Actually, the so-called loopholes in the contract pointed out by Lawyer Wang weren't really loopholes at all. They were contract traps deliberately set by Party A to target Party B, who had no bargaining power.
These traps weren't specifically designed to cheat anyone; they were just common tactics used by Party A to ensure they held absolute control. If Party B had any leverage at all, Party A wouldn't have used such a contract template in the first place.
For example, Li Che's contract didn't have any such issues.
Making a few changes to the clauses wouldn't cause much loss, and since Li Che had spoken up, they had to give him that face.
So, just as Ji Mingshu was on the verge of throwing a princess tantrum, the production team promptly presented her with a contract she was satisfied with.
The producer was also adept at adjusting his attitude based on the person he was dealing with, showing remarkable flexibility. One moment, he was grumbling internally, "Sign it or not, if you don't want to sign, just leave," and the next, he was standing before Ji Mingshu, putting on the act of an approachable and amiable producer, showing her—an ordinary person—immense patience and courtesy.
Ji Mingshu was entirely focused on opposing Cen Sen. Since he didn't want her to participate, she was determined to do exactly that.
Moreover, the contract had been revised, and the producer had apologized in person, so she couldn't be bothered to dwell on such trivial matters. With a flourish of her pen, she signed her name at the end of the contract.
The official recording of the show was scheduled to begin a week later. After signing the contract, the producer explained the grouping arrangements and related procedures for the upcoming recordings to her and Li Che. He kindly informed them that they could contact him directly if they had any questions. Before they left, he personally escorted them to the elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, the producer's abstract, pancake-like face slowly disappeared. Li Che turned slightly and greeted her proactively, "Miss Ji, long time no see."
"Long time no see," Ji Mingshu replied politely, adding, "Thank you for your help with the contract earlier."
Li Che smiled. "It was nothing."
Ji Mingshu was accustomed to others shielding and supporting her, and she also considered it a minor matter, so she simply nodded slightly without further pleasantries.
With her silence, the elevator abruptly fell into a dead quiet.
Li Che's accompanying executive agent, assistant, and legal advisor instinctively glanced at Ji Mingshu.
It had been a long time since they'd seen anyone treat Li Che so coldly, and they couldn't help but wonder from the depths of their souls: Sis, aren't you going to chat for a bit, maybe ask for his WeChat, an autograph, or a photo?
Although Li Che wasn't considered a top-tier celebrity, his fame and popularity among young idols were clearly in the upper echelon.
Moreover, he had strong backing, making it easier for him to succeed. His fashion and acting resources far surpassed those of other young actors at his level.
Additionally, with the process of separating from Meng Xiaowei already underway, his future growth potential shouldn't be underestimated.
Nowadays, wherever Li Che went, he was surrounded by people fawning over him and catering to his every whim. Ji Mingshu's unexpected coldness, which defied convention, made his entourage feel extremely uncomfortable.
Li Che himself didn't mind. Since Ji Mingshu wasn't speaking, he took the initiative to start another conversation, saying gently, "Actually, it's quite a pity. The producer said they originally planned to pair us in the same group, but the sponsors had their own considerations, so they adjusted the grouping arrangements."
Ji Mingshu replied, "Is that so? What a shame."
What difference does it make who I'm grouped with? After all, I'm here to outshine everyone.The entourage: "..."
Is this a fan of a rival or an anti-fan? Do they have to be so perfunctory?
The topic died out once again, and silence fell in the elevator once more. Fortunately, the elevator descended quickly, so the awkward silence didn't last long.
When they reached the underground parking lot on the first basement level, Ji Mingshu put on more of a celebrity air than Li Che himself. After briefly tossing out a "goodbye," she put on her sunglasses and walked out as if no one else was there.
Li Che's entourage all wore expressions of speechlessness, and even Li Che was momentarily taken aback before letting out a light chuckle.
Once they boarded the van, Li Che's entourage began chattering away:
"Miss Ji really puts on quite the act. If you didn't know better, you'd think she was the celebrity—so full of herself, it's unbelievable."
"Did she sign with some agency to debut? She looks pretty good, I have to say."
"Not sure. Her family background must be decent, right? Remember that magazine cover A-Che and Xiaowei shot together last time—the one for Zero Degree... I think Xiaowei borrowed her dress for that shoot."
"True. She's decked out in Dior head to toe, and her handbag is a rare-skin Birkin. She must be loaded."
"Her watch looks like it's from VCA, but I've never seen that dial before. Either it's fake or custom-made."
As they chatted, they curiously asked Li Che about her, but he said he wasn't too sure about her background either.
Not only was Li Che clueless, but even Meng Xiaowei only knew that she came from a well-off family and was close with Gu Kaiyang. She didn't even know Ji Mingshu was already married—otherwise, she wouldn't have suggested to the producer that they stir up a CP rumor.
After discussing for a while, they still couldn't come to a conclusion. They only strongly suspected that Ji Mingshu's attitude was either intentional snubbing or an attempt to catch Li Che's attention.
To be honest, Ji Mingshu wasn't intentionally snubbing Li Che, nor was she trying to attract his attention with some unconventional approach.
It was just that, having seen too many celebrities who flattered and fawned over others, putting on different faces in public and private, she had long lost any sense of novelty toward celebrities.
Moreover, meeting celebrities was far too easy for her, and this profession held no special allure in her eyes.
To her, Li Che was like a barely familiar elective course classmate from her university days—someone she had little interaction with and no need to be overly friendly with.
After getting into the car, Ji Mingshu reported the day's contract signing to Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun, and also sent a copy of the exact same message to Cen Sen.
She simply gave an objective recount of what had happened that afternoon—no whining, no cute emojis—but somehow, her account radiated an infinite sense of grievance from the princess herself.
As it turned out, girlfriends were always more understanding than men.
Upon hearing that the production team had only sent a low-level assistant to receive her and had even messed up the contract, Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun replied almost instantly, taking turns passionately cursing for a full ten minutes.
The gist of it was: "The weather's getting cold—Star City TV should go bankrupt," "They're blind to not recognize our princess—whoever wants to join can join, but our baby won't suffer this humiliation," and "How dare they treat our most delicate little golden canary like this? It's an outrage, utterly inhumane—they deserve to be executed on the spot!"
By the time the group chat had finished venting, Cen Sen still hadn't responded.
Ji Mingshu didn't want to return to the hotel and instead directed the driver to Jinsheng International, Star City's largest shopping mall.The variety of brands and completeness of merchandise at Jinsheng International were passable; she browsed for over forty minutes and spent over five hundred thousand.
Just as she was finishing her shopping and preparing to leave, Cen Sen finally replied.
Cen Sen: 【You'll get used to it.】
Ji Mingshu: 【……?】
Cen Sen had just finished negotiating a contract himself, which went quite smoothly, so he was in a decent mood.
Now that he had some free time, he casually sent this delicate little thing a few reminders brimming with life philosophy.
Cen Sen: 【You're not a celebrity; the other party has limited understanding of you, so it's perfectly normal for them to treat you with less consideration.】
Cen Sen: 【The preferential treatment you usually enjoy comes from your background and from the fact that your husband is me. And while you enjoy such treatment, many more people are being treated with less consideration. You should experience this feeling more often; it will be helpful to you.】
"..."
Why hadn't she noticed he could be so talkative before?
Forget comforting her—why did he suddenly have to awkwardly spout life philosophy and teach her how to behave?
Was it because she had just spent over five hundred thousand, and he was hinting at something?
Stingy bastard!
But, considering she had just spent some money, Ji Mingshu couldn't directly turn around and diss her sponsor daddy. So, she replied with an extremely perfunctory, "You're absolutely right."
After sending it, she quickly changed her expression, screenshotting Cen Sen's toxic positivity and sending it to her sisters' group chat, hoping to unite their collective strength to thoroughly shame and criticize this dog of a man.
She even started it off herself: "Take a look, is this even human speech?"
Just before pressing send, she suddenly paused, realizing something was off.
Wait.
This wasn't the group chat.
Why had she sent it to him again?
Ji Mingshu froze for two seconds, then quickly deleted the unsent text.
But the screenshot had already been sent, and Cen Sen even replied with a question mark, seemingly not understanding why she had suddenly sent a chat screenshot.
Ji Mingshu: 【……】
Ji Mingshu: 【Your phone is out of battery; look at the battery level in the top right corner.】
Oh, wait, that seemed to be her own phone's battery level. She swiftly hit "recall" and typed rapidly.
Ji Mingshu: 【I think what you said is really worth pondering; I want to screenshot it and save it as a keepsake.】
Ji Mingshu: 【Sincerity.jpg】
Cen Sen didn't respond for a while, searching online for a quick way to mark up an image in red. Then, he sent the screenshot back to her.
Ji Mingshu opened it and saw that Cen Sen had drawn a red circle around the note at the very top of the original screenshot—"dog man."
Careless, so careless.
Upholding the mindset that she had just spent her sponsor daddy's money and must maintain a harmonious and friendly relationship between them, Ji Mingshu closed her eyes and blew some rainbow farts.
Ji Mingshu: 【You're truly meticulous and astonishingly observant; no wonder you got into Harvard.】
Ji Mingshu: 【How did you learn to draw red circles? I don't even know how. Your learning ability is really amazing; even a casual circle you draw is so perfectly round. You must have been good at both math and art.】
Then, she quickly changed the note and sent him another screenshot.
This time, the note was changed to "darling husband," a perfect blend of modern rainbow-fart artistry and the subtle sarcasm of "are you satisfied now?" It perfectly achieved the goal and desire of making the other party feel uncomfortable yet unable to say anything.
Ji Mingshu was quite pleased with her quick thinking, smiling as she ate her salad and looked at her phone.She had originally thought Cen Sen would reply with "childish" or simply not respond at all. Unexpectedly, two minutes later, Cen Sen also sent a screenshot, where her contact name had been changed to—"Darling Wife."
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Alright, in the course of "Give me a lever and I'll lift the entire Earth," Cen's Sensen remains the most outstanding scholar.
Outmatched in skill, I concede defeat, and even the salad has become a bit too cloying to eat after seeing that contact name.
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