Fan Girl

By the time Lu Heng was reborn, the domestic entertainment industry had already fallen under the control of all kinds of capital. The influx of capital had inflated celebrities' market value, but it had also brought countless exploitative terms. For instance, most entertainment companies had pushed rookie contracts down to a seventy-thirty split. The company took the lion's share, while artists could work themselves to the bone and still earn little more than living expenses. Even so, they were required to perform for the company without pay at least five to seven times a year. Very few could secure a thirty-seventy or even twenty-eighty split. That was why so many celebrities chose to open their own studios after becoming famous.

Compared to that time, entertainment companies now offered relatively generous contract terms. Lu Heng carefully reviewed the contract and found that Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's terms differed from Star Entertainment's—when Lu Heng had signed with Star Entertainment in his previous life, the contract explicitly stated that all makeup, transportation, lodging, and training expenses had to be paid out of his own pocket, and he had to perform for the company without pay three times a year. Huaxia Imperial Entertainment, however, directly covered all those expenses and even offered to provide him with accommodation.

Furthermore, Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's agency contract clearly stated that once an artist reached certain benchmarks, their contract level could be upgraded, and their profit split and allocation of other resources could be negotiated separately.

Thinking about Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's standing in the industry in his previous life, Lu Heng was still more inclined to sign with them.

There was even less need to mention Father Lu and Mother Lu. Seeing that the contract explicitly promised to help the Lu siblings resolve their school enrollment issues, Lu Zhenjun and Shen Yunjuan were so happy they nearly cried. Without another word, they signed the official contract on the spot as Lu Heng's guardians.

The contract was made in triplicate. Huaxia Imperial Entertainment kept one copy, Lu Heng kept one, and the last would be delivered to the Yanjing Notary Office after the production crew arrived in Beijing.

Wei Linxuan had Chen Zhenggang put away the other two copies before rising to shake Lu Heng's hand. "Time is tight, so the signing arrangements are a little bare-bones. As compensation, Huaxia Imperial Entertainment will hold a press conference for you once we return to Beijing."

Of course, the greater purpose was still to promote Exchanging Lives.

Lu Heng smiled in understanding. Only then did Wei Linxuan notice how good-looking Lu Heng was when his brows relaxed. He was like a gently flowing spring stream glimmering under the sunlight—peaceful and quiet, clear and cool, instantly refreshing to the eye.

Fully slipping into his role as the boss, Wei Linxuan could not help praising him. "You look good."

Good-looking, skilled in martial arts, possessed a certain degree of public recognition, and sharp-minded too.

If the company signed someone like that, then as long as they were willing to promote him, he would definitely become famous!

The only question was just how famous Lu Heng could become!

At that thought, Wei Linxuan could not help saying, "Let's make an agreement. Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's top male star just ran off with someone else. If you're outstanding enough, how about I promote you to become our top male star?"

Lu Heng's expression instantly turned strange. He involuntarily thought of the slogan from a certain discount shop in the future. Keeping a straight face, he suppressed a laugh and did his best to look serious. "I'll work hard, little boss."

That night, Lu Heng shared a room with Father Lu and Mother Lu. He stuffed the ten-thousand-yuan reward from the police into Father Lu's hands.

"...Didn't Dad always want to be like Uncle Wang from the neighboring village, driving a big truck to sell the village's grain directly to processing plants in the south? That way, Dad can make money, and the uncles in the village can earn a little more too. Now we have money. Dad can rent a fleet of trucks, and you can ask your veteran friends to help drive."

The Lu family had descended from hunters, and neither the old nor the young in the household was particularly good at farming. When Father Lu was young, he had answered the nation's call and joined the army directly. He had become even less familiar with farming.

In Lu Heng's memories, young Father Lu had spent several years talking about wanting to get into trucking. There was no such thing as logistics companies back then, but quite a few people in the village had made fortunes reselling grain. In the best years, they could earn several million. Father Lu had learned to drive in the army, and after being discharged and returning to Lu Family Village, he had wanted to enter the trade as well. But he had no capital. In the first few years, he had tried to earn money by working in the city, only to be cheated into working for free for a year. Not only had he failed to receive a single cent, he had also made himself sick from the frustration. After recovering, he listened to Mother Lu and stayed in the village to be with his wife and children.

It was not until Lu Heng signed with Star Entertainment and brought back tens of thousands of yuan as a signing fee. Part of it was used to build the family a house, and part of it was used to buy Father Lu a truck. Father Lu had finally fulfilled his wish.

Now that he had been reborn, Lu Heng did not want to change his father's path to entrepreneurship. In any case, logistics would remain a sunrise industry for the next several decades. There was even less reason to worry about the family business—as long as Wei Linxuan developed the internet and e-commerce step by step according to the trajectory of his previous life, Father Lu's logistics company would definitely have room to thrive.

Father Lu looked at his second son, who was speaking confidently and methodically beneath the blankets, and rubbed the boy's head with his large hand, his heart full of pride.

As expected of a son of the Lu family. He was truly promising.

Chapter 6: Fan Girl

While Lu Heng and the production crew remained in J City, Wei Linxuan's filming in Lu Family Village was nearing its end. However, most of the previous footage had focused on daily life. To publicize Lu Heng's assistance in helping the police crack a major human trafficking case, the production crew still needed to return to Lu Family Village to find more footage of Lu Heng practicing martial arts.

Thus, early the next morning, Wei Linxuan led the production crew, along with Father Lu and Mother Lu with ten thousand yuan in their pockets, back to Lu Family Village. That same evening, Lu Heng, Chen Zhenggang, and the others boarded a train north to Beijing.

After a swaying overnight journey, the train arrived at its destination.

Yanjing Railway Station in 2000 had yet to undergo large-scale renovations and expansion, and looked completely different from how it would appear more than a decade later.

Wei Zhanjie, who had received a call from the production crew early that morning, was already waiting in the departure hall. Seven or eight bodyguards were stationed around him, discreetly protecting their boss's safety.

The moment they got off the train, the cameramen dutifully switched on their cameras, filming both the surrounding environment and Lu Heng's reactions. The sight of a large group carrying all manner of cameras and recording a show was far too unusual, immediately drawing the attention of nearby passengers.

Some people spontaneously followed behind the production crew as they left the station. The imposing procession made it easy for Wei Zhanjie, waiting in the departure hall, to spot his target.