As Ling Yi walked out of the waiting hall in Kangnan City, he saw a slender woman wearing a mask and sunglasses waving at him.
Ling Yi couldn't help but laugh, quickly walked a few steps to the other person, and then the two embraced tightly.
" Second Brother, it's been a long time!"
"Get lost, your mouth is still so foul!"
Lin Ni raised her small fist and punched Ling Yi hard, Fist Dao, "I told you to follow me, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on starting your own business."
"I've looked into your business partner too; he's a seasoned opportunist, and you're still foolish enough to treat him like a buddy."
"Is it better now?"
Ling Yi shook his head and smiled bitterly. His Second Brother was still the same Second Brother, his mouth was really awful, always bringing up the most sensitive topics.
"It's all in the past now. Bringing it up again is just reopening old wounds. We're hungry, let's find a place to eat."
"Absolutely!"
Led by Lin Ni, the two got into a black minivan.
But as soon as he got into the car, Ling Yi could clearly sense the obvious hostility from the other passengers.
His gaze swept over Ling Yi, just like an inspector checking on a criminal.
Ling Yi roughly guessed what was going on, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He wasn't really there to be Lin Ni's assistant; he just came to visit after so many years.
As for what to do next, he hasn't figured it out yet. Anyway, he's not short of money right now, so he'll just muddle along for now and wait until he suddenly gets the urge to do something and sets his sights on something else.
"Let me introduce you. This is my manager, Sister Hua, and this is my assistant, Bai Tongtong," Lin Ni introduced the two women beside her.
"This is my best buddy, Ling Yi!"
"Hello, Sister Hua! Hello, Sister Bai!" Ling Yi politely took the initiative to shake hands.
Regardless, both her agent and assistant were among Lin Ni's closest people.
Despite their unfriendly attitude, Ling Yi refused to stoop to their level and argue with them, thus putting Lin Ni in a difficult position.
Sister Hua frowned and asked, "What did Ling Yi graduate with?"
"Computers and programming? I know absolutely nothing about the entertainment industry. I'll have to ask Sister Hua Duoduo your guidance in the future," Ling Yi said calmly.
" Lin Ni, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."
Sister Hua looked at Lin Ni with an extremely unpleasant expression.
Lin Ni smiled confidently and said, " Sister Hua, what do I need to explain to you?"
"As an artist under the company, you must report everything to the company. Simply pulling someone over to be your assistant is irresponsible to yourself and to the company."
"Oh, so that's it!" Lin Ni continued with a laugh.
"I do not agree to this Mr. Ling Yi becoming your assistant."
Lin Ni suddenly opened the car door, which startled the Siji who had just started the car, and he immediately slammed on the brakes.
"If you disagree, you can keep talking, I'll keep talking. Who do you think you are? Since when have you, my Lin Ni, had the right to tell me what to do?"
" Lin Ni!" Sister Hua shouted angrily.
"Shut up, you idiot! I haven't even settled the score with you for kicking Sister Mei out. I was already too lazy to bother with you, but you've really gone too far!"
"Fine, I'm not putting up with this anymore. Do you really think I'm a pushover just because I haven't lost my temper?"
With that, Lin Ni pulled Ling Yi's hand and got out of the car. She turned around, gave Sister Hua the middle finger, and dragged Ling Yi away.
" Lin Ni, just wait until you're blacklisted by the company!"
"Whatever!" Lin Ni waved her hand Xiaosa, hailed a taxi, got in with Ling Yi, and drove off.
"What's going on? This is what happens as soon as I arrive. It's making me very uneasy!" Ling Yi asked Lin Ni in the car.
"It has nothing to do with you. This is just an excuse. My contract is about to expire. If I had renewed it according to the previous contract, none of this mess would have happened."
"But the company's new contract is too dirty. Do they really think I'm some kind of clueless idiot? I've been wanting to quit serving them for ages."
"So what?"
"Once the contract expires, I'll set up a studio and go solo."
Ling Yi didn't know what to say. He didn't understand the intricacies of the situation and could only listen to Lin Ni's complaints.
"I haven't produced any good works in the past two years, and my popularity has declined somewhat, so I've been thinking about making a career change, to see if I can make a movie or a TV series or something, and cross over into another field."
"My former agent, Sister Mei, had already arranged a film crew for me, but the company just fired Sister Mei for some random excuse."
" Sister Mei has been with me for two years, and she just fired me without even asking my consent? I was thinking I could tolerate it during the contract period, but I didn't want to pay tens of millions in breach of contract fees."
"After this 'Sister Hua' came over, she started bossing me around and doing all sorts of underhanded things. Tonight, she arranged a gathering for me with investors."
"They want me to go and keep them company, saying that if I do a good job, the company will secure this investment and they'll give me a role. What the hell do they take me for?"
"So you just abandoned everything and came to pick me up? No wonder those two women looked at me like they wanted to kill me."
"This is none of your business." Lin Ni sighed helplessly.
"Since the major change in the company's shareholders, many of the company's artists have been having a hard time. Before, there was still some humanity left, but now, it reeks of corruption."
"So what are you planning to do now? I came here to rely on you, and you're practically starving yourself!" Ling Yi laughed.
"Don't worry, I've saved up quite a bit over the years. Supporting you shouldn't be a problem. If it really doesn't work out, just leave. It's just a breach of contract fee, right? I can afford it."
Just then, Lin Ni's phone rang. Lin Ni frowned and glanced at the caller ID. She waited for the phone to ring a second time before answering it and pressing the speakerphone and recording button.
"My Lin Da, what are you up to now? The dinner is all set up. Even if you don't want to, can't you at least go and show up?"
A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"What does that mean? Huh, what does that mean?" Lin Ni roared.
"It's just a drink, what else could it mean? Don't worry, the company won't make you do anything you don't want to do."
"Do you fucking believe that? That Sister Hua even bought me the medicine and condoms, and patiently tried to persuade me for ages, and this is what you mean? Damn it!"
"Don't you have any idea how much money I've made for the company over the years? My contract is about to expire, and this is the kind of hellish treatment you give me?"
"I'll give you an explanation." The voice on the other end of the phone grew colder before the call ended.
Lin Ni stuffed her phone into her bag and said with a wry smile, "This guy's name is Liu Jun. He's a decent person, a long-time employee of the company. It's just a pity that with the recent change in shareholding, most of his power has been stripped away. He can't get involved in this matter at all."
You seem to know it all too well.
"There's no way around it; those who don't use their brains won't survive in this industry."
"Let me use your shoulder!"
As Lin Ni spoke, she grabbed Ling Yi Ling Yi's arm without saying a word and rested her head on his shoulder.
The taxi moved slowly forward, and the interior became quiet.
After a long pause, Lin Ni murmured, "I want to retire from the entertainment industry. These past few years have been just too damn tiring."
If even " Second Brother " can say he's tired, it seems this industry is indeed tough to navigate.
"Then let's get a refund!"
Lin Ni rolled her eyes. "If I break up with you, will you support me?"
"I'll take care of you!" Ling Yi said with a smile.
In the past, Ling Yi would not have dared to say such a thing. In Ling Yi's eyes, her " Second Brother " was like Phoenix, and Ling Yi felt inferior in front of him.
"You really dare to say that?" Lin Ni chuckled.
Ling Yi didn't say anything, but took out his phone and showed her his phone messages, which showed a bank transfer notification.
At first, Lin Ni didn't pay attention, but after counting "0"s for a long time, she was stunned.
Is this true?
Ling Yi nodded and then recounted the story of the inheritance.
"Is this for a movie? No, even if it were a movie, you wouldn't dare act like this, otherwise the audience would curse you out. This is just too ridiculous."
Ling Yi shrugged. "It's all arranged by the system. The system is the ultimate authority. Whether it's absurd or not doesn't really matter, as long as it's reasonable and legal."
"Then I'll really retire!" Lin Ni's eyes brightened, and she immediately felt confident enough to leave the entertainment industry.
"You'd better think this through. Don't back out today and regret it tomorrow. There won't be anywhere to buy a pill for regret then," Ling Yi reminded him.
Since Lin Ni plans to open her own studio, she definitely doesn't want to genuinely retire from the entertainment industry.
Ling Yi knew very well that Lin Ni loved singing, performing, and the feeling of being a star.
I just don't like being controlled by various forms of capital and interests, and I don't want to lose my freedom and become a puppet of capital.
Lin Ni didn't speak, her face full of conflict.
At this moment, the taxi had already stopped at the entrance of a residential area.
Lin Ni led Ling Yi into her home.
The room wasn't small, probably over 90 square meters, and the decor was very ordinary, completely at odds with her status as Great Ming.
"I bought this place before the Lunar New Year. Nobody knows about it except me. I come here to stay for a few days when I'm in a bad mood."
As she spoke, Lin Ni kicked off her high heels and went barefoot to the liquor cabinet to take out a bottle of wine.
"Hey, you can't drink like that! With your alcohol tolerance and your behavior when you're drunk, I'm afraid I won't see the sun rise tomorrow."
"Get lost, are you going to drink or not?"
Lin Ni slammed the bottle on the table and threatened, hands on her hips.
"Alright!"
In reality, Lin Ni's alcohol tolerance is really low. Although she wouldn't pass out after just one drink, she would feel tipsy after at most one and a half drinks. The key issue is that Lin Ni acts crazy when she's drunk.
That's absolutely terrible.
However, Ling Yi could tell that Lin Ni was in a bad mood, so he didn't try to persuade her. For Lin Ni right now, having a drink to vent her frustrations wasn't a bad thing.
The liquor was high-proof baijiu (Chinese liquor), and the dish was a plate of braised pig's head.
Then the two of them started drinking.
Sure enough, after a couple of drinks, Lin Ni became more talkative, but most of her conversation revolved around Ling Yi.
They talked about everything from helping Ling Yi teach a lesson to the bullies when they were kids, to their three years of living together after leaving the orphanage, and then about the novels Ling Yi wrote.
That's right, Ling Yi has read most of Lin Ni's novels.
Lin Ni jumped onto Ling Yi, bent down, and looked at Ling Yi, saying, "I want to marry you!"
" Second Brother, you've had too much to drink. Get down here quickly, I'm afraid I won't be able to withstand the test!" Ling Yi Water Dao.
"You talk too much nonsense!" Lin Ni rolled her eyes and lowered her head sharply...