With his heavy workload, he also had business engagements and social events to attend. When he finally had some free time, instead of getting some proper rest at home, he actually went golfing and swimming!
"Fu Jingfan, he..."
He was seriously insane!!
Chapter 22: 022
Su Huaiming praised him insincerely. "Fu Jingfan really is outstanding and self-disciplined. He's exactly the kind of person I aspire to be."
Love usually involved admiration and aspiration, so the butler became even more convinced that Su Huaiming was deeply in love with Fu Jingfan. He was very gratified.
"You're outstanding too," the butler said sincerely. "You and Mr. Fu are a perfect match." Su Huaiming was so alarmed to hear that that he shook his head repeatedly in his mind.
No, no, no, no! He absolutely couldn't be a match for Fu Jingfan!
If Fu Jingfan made him join in his self-discipline and worked him so hard he couldn't sleep, he'd demand a divorce on the spot, plotline be damned!
In this lifetime, there was no way he was joining the rat race!!
The butler went on and on about Fu Jingfan, hoping to leave Su Huaiming with a good impression, but what Su Huaiming heard left him horrified.
For three whole months, Fu Jingfan had slept only three hours a day so he could prepare the materials to attend university abroad at fifteen.
While starting a business in university, Fu Jingfan hadn't gone home for six whole months. He had risen above the competition and become a rising star on Wall Street.
When he returned to China to revive the Fu Group, Fu Jingfan had secured the largest domestic client in a month. The entire project team had barely any hair left...
Fu Jingfan really was terrifying.
After the butler finished his lengthy account, he eagerly looked to see Su Huaiming's reaction.
Su Huaiming was completely numb. He gave a hollow laugh, his eyes full of fear.
The butler paused, then asked with concern, "Mr. Su, are you all right?"
"I-I'm fine..." Su Huaiming came back to his senses and forcibly pushed Fu Jingfan's exploits out of his mind. With difficulty, he said, "I just think Fu Jingfan is amazing. I'm nowhere near as good as him."
"Not at all. You're amazing too, Mr. Su." The butler had already come to regard Fu Jingfan as one of his own, so he spoke without reservation. "Actually, we all know that not just anyone can hold this position securely. You managed it in just a few days, Mr. Su. You're someone capable of great things."
Su Huaiming: ????
He thought carefully back to his first few days after transmigrating—he hadn't done anything but eat and sleep!
Seeing the unconcealed admiration in the butler's eyes, Su Huaiming was utterly baffled. He thought the butler was lying to him.
But the butler was utterly sincere. All that was missing was for him to pull out a pen and paper and ask for an autograph.
Su Huaiming felt that the gap between his way of thinking and the butler's might be as wide as the Mariana Trench. Unable to communicate with him on the subject, he could only give a couple of vague laughs.
Fortunately, the butler soon had other things to attend to. Taking advantage of Fu Xiaoxiao's inattention, Su Huaiming slipped the bank card to the butler before he left.
The butler paused and looked at Su Huaiming, who had returned the card rather than pocketing it, with a rather complicated expression.
In words, he probably thought Su Huaiming was an innocent, unpretentious man who had returned the bank card despite having gotten his hands on a huge sum.
The butler's stare made Su Huaiming's scalp tingle again. He made up an excuse and fled back to his room, feeling that he would suffocate if he stayed another second.
Back in his room, Su Huaiming immediately opened a game to distract himself.
His luck and reflexes were especially good that day, and he won three rounds in a row. Su Huaiming watched the screen with shining eyes, wanting to play two more rounds before bed. He might even manage a five-win streak.
But before he could hit the start button, his phone rang.
Su Huaiming glanced at the caller ID and couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
Well, this was a rare occurrence.
Without hesitation, Su Huaiming answered the call.
"Huaiming, it's your agent." Unlike his usual cold and arrogant manner, the agent sounded extremely warm this time, even a little ingratiating.
"What do you want?" Su Huaiming asked.
The agent paused, thinking Su Huaiming was asking a question he already knew the answer to. He gave an awkward laugh. "Didn't you just issue a statement terminating your contract? Why make such a big deal out of it? We're all on the same side. Wouldn't it be better to settle this internally?"
A termination statement?
Only then did Su Huaiming remember that he had put the lawyer in full charge of the matter. The lawyer must have issued the statement.
Su Huaiming had no intention of settling privately with the agent, but he was more than willing to toy with him.
The agent had bullied the original owner for so long, and Su Huaiming wasn't a magnanimous person. He had to get revenge for that.
Su Huaiming leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "How do you want to settle it internally?" he asked mildly.
Hearing a chance, the agent immediately began trying to sweet-talk Su Huaiming. "The company has indeed wronged you over the years, and it wants to make it up to you. Whatever conditions you propose, we'll do our best to meet them. But before that, we'd like to ask you to withdraw the termination statement and issue an explanation."
Su Huaiming hadn't expected the agent to be so shameless. He clicked his tongue twice in his mind and asked, "What kind of explanation?"
The agent thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Say that the termination and the accusations against our company were all a misunderstanding, and that we've settled things internally."
Su Huaiming raised an eyebrow. "If I say it was a misunderstanding, I doubt the netizens will believe it."
The agent had already thought of a response and immediately said, "You can say there was a misunderstanding about the agreement, and that what happened with Zhang Zhixuan made you take your anger out on the company, so you issued the termination statement on impulse."
At that, the agent added, "Don't worry. We'll make sure Zhang Zhixuan receives the harshest punishment."
Su Huaiming knew everything the agent said was bullshit.
Zhang Zhixuan had already ruined his own reputation. There was no need for the agency to punish him; he couldn't make it in the entertainment industry anymore anyway.
As for those bullshit explanations, they put all the blame on him, saying he had misunderstood and taken his anger out on the company. In short, they absolved the agency of everything. What a pure white lotus it was.
Rather than confronting the agent outright, Su Huaiming pretended to think for a few seconds before saying, "If the compensation is generous enough, I can consider it."
Hearing that, the agent nearly wept with joy. If they had been face-to-face, he might even have gotten on his knees before Su Huaiming.
Once Su Huaiming issued his termination statement, the agency had no way to clear things up and faced the risk of a ruined reputation and bankruptcy. Moreover, as Su Huaiming's agent, he was chiefly responsible. He would certainly be fired, and no other agency would dare hire him. He would be completely finished in the industry.
"That's wonderful! I knew you were a magnanimous person. From now on, I'll do everything I can to nurture you and make you a top star!"
Su Huaiming smiled. "You're getting ahead of yourself. I hadn't finished what I was saying."
The agent froze. "You hadn't?"
"That's right. What I was going to say was, I'd consider it..."
"Yeah. Right." Su Huaiming spoke in a breezy tone, stressing each word.
The agent hadn't expected Su Huaiming's attitude to make a 180-degree turn. He was completely dumbfounded.
Su Huaiming couldn't be bothered to keep pretending. He said bluntly, "Do you really take me for a fool? What resources could a tiny company like yours possibly offer me as compensation? And can you make up for the suffering and grievances I endured all those years?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're really like. If I hadn't turned things around, you'd probably be exploiting me even more ruthlessly and squeezing me dry. Don't you know how many disgusting things you've done? How do you still have the nerve to talk about settling this internally?!"
After delivering that long speech in one breath, Su Huaiming felt much better.
The agent was utterly stunned. "Th-then, just now you..."
Su Huaiming said with a smile, "I was playing you just now."
The agent: "..."
Su Huaiming couldn't be bothered wasting any more words on him. He continued, "Every one of my accusations is true. I've already handed this matter over to a lawyer. See you in court!"
With that, Su Huaiming hung up, feeling thoroughly satisfied, and opened Weibo.
Sure enough, the hashtags #SuHuaimingTerminatesContract#, #SuHuaimingStatement#, #TianfenEntertainment#, and #TalentShow# had all shot up the trending list.
Su Huaiming clicked on the most popular topic to see how netizens were responding.
[I was wondering why Su Huaiming acted so differently on the talent show than he did on the parenting show. I thought he'd been bewitched, but it turns out his agency forced him to do it all.]
[During his years under contract, Su Huaiming was shelved and exploited. Twice, he was about to join a production, only for someone to swoop in and steal his role. The agency didn't seek justice for him and even used him as a stepping stone repeatedly... It's so awful. I'm starting to feel sorry for him.]
[The more I think about it, the more horrifying it is. If I'd suffered so much unfair treatment and injustice, I don't know what kind of state I'd have been reduced to. I'd probably have become depressed long ago. It's a good thing Su Huaiming managed to keep a positive mindset and stay so cheerful and optimistic.]
[Thank goodness Su Huaiming found the right person, someone who could protect him. If that person hadn't appeared, Su Huaiming would probably still be in the agency's clutches. Who knows what he would have suffered?]
[Back when the talent show aired, I chased Su Huaiming down three streets, cursing him. I owe him an apology.]
[Adding my apology. I didn't expect things to be like this. I apologize again to Su Huaiming for the harm my inappropriate words and actions caused him back then.]
Su Huaiming held a hand to his chest and silently said in his heart:
Original Su Huaiming, did you hear that? Everyone knows about the injustice and torment you suffered now, and justice has been restored to you. Would all these apologies make you feel a little better?
Su Huaiming had no way to communicate with the original owner and didn't know his answer.
Nor did he know whether belated justice and apologies still held their original meaning.
Of course, Su Huaiming's haters and the talent show contestants' fans were still cursing him, trying to muddy the waters.
[Don't apologize too soon. The court hasn't ruled yet. Maybe Su Huaiming staged all of this himself to whitewash his image.]
[I find those apologies hilarious. Su Huaiming must have paid a water army to post them!]
[Even if this is all true, Su Huaiming is terrible at both singing and dancing and doesn't have a single strong point. The fact is, he doesn't deserve his position.]
[I've never seen Su Huaiming work hard. He just got damn lucky, married into a wealthy family, and got good opportunities without lifting a finger. If someone like Su Huaiming deserves praise, those hardworking, diligent entertainers must feel terribly wronged!]
Su Huaiming didn't care what others thought. He also knew that nothing in the world was perfect and that not everyone could like him, so he ignored the negative comments. They didn't spoil his good mood.
But there was one thing that bothered him a little.
Fu Jingfan had found him one of the industry's top lawyers to sue the agency, but he hadn't told him how much it would cost.
Su Huaiming turned to the all-knowing Baidu and was startled by the figures.
The consultation fees and litigation costs combined would probably be astronomical.
The payment for filming the parenting show hadn't reached his bank account yet, and Su Huaiming didn't have much in savings. Even adding up everything he had, he couldn't possibly afford the fees.
The corners of Su Huaiming's mouth twitched. He suddenly realized he was broke and about to fall into debt.
After pondering for a few seconds, Su Huaiming immediately searched his call history.
A few days ago, a well-known domestic chocolate company had contacted him, hoping to hire him as its spokesperson and have him film a Qixi advertisement for the brand. Su Huaiming had thought it would be a hassle and put them off, saying he would consider it.
At the time, he had thought he had enough money to live on and that filming an advertisement with no experience would be troublesome and exhausting. He had intended to refuse, but now it seemed the advertisement was a real lifeline!
Su Huaiming immediately called them back to discuss the details of their cooperation.
They were extremely enthusiastic and quickly settled on a date to sign the contract. They also proposed an additional condition.