Ch40 - Red packet

Ling Xi rejected this repulsive suggestion without hesitation.

The general manager never expected Ling Xi to turn down such a good job. Ling Xi, in his opinion, had no future prospects, so much so that the company had not even allocated him a new agent. He was also tied to the company by a brokerage contract for the next two years. There was nothing he could do except resign himself to writing songs for the company. He didn’t have any other options. 

Yes, he’d garnered a lot of fans on Weibo in recent months and had a minor role in a TV drama, but he was a singer after all. How could he jump around if the company pressures him to not release an album and stops supporting him entirely?

“You might want to give it some serious thought. The company will not take a single dime of the royalties.” The general manager emphasized the financial aspect: “What other company can be so good to a composer and lyricist? You’ve previously written songs for others. According to the contract, the company receives a percentage of royalties gained from songwriting, but the company has now given you such beneficial terms. Haven’t you acted as a gunman for others before? What’s the point of pretending to be noble and virtuous now?”

“It’s not the same,” Ling Xi stated, shaking his head. He had been forced to work as a gunman for other “creative” singers in the past, but it was usually a one-shot deal done on the side. He had always been proud of his creative ability, and only accepted a gunman job when he was particularly financially strapped, needing to mentally prepare himself for a long time before taking over — the song he wrote had to be signed by someone else’s name at the end, making him feel that accepting “buy-out remuneration” was the same as selling his son.

However, the company now sought to make him the long-term gunman for the Mahjong pop group and to write songs for them on a regular basis. Any composer with self-esteem and confidence would find it difficult to accept. It made no difference how much money he made if he was denied even the right to sign his name. 

“I can tell from the company’s 11 years of training that when they truly cannot write songs, they will be rescued by gunmen once or twice to save the show,” Ling Xi remarked. “But if you want me to compose an album specifically for them, and even write two, three, or infinite sheets in the future, all without allowing me to sign it, please understand that I cannot accept that.”

The general manager’s face darkened: “To be honest, Ling Xi, you debuted a long time ago but don’t even have a best-selling album, therefore your commercial value is very low. The albums you’ve signed haven’t been a hit, so I might as well find the music academy’s school grass, pack him up, and let him write songs to attract a lot of attention… The company is treating you so favorably. That’s already a lot of respect for you.”

“You call suppressing a singer and forcing him to work as a gunman respect? Then I’ll serve you a plate of shit. Can it be called a thank you gift?”

“Don’t be shameless…” The general manager immediately threatened him: “You have a contract with the company. I will give you one day. Go back and rethink it clearly before responding to me! The decision to be a gunman or not is in your hands; however, whether or not you’ll have any announcements in the future is in mine!”

Ling Xi drank the last drop of water in the cup and glanced at him contemptuously before leaving: “The next time you threaten somebody, I advise you to get hold of a more powerful bargaining chip.” Tut! As if he had made an announcement in the last few months.

The general manager was so enraged that he was on the verge of having a stroke.

In fact, rather than using words to subdue the opponent, Ling Xi preferred smashing the water cup right into the opponent’s face. But he couldn’t hit him because if he did, he’d be in the wrong. He had to leave with confidence and ease, fighting the general manager’s shoddy ideas with his raised chin. But no matter how many times he told himself that he “couldn’t do it,” when he walked out of the office, Ling Xi couldn’t help but close the door forcefully. When the door frame and the door panel collided, a loud noise was produced, and the picture frame mounted on the wall crashed, scaring the general manager.

Ling Xi was unhappy, but he couldn’t express it on his face even a little. With so many eyes on him at the company, he couldn’t let them pry through his expressions for information. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

He bowed his head and walked out of the company, quickly hailing a cab heading in the direction of his house.

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The recording of their half-hour meeting’s content was incredibly clear. The majority of the conflict points occurred in the last five minutes. The preceding section of the recording was empty talk with little value. Ling Xi extracted the last five minutes of the recording with a little editing and promptly sent it to Wu Youpeng. 

In official matters, his (former)agent was always the person he trusted and relied on the most.

Wu Youpeng, who had listened to the clip, dialed his phone five minutes later. He uttered a torrent of profanities before Ling Xi could say hello.

“Did that stupid c*nt not shit for three months, allowing all that accumulated shit reach his brain? Does that trash resolve to eject it by talking? He wants to turn you into a gunman? Give me a gun, and I’ll kill him first! I won’t shoot at his head for fear of smashing his skull and letting the feces gush out!”

The level of Wu-ge’s personal attacks was eye-opening for Ling Xi every time Wu-ge was pushed into anxiety. 

Simply hearing his description made Ling Xi nauseous: “I figured the company had no intention of appointing an agent for me, but they might appoint a rookie assistant as my agent at random. I didn’t expect them to not make even a semblance of an attempt. They directly asked me to be a gunman. It appears that they want to squeeze me dry in the last two years of the contract.” He added seriously: “You know, no one in this world can squeeze me dry save An Ruifeng.”

“… … ” Wu Youpeng lacked the strength to even say excuse me this time.

Wu Youpeng dragged the topic from Ling Xi’s sex life back to the recording with tenacity: “When I first started looking after combination, the company told me that the route set for ‘direction combination’ was a creative team, but I noticed that this month, aside from vocal music and dance classes, they didn’t take a single songwriting class. I assumed that would be arranged later… I had no idea they were planning to use you!”

Ling Xi laughed, “I guessed my Wu-ge must be unaware of the company’s plans. If you had known sooner than I did, the general manager would have turned into a fool long ago.” 

Following a discussion, the two men agreed unanimously that it was not time to propose contract termination. It was insufficient to rely just on this recording as evidence. It was preferable to have further proof to show that during the period of agreement with Yangtian, the company did not treat him fairly, and even made mistakes in the promotion method on multiple occasions, in order to increase his bargaining chips in the event of a lawsuit.

It was merely that Ling Xi and the general manager were now at odds, making it inconvenient for Ling Xi to visit the company, therefore all evidence collection had fallen to Wu Youpeng.

Ling Xi felt a little guilty about this: “I’m sorry, Wu-ge. You’re obviously managing the combination artists who will let you to completely demonstrate your skills, but I’m making you take risks for my business. If the company learns of it by any chance, the job opportunity you obtained with great difficulty would be lost…”

“What’s this?” Wu Youpeng stated, “On the one hand, there’s the shameless dog I’ve raised for ten years, and on the other, there are the ugly ducklings I’ve managed for a little over a month… Even if those ugly ducklings can really turn into white swans and lift me into the skies, I care even more for the silly dog I’ve raised on my own for so long.” 

… …

Ling Xi did not look for An Ruifeng after leaving the company. Rather, he returned to the company’s allotted flat to rest. An Ruifeng was filming a talk show in the city’s south today. It was expected to be recorded till after eight o’clock at night. He had numerous activities in other studios in the city’s south the next day, and he needed to start work early in the morning. To make communication between the young couple easier, Xu Zhiqiang specifically gave An Ruifeng’s work plan to Ling Xi ahead of time, so that Ling Xi could clearly know when to contact An Ruifeng and advise him to rest as soon as possible to conserve his energy.

Ling Xi’s flat was located in the city’s north. It took more than three hours to travel from north to south. During this time, Ling Xi had to stay in the city’s north to deal with the company. An Ruifeng’s itinerary was likewise packed, so they wouldn’t be able to see each other for a few days.

Despite his regret, Ling Xi accepted the outcome graciously. An Ruifeng, on the other hand, found it impossible to bear loneliness. He couldn’t sleep alone, and one night without seeing Ling Xi had his thoughts flowing like a river, with enough water to irrigate a desert and create a delta. 

An Ruifeng dialed Ling Xi’s number as soon as he got into the nanny car after ending his work for the day.

“Ling Xi, did you sleep well last night? Did you eat on time today? Did you see Wu-ge? What are you doing right now?”

Ling Xi only picked the most crucial response, “I’m thinking of you.”

“That’s such a coincidence. I happen to be thinking of you too.” 

The two acted lovey-dovey on the phone as if the stars in the sky were blooming. You say a line, I say a line; they talked a lot of nonsense in this manner. They seemed to have an unlimited number of topics to discuss, from how beautiful the sunshine was today to the gang fight of the small birds outside the window. After a while of chit-chat, they got down to proper business.

An Ruifeng inquired about the outcome of that day’s in-depth discussion with the company management.

Ling Xi did not conceal the truth. He recounted the story in a methodical and detailed manner. He’d gotten over his indignation and was talking about that nasty dialogue with a tranquil voice and a calm demeanor. He stated that he had recorded the other party’s coercion to become a gunman and that, once he had gathered sufficient evidence, he would file a lawsuit to dissolve the contract.

After hearing his remarks, An Ruifeng became quite distressed. Since his debut a few years ago, he had been supported by a big tree and had smooth sailing. The contract he signed with Upstart Entertainment was fairly loose. The few pages of paper were nearly entirely composed of rights with no obligations. Even while he had heard of the difficulties faced by many of the circle’s lower-level artists, he had never been directly involved in such a situation. 

An Ruifeng couldn’t wait to fly to Ling Xi’s side as soon as he heard about his boyfriend’s major setback at work to coax him into happiness and assist him in resolving the matter.

Of course, Ling Xi disagreed: “What time is it now? Tomorrow, you have two variety shows and one magazine photoshoot. How many hours of sleep will you get if you come to my side? Secondly, this is not a problem that can be handled in a day or two. It’s going to be a long fight. After I have gathered all of the evidence, I will request that you find a litigation expert for me.”

An Ruifeng insisted on going, claiming it didn’t matter if he slept a few hours less. Ling Xi couldn’t handle the thought of his rushing back and forth, so he reminded Ruifeng that they’d meet in a few days.

After twenty minutes of demand and resistance from both sides on this issue, An Ruifeng took a step back and said, “Ling Xi, let’s not argue about this. Let God decide whether I come over or not.” 

“Eh? How will God make this decision?”

“I’ll send you a WeChat red packet right away. I’ll offer you two options and you’ll have to guess how much money it contains. I’ll send it first, and you’ll have to guess the amount. Finally, you’ll open the red envelope. If you’re correct, I won’t come over. If you guess incorrectly, I’ll come over.”

Ling Xi reasoned that if the issue was not settled, both of them would have trouble sleeping that night, so he agreed to An Ruifeng’s suggestion.

An Ruifeng sent Ling Xi a WeChat red packet holding an unknown sum one minute later. 

An Ruifeng: “Guess how much it is? 6 yuan or 8 yuan?”

Ling Xi: “I guess it’s 8 yuan.”

An Ruifeng: “Then you open it.”

Ling Xi clicked on the red packet. The little animated picture of money spilling flashed on the screen for a second before freezing on a number. 

9 yuan.

“…An Ruifeng, you!”

An Ruifeng’s love words continued: “I’m already on my way to your house. ^_^”