Chapter 25 - 1#
Forty minutes later, Jing Shun arrived at the entrance of the building housing “Giant Rock Film and Television.”
He used his assistive device to get out of the car steadily. “Old Qin, go find a place to park for now. I’ll contact you when I’m done.”
The driver nodded. “Alright, Master Jing.”
With a clear goal, Jing Shun entered the high-rise elevator of the commercial complex and directly pressed the button for the 19th floor. As the elevator ascended slowly, his face, reflected in the blurry mirrored wall, revealed the gloom between his brows.
“Jing Guanhai withdrew this money in your biological father’s name!”
“…”
The words he had heard on the phone echoed repeatedly in Jing Shun’s mind, and his breathing grew heavy.
He never imagined that his biological father, Jing Guanhai, would do something so absurd and outrageous behind his back!
The elevator reached the 19th floor, and as the doors opened, the golden logo of “Giant Rock Film and Television” on the wall came into view.
This film and television company was the main investor and distributor of the movie “Counter-Kill,” and Jing Shun would have to deal with them for the post-incident compensation.
“Little Jing.”
Footsteps approached from the side.
Jing Shun snapped back to reality and leaned closer. “Brother Yu.”
“I got the news and was going to pick you up downstairs, but I didn’t expect you to be up here already.”
Yu Xiuzhu, who had arrived at the company earlier than him after learning the news, said, “I’ll take you to see President Lai. We’ll meet face-to-face and get this sorted out.”
Jing Shun suppressed the complex emotions inside him. “Alright.”
The VIP reception room was separate from the office area, so they wouldn’t disturb each other.
Even from several meters away, Jing Shun could hear the fiery rage coming from the reception room.
“I’m asking you, how did you handle this?! A sum of money this large, and you didn’t even verify it properly? Is it something you can just give out carelessly?! Let me tell you! This is a serious dereliction of duty! Once this matter is dealt with, you’re out!”
“…”
Yu Xiuzhu and Jing Shun exchanged a glance, then walked over and pushed open the slightly ajar door.
In the main seat of the reception room sat a middle-aged man with a face full of anger, while the one being scolded was a young male employee.
The latter stood with his head bowed, looking ashen-faced, as if he didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
Yu Xiuzhu interrupted, “President Lai.”
Lai Yu, who was over fifty, shifted his gaze.
He seemed to notice the figures at the door only then, quickly stood up to welcome them. “You’re here? Please, come in! Would you like something to drink? I’ll have my assistant prepare it.”
Yu Xiuzhu declined politely, “No need to trouble you, President Lai. Let’s just focus on the main matter first.”
“Alright, have a seat.”
Lai Yu invited them to sit and then addressed Jing Shun, “The last time I saw Mr. Jing was on the day of the filming kickoff.”
His tone, which had been angry when scolding the employee, now carried obvious apology. “It was the crew’s fault that the accident happened near the end of shooting. As the head producer, I truly feel sorry.”
“…”
Faced with this belated verbal apology, Jing Shun showed little emotional reaction.
Because in his eyes, Lai Yu was nothing but a cold-hearted, sly old fox.
After the accident in his previous life, Lai Yu and Giant Rock Film and Television never took the initiative to resolve the matter.
Every time Jing Shun inquired about the compensation, Lai Yu would have an assistant find various excuses to delay.
Until Jing Shun, unable to bear it any longer, chose to sue, and Lai Yu simply stopped pretending altogether. The two sides ended up in an extremely unpleasant legal dispute.
In this life, if not for the intervention of Bamboo Grove Agency and Director Yu Chuan, the other party would probably still be “playing dead” and “going off the radar.”
“President Lai, I think instead of reproaching yourself, we should focus on handling the situation at hand.”
Jing Shun was unwilling to maintain superficial politeness and asked directly, “I heard from Brother Yu that my father collected the crew’s compensation on my behalf? What on earth happened?”
“…”
The smile on Lai Yu’s face faded slightly.
He tapped the table twice with his right hand, shifting the blame to the employee beside him. “You, explain to Mr. Jing clearly what careless mistake you made!”
The stiff young employee flinched at the gesture and bowed deeply to Jing Shun. “Mr. Jing, I’m Xiao Song, one of President Lai’s assistants, and I was mainly handling this compensation matter.”
“I sincerely apologize for the huge mess I’ve caused. I’m sorry!”
Xiao Song glanced fearfully at Lai Yu and began to explain nervously to Jing Shun.
“Starting from December last year, your father, Mr. Jing Guanhai, repeatedly demanded compensation from the company in your name.”
“…”
Jing Shun frowned upon hearing this.
Yu Xiuzhu pressed further, “From December last year?”
“Yes, starting from the month after the accident!”
Xiao Song quickly pulled out his phone and scrolled through all the chat records as evidence. “These are my chat records with him. You can take a look.”
Yu Xiuzhu took the phone and showed it to Jing Shun.
Jing Shun recognized the familiar WeChat avatar and was already three-quarters inclined to believe it.
The chat logs were kept intact.
From the time Xiao Song added him on WeChat in December, Jing Guanhai would ask about the progress every ten days or half a month. Twice, he even sent lengthy emotional appeals, pretending to feel sorry for Jing Shun, but the core of every message was still that elusive compensation.
Because the company had never issued a clear resolution regarding the accident, Xiao Song, as the assistant, could only keep making excuses to stall.
The more Jing Shun read, the more ridiculous he found it.
He had been hospitalized for so long, and not once had Jing Guanhai shown up, even during his surgery. Yet here he was, playing the role of a good father in front of outsiders?
“Last Friday, President Lai instructed me to coordinate with you to finalize the compensation amount decided by the investors. He told me to find a time to negotiate and settle things.”
“If both sides agreed, the payment could be processed through the finance department immediately.”
As he said this, Xiao Song couldn’t help but glance at Lai Yu again.
The latter picked up his coffee and took a sip, silently lowering his gaze to conceal his expression.
Jing Shun noticed the subtle interaction between the two, but he remained silent and continued listening to Xiao Song’s explanation.
“Just then, Mr. Jing Guanhai sent another WeChat message asking about it, so I told him the truth.”
Unexpectedly, Jing Guanhai showed up at Giant Rock within an hour, moving so fast that Xiao Song didn’t even have time to contact Jing Shun or Bamboo Grove Agency.
“Mr. Jing, I thought you were still living with your father, and he brought all the necessary documents. Besides, he didn’t object to signing the compensation agreement.”
Jing Guanhai also said that his son, Jing Shun, was currently recuperating and in a poor psychological state, so it was inconvenient for him to come personally. In short, he gave a whole string of excuses.
Xiao Song mistakenly believed him, thinking it wouldn’t be a problem to hand the money over to a family member. And so, through this series of missteps, he contacted the finance department to process the payment. The money was already in the other party’s account.
Just then, another employee walked in. “President Lai.”
Lai Yu raised his chin slightly. “Show them the documents for verification.”
The employee immediately complied. “Mr. Jing, these are the surveillance footage of Mr. Jing Guanhai collecting the compensation, as well as the compensation agreement he signed.”
“…”
Jing Shun saw the long-unseen face in the surveillance video and the all-too-familiar handwriting, and he felt a tightness in his chest. The discomfort made his eyes redden.
Lai Yu took in his reaction and deliberately waited until now to speak. “Xiuzhu, it’s true that our employee made a mistake here, and the company will certainly impose corresponding penalties on him. But to be honest—”
“We’ve agreed to pay the compensation, and we’ve transferred the money according to the contract. Not a penny was missing.”
“As for any conflicts or issues between the Jing family father and son, and how they decide to allocate that compensation, that’s not something I or anyone else can meddle in.”
Lai Yu sighed. “When the film had to be halted prematurely due to the accident, I’ve been under tremendous pressure. Please understand—we can’t just fork over another sum to you, can we?”
The implication was that Giant Rock and the other investors had already fulfilled their compensation obligations to Jing Shun.
The intent to shift responsibility was all too obvious. Yu Xiuzhu frowned in disapproval. “President Lai, you—”
Lai Yu raised his hand to stop him, speaking with hidden meaning. “Xiuzhu, I’m doing this out of respect for Director Yu.”
“I suggest you guys find a time to meet with Jing Guanhai and ask him what’s really going on. What disagreement between father and son can’t be resolved?”
“If—and I’m just saying if—this later involves a financial dispute and ends up in court, our company will definitely step forward to testify for you. Deal?”
These words seemed gentle and kind, but in reality, they were a subtle hint for them to leave.
By deliberately invoking “Yu Chuan,” he was also pressuring Yu Xiuzhu, for the sake of their families, to persuade Jing Shun to accept the situation and stop pushing.
“…”
Jing Shun understood Lai Yu’s true character and knew that persisting any further was pointless. He suppressed his complex emotions and, before Yu Xiuzhu could speak, slightly moved his wheelchair back.
“I’ll trouble you then, President Lai. But I’ll likely need your company to testify later.”
Yu Xiuzhu frowned. “Little Jing?”
Jing Shun added, “Brother Yu, let’s talk outside. We shouldn’t disturb President Lai any longer.”
Seeing that they had gotten the hint, Lai Yu replied with satisfaction, “Of course. Whenever needed, our company will cooperate.”
…
The elevator doors closed heavily.
Jing Shun watched the descending floor numbers before speaking to Yu Xiuzhu. “Brother Yu, President Lai did that on purpose. He and that assistant were putting on a show for us.”
Yu Xiuzhu took a deep breath. “I know.”
He had only just consulted a lawyer last week—
Jing Shun was the lead actor and had signed an acting contract, yet he was severely injured during filming due to the crew’s negligence. This was clearly the production’s fault.
Whether through negotiated compensation or legal action, if handled firmly, the compensation would far exceed three hundred thousand!
“Three hundred thousand is the compensation they investors agreed on, but it may not be what we want.” Jing Shun gripped the wheelchair handles, seeing it clearly. “They just want to use this money to buy off the trouble my legs have caused.”
Yu Xiuzhu was sharp. “Exactly. How could that sum possibly compensate for your physical and mental injuries?”
“Lai Yu knew that your father had been secretly demanding compensation in your name all along, so he deliberately instructed his assistant to make that mistake? To shift the conflict onto us and Uncle Jing?”
Jing Shun saw through it. “Yeah. Otherwise, how could a company this big, knowing full well I had a management agency, make such a low-level mistake without even confirming it?”
Ding-dong.
The elevator opened on the first floor.
Yu Xiuzhu wheeled Jing Shun out and asked uncertainly, “Little Jing, should I go with you to see Uncle Jing?”
Jing Shun recalled Jing Guanhai’s face in the surveillance footage and felt a bit breathless.
He didn’t let Yu Xiuzhu see how he felt. “Brother Yu, I want to handle this matter myself. It’s getting late, and my driver is still waiting. Let me go back, rest up, and then get in touch with you?”
“Alright, get some rest first.”
Yu Xiuzhu, for once, didn’t insist on seeing him to the car. Instead, he turned back and pressed the elevator button. “I need to go back up.”
Jing Shun was startled. “Brother Yu?”
“Little Jing, now that you’ve signed with our Bamboo Grove Agency, it’s my job to fight for the rights you’re entitled to.”
Yu Xiuzhu appeared gentle and easygoing, but he had clear principles when it came to handling matters.
He wouldn’t give up what shouldn’t be given up! Now that he saw Lai Yu’s scheme, there was no way he would let his artist suffer in silence.
Yu Xiuzhu had accompanied Jing Shun downstairs first only out of consideration for his emotional state, not wanting him to waste energy on this affair.