Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  "Hmph, I finally waited for one to come out, and it's actually a newcomer who doesn't know anything when asked three questions." Luo Li lit a cigarette with dissatisfaction, staring at the door "I don't believe that those old actors won't leave the crew!"

  At last, at three o'clock in the afternoon, they cornered Yao Chang'an. All sorts of questions bombarded him generally and he brushed them aside casually.

  "You asked about these things, I'm not clear either. When things happened, Lin Xiao was always on the scene, and none of us knew more than him."

  "What?!" Luo Li almost bit his own tongue, and he exchanged a glance with Little Whiskers beside him.

  Not just them, all journalists looked strange.

  "Lin Xiao? Is that the one who went out this morning?" "Isn't he a newcomer? How is it possible for him to be present throughout?" "Brother, you didn't read the report carefully! Li Ruijin was targeting him, but Liu Yiyi and others hated Li Ruijin, so Lin Xiao's part was glossed over."

  "So to say......" "Are we not......"

  Let a big news slip away from the mouth?! All reporters have asked Lin Xiao's ancestors for greetings! So young! What are you playing, pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger?!

  "By the way, DV is also Lin Xiao's," Yao Chang'an added.

  The silence lasted for a while, before the sound of wailing and lamentation rose up. "Let me die..." "This is unbearable." "To think we'd run into such a slippery character."

  Lin Xiao naturally didn't know these things, he was already on a plane flying to Beijing.

  As soon as I got off the plane, I saw Li Hao with a spring-like face and CAMI with an icy face.

  "You're looking quite radiant lately." Lin Xiao said with a smile.

  "Are you back again?"

  "Stop it... I can't take this thick atmosphere." Lin Xiao turned his head to look at CAMI, "You've been looking rather gloomy lately."

  "Hmm?" CAMI raised an eyebrow.

  "It's actually completely unnecessary for you all to come pick me up, I'm not someone who can't find their way." Seeing CAMI's expression wasn't right, he hastily changed the subject.

  "Alright, alright, come with me, Director Chu wants to see you."

  "Sister Cami? You're taking Xiao Ge away just like that? We've been apart for so long, and we haven't even had a chance to warm up yet!" Li Hao said discontentedly.

  "Go back to the dormitory, you guys take your time. Li Hao, I told you not to follow me earlier, but you still managed to figure out my itinerary. You've made progress. Alright, we've met, now go back first, we have urgent matters."

  Li Hao looked at CAMI with a guilty conscience and nodded before walking away.

  "This guy has gone bad." Lin Xiao said as he got on the car.

  "Hmmph." CAMI shot him a glance, and suddenly felt annoyed. "What's with that satisfied expression? Take it back!"

  "Don't be angry, it's a good thing. After all, who can follow him around the clock? One has to learn to be more tactful."

  Driving on the highway in early autumn Beijing, Lin Xiao greedily looked at the long-lost city, with a hard-to-express epiphany.

  "What's this, just emerged from the depths of the forest and now you're so fascinated by the big city?" CAMI sneered.

  "Sister Cami, why do I feel like you've become my stepmother since you came back?"

  CAMI sighed and said, "It's all because of you, the people from Zhongyun arrived yesterday, their persistence is impressive. Chu didn't see him, but I did, and the conditions they offered made my eyes widen. Chu wants to meet you."

  Before Lin Xiao could speak, she added "Among you newbies, you're the only one who said you wanted to meet him in person. Don't look at President Chu as just being in his twenties, he's got a keen eye for people."

  "Take a good grasp, if there are requirements, just ask Chu Zongti. Although Cao Xiaojun's matter made him very uncomfortable, but in a way, isn't this an opportunity for you to increase your value? Huaxia has never had an artist who can be taken out of hand, and you're not even officially debuted in the entertainment circle yet you've caught the attention of the middle level of the other party, you're the first one."

  Lin Xiao nodded and pondered how he would go see Chu Yiming, whom he had never met since his rebirth.

  The car quickly arrived at the foot of Huaxia Building, CAMI led him upstairs with ease, and soon came to a room with "General Manager's Office" written on it.

  The two of them tidied up their clothes once again before knocking on the door.

  "Come in." A gentle young man's voice came from inside.

  Pushing open the door, Lin Xiao finally saw Chu Yi Ming for the first time.

  He looked very much like the Chu Tianyi I had seen in newspapers, with a slightly hawk-like nose, thick eyebrows and a pair of elegant gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His hair was slicked back with pomade, not a single strand out of place. He wore a well-tailored suit, and a warm smile always seemed to be hovering on his face.

  If you think he is as superficial as he seems, then you are completely wrong. Lin Xiao remembered that several major changes in the real estate industry in the previous life were inseparable from Chu Yiming, who was less than 30 years old at that time.

  "Lin Xiao, we meet again." Chu Yi Ming said with a smile.

  "General Chu."

  "Don't be tense, sit down, CAMI also sits. I couldn't let my old classmate stand." Chu Yiming said with a smile, comfortably leaning back on the armchair "It's tiring to walk so far to the prairie."

  Lin Xiao smiled calmly and said, "It's not hard work, actors should be like this."

  "Hmm." Chu Yiming seemed very satisfied, and his tone shifted as he asked, "But your play is finished filming, right? What are your plans next?"

  Lin let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that the current Chu Yiming was not as cunning and profound as he would be in the future. Perhaps it was because of the failure of the previous life's Huaxia that he had earned the title of "New King of Real Estate" later on.

  He asked this sentence a bit urgently.

  "I received Mr. Zhou Xingchi's script and plan to read it carefully, and the Kangxi Dynasty is also going to be finished. The crew has promised that if they enter CCTV's prime time, they will take me on a national promotion tour." He paused here "I don't know if the company has any arrangements."

  Chu Yi's eyebrows moved slightly and imperceptibly, and CAMI's face also twitched.

  He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and clapped his hands. "Cami said you're old and sly, not like a newcomer at all. I believe it now. Newcomers aren't as difficult to deal with as you are."

  "Since we're all understanding people, I won't beat around the bush either. You were just thinking of asking, since the Kangxi drama team has treated me like this, what does the company plan to do with me, right? I'll also tell you straightforwardly that the company is about to establish a seed program, and you are the first seed in this seed program."

  "What about the specific treatment?" Lin Xiao asked without hesitation.

  "The company will raise your fixed salary to 2000."

  Lin Xiao didn't say a word, he didn't need to, Chu Yi Ming also knew that this was definitely not enough.

  "Moreover, the company will contact the crew of "My Fair Princess" to discuss the timing and launch a comprehensive package for you, making you an overnight sensation. At the same time, someone will set up an official website and forum for you, where all your new developments will be published."

  Lin Xiao nodded this time, but still didn't speak.

  He knew that without him, Huaxia would definitely not pass the Yongle stage. Chu Yiming wanted to get through, he must have used all his strength to win himself over, with enough "sincerity."

  Chu Yiming saw that the other party was still not speaking, so he also fell silent.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and the three people were like three stone statues, with no one speaking first.

  Another five minutes passed, Lin Xiao remained calm and collected, while Chu Yi Meng finally gritted his teeth.

  "The contract stipulates a 40-60 split, but it can be changed to 30-70! However, you have to extend our contract by two years."

  "Thanks to Director Chu's cultivation." Lin Xiao finally smiled and stood up to thank Chu. "However, I'd like to add one more condition: during the contract period, unless I intentionally do something detrimental to the company, the company must guarantee that I can film at least one major production per year."

  It means it can't be hidden forever.

  "Alright." Chu Yi Meng smiled wryly. "You really can keep a level head, huh? An ordinary person would have agreed to the second condition already. Originally, I wasn't planning on saying the third condition..."

  "Alright, let's sign with CAMI that night. We still have some things to discuss." Chu Yiming waved his hand.

  Lin Xiao left with a knowing smile.

  As soon as he went out, Chu Yiming collected his smile and said to CAMI with a ambiguous smile "You found this newcomer, it's really something. If Hua Xia passes this level, he will definitely be the pillar of Hua Xia in the future."

  "Oh? Such a high evaluation?" CAMI also changed from being serious earlier "Younger brother, it's not me saying this, but for every promising newcomer, you have to take a look yourself. When did you become so skeptical?"

  "Wasn't I always like this?" Chu Yiming feigned surprise.

  "By the way, what did you figure out in the last few minutes?"

  "This person doesn't want to leave Huaxia." Chu Yiming sighed, "If it weren't for Cao Xiaojun's people suddenly showing up, I suspect he would have stayed even without us offering any conditions."

  "What did you say?"

  "Because he made demands." Chu Yiming smiled slightly "The conditions he raised are all very realistic. A person with no desires or demands is the most difficult to deal with. Once he has conditions, we can provide resources, which means he has something to ask for. As long as his requests are not met, he won't easily switch places."

  He added, "Especially for someone as clever as him."

  "Chu Zong, what you just agreed to is basically our bottom line. How could you agree so quickly? From my understanding of you, you wouldn't have revealed the third condition unless it was the last step," CAMI said.

  "Because he knows, now is the time we ask him." Chu Yiming painfully pressed his brow "I'm telling you, CAMI, you're nicer to your artist than to the company. You tell him everything, in this case, I'll have to cut your salary. If you don't tell him about Hua Xia's situation, can he really take control of us? That kid is more patient than me, and in the end, it's still me who gives in first. Since that's the case, why not just agree early on, so as not to waste everyone's time, and also leave a good impression."

  Cami smiled and said "You know, agents don't take pride in which company they're at, but rather whose agent they are."

  Chu Yiming took a laugh and said, "What, are you going to jump with him together?"

  "How can he be like this now? The him five years later, I don't know if he has this value."

  Lin Xiao returned to the dormitory, fortunately, there were no casualties this time. He made a phone call to Li Hao to ask where he was filming and sent a text message to He Lan Yun to make an appointment for lunch at noon.

  Just right, let's call Huang Bo too.