In the next few days, Sui Si looked for all the people he had found.
He used to disdain socializing and had few friends in the circle. Now when he wanted to find someone, he finally got through on the phone, but every time he didn't have time to say a few words, he was rejected by the other party.
Sui Si even thought about bowing to the agency.
His contract was about to expire, and in order to keep him, the agency had extended his contract with exceptionally generous terms, providing him with the best resources and treatment.
Sui Si called the company and said that as long as the agency was willing to help solve the problem, the requirements of his contract could be lowered indefinitely and he could change it to anything he wanted.
When he called, the person he was talking to changed from the vice president of the company who always greeted him warmly to a department manager he didn't know. The other party's tone was still very polite, saying that he had learned about Mr. Sui's request in person and hoped that Mr. Sui would sign a written statement to ensure that there would be no disputes in the contract in the future.
…
When the initial draft of the contract was sent over, the head of the administrative department of Sui Si Studio threw his mouse down first.
"Is this a contract?" The head of the administrative department was so angry that he didn't care about his subordinates and called Sui Si. "Newcomers to the industry wouldn't sign such a contract! If Mr. Sui is willing to sign, please let the studio know first. Then we can disband as soon as possible and find another employer!"
Ke Ming answered the phone, comforted the studio members, and made a promise, guaranteeing that he would come up with another solution as soon as possible.
He has been dealing with this matter for Sui Si these two days. He has talked a lot and has not had enough time to take care of his voice, so his voice has become a lot hoarse.
Sui Si leaned back on the sofa, holding the cigarette that was almost burning to his fingertips, without saying a word.
Most of the employees who stayed in the studio, except for some newly recruited ones, had families and could not stand the turmoil of job-hopping and leaving. Sui Si wanted to leave the company, and as long as the salary did not fluctuate much, they would accept the streamlined team model and follow him.
But the studio will never accept such an unfair contract.
We only maintain long-term contact with the crew, do not guarantee endorsements, and do not guarantee variety show resources. We take 50% of the income, and must complete the filming of at least three dramas every year, with no upper limit.
Even if Yu Tang was not there, Sui Si himself could tell that this kind of treatment almost treated him as a hard laborer who could only do filming.
"Brother." Ke Ming hung up the phone and walked over to Sui Si. "The contract is indeed too much... Don't worry, I'll talk to the company."
He is now the company's cash cow and has his own independent voice. As long as he is willing to endorse Sui Si, he will definitely raise the salary in the contract.
"I'll go find the boss and ask him what this means."
Ke Ming said, "Why don't they give you a better contract? They—"
Sui Si whispered, "Why should I ask for a better contract?"
Ke Ming stopped talking.
Ke Ming squatted beside the sofa, holding Sui Si's arm. After a pause, he called him softly, "Brother?"
Sui Si sniffed the smoke, the tobacco was burning hot, and the scarlet sparks licked the outer rolling paper bit by bit: "In my current situation, even if I accept it, will I still accept endorsements and variety shows?"
Artists and actors alike, after all, are in the public eye, and the time when they have the most commercial value is when there are no problems and everything is completely clean.
When Yu Tang was in charge of the studio, Sui Si had no black spots that could be caught. The biggest scandal was that he and Ke Ming had some rumors. There was no evidence, and he and Yu Tang were a model couple in front of the camera, so no one mentioned this unfounded rumor anymore.
If Sui Si had handled the matter promptly on the day of the revelation and given Yu Tang enough hush money to get him to post a Weibo post to clarify the facts, even if it still inevitably attracted criticism, it might not have been so directly criticized.
But the studio's silence in the past few days has caused the situation to become irreversible.
“What commercial value do I have?”
Sui Si lowered his eyes: "Will any show dare to invite me in the future? Will any endorsement dare to let me do it? If it weren't for my fans, I would have probably been abandoned by now... What difference does it make what the contract is?"
Ke Ming frowned, as if he wanted to say something to refute, but in the end he said nothing.
"It's my fault." After a while, he whispered, "If I had taken out the money at that time..."
Sui Si interrupted him: "Xiao Ming, we agreed that no one will mention this matter in the future."
Ke Ming: “But—”
"No buts." Sui Si raised his hand and pressed the Yang point hard, "... No buts."
No matter how much you say, it is of no use. You cannot wait until the day of the accident. The time difference added is already added.
Since it is no longer useful, there is no point in arguing about who has the problem.
"This is my business, it has nothing to do with you."
Sui Si's voice was very hoarse, and it sounded like sand and gravel that had been rubbed over a rough surface: "That's it... I have to go home in a few days, don't worry."
He completely messed up this matter, and the Sui family surprisingly didn't react at all.
No one had contacted him these days, probably leaving him the last leeway to handle the matter on his own. Once it was confirmed that he really couldn't solve the matter, the Sui family would intervene, and by then he wouldn't have any say in whether he wanted to or not.
"Go home?" Ke Ming's voice was a little worried. "Brother, this happened. You should go home now—"
"It'll be okay." Sui Si said.
Ke Ming stopped talking, still looking uneasy.
Sui Si touched Ke Ming's shoulder.
If it was before... If he got into trouble or did something wrong, the Sui family would punish him severely. Sui Si still remembered that he insisted on protecting Ke Ming and staying with Ke Ming, and his grandfather almost broke his legs.
But now it's different.
The Sui family will only be strict with their heirs. They will no longer restrain or discipline those abandoned family members, nor will they ever provide any financial or resource support.
The Sui family no longer wants him to be their heir.
The only people he can rely on now are probably the fans who are still trying to defend him online and believe that there must be other inside stories. These fans are barely maintaining some of his popularity and letting him take on some supporting roles as a transition.
Compared to variety shows and interviews, TV dramas and movies are more tolerant. There are many such things in the circle. As long as the situation does not continue to deteriorate, in a few years, this matter will be suppressed by countless new gossips... By then, he may still have a chance.
"Xiao Ming." Sui Si said hoarsely, "If—"
Ke Ming asked: "What?"
Sui Si was silent for a moment and said nothing.
He looked at Ke Ming, swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth, and shook his head.
Ke Ming said that he liked him and was willing to be with him because of him as a person, and it had nothing to do with the Sui family.
… Bringing this up now seems like questioning the relationship between the two of them.
Sui Si didn't want to make Ke Ming angry again.
Moreover, the attitude of the Sui family had already been decided. Ke Ming had been worrying about him for a long time, and his whole state was visibly haggard. Sui Si didn't want him to bear more pressure because of him.
"It's nothing." Sui Si said, "I can bear it."
Ke Ming was sensible and didn't ask any more questions. He reached out and hugged his shoulders.
Sui Si folded his arms and closed his eyes.
Now that Yu Tang is gone and the Sui family has given up on him, his life will probably be much more difficult than before.
But that's his own business.
He would handle this matter himself... Before it was handled properly, there was no need to tell Ke Ming and make him worry.
…
"Brother, have you decided to sign that contract?" Ke Ming asked, "Do you really not need me to tell you?"
Sui Si nodded.
"Please help me... contact them and disband the studio."
Sui Si said: "There is still some cash flow in the studio, and everyone will be compensated n+1."
Nie Chi was paid by the Sui family, but he has now been dismissed by the family. The studio doesn't even have a person to work in it, and there is no value in keeping it except burning money.
But he couldn't open his mouth to say this.
During the days when Yu Tang's condition became increasingly serious, he could no longer speak complete sentences. Occasionally, when he felt a little better, he would leave some text messages and messages in his office with somewhat messy word order, mostly talking about the studio.
Yu Tang explained bit by bit the studio's plan for handling the situation after his resignation.
Yu Tang wrote in his work records that some people in the studio have children who are in school and elderly people to support at home, and their income is the source of income for the entire family. If they want to be fired for reasons related to the studio, contact Yu Tang first.
Yu Tang wrote that he was responsible for these people and would contact new teams and studios that were willing to take them over.
"I have a list..." Sui Si said in a low voice, "Xiao Ming, if your studio still has spare capacity, would you like to help me accept them?"
Ke Ming was stunned for a moment and did not answer immediately.
Sui Si closed his eyes tightly and said, "Forget it."
Ke Ming has never been exposed to these things. He has only been focusing on studying stage and composing music. It is not easy for me to help him to this level.
"Brother, it's not that I won't help... I'm just afraid that this hole will be difficult to clean up."
Ke Ming came to his senses: "My studio cannot accept all your people. What should I do if they all come here at once? Besides, our own situation is so difficult now, how can we spare the energy to help them?"
Sui Si was silent. He wanted to refute and say that Yu Tang’s situation was also very difficult at that time.
…but he couldn’t say it.
He was now trapped in this mess, and had to drag Ke Ming into cleaning up the mess with him. He couldn't feel at ease letting Ke Ming make such a concession.
"Your employees are very capable." Ke Ming comforted him, "As long as you want to change jobs, there will be people who want you no matter where you go."
Sui Si nodded weakly.
"Brother, we still have a lot of important things to do... We can still discuss this later."
Ke Ming went to pour him a cup of coffee: "You signed the contract, which means you accept the company to help you handle this matter. Do you know how the company will handle it?"
Sui Si had never thought about this before. He was stunned for a moment, then raised his head while holding the coffee cup.
What else can I do
Isn’t it just paying hush money, blocking the Internet, deleting all related content, buying marketing accounts to hype and cleanse the public…
"Who did you give the hush money to?" Ke Ming asked. "Didn't you tell me last night that you asked someone to find out that the hospital had given Yu Tang psychological hints and he didn't remember anything?"
Sui Si felt as if someone was grabbing his chest: "...Yes."
He didn't want to mention this, but he couldn't avoid it. He clenched his fists in vain: "Xiao Ming, you don't know... W&P values him very much."
If it was the Yu Tang of the past, there would be no need for hush money. His first reaction would be to post on Weibo to calm the situation, and he would never let this matter be exposed.
But Yu Tang doesn't recognize him now and doesn't remember what happened in the past.
w&p keeps a close eye on people, and information is a cocoon. As long as Yu Tang doesn't check entertainment Weibo, it is very likely that he doesn't even know about this matter.
"The hush money is for W&P." Sui Si said hoarsely, "Without this money, W&P can't let our people contact Yu Tang, let alone—"
Ke Ming asked: "If we can come up with this money, will W&P let us contact Yu Tang?"
Sui Si paused.
He hadn't thought about this question... or he didn't dare to think about it at all.
What if W&P still doesn't release Yu Tang after paying the money
W&P has the right to restrict employees’ speech on social media. What should we do if they do not allow Yu Tang to post a clarification on Weibo
"I don't know how long it will take to start from the W&P channel."
Ke Ming said softly, "Why don't you just find a way to find Yu Tang? He won't stay at home forever, will he? As long as he remembers, how could he not help you?"
Ke Ming: "Brother, do you really not want Special Assistant Yu to remember the past?"
Sui Si shuddered violently, and the color on his face instantly drained away.
It was as if some of the most obscure secrets in his heart were completely exposed. Sui Si's face was almost embarrassed, his chest heaving, and he stared at Ke Ming.
Ke Ming was somewhat helpless. He lowered his head, smiled, and sighed softly: "Don't worry, I won't get jealous at this time."
"I asked about it. Psychological suggestion is not that magical. When you come into contact with familiar things and people, you will remember some things."
Ke Ming said: "It's not difficult to find someone in the company that Yu is familiar with, and familiar things..."
Ke Ming lowered his eyes and said softly, "Brother, when I packed your suitcase for you the other day, I found two lucky bags in the mezzanine."
Sui Si's mind went into a complete mess with a "boom".
He wanted to persuade Ke Ming to stop, telling him that doing so rashly might irritate Yu Tang, but seeing Ke Ming's overly calm reaction, he panicked and lost his composure. He opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out of his throat.
He couldn't turn things around... His career, future, everything about him was thrown into chaos by the sudden disaster.
If Ke Ming leaves him again, he will really be left with nothing.
"I won't leave, brother. I will never leave you. Don't worry."
Ke Ming pressed his arm: "Now is not the time to be upset, and I won't be jealous of you, but you have to tell me the truth."
"Tell me the truth."
Ke Ming asked: "Were those two lucky bags given to you by Yu Tang?"
Sui Si stared at him blankly, moving his lips woodenly.
He sat under Ke Ming's helpless and vaguely disappointed gaze. He was flustered by the look and struggled to speak, but his mind was blank and he had no thoughts left.
Deep in his heart, something that he himself was not aware of was collapsing bit by bit amidst the sharp tinnitus.
Collapsed with a loud bang.
Sui Si's face turned pale. He closed his eyes weakly and nodded slowly.