Sunlight streamed through the hospital's paneled window, casting a glare on the gilded surface of the bank card resting on the bed.
"This is what you deserve."
Director Lu's gaze flickered nervously. Chu An guessed right away there couldn't be much money on the card — otherwise, Lu wouldn't be so hesitant.
"When you handed me the script back then, I said I'd give you whatever you wanted, as long as I could get a role in the show, everything would be yours!"
"But honestly…" Lu's face twisted awkwardly, almost on the verge of tears, "that was just a lie! Who the hell expected you'd pull me out of this mess?"
Chu An rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, quit the buildup. Just tell me, how much is on the card?"
Lu Mingze got anxious. "No, wait! Let me finish setting the scene — it took me three days to think this all up!"
Chu An sighed inwardly, What a character.
"I've had a rough time," Lu went on. "My wife divorced me and took most of the property. My kid's studying abroad and already dyeing their hair yellow, asking me for money! 'My High School Days' got screwed over by Tiandu, I invested five million, almost wiped out my savings."
"By the way!" Chu An interrupted, "Why did Tiandu screw you over? Was it just because you didn't want to shoot a palace drama?"
Lu almost started crying, "Just let me finish!"
"Okay, okay!" Chu An relented, letting him complain about being broke.
Lu continued, "You've seen how miserable I've been lately, right? Even Zhongnanhai switched from 0.5 to 0.8."
Chu An didn't say anything, squinting at the slim box of "555" cigarettes on the nightstand.
"Ahem!" Lu cleared his throat awkwardly and put the smokes away. "I'm still pretty modest — only indulge sometimes."
Changing the subject, "Also, 'With You' is going into reshoot. Over a hundred people are just waiting for me to feed them!"
"And then the promotion phase will start!"
Chu An was nearly falling asleep listening, so he dragged a chair over, grabbed the food Lu had ordered, and started eating himself.
"Go on."
"All right, all right!" Lu leaned in, "The studio has to hire people, right? And pay taxes! We gotta be law-abiding citizens."
…
"And there's more!" Lu pulled out a sheet from somewhere.
"Ma Lan needs some money, too — they've stuck by me. Gotta be loyal, right?"
Chu An shoved a bite in his mouth. "Just marry her already."
"Get lost!" Lu snapped.
He went on, "The two rented Sony HDW-F900 digital cameras, I'm not used to them. The image quality is poor, especially night scenes turn out blurry."
"I want to switch to film cameras, so we have to buy two more… Leave me some money!"
Chu An was almost done eating, but Lu was still hungry.
Chu wiped his mouth, expressionless. "If you keep dragging, I'm leaving."
"Don't! Don't!" Lu quickly grabbed Chu. Seeing the buildup was almost over, he made a last desperate plea, "My old Crown car needs replacing — it burns oil."
Chu stood up, ready to walk out.
Lu bit his lip and finally finished the speech.
"I'm keeping twenty million! The rest is yours!"
Then, fearing Chu might still be dissatisfied, he whimpered, "I don't have to change the car, but please don't make me sell the house!"
Chu An was speechless.
"Damn this brain!" Chu slapped his forehead, utterly exhausted.
He knew it — this guy could never come up with anything new.
Chu had held a tiny hope Lu might try to fool him, but no — it was all the same nonsense.
Why did he waste so much time on that?
Looking at Lu Mingze, Chu was a little disappointed. "Can't you have some ambition?"
He reached out and grabbed the bank card.
"Honestly, if you didn't want to give it to me, there's nothing I can do. No contract was signed."
Lu was stunned, thought for a long moment, and surprisingly still struggled.
Finally, he said, "That won't work — I couldn't do that."
Besides, Lu now firmly believed that age had nothing to do with maturity. He didn't buy that this possessed guy could have his way.
Back then, he had just panicked and blurted, "You want it, you got it!"
But in these days, Lu had been thinking: What does Chu An really want? And what could he even give?
Lu's final decision: keep only the money needed for filming, and give the rest to Chu.
After all, the script was Chu's, the project was Chu's, keeping twenty million was already generous — he needed the buildup.
Originally, he wanted to keep sixteen million and sell the house.
Of course, weighing pros and cons carefully, selling the house was the last resort.
Chu found Lu's weird way of thinking both amusing and admirable.
Even now, he was still fixated on the house sale.
Spinning the bank card in his hand,
Lu kept twenty million for shooting and post-production promotion of With You — meaning the card had 24.5 million!
Chu had only crossed into this timeline less than a month ago…
Among countless travelers, this was top-tier achievement.
Moreover, 24.5 million was enough to change his whole family's fate.
Dad wouldn't need to go out of town to work; sister could safely return to school and finish college.
In fact, even if he did nothing else but not squander the money, it would last a lifetime.
But sadly, it was still too little!
Chu flicked his fingers and the bank card flew in a graceful arc back onto the bed.
"Take it back. I'm not after the money."
"Gah!?"
Lu: "...Where's my oxygen tube?!"
Chu was far quicker. "Next time get me fifty thousand and send it to my sister… No, I'll open my own card and transfer it myself!"
Sudden poverty after sudden wealth isn't a blessing.
"Besides that, I want thirty percent of your personal studio."
"And one more condition: when your contract with Tiandu Culture expires, the agent contract must be signed under my name. By then, I should have my own agency."
Chu had seen it all — over twenty million wasn't small, but compared to an opportunity to break into the entertainment industry, he'd rather choose the latter.
Also, after this time together, Chu believed Lu Mingze was a talented and smart director worth investing in.
Most importantly, binding Lu meant he could monetize the experience and entertainment resources accumulated in another timeline.
Clearly, having Lu tied to him was far more valuable than money alone.
"Deal." Chu didn't want to haggle.
He only noticed Lu looked a bit displeased.
Back in his past life, the first artist Chu signed was a total all-rounder.
He handled ads, sought resources, solved problems — Chu as the agent was more like a mascot, no worries at all.
Look at this guy — sitting on tens of millions, and still thinking about selling the house. Chu would have plenty to worry about in the future.
Lu's mindset was definitely unusual. Having Chu buy in and sign the contract was exactly what he wanted.
If Chu could handle the project for just over two weeks, that would prove Chu's capabilities — this huge project would be managed just fine even if Chu was only a mascot.
What Lu thought now was: Chu wants to start an agency?
"What will you call your company? Let me name it! I'm good at naming things!"
Chu glared, "Call it The Troubled Kids' Shelter!!" What? Is that a jab at you?
Quickly giving Lu something to do, Chu said, "You can head back to Ningyuan now and go head-to-head with Tiandu."
As soon as Lu heard this, he forgot all about whether Chu was getting a raw deal.
"Hell yeah! Tiandu? I'll sell the house and take them on!"
Chu seriously suspected Lu's obsession with selling the house wasn't about math, but about staking everything on a showdown with Tiandu — more his style, more dramatic.
"Let's go! I'll have Ma Lan book the tickets, we're leaving today!"
Lu suddenly remembered there was still a crew in Ningyuan, left there for over half a month — probably falling apart by now.
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