Chapter 2 - Rebirth (2)
Chapter 2 - Rebirth (2)
Chen Meile drifted beautifully through the traffic, bringing the car to a smooth stop outside Blue Hall Entertainment’s office building.
“Chen Meimei, don’t tell me that you’re carsick?!”
Lan Jinyao felt a slightly cool hand pat her cheek and draw her thoughts away from her memories. Unfortunately, she could still feel her heart pounding incessantly.
“Are you alright?” Chen Meile asked once again.
Lan Jinyao turned to her and smiled softly. She wanted to say something, but the fat on her face was too much of an unfamiliar weight. Just stretching up her lips to smile made the flesh on both of her cheeks to pile up, resulting in her looking ecstatic. Seeing her reflection in the rearview mirror, her face tightened, and she eventually retracted her smile.
“Nothing!”
“Good, since you’re okay then let’s go up and find Fu Bainian. Remember, we’re here today to talk about the cancellation of your contract. When we’re up there if you cause trouble that could make our Chen family lose face, don’t blame me, your sister, for becoming hostile!”
The woman stretched out a finger out and tapped Lan Jinyao on her forehead before grabbing her hand and walking into the building.
Along the way, a few people pointed at Lan Jinyao. But, when she would look over, they’d quickly shift their gaze away as they moved to gather into groups of two or three to murmur about something between themselves.
Although Lan Jinyao felt that this situation was somewhat strange, she didn’t ask any questions. Presently, she knew very little about this new identity, and she was also completely unaware of the circumstances around her. What’s more, it was supremely challenging to accept something such as reincarnating into someone else’s body. If it were exposed, she estimated that she would be arrested and taken away to be experimented on!
Consequently, Lan Jinyao was absent-mindedly dragged to the 18th floor. Once there, when she was standing outside the President’s office, Lan Jinyao witnessed Chen Meile’s fierceness. Even though Chen Meile was wearing stilettos and standing before a tightly closed door, she simply lifted one foot, and with the sound of a dull thud, she kicked the door open so hard it rattled on its hinges.
Lan Jinyao looked at the woman beside her in shock, bubbles of admiration bursting in her heart. What a powerful woman!
A man sitting behind the desk was currently looking through a document. Upon hearing the loud noises coming from the door, he looked up.
It was a handsome face with the characteristics of an ancient Roman embedded in his defined features. His eyes were as black as obsidian, while his eyebrows were sharp like swords. The bridge of his nose was tall and straight. But, why did this face look...so familiar?
Lan Jinyao stared at the man’s face, trying to remember where she’d seen it before.
In the past, after signing her contract with Blue Hall Entertainment, Lan Jinyao had never had the opportunity to meet with the President of the company. All of her jobs had been arranged by her Manager, and Director Shen Yu had supported her. The low-profile President Fu had almost never made an appearance in public. Except, Lan Jinyao couldn't help feeling she must’ve seen this man somewhere before.
Lan Jinyao didn’t realise that she’d now been staring at the man for a long time; long enough to give rise to a multitude of erroneous thoughts.
It appeared that due to the pair making such a commotion and disturbing the man’s concentration on his work, his expression now resembled the ferocity of a storm cloud. Rising from his chair, he walked around his desk to stand in front of Lan Jinyao. His dark eyes stared down at her, a glint of ridicule swimming within their depths. That’s right; it was definitely ridicule! As a graduate of an acting school, Lan Jinyao was able to ascertain in a split second that the expression buried within the man’s eyes was ridicule!
The next moment, she heard the man say, “Chen Meimei, just what are you thinking? If it’s to talk about marriage, I can tell you clearly that such an occurrence will never be a possibility between us. Since you’ve signed on with Blue Hall Entertainment, you should focus well on your work in the future. As for matters concerning the two of us, I advise you forget them!”
It’s true that this man was indeed capable of causing a woman’s heart to beat erratically, but what did that have to do with Lan Jinyao? She wasn’t Chen Meimei, and she didn’t have a crush on the man that Chen Meimei had liked.
Consequently, Lan Jinyao drew a momentary before she revealed a smile to the man. “President Fu is right. My previous behaviour was misguided, so from now on, I’ve decided to work hard. I promise that I’ll no longer disturb you President Fu and that I’ll focus on my work instead of causing trouble for you!”
Although there were no mirrors nearby, Lan Jinyao felt her smile was full of unprecedented sincerity. Unfortunately, her words had barely left her mouth when Chen Meile let out an unimpressed snicker.
Lan Jinyao looked at her with a flat expression. “What are you laughing at?”
Chen Meile choked on her laughter for a little longer, but her smile didn’t disappear. Instead, her smile became slightly ominous as all signs of a polite young lady disappeared. This whole time one of her hands had been holding onto one of Lan Jinyao’s hands, and with the other hand, she pointed at Fu Bainian and asked, “Ha ha ha, buddy, my Lil Sister just said that she wouldn't pester you in the future. Do you believe her?”
She then added another sentence. “But, whether you believe it or not, I don’t believe it anyway!”
Lan Jinyao cursed silently: Are you really my blood-related Sister?! Such a heavy blow to your Younger Sister!
However, since it was clear that Chen Meile didn’t believe her, it was evident that Fu Bainian also wouldn’t believe her.
“I meant what I said!” Lan Jinyao emphatically stated.
She spoke as if she was making a solemn vow, but it was f*cking useless; no one was willing to believe her.
Chen Meile interrupted her and said to Fu Bainian, “Our Meimei came to the company today to deal with the cancellation of her contract. I’ll have to trouble President Fu to get a copy of it!”
Lan Jinyao didn’t understand why Chen Meimei, with her chubby physique, could’ve ever been signed on with Blue Hall Entertainment. So, when Chen Meile mentioned handling the cancellation of her contract, she decided to observe the situation and remain quiet.
Fu Bainian seemed utterly unconvinced that she’d come to the company to request the cancellation of her contract. After staring at her for awhile, he moved behind the desk, pulled out a contract from the drawer, and threw it on the table. “You can examine the contract that was initially signed with the company if you want. But, if you want to cancel the contract, you should first read the compensation clause!”
Lan Jinyao picked up the contract that was on the table and glanced through it. She’d had to sign a similar looking contract with Blue Hall Entertainment when she’d first joined, and she still remembered some of the terms mentioned in it even now. However, Chen Meimei’s contract seemed to be slightly different from the deal that she’d signed.
“The contracting period is for ten years. If Party A proposes a termination of the contract within ten years, Party B is then liable for compensating Party A 10 million RMB. If Party B is the one to propose a termination of the contract, then Party B will have to pay 10 times the previously agreed amount as a penalty fee!”
The amount on the contract made Lan Jinyao’s eyes open wide in disbelief. Ten times? In the beginning, when she’d signed her contract, her contract wasn’t even close to that amount!
“This is obviously a despotic clause!”
Just because Chen Meimei had liked this man, he’d taken advantage of her and made her sign such a tyrannical contract. It was absurd!
Fu Bainian nodded. “Correct; it really is a despotic clause. However, this clause was added by yourself when you’d been continuously pestering me to join the company.”
“I added them?!” Lan Jinyao screamed in shock.
It seemed that Chen Meimei, that young lady, wasn’t only not particularly beautiful, but even her IQ was on the low side. Only a fool would still be all smiles as she signed such a ridiculous contract.
However, from the look of the car that Chen Meile had just been driving, it was possible that the Chen family could be extremely wealthy. She handed the contract to Chen Meile to examine, and lowered her voice as she asked, “Sis, can our family afford such an extravagant penalty fee?”
Chen Meile looked at the contract and chuckled, “Of course our family can afford it! But, why do we have to pay it? Ten times...even if we sold you here, we’d still be looking at a loss! Therefore, you better just stay here obediently.”
“Before we arrived, didn’t you say to me that I would be humiliating the Chen family by working here?”
“I did think that before coming here, but now, I’ve had time to think it through carefully. Anyway, if our Chen family loses face, then so be it. Why should we spend another 100 million RMB[1] on you?” Chen Meile patted Lan Jinyao’s cheek and smiled. “Little Sis, you tell me; what I’ve said is correct, right?”
Lan Jinyao nodded. She was utterly speechless and had nothing to say about such an unconventional family.
[1] Equals around 15 million USD.