After taking a shower, Li Ke picked up his mobile phone and started to scan Weibo. He saw that a marketing account broke the news, saying that a certain actor’s first TV series had an unexpected match actor.
The picture was a screenshot of the forum that broke the news. From the screenshot, it could be clearly seen that three of the top five were guessing whether it would be Tang Ziyou.
Weibo comment area was also discussing Tang Ziyou? Would it be him? Hadn’t he been out of filming in the past three years?
Tang Ziyou’s fans hurriedly shouted, “Take Tang Ziyou away, in the snow, it’s not an official announcement.”
Li Ke looked at it and slammed his fist against the table with anger.
How long had it been? How long had it been since Tang Ziyou retired? How could anyone remember him!
Gave him such a good cake, was he worthy!
Li Ke closed his Weibo and called his agent, “Have you seen the news? It seems that Shan Qikun’s drama has been set for Tang Ziyou.”
Wang Jian laughed, “Are you kidding? He doesn’t even have the qualification to audition, how can it decide to be him?”
“Maybe he walked through other people’s relationships?”
When Wang Jian heard this, he thought Liu Xu, but this was not a big problem.
“Don’t worry.” Wang Jian calmed him, “Tang Ziyou is now under my control. I won’t let it go. Even if he really succeeds in the audition, it will be useless.”
Li Ke felt a little more relieved, “In short, I’m bound to win this play. Even if I take 10,000 steps back, I really can’t perform it, so Tang Ziyou can’t do it!”
“I know, if he is really settled, then I will communicate with the crew, saying that he will be replaced by you or the two of you will perform together. In any case, there must be you, otherwise, I will not agree.”
“Even if we act together, I have to take the lead. I have more roles than him.” Li Ke emphasized, “He is like this, now he is only worthy of me as a part.”
“Well, can I still make you suffer?”
Li Ke was satisfied and hung up the phone.
Wang Jian squeezed his mobile phone and thought for a moment. He called the director of 《Spring Festival》. However, it was probably too late and the other party did not answer his call.
Wang Jian couldn’t, so he had to hang up first.
It should be fake news, he thought, Tang Ziyou’s current popularity or acting skills were not dominant. What did they choose him for?
Maybe someone pretended and just talking nonsense.
Thinking like this, he called Tang Ziyou, “Xiao You, how are you thinking? Which movie do you want to play?”
Tang Ziyou just hung up Shan Qikun’s call. At this moment, he heard Wang Jian’s question and replied directly, “Brother Wang, I went to audition for 《Spring Festival》 two days ago. I just received a call from the crew and said I passed the audition, so I want to play this one.”
Wang Jian: ! ! !
Wang Jian couldn’t believe it, “You went to audition for 《Spring Festival》, why didn’t you tell me? And why did the crew contact you directly? I am now your agent. The crew should contact me if they have anything to do.”
“That’s it. After I came back from the company that day, I contacted other friends and asked them if they had good resources recently. It’s not that both of us thought the scripts we read before were not good, so I just thought, I can’t just relying on you to give me resources, I have to work hard on my own. Later, a friend said that the crew of 《Spring Festival》 was missing a male third, so I tried it. I didn’t expect to have passed and I was quite surprised.”
“I didn’t tell you before because I was afraid that I could not get through, so I didn’t tell you and I didn’t leave your contact information.”
Wang Jian: ……
Wang Jian pressed on his temple, “Well, then Xiao You, you come to the company tomorrow and we will talk about it when we meet.”
“All right.” Tang Ziyou said.
Wang Jian hung up the phone and slapped his hands on the table in anger. It was really like what Li Ke said. Unexpectedly, Tang Ziyou looked quite honest on his face and in private there were so many cunning plots!
He clearly built the plank road here but spent in Chen Cang with Liu Xu secretly. Since he didn’t trust him so much, don’t blame him for not being unkind.
* * *
Tang Ziyou arrived very early the next day. Seeing him coming, Wang Jian pointed to the opposite chair, “Sit down.”
Tang Ziyou pulled the chair away and sat down.
“Xiao You, you are good.” Wang Jian gave him a thumb up, “I can receive such resources as 《Spring Festival》 as soon as you come back. It’s amazing.”
Tang Ziyou smiled and said modestly, “It’s also lucky.”
“That’s true.” Wang Jian said, “But well…”
He sighed and said in a regretful tone, “I’m sorry you may not be able to act this play, Xiao You.”
“Why?”
Wang Jian looked at him with kind eyes, “How many years have you not filmed? It’s almost three years. You have not been in the company for the past three years. You don’t know that the company’s structure has changed a long time ago. Now the company favours Li Ke.”
“You should know Li Ke. The two of you signed the agreement at that time. You were red early and he was red late. You had a bad temper and he had a docile temperament, so the top executives of the company liked him more.”
“It’s reasonable to say that I’m taking you both now. The palms and backs of your hands are all fleshy. I shouldn’t say such things, but Xiao You, I’m also for your own good. You don’t know how long Li Ke has been preparing for this role. He wants to play Sheng Feiguang. Now you have robbed him of his role, can he be happy?”
“If he stumbles to the top, you will suffer.”
“So Xiao You, you might as well be a reasonable person, give up this role and recommend him to the director team, so that he is happy and the executives are happy, so we can be more stable, right?”
Tang Ziyou smiled, “But even if I refuse to perform this play, the crew might not choose Li Ke, right?”
“Isn’t there still hope?”
“So do you want me to give up the qualifications I have already obtained for this uncertain hope? I don’t want to.”
Wang Jian showed obvious disapproval in his eyes, “Xiao You, this is why you are not sensible.”
“To measure the right or wrong of a thing, we rely on the law and morality, not the so-called sensibility. I don’t think that blindly giving up is the right behaviour.”
“Besides.” Tang Ziyou said calmly, “I want to manage my career well this time, so I won’t do anything contrary to my original intention.”
Wang Jian frowned, “Why are you so stubborn, Xiao You? I’m doing it for your own good. Now I’m trying to persuade you, but you didn’t listen. At that time, the company will have to restrict you with a contract and not let you go filming?”
“Will you?” Tang Ziyou asked.
“It’s not up to me, it’s up to you.”
“So if I insist on making this play, will you restrict me with a contract?”
“I do it for you, too.” Wang Jian took out the cigarette case and took out a cigarette. “Now the company is enthusiastic about Li Ke and all good resources are close to him. You have to grab his resources as soon as you come up. Then what can I do?!”
He lit a cigarette, “Xiao You, 30 years in the east and 30 years in the west, the times have changed. If you are smart, you should know that it is the best choice for you not to go head-on with Li Ke.”
Tang Ziyou looked at him for a long time, but smiled slowly.
He stood up and looked down at Wang Jian, “Not only the times have changed, but the company’s structure has changed and the people I meet have changed. It’s very simple. I just have to jump out of the company and out of this structure.”
“What do you mean?” Wang Jian looked up at him.
Tang Ziyou’s voice was very gentle, “It’s nothing. I’m going to terminate the contract with the company.”
Wang Jian looked at him like he heard a joke, “Are you crazy? Do you know how much your liquidated damages are? Can you afford it? Besides, you have two years left in your contract. Is it worth the money?”
“Of course, it’s worth it.” Tang Ziyou calmly said, “In this world, nothing is more valuable than my time and freedom.”
After he finished speaking, he turned and walked out the door.
Wang Jian roared angrily, “What are you arrogant about? Where did you get so much money? If you can afford to pay, you will not lose it. If you had a good life in recent years, you will choose to come back now. The fallen phoenix is not as good as the chicken. You were not a phoenix back then. What are you pretending to be high now!?”
Tang Ziyou glanced back at him, “If I wasn’t a Phoenix, then Li Ke would not be. Not only back then, even now, he still can’t compete with me. I will lose money and terminate the contract as soon as possible, but I won’t contact you at that time. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen President Chen. I believe President Chen will be very happy to see me giving him money.”
He finished the last sentence, smiled, and closed the door.
Wang Jian was so angry that he picked up what he had on hand and slammed it towards the door. He said angrily, “He doesn’t know how to appreciate it.”
Tang Ziyou left the company, stopped a taxi, thought about it, and reported Gu’s address.
Wang Jian was right in saying that he really couldn’t pay so much liquidated damages.
When he signed the contract that year, Liu Xu signed him the best brokerage contract, which made it clear that they wanted to favour him. Therefore, the company set high liquidated damages in order to prevent him from terminating the contract after he became popular.
At that time, he never thought that he would terminate the contract and Liu Xu also thought he would not, so he didn’t care about it. Unexpectedly, he was still planted on it.
However, Tang Ziyou looked at the balance on his card and it was not bad. As long as he borrowed a small amount from Grandma Gu, he could collect it all.
He didn’t have many friends in this city and he was not rich.
Liu Xu had some savings, but if she really wanted to lend him, he was afraid she would have to cut down on food and clothing in the future.
After a few comparisons, only Grandma Gu was the most suitable one.
Just in time, Tang Ziyou thought, when he went to see Grandma Gu this time, he could also talk to Grandma Gu about his break-up with Gu Jiuci and tell Grandma Gu that he wanted to break the marriage contract.
The car drove very fast. An hour later, the car entered the villa area. Tang Ziyou looked at the familiar scenery on the roadside and got out of the car after the car stopped.
As soon as he got out of the car, he heard someone calling him, “Xiao You.”
Tang Ziyou turned around. It was Gu Jiuci’s brother, Gu Jiuxing.
The Gu family had two children. The eldest son Gu Jiuxing had a calm personality. He took over the Gu family’s business step by step as an adult and became the new leader of the Gu family.
Gu Jiuci, the second son, had a natural and unrestrained personality. After graduating from college, he entered the entertainment industry. Within two years, he took the film emperor award back and became the dream lover of countless girls.
But seriously speaking, Gu Jiuxing’s appearance was not inferior to Gu Jiuci. He was more like his father, with a deep outline, powerful, and looked no anger. Gu Jiuci was more like his mother, with a handsome face and a smile.
“Why are you here?” Gu Jiuxing approached and asked.
Tang Ziyou was very clear about his position in the Gu family and knew that many things couldn’t be hidden from his eyes and ears, so he frankly said what he had encountered in the company.
“I don’t have enough money now and my friends around me can’t take out so much money at once. So after thinking about it, it seems that only Grandma can help me.”
Hearing the words, Gu Jiuxing nodded slightly, “This is a simple matter. Although I don’t know the boss of your company, if you want to, I can invite him to meet today and I’ll talk to him. This kind of thing won’t happen again in the future.”
“But I still want to terminate the contract.” Tang Ziyou said, “I don’t want to frame myself in an environment full of enemies. Li Ke is the company’s first brother and Wang Jian is the company’s famous broker. They don’t like me. Other agents and artists dare not show goodwill to me. This environment will increase people’s negative energy and people’s confidence will be consumed. I don’t like it.”
Gu Jiuxing heard what he said, only to realize that he had been thoughtful.
He didn’t want to terminate the contract because the role was robbed, but because he didn’t like the environment he was in now, so he wanted to save himself.
“What you said makes sense.” Gu Jiuxing affirmed, “Grandma has gone out and is not at home, let me lend you money.”
He said, took out the chequebook, took out a pen from the inside of the suit pocket, signed his name, tore it down and handed it to Tang Ziyou.
“Fill in as much as you need.”
Tang Ziyou took it in surprise and thanked him again and again, “I will return it to you as soon as possible.”
Gu Jiuxing smiled and looked at him. His handsome face was full of tolerance. “How can the family say two words (Xiexie (谢谢) = two words)? You are Xiao Jiu’s fiancé, that is, my brother. You need money. Just come to me. You don’t need to be polite.”
When Tang Ziyou heard his words, his hand holding the check tightened, and there were a few wrinkles on the white check instantly.
He looked at Gu Jiuxing with deep eyes. Gu Jiuxing was a little puzzled by the look in his eyes, “What’s wrong, Xiao You?”
Tang Ziyou slowly clenched his left hand hanging beside him, “I’m here today, there is one more thing I want to tell Grandma.”
“What?” Gu Jiuxing said warmly.
“I want to break my engagement with Gu Jiuci.”
As soon as his voice fell, Gu Jiuxing heard a horn before he could be surprised.
When Tang Ziyou followed his gaze, he caught a familiar black car driving into his vision. The horse logo jumping high in the front of the car displayed the owner’s unrestrained personality.
—Gu Jiuci is back.
The author has something to say:
Gu Jiuci: Catch up!
Brother: Your wide said that he would break his engagement with you.
Gu Jiuci: ! ! !
The brother’s name is Gu Jiuxing (顾酒洐). Based on my past experience, someone will definitely regard Gu Jiuxing as Gu Jiuyan, so let me talk about it in advance.