Cen Yingshuang: [Xiao Shu, you should know something about the An family. They recently returned to Xingcheng, and the old man is worried about them. So if Asen has any contact with them, please let me know.]
An Jia has returned to Xingcheng? It's understandable that the old man is worried.
Ji Mingshu thought for a long time, repeatedly typing and deleting, and finally sent out the word "good".
It shouldn't be a problem to just tell my family. Besides, Cen Sen might not even contact the An family, and even if he did, he might not let her know.
After mentally preparing herself for being a little spy, Ji Mingshu finally felt less guilty. She got up, washed her hands, and prepared to go back to bed for a nap.
But as soon as she opened the door, she saw Cen Sen standing outside, seemingly about to raise his hand to knock.
Her heart skipped a beat, and the drowsiness she felt from going back to sleep vanished instantly.
"You, you're awake."
"What?" Cen Sen looked at her calmly.
“Nothing much,” Ji Mingshu hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Um… how did you end up here? I was shocked when I woke up and saw you.”
Cen Sen gave a brief explanation, of course, he omitted Li Wenying from the discussion.
Judging from his words, he already knew that he was going to participate in the program? Ji Mingshu took the opportunity to change the subject, saying, "By the way, I'm going to the TV station to sign a contract this afternoon. Can you lend me your lawyer?"
"Okay, I'll have Zhou Jiaheng arrange it for you."
Ji Mingshu nodded and stepped aside to make way for Cen Sen.
Cen Sen went into the restroom, and she thoughtfully helped him close the door.
Once the door was closed, she took the doorknob and let out a long sigh of relief.
Changsha is always hotter than Beijing. Even as summer draws to a close, the afternoon temperature is still close to 40 degrees Celsius. The camphor trees along the roadside are gleaming in the sun, and their leaves droop down, becoming an indispensable part of the lazy afternoon cityscape.
After finishing lunch, Ji Mingshu took a beauty nap. After waking up, she spent two hours getting ready before she was finally ready to go out in public.
The driver and lawyer were dozing off and on in the car. It wasn't until 3 p.m. that they finally picked up Ji Mingshu and set off for the Xingcheng Broadcasting and Television Building.
The person in charge of receiving Ji Mingshu was the production assistant from the "Designer" program. Ji Mingshu was quite unhappy at first. She was surprised that someone would dare to send their assistant to receive her.
But later, she didn't know why, she started to put herself in the other person's shoes and thought, "So be it, she's an assistant. She's a young woman who has it pretty tough."
The assistant had never seen such a high-and-mighty person before. Before they could even exchange a few words, the assistant had already lost face.
Fortunately, the contract was drafted by the production team in advance, and all the ordinary people used the same template. She only needed to watch people sign it.
But Ji Mingshu didn't take the contract; instead, she looked at the man sitting on another sofa and said, "Attorney Wang, could you please take a look?"
Assistant: "..."
They even brought their own lawyer; that's incredible.
The man, referred to as Attorney Wang, took the contract, put on his glasses, and began to carefully review it.
"Article 1.12 only imposes privacy restrictions on my client, Ms. Ji, but does not make any requirements on the program team regarding privacy restrictions, which I think is unreasonable."
"The copyright ownership definition in clause 2.09 is too vague. The copyright of the works designed by my client in the program should belong to my client unconditionally."
"The definition of promotional content for the social media account managed by my client in Article 3.01 is too broad and lacks proper constraints on timeliness, which is very unreasonable."
...
Attorney Wang rattled off more than a dozen loopholes in one go, her words seemingly carrying a hint of condemnation for the program's legal team's lack of rigor.
The assistant was completely dumbfounded.
No, she's not a celebrity. Why would an ordinary person make so many demands about the contract when she's on a TV show? Others just sign it without even looking at it.
She composed herself and said calmly, "Um, Miss Ji, our contracts all use a standardized template. Everyone signs them this way, so there won't be any problems."
Attorney Wang: "You are not the person in charge of the program, so your guarantee has no legal effect whatsoever."
Assistant: "..."
Ji Mingshu had just hypnotized herself into accepting the hospitality of an assistant when Lawyer Wang pointed out so many loopholes in the contract. Her already bad temper instantly showed its true colors. "Call your manager over."
The producer is busy entertaining Li Che and has no time to deal with you.
The assistant silently grumbled to himself, standing there motionless.
Ji Mingshu, however, didn't have much patience. While putting on her sunglasses, she said, "Since your production team is so insincere, then we might as well not sign this contract."
"Wait, Ms. Ji!" Although she was just an ordinary person, the contract couldn't be left unsold in her hands. The assistant quickly apologized, "I'm really sorry. The contracts we issue, including those for celebrities, are based on a template with some modifications. If Ms. Ji is not satisfied, I will contact the producer for you now to see if any adjustments can be made."
That sounds more like human language.
The assistant told her to wait a moment while she hurriedly went to another VIP meeting room on this floor.
Today, Li Che came to record a program. After the recording, he signed a contract with them. Right now, the producer is personally receiving him and explaining the contract terms to him, one by one, to the legal professionals they brought.
Just when things were almost finalized, the assistant came to knock on the door.
The producer asked, "What's the matter? Has Ms. Ji already signed the contract?"
“Miss Ji… she brought a lawyer with her,” the assistant stammered. “The lawyer believes that some clauses in the contract are unreasonable and need to be revised.”
The producer frowned, just as the assistant had thought: She's not a celebrity, so why would anyone want to take advantage of her? She's on a TV show and yet she's making such a fuss; she really doesn't know her place.
The producer had some connections with Meng Xiaowei and originally wanted to invite Meng Xiaowei and Li Che, a popular on-screen couple, to generate buzz.
However, Meng Xiaowei and Li Che have already privately agreed to disband their partnership and it is not appropriate for them to record a program together again.
A few days ago, Meng Xiaowei strongly recommended Ji Mingshu to the producer. On the one hand, she felt that Ji Mingshu was very suitable for the show, and it would be good to do her a favor by recommending her. On the other hand, she felt that Ji Mingshu had a good image and temperament, and it would be even better if she and Li Che could be paired up as a couple.
The producer also thought her idea was good, so they decided on Ji Mingshu and even produced an initial plan.
However, the sponsors were very dissatisfied with their plan yesterday. They wouldn't allow Li Che and Ji Mingshu to be paired up for a romantic storyline, nor would they allow Ji Mingshu to be the main subject of the shoot.
They tried to figure out what their sponsor meant and realized that the sponsor didn't want other designers to steal the spotlight from the two designers they wanted to promote, so their enthusiasm for Ji Mingshu's side cooled down considerably.
Just then, the producer heard that Ji Mingshu was dissatisfied with the contract, and immediately wanted his assistant to convey the message: "Sign it or not, it's up to you. If you don't sign it, get out."
But Li Che suddenly smiled and said, "Miss Ji? I know her."
He pushed the contract on the table: "Why don't you use my template for Miss Ji as well?"
Chapter 23
In fact, the contract loopholes that Attorney Wang mentioned can hardly be called loopholes; they were originally contract traps deliberately set by Party A to target Party B, who had no say in the matter.
These traps aren't specifically designed to harm anyone; they're just common tricks used by the client to ensure absolute control. If the contractor had any say, they wouldn't have provided such a contract template in the first place.
For example, Li Che's contract does not have such a situation at all.
The losses from changing the terms wouldn't be significant, and since Li Che has already spoken up, we have to give him face.
Just as Ji Mingshu was on the verge of having a princess syndrome attack, the production team promptly presented her with a contract that satisfied her.
The producer was very adaptable, able to be both flexible and accommodating. One second he was thinking, "Take it or leave it, if you don't want to sign, get out," but the next second he was in front of Ji Mingshu, acting like a friendly and approachable producer, showing her, an amateur, the utmost patience and politeness.
Ji Mingshu was obsessed with contradicting Cen Sen. He didn't want her to participate, so she would insist on participating.
Moreover, since the contract had been revised and the producer had apologized, she was too lazy to argue about such a trivial matter and simply signed her name at the end of the contract.
The show officially started recording a week later. After signing the contract, the producer explained the group assignments and procedures for the upcoming recording to her and Li Che, and kindly told them that they could contact him directly if they had any questions. Before leaving, he personally escorted them to the elevator.
The elevator doors closed, and the producer's abstract, round face slowly disappeared. Li Che turned slightly to the side and greeted her, "Ms. Ji, it's been a long time."
"Long time no see," Ji Mingshu greeted politely, and thanked him, "Thank you for the contract."
Li Che smiled and said, "It's nothing."
Ji Mingshu was used to others protecting her and thought it was a small matter, so she nodded slightly and didn't stand on ceremony.
The elevator fell into an abrupt, deathly silence as she remained still.
Li Che's accompanying executive agent, assistant, and legal counsel all subconsciously glanced at Ji Mingshu.
They hadn't seen anyone treat Li Che so coldly in a long time, and they were truly wondering from the bottom of their souls: Sister, aren't you going to chat for a few minutes, add me on WeChat, ask for an autograph or a photo?
Although Li Che may not be considered a top-tier celebrity, his fame and popularity are clearly among the upper echelons of young idols.
Moreover, he has powerful connections, which gives him a significant advantage in terms of fashion and film resources, far surpassing those of other young actors of his caliber.
Furthermore, with the matter of severing ties with Meng Xiaowei already on the agenda, his future potential should not be underestimated.
Now, wherever Li Che goes, he is fawned over and flattered. Ji Mingshu's unconventional coldness makes his entourage feel extremely uncomfortable.
Li Che himself didn't think much of it. Since Ji Mingshu didn't speak, he started the conversation again, saying gently, "Actually, it's quite a pity. The producer said that we were originally arranged to be in the same group as you, but the sponsors had their own considerations, so they changed the group arrangement."
Ji Mingshu: "Oh, I see. That's such a pity."
What difference does it make who I'm paired with? After all, I'm here to outshine everyone else.
Accompanying personnel: "..."
Are these fans of the rival group or haters of their own group? Why are you being so perfunctory?
The conversation ended abruptly again, and silence fell over the elevator once more. Fortunately, the elevator descended quickly, and the awkward silence didn't last long.
Descending to the underground parking lot on the first basement level, Ji Mingshu displayed even more of a celebrity air than Li Che. He simply said "Goodbye," put on his sunglasses, and walked out as if no one else was there.
Li Che's entourage all looked speechless. Li Che was slightly taken aback, then smiled.
Once they were in the van, Li Che's entourage began to chatter amongst themselves:
"This Miss Ji is really putting on airs. If you didn't know better, you'd think she was a celebrity. She's so arrogant and domineering. I've never seen anything like it before."
"Has she signed with a company and is preparing to debut? I think she has a pretty good appearance."
"I don't know, but her family must be well-off. The last magazine cover that A-Che and Xiao-Wei did together, the one for 'Zero Degree'... Xiao-Wei's dress seems to have been borrowed from her."
"Yeah, she's covered in sculptures, and her handbag is made of rare BK leather, she must be very rich."
"The watch looks very much like VCA's style, but I've never seen that dial before. It's either fake or custom-made."
As they talked, they curiously asked Li Che about her background, to which Li Che replied that she didn't know much about it either.
Not to mention Li Che was unaware, Meng Xiaowei only knew that her family was well-off and that she had a good relationship with Gu Kaiyang. She didn't even know that she was already married, otherwise she wouldn't have given the producer the idea of creating a fake couple.
The group discussed for a long time without reaching a conclusion, but they strongly suspected that Ji Mingshu's arrogant attitude was a deliberate attempt to give Li Che a hard time or to attract Li Che's attention.
To be honest, Ji Mingshu really didn't intentionally give Li Che a hard time, nor did she intend to try anything different to attract his attention.
Having seen so many celebrities offering drinks and sex, and displaying two different faces in public and private, she had long lost interest in them.