"Mr. Chen will be back soon, there’s sothing he plans to tell you personally," the talent director said with a smile, brewing a cup of coffee for Shi Su and delivering it to her office.
Shi Su raised her eyebrows at the words.
This is new!
The head of Yijia Entertainnt had never asked to see her specifically. In the past two or three years since signing with them, she hadn’t t the head of the agency up close. She only caught a glimpse of him from afar at Yijia Entertainnt Group’s annual party a year ago, a man over forty.
It didn’t take long for her, less than ten minutes had passed when Mr. Chen arrived.
Upon entering and seeing Shi Su sitting on the sofa, he nodded at her. Shi Su stood up to greet him, "Hello, Mr. Chen. Is there sothing you want to discuss with ?"
"I know you have to go back to the set this afternoon, so I’ll keep it brief and won’t beat around the bush," Mr. Chen glanced at her. "When Cen Jun signed you, what was the length of your contract with our company?"
Shi Su paused for a mont and answered, "Five years."
"It’s been almost three years now. From our observations, Cen Jun’s business acun is average with limited resources, capable only of nurturing newcors. You are now one of our key talents at Yijia Entertainnt; your ascent in business resources and scripts has been rapid. Cen Jun really can’t keep up with you." Mr. Chen raised an eyebrow and said, "The company has temporarily given Cen Jun a vacation to go abroad. As for Cen Jun’s studio, you won’t need to go there anymore. The company will be assigning you a new agent, and the transition will be completed within this week."
...
In the afternoon, Shi Su returned to the film crew. Mianmian sat next to her, her eyes clearly red.
"You’ve heard?" Shi Su glanced at her.
Mianmian nodded with reddened eyes, "I just heard people at the studio talking about it in the group chat this afternoon, saying Jun has been replaced."
"Being replaced isn’t much of a problem; if I disagree, Jun can co back anyti." Shi Su said with a composed face, "But the problem is, the company has assigned Cherry Yang as my new agent."
Mianmian almost thought she misheard, looking incredulously at Shi Su with her reddened eyes, "Cherry Yang? Isn’t she the woman Mr. Chen is keeping outside? She’s not much older than , only twenty-six or twenty-seven, I heard she hooked up with Yijia Entertainnt’s head before graduating from college. Even knowing Mr. Chen has a family, she continued with him. It’s been years, and there’s no talk of any skills from her, yet Mr. Chen has handed her a lot of artists, but those under her seem to have no resources, like being shelved. Basically, the artists in her hands haven’t progressed. Now Mr. Chen wants her to manage you?!"
Indeed, though Jun doesn’t have many resources, at least she’s genuinely attentive to Shi Su, with years of mutual trust and reliance surpassing the hierarchical and colleague relationship between an agent and an artist.
If Cherry Yang is forcibly inserted, how to manage Shi Mianmian’s matters?
Jun would keep secrets for her, but this trouble-seeking Cherry Yang is unpredictable.
She started taking on artists and beca a dia manager only after being with Mr. Chen, with no previous experience in this field.
If Jun lacks capability, Cherry Yang’s business acun could only be said to be zero.
"What does Mr. Chen an? Is it because you’re too popular now, Shi Su, that he wants Cherry Yang to manage you to raise her fa? Her current artists are nearly living off nothing; if she’s desperate for achievents, she’ll certainly distribute your resources to other artists, be it business resources or scripts—clearly, Mr. Chen is sending his mistress to suck your blood!"
Shi Su suddenly asked, "Are your calls to Jun also going unanswered, or is her phone off?"
"Unanswered."
"That makes sense; she probably isn’t abroad at all. The company likely issued a mandatory order not to contact us. Borrow a phone from the production crew for , I’ll try calling her with a different number."
Mianmian gritted her teeth with anger, storming off the vehicle to borrow a phone.
A few minutes later, Shi Su used the crew’s phone to call Jun. Sure enough, after a few long rings, the other side hesitatingly answered, "Hello?"
Hearing Jun’s weary, hoarse voice, Shi Su calmly asked, "Jun, it’s Shi Su, don’t be quick to hang up. I only have two questions for you."
"... How did you... Never mind, go ahead."
"I know contracts between artists and agencies are all unequal terms. My revenue share when I get paid typically reaches only twenty percent after tax deductions. Two percent goes to you and the studio, while Yijia Entertainnt takes sixty percent. Who set these terms initially?"
"The company set them."
"Do all the artists have the sa terms as ?"
"... Not quite, yours is indeed slightly lower."
"So, not only are my earnings from films and ads low, but the finance departnt often delays paynts. Even as I’m starting to gain recognition, over the years I’ve consistently been drained by Yijia Entertainnt and will continue to be exploited in the next two years, which is my career’s peak period, isn’t it?"
"..."
"I understand. Look after yourself," Shi Su hung up after receiving a silent, yet definitive confirmation during Jun’s pause.
Mianmian remained silent beside her for a long ti, unable to utter a word.
-
The silver-gray business car halted at the plaza in front of Yu Jing Group’s office building.
Mr. Jing stepped out with a cane, chatting amicably with an elderly entrepreneur beside him. After exchanging a few more remarks, the two elders bid farewell, each returning to their respective cars.
"Should we head straight back to the Jing Family?" Mr. Li didn’t let the driver drive off imdiately but glanced back at Mr. Jing.
Mianmian made an exception to co out today because he heard that an old friend who settled overseas decades ago had returned and was collaborating with Yu Jing Group. So he made a special visit to the company today.
"Let’s not go back yet." Mr. Jing directed his bright gaze eastward, "Where did we go to find Jing Luozhou the other day? Was it Kaixing Mansion?"
With that, Mr. Jing suddenly stepped down slowly from the car with his cane, "It’s been five or six years since I’ve road near the company. The surrounding apartnts and buildings are all new. Ah, this environnt, this architecture, belongs to young people now. The weather is nice today, I’ll walk around. You don’t need to follow."
Though he said not to follow, who could really feel assured not doing so? Despite Mr. Jing’s vigorous elderliness, he was still getting on in years, and a fall would be troubling.
Mr. Li instructed the driver to drive slowly by the roadside, keeping a distance from Mr. Jing, but ensuring if he got tired, he could promptly return to the car to rest.
Mr. Jing strolled intermittently, surveying the nearby environnt, gradually nearing Kaixing Mansion. Feeling tired, he decided to lean on his cane and prepare to sit down by a flower bed to rest, not in a hurry to return to the Jing Family. Usually, it’s just him and Mr. Li at ho, quite dull.
"Sir, what’s wrong? Are your legs hurting?"
Suddenly, a sweet, crisp voice rang nearby.
Mr. Jing paused before sitting, turning to see a young girl in a pink sweater watching him with wide, concerned eyes.
"Mommy says the flower bed sides are tiled, very cold. Sitting there will freeze your bum, and sitting too long causes bellyaches. It’s better not to sit on them!" The girl earnestly looked up at Mr. Jing, extending her chubby little hands to steady his cane, "Where do you want to go, Grandpa? If you can’t walk, I’ll have Mrs Qin help you sit elsewhere! It’s too cold here, careful not to freeze your bum!"
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