"Okay." Lin Leyao nodded, indicating that she understood.
The two arrived at the president's office, and Xiao Yan knocked three times on the door.
"Please come in."
Xiao Yan gave a signal, and Lin Leyao pushed open the door and went into the office, while Xiao Yan stayed at the door without going in.
In the office, a middle-aged woman wearing a blue shirt and trousers, with a stylish short haircut that reaches her ears, is sitting on the sofa.
Lin Leyao asked, "President Li, you wanted to see me?"
Li Na: "Le Yao is here? Please have a seat."
Lin Leyao sat down on the sofa in the reception area.
Li Na poured a cup of coffee and placed it in front of Lin Leyao, then sat down opposite her and asked, "Do you know why I asked you to come here today?"
Lin Leyao shook her head.
“You signed a six-year contract with the company, and there are still more than six months left. I’ve come to ask for your opinion.”
Lin Leyao didn't respond immediately, so Li Na continued, "You've been with the company for five years. When you signed your contract, you stipulated that you wouldn't attend private parties and that the company wouldn't assign you tasks you didn't like. The company has kept those promises for the past five years. Back when you first debuted, you offended Director Lu, which led to your role being replaced. The company did its best to resolve that. But to be honest, many of the films you've made over the years weren't actually funded by the company but were actively invested in by Huanling Group. They've always specifically requested you for the lead role. At first, I thought someone on their side was interested in you, but then I found out that no one on their side was trying to get in touch with you. So I did some research and discovered that the only daughter of the chairman of Huanling Group remarried and her husband's surname is Lin."
Li Na, convinced she had uncovered the truth, shifted her posture and continued, "However, you should be well aware of the negative news surrounding Huanling Group over the past two years. Their company is facing financial difficulties and is struggling to survive. Your father is reportedly a high school teacher who has remarried, so naturally, he can't take care of you under these circumstances. I hope you will seriously consider renewing your contract. After all, our company nurtured you and knows you very well. We have already drafted a development plan and made arrangements for your future film and television business. I hope you will consider it carefully. However, if you renew, some agreements in the contract will be modified, so I hope you are prepared."
"President Li, I will seriously consider it." Lin Leyao's expression remained indifferent; Li Na's approach of giving a hard stick followed by a sweet treat had not stirred any emotion in her.
Seeing that Lin Leyao was unmoved by reason, Li Na knew that she probably wouldn't listen to anything she said at this point, so she waved her hand to stop the topic: "That's all for now. There are still more than half a year left, you still have time to think. Don't rush to leave today, let's have dinner together with your manager tonight."
Lin Leyao pushed open the office door and walked out, while Xiao Yan was still waiting outside.
Seeing Lin Leyao come out, Xiao Yan observed her expression and, finding nothing amiss, honestly asked, "What did President Li say?"
In front of Xiao Yan, Lin Leyao didn't show the cold silence she displayed when facing others. She said directly, "You hit me with a stick and then give me a sweet treat, using both threats and inducements!"
Xiao Yan clicked her tongue, and then heard Lin Leyao add, "President Li asked us to have dinner with her tonight."
"A trap, indeed—" Xiao Yan murmured with a sigh.
Xiao Yan wanted to say something to Lin Leyao, but then she heard someone shout from afar, "Sister Yan, someone's looking for you!"
Lin Leyao looked over and saw that it was a newcomer that the company had recently arranged for Xiao Yan.
The girl was a former internet celebrity; she has a pure and innocent appearance.
Xiao Yan was called away, and Lin Leyao didn't stay in the office for long. She waited at the elevator, planning to go downstairs to the coffee shop for afternoon tea and then go out to have dinner with President Li in the evening.
Just then, a sweet voice called out from behind: "Isn't this Yao Yao? Long time no see!"
Chapter 10
Lin Leyao turned her head and saw Mao Xinxin with a perm and big wavy hair standing behind her.
The two had been at odds for a long time. Lin Leyao asked expressionlessly, "What is it?"
Mao Xinxin touched her newly done manicure, swayed her slender waist, and said with dissatisfaction, "You haven't been to the company for half a year, can't I miss you!"
Seeing her like this, Lin Leyao got goosebumps all over her back and retorted mercilessly, "Which Taiwanese businessman have you been hanging out with lately? Can't you speak without using consonants?"
Lin Leyao would never have paid any attention to her when she said these things before, but she didn't expect her to actually reply this time. Mao Xinxin clicked her tongue and stopped pretending. She looked at Lin Leyao with a victorious smile on her face, "I heard that the drama I'm currently filming was originally your project."
Lin Leyao raised an eyebrow, giving her a "What's up?" look.
"Serves you right, Lin Leyao." Mao Xinxin had always disliked Lin Leyao's nonchalant attitude. "Wasn't she just pretending to be high and mighty? How does it feel to have your resources taken away?"
Lin Leyao glanced at her indifferently, "You don't really think that resources in your hands will have the same effect as resources in mine, do you?"
"Tch. You always act so aloof in front of others, but why are you so aggressive towards me?"
"Mao Dan." Lin Leyao called out Mao Xinxin's real name, "When you foolishly used my name to seduce Lu Gang five years ago, causing me to be publicly scolded by Lu Gang's wife and causing the role I was filming to be replaced, you should have known that someone like you would be looked down upon by me for the rest of your life."
When this dark history was exposed to her face, Mao Xinxin's face darkened instantly, and the beautiful image she had always maintained vanished. She looked at Lin Leyao fiercely and said, "So what? Everyone thinks you're the one who slept with the director. Lin Leyao, you better not fade into obscurity, otherwise, seeing you being trampled on by outsiders, your aloofness might disappear."
Lin Leyao patted the shoulder that Mao Xinxin had just touched and coldly replied, "Don't worry, you won't live to see that day."
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and Lin Leyao walked straight in. The elevator doors closed quickly, and Mao Xinxin's overly surgically enhanced face disappeared from sight.
At 6:40 p.m., Lin Leyao arrived at a boutique private restaurant.
"Finally here." Seeing her, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to stand me up!"
Seeing Xiao Yan's overreaction, Lin Leyao smiled helplessly and said, "Am I that arrogant in your eyes that I dare to stand up the boss?"
Xiao Yan complained, "They're not that different."
As they walked towards the private room, Xiao Yan instructed, "President Li also invited a few people. Don't worry about them when you go in."
"Mm." Lin Leyao nodded without saying anything more.
Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Lin Leyao would say there were other people present and wouldn't attend the party.
Pushing open the door to the private room, I found several people already inside.
Xiao Yan, Mao Xinxin, Mao Xinxin's agent Chen Qi, and screenwriter Kuang Chenghua, who frequently collaborates with Xinghai Entertainment, were playing cards at a nearby table. The room reeked of smoke.
"Please sit down since you're here." Li Na didn't say anything to Lin Leyao, who had arrived later than her. She kept her eyes glued to the cards in her hand, and after playing one, she said, "There will be more people coming in a little while."
Kuang Chenghua waved to Lin Leyao and called out, "Leyao, I'll let you have her."
"No need, Mr. Kuang, I don't know how to play cards."
Hearing her say that, Kuang Chenghua gave up and said, "Then you should drink some water and rest for a while."
After playing cards for half an hour, the guest they were waiting for finally arrived late.
There was a knock on the door, and Mao Xinxin, who was sitting at the chess and card table, immediately stood up and ran to the door to open it.
"You're here!" Mao Xinxin's face instantly lit up with joy.
"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting." A middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a suit and tie, walked in and nodded to everyone in the room.
Li Na put down her cards, smiled, and shook hands with the visitor. "Mr. Qiao, you're too kind. Everyone's not busy tonight."
When everyone took their seats, Li Na politely declined to sit with the Taiwanese businessman named Qiao Shaohui. Then Qiao Shaohui sat in the main seat, with Li Na on one side and Mao Xinxin on the other.
Judging from Mao Xinxin's close relationship with this Taiwanese businessman, this person should be the businessman she has been following recently.
Lin Leyao rarely attends these kinds of drinking parties, and she sat silently in her seat.
Chen Qi, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up, "President Qiao, this is also an artist from President Li's company, named Lin Leyao."
Xiao Yan was startled, not understanding what Chen Qi meant by this. Was it not enough for him to act as a pimp for his own artists, why did he also want to poach artists from other places to act as a pimp for them?
Lin Leyao couldn't figure out what kind of trap this was. She nodded at Qiao Shaohui, her expression indifferent.
Chen Qi glanced at Lin Leyao several times, and seeing that she wasn't making any move, he became a little anxious. "Leyao, aren't you going to offer President Qiao a toast?"
Lin Leyao glanced at Chen Qi, stood up, picked up the cold tea in front of her, and said to Qiao Shaohui, "I'm sorry, Mr. Qiao, I haven't been feeling well lately and am taking medicine. Today, I'll offer you a toast with tea instead of wine."
Qiao Shaohui's expression changed slightly, somewhat displeased, but he still maintained a polite demeanor, "No need to be so polite, Miss Lin, your health is the most important thing."
Lin Leyao nodded and finished a cup of cold tea in one gulp. Then she said, "Excuse me, everyone, I need to go to the restroom."
After saying this, Lin Leyao ignored the reactions of the others at the table and turned to leave the room.
Xiao Yan then said, "I'm going to the restroom too," and followed her out.
Stepping out of the room, the oppressive atmosphere inside instantly vanished, and Lin Leyao slowly exhaled.
I haven't attended a drinking party like this in years; it's truly disgusting.
After leaving the private room, Xiao Yan went to the restroom and saw Lin Leyao standing against the wall outside the restroom, lost in thought.
Xiao Yan stepped forward and said, "I didn't expect it to be a trap."
"Um."
Xiao Yan asked cautiously, "Are you renewing the contract?"
"No, thank you," Lin Leyao replied decisively.
Xiao Yan readily accepted, "Then you should now pay attention to whether other entertainment companies are willing to extend an olive branch, or perhaps you could collaborate with some independent agents to establish your own personal studio."
"We'll see." Lin Leyao was too annoyed by today's dinner to think about anything else. "You stay here with me, and we'll go back later."
Just as the two of them were getting some fresh air, a guest who had come to the restroom approached from a distance.
Xin Yuan walked to the bathroom door while looking down at her phone. Only then did she take her eyes off the phone screen and casually glance at the figure standing not far away.
She felt that this person was very familiar. A woman next to her seemed to notice her gaze and leaned forward, blocking the woman's view.
Although she couldn't see the person at all, as a fanatic who knew all the major celebrities in the entertainment industry, she had a flash of inspiration and immediately recognized the woman as Lin Leyao.
"Excuse me, are you Lin Leyao?"
Lin Leyao was looking down at her phone when she heard a soft question coming from not far away.
She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a little girl with bangs and a ponytail standing not far away, looking at her shyly.
Lin Leyao smiled gently at her and nodded, "Yes, that's me."
"Ah—" Xin Yuan's face immediately showed an excited expression, and she screamed softly.
Unexpectedly, after asking her aunt to stay one more day, she ran into Lin Leyao. This was the first time Xin Yuan had ever encountered a celebrity in real life, and she was very excited. "Yaoyao, you are so beautiful! I like you so much! Many of my classmates like you too."
Lin Leyao smiled at her and replied sincerely, "Thank you."
"Can you give me your autograph?" Xin Yuan asked softly.
Lin Leyao nodded.
At this moment, Xin Yuan suddenly realized that she had not brought paper and pen. The excited expression on her face suddenly disappeared, and she said with great disappointment, "I'm sorry, I didn't bring paper and pen."
"Let's take a group photo then."
As soon as Lin Leyao finished speaking, Xin Yuan's originally dejected expression immediately changed, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Lin Leyao.
Seeing the little girl's rapidly changing expressions, Lin Leyao couldn't help but laugh. She waved to Xin Yuan, "Come here."
Xin Yuan left excitedly, clutching a group photo on her phone.
Having been outside for a while, Lin Leyao didn't stay outside any longer and went back to the private room.
Xin Yuan was so excited that she even forgot to go to the restroom. When she returned to the private room, Xin Si Nan had already ordered the food. Seeing Xin Yuan with her head down, practically burying her face in her phone screen, Xin Si Nan complained, "You're on your phone all day long. Is your phone that fun?"