The apartment the original owner rented was on the 27th floor. The two entered the elevator and went upstairs. As Lu Yi was pulling out his keys to open the door, Li He, hearing the noise, opened the door from inside.
“Lu Xingchen, are you crazy? Terminating the contract? I think you’ve lost your mind!”
Seeing the face of his disobedient artist, Li He opened his mouth and spit flew everywhere.
After his words fell, Lu Yi, who had been silently watching from the side, spoke up: “Mr. Li, please sober up.”
Although he knew that the original owner’s agent was extremely unreliable and didn’t really care about Lu Xingchen, to mistake someone right off the bat was just too careless.
Hearing a familiar voice beside him, Li He looked up and glanced around, then at the young man he had just been pointing at and cursing.
He looked left, then right, and blurted out, “Lu Xingchen, don’t think that just because you found your brother, I’ll be afraid of you!”
Kong Si’s face had already turned half dark; after Li He’s words, the other half went completely black.
He was about to lose his temper when Lu Yi spoke before him: “The termination is between me and the company; it has nothing to do with him.”
Although Li He was just a talentless agent, he was still in the entertainment circle. Lu Yi remembered that Kong Si should be entering the entertainment industry as well.
Since that was the case, before the other party’s career had even started, he didn’t want to expose the fact that the other person was married.
Moreover, most celebrities, even if they get married, almost never reveal information about their non-industry family members, to avoid them being disturbed by ubiquitous paparazzi and some crazy fans or haters.
Kong Si didn’t like hearing Lu Yi say that, but he understood the other’s concerns. To smooth things over smoothly, he chose to remain silent, not knowing much about the situation.
“Let’s go inside first; private matters should be discussed inside.”
Lu Yi gave Kong Si a look, a slight reassurance. Although only ten hours had passed since they opened their eyes and met, in those short ten hours, he had managed to get a sense of Kong Si’s temperament.
The room was very messy. Lu Yi first pulled out a stool and placed it in front of Kong Si: “You sit.”
Kong Si glanced at him and sat down.
Lu Yi then turned and pulled out another stool, placing it next to Li He.
Li He thought to himself, At least he’s sensible and polite, and was about to sit down when he saw Lu Yi himself sit on the second stool.
Lu Yi sat there, and then nothing else happened.
Li He stood for a while and felt his legs getting sore. He blurted out again, “What about mine?”
“Mr. Li, I remember you should be an adult. Even kindergarten kids know they have to do their own things.”
“Exactly! If you want to sit, go get a stool yourself. He’s not your wife!” Kong Si said sarcastically, still holding a grudge over Lu Yi’s “wife” and “nothing to do with him.”
With his short temper, if it weren’t for Lu Yi having serious business to discuss, he would have blown up right then.
Li He glanced at this young man who bore some resemblance to Lu Xingchen, looked around, found no other stool, and simply plopped down on Lu Xingchen’s bed.
“You mentioned terminating the contract earlier. Don’t forget, you signed the contract voluntarily, agreeing to stay with the company for five years. Now you’ve been with the company less than two years. Have you thought it through? Are you ready with the two million in liquidated damages?”
He knew Lu Xingchen was very poor, so he aimed right at that weak point, daring to shout at this minor artist.
Lu Xingchen had debuted through a talent show, and the company behind that show was his current entertainment company, Yuanmeng Entertainment.
To keep their outstanding seed/players, the company had hinted at signing contracts with the top ten contestants. Lu Xingchen, being inexperienced and a brand-new rookie, foolishly signed that unequal treaty and joined this completely unreliable company.
When he was shelved earlier, he had thought about terminating the contract, but he had no fame and couldn’t get any roles or ads. He could maybe pay off a 20,000 yuan penalty, but two million? Even selling Lu Xingchen wouldn’t cover it.
The original owner’s family was just an average middle-class family, absolutely unable to afford such a high liquidated damages.
Lu Yi stood up, found the signed contract, and flipped through it: “Your company and I signed a comprehensive agency contract. As the principal, I have the right to unilaterally terminate the contract. If I terminate without just cause, I naturally face claims. But what if I have a reason?”
Li He hadn’t expected Lu Xingchen to not back down at all upon hearing the huge penalty, and even to say such pointed words: “What do you mean by that?”
“After signing, your company did not provide me with relevant performance opportunities and activities as stipulated in the contract, did not invest significant money into me, and didn’t even provide basic living support. Under these circumstances, if it goes to court, my compensation for breach of contract won’t be that high.”
To protect the interests of entertainment companies, companies generally set a high penalty amount in the contract. But the original owner’s situation was special: shortly after joining the company, he offended the higher-ups and was kept on the shelf.
When the court determines compensation, it doesn’t just go by the amount stated in the contract; it considers the company’s investment in the artist.
But Yuanmeng Entertainment had barely invested anything in him—not even a hundred thousand, let alone two million.
The original owner hadn’t violated the company’s wishes by taking on commercial gigs, as he had no fame. So when assessing his future development and commercial losses, it wouldn’t be very high either, especially since after termination, he wouldn’t be active as an artist in any other entertainment company.
The original owner had been worried about the penalty because he didn’t understand the ins and outs. Seeing “two million” on the contract, he thought he’d really have to pay that much, so he kept putting off the termination.
But Lu Yi was well-versed in law. Although this world was slightly different from his own, after waking up, he had searched online for relevant cases and confirmed that the laws here were similar to his original world. The penalty wouldn’t be something he needed to worry about.
The contract Lu Xingchen signed was a five-year “indenture.” Only two years had passed. He could wait until three years later to terminate, but if the company used the contract to demand he fulfill his obligations as an artist, wouldn’t he have to participate in various shows and play bit parts in productions?
Lu Yi didn’t like that kind of potential trouble, so he wanted to resolve it cleanly from the start.
He sat very upright, with a commanding negotiating posture: “If it goes to court, the compensation I’d need to pay shouldn’t exceed one hundred thousand. But since the company has still trained me, I hope we can have an amicable discussion where the company voluntarily agrees to terminate the contract with me.”
Li He retorted, “And why would we do that?”
“Of course, I’ll arrange it. You’re not famous…” A familiar voice came from the phone’s speaker.
Lu Yi held up the original owner’s phone, smiling as he said, “Given Mr. Li’s reputation and future in the industry, I think He Xiao and his agent would be very interested in who set him up. What do you think?”