Xu Gui finally got a new agent.
The new agent's surname was Kuang, a surname Xu Gui didn't particularly like. Because of this surname, coupled with her new agent's seemingly gentle yet shrewd demeanor, it was easy to feel that he was about to scam someone, and that she herself might be the one being scammed.
Hearing her say this so seriously, Kuang Ming
was speechless. "My surname is Kuang without the 'speech' radical, not 'scam'. Besides, why would I scam someone for no reason? Moreover, everyone who knows me knows I'm a very kind and capable person."
Being kind to others was his life motto.
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui scrutinized him carefully from head to toe, then shook her head in denial: "No, you're clearly narrow-minded, petty, two-faced, and vengeful. Anyone who offends you will be remembered for a lifetime!"
Kuang Ming: "..."
His lips twitched slightly, and he reached up to adjust his glasses, wanting to say something, but Xu Gui said: "Don't tell me I misunderstood you. Don't forget what I do; I'm a fortune teller. Who are you? Do you think I'd misjudge you?"
Others might misjudge people, but she would never.
Kuang Ming: ...This is the downside of having such peculiar skills among your artists.
"Okay, I might be a little narrow-minded," Kuang Ming admitted, but he felt he still needed to defend himself. He said, "That's only because someone offended me. I wouldn't hold a grudge for no reason. Generally speaking, I'm a kind person, right?"
Xu Gui stared at him for a while and nodded, "That's true. You're just a two-faced person, not a malicious one."
Kuang Ming: "…I'll take that as a compliment."
He got down to business with Xu Gui: "From now on, you'll be one of my artists. As for your former manager, oh, they found out he's embezzled a lot of company funds over the years and are preparing to sue him. He's no longer our [Xinghai] manager."
"...And there's the contract you signed with Rong Yi before. I looked at it, and there were many clauses that didn't comply with the rules. So I discussed it with the company, and we plan to have you sign a new contract."
Kuang Ming took out a contract from his briefcase. "This is the new contract. You can take a look first. The company is willing to give up two percentage points on the revenue sharing as compensation for your previous contract."
Kuang Ming didn't come alone. He was accompanied by a young woman. He introduced her to Xu Gui: "This is Lulu, surnamed Yuan. She will be your personal assistant from now on."
Yuan Lu stepped forward at the right moment. "Hello, Teacher Xu. I'm Yuan Lu. I'll be your personal assistant from now on."
Kuang Ming only learned after taking over Xu Gui that Xu Gui had been working under Rong Yi. That man had just dumped Xu Gui on the production team and then ignored her completely, not even arranging an assistant for her. Xu Gui had to do everything herself, and there was nothing else.
Because of this incident, the outside world has a lot of opinions about Xinghai Entertainment, especially as Xu Gui's fame has soared and his fan base has grown. In the eyes of netizens, Xinghai has become a new generation of "black factory" and heartless capitalists in the entertainment industry.
This wave has made Xinghai "famous," but not for a good reason.
Xinghai's management is somewhat helpless about this. Xinghai is a large company, and each artist is primarily managed by their own agent. They were unaware that Rong Yi had treated Xu Gui so perfunctorily.
Seeing that Rong Yi had largely ruined Xinghai's reputation, the company's executives discussed the matter and brought in Kuang Ming to be Xu Gui's agent.
Kuang Ming looks reliable, and he is indeed reliable; he's considered a top agent at Xinghai. Having him handle Xu Gui clearly shows Xinghai's willingness to make amends.
Before meeting Xu Gui, Kuang Ming had already gained some understanding of her—he had reviewed her information and watched all her previous live stream videos, and had a general idea of how to treat her.
No one knew what his future attitude would be, but he was currently adopting a very humble posture in front of Xu Gui, offering increasingly favorable terms.
Seeing Xu Gui looking at the contract, Kuang Ming explained the situation clearly, saying, "This contract was something I strongly advocated for with the company. Generally, the revenue split between the company and its artists is 70/30…
If you encounter a dishonest company, it can be 80/20. Of course, the bulk of the revenue goes to the company, and only the smaller portion goes to the artist.
Now, [Xinghai] is offering Xu Gui a 50/50 split, and the company will also cover all expenses for her other staff. As for Kuang Ming, her manager, he will receive 10%. For Kuang Ming, this percentage is relatively small; given his position at [Xinghai], no one would object to him receiving 20%.
However, this 10% was Kuang Ming's own suggestion."
"Regarding Rong Yi's matter, it was our company's oversight that caused you such a great injustice. This contract is our apology!" Kuang Ming said sincerely.
Xu Gui had already finished reading the contract, although she didn't really understand it much, having skimmed through it. But as he said before, she was good at fortune telling, which could really help her cheat in many things.
At least for now, she didn't feel anything was wrong with the contract. She glanced at the contract period: eight years.
"Do you have any objections to the contract?" Kuang Ming asked with a smile, his attitude very gentle.
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Gui replied clearly, "Yes!"
Kuang Ming asked naturally, "What's the problem?"
Xu Gui said, "The time, I think, eight years is too long. I think... three years, three years would be more appropriate."
Kuang Ming: "..." Did you think this was bargaining? From eight years to three years?
"This eight-year period was what you agreed upon when you signed the contract with Rong Yi," he reminded Xu Gui.
Xu Gui nodded, indicating she understood, but then said, "But I feel this is taking too long."
Kuang Ming thought for a moment and asked, "May I ask what you would do if I refused your request?"
Xu Gui's eyes lit up, and she smiled, saying, "Well, I don't know either. It depends on the company's sincerity." "
..." Kuang Ming smiled and said, "I need to discuss this with the company. I'll be able to get back to you in a couple of days... For now, let Yuan Lu work with you. If anything happens, you can arrange for Yuan Lu to do it."
Because of Xu Gui's request, the new contract hadn't been signed yet. Before Kuang Ming left, Xu Gui had one more question to ask him.
"My fortune-telling earnings shouldn't be part of the celebrity income, right?" she asked, looking at Kuang Ming warily, afraid that he and the company would take a cut of her fortune-telling earnings. "Let me make this clear first, I've donated all my fortune-telling earnings to orphanages. Right now, I only have 20,000 yuan on me!"
20,000 yuan is certainly not a small amount; it's enough to eat and drink and support oneself. However, for Xu Gui, who had earned at least one or two million yuan since starting fortune-telling (the Zheng family received one million), it was very little.
"So much money, and she only kept 20,000 for herself?
" Kuang Ming found it hard to believe. "She gave it all to the orphanage?"
Xu Gui replied, "Compared to me, of course the orphanage needs this money more."
As a turtle who had only recently entered human society, Xu Gui was easy to take care of. As long as she had food, water, clothes, and shelter, that was enough for her. She didn't pursue higher consumption and could be happy even eating instant noodles. Therefore, such a large sum of money was dispensable to her.
But this money was different for the orphanage.
Xu Gui wrinkled her nose and said to her new agent, "Our orphanage is very poor. The facilities, buildings, and many other things are old and need to be replaced. The children also need to eat well and get proper nutrition so they can grow up healthy."
She told her agent about her dream: "I want to build our orphanage into the world's largest!"
Kuang Ming gave her a strange look and nodded, "Well then, I wish you success." Although it was the first time he had ever heard of someone's dream of building the world's largest orphanage.
*
After Kuang Ming and Xu Gui parted ways, he didn't leave the hotel but went to find the production crew.
They were all in the same industry, and the director recognized him. Seeing him, the director said sarcastically, "Oh, people from [Xinghai] actually deign to visit our little production crew? Ha, this is the first time I've seen a company just dump its artists on another company's production crew and then ignore them. People who don't know better would think our production crew is a daycare."
The director's tone was harsh, but Kuang Ming sensed a hint of protectiveness towards Xu Gui in his voice, which surprised him.
Thinking to himself, he smiled and said, "Director, you're joking. By the way, I heard you were in a car accident the day before yesterday. Are you alright?"
Their eyes met, and the assistant director felt a sudden, almost imperceptible, sense of impending conflict.
A few seconds later, the two who had seemed to be locked in a silent battle of wits were sitting down to talk amicably, as if their "confrontation" had never happened.
Seeing this, the assistant director had an epiphany. He pulled out his notebook, opened a page, and quickly scribbled: "
Director's Essential Lesson Thirty-Five: Be thick-skinned. Even if you're hurling insults at someone one second, you can be chatting happily the next."
Looking at his thirty-five lessons, the assistant director felt a surge of excitement: if he mastered these thirty-five essential director's lessons, he could finally ditch the "assistant" in his title.
On the other side, after Kuang Ming left, Yuan Lu, whom he had arranged to be Xu Gui's personal assistant, naturally stayed behind to take care of Xu Gui's daily life.
Xu Gui didn't understand why she needed someone to take care of her.
As a very capable turtle, she believed she had always taken good care of herself, so looking at Yuan Lu, she didn't know what to ask her to do.
Her room was also a small one. Although with her current earnings, she could have moved to a small suite, but she hadn't. In fact, after living here for a few days, she felt she had developed an attachment to the place.
Usually, the hotel cleaning staff would come in to clean after she left each day, so the room wasn't dirty. She had only left a few dirty clothes there, and there really wasn't anything that needed tidying up.
"Are you also staying at a hotel?" Xu Gui asked, trying to make conversation with Yuan Lu.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Lu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I should go back. I'll go home after you go to sleep every day, and I'll come back in the morning. If there's anything you need me to do, Teacher Xu, you can just tell me... like, you can leave the fish tank to me!"
She had clearly watched Xu Gui's livestream and knew that Xu Gui also promoted [Miaoyu] every day and needed someone to watch the fish tank when she left the stall, hence her suggestion.
Xu Gui nodded, "That's fine too." This way, they wouldn't have to trouble the production crew.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Yuan Lu said, "I'll go open the door," and ran out. After a while, she returned, followed by someone. Xu Gui looked over and saw that it was the assistant who had been helping out these past few days, also a member of the production crew.
The assistant was carrying a small fish tank filled with artificial rocks, pebbles, and aquatic plants, as well as a small puddle. Next to the artificial rocks, a small green turtle was lying.
"Teacher Xu, this is the turtle that [Miaoyu] gave you. When they came to pick up some things later, they brought another fish tank, saying it was for the little turtle, so I brought it to you!" the assistant said.
Xu Gui got up and took the fish tank. The turtle's neck, which had been tucked into its shell, seemed to sense her presence and stretched its neck out, looking rather lazy.
"Thank you," Xu Gui said to the assistant.
The assistant had mainly come to deliver the turtle. Now that she had delivered it, she should have left, but she stood there without moving. When Xu Gui looked up at her with a puzzled expression, she seemed to snap out of her daze, forced a smile, and hurriedly ran away.
Once she was out of Xu Gui's room, her smile vanished, and she couldn't help but hit her head before dejectedly returning to her room.
As a member of the production team, she also stayed at the hotel, sharing a room with other staff members. Upon her return, her roommate looked up and asked, "So, did you ask Teacher Xu if she still needs an assistant?"
The assistant's expression fell, and she replied, "No."
Her roommate exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't you say you wanted to be Teacher Xu's assistant? Why didn't you ask?"
Hearing this, the assistant's nose tingled, and tears almost welled up. She pouted and said, "Teacher Xu already has an assistant. Her new manager came today and brought her one. She doesn't need a personal assistant at all."
Hearing this, her roommate was surprised for a moment, then said with some regret, "Then there's nothing we can do."
Previously, when Xu Gui didn't have an assistant, the assistant had the idea of going to her side to be her assistant, but she was a little shy and hesitated for two days without daring to ask Xu Gui. This delay meant that Xu Gui already had an assistant.
The assistant slumped over her desk, looking dejected. "I really like Teacher Xu! I think she's so cool and amazing. If I could be her assistant, I'd be the happiest girl in the world!"
But now, even the happiest girl's heart was broken.
That's right, the assistant was a fan of Xu Gui, so when the production team asked for someone to help out, she was incredibly enthusiastic and volunteered. Later, seeing that Xu Gui didn't have an assistant, she had the idea of becoming one.
But who could have imagined that her idea would be completely shattered so quickly?
Her roommate sighed, patted her back, and said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Why did you have to ask so late?"
The assistant: "...I was just too shy to ask."
Her roommate comforted her: "Don't be sad. Even if you can't be Teacher Xu's assistant, we work in the same industry, so you'll definitely have opportunities to meet again... By the way, is that young master Sun you mentioned still bothering you?"
The "Young Master Sun" was referring to a man named Sun Yaozu, a rich second-generation or third-generation heir, whose identity was unclear. After a chance encounter with the assistant, he began a relentless pursuit, using every trick in the book. No matter how much she rejected him, he ignored her, driving her to distraction.
"It's been over half a year, and Young Master Sun still hasn't given up. He keeps pursuing you," her roommate suddenly said. "Do you think there's any possibility that Young Master Sun might actually like you?"
The assistant shook her head without hesitation, stating firmly, "Impossible! What would a rich young master like about me? That I'm poor? That I'm plain-looking? He's not here to help the poor!"
She was very self-aware.
"Why are you belittling yourself? You're not that bad." Her roommate sat down next to her and said, "I know you think Young Master Sun is a womanizer, but this time, it seems different. He seems genuinely sincere towards you…
I've asked around before, and I've never heard of Young Master Sun being this patient with any girl before. This is the first time he's pursued a girl for so long!"
Her roommate couldn't help but ask, "Xiaoyu, Young Master Sun's attitude is so sincere, haven't you ever thought about accepting his advances?"
The assistant, He Yu, shook her head: "…Never thought about it."
"But, Lingling…why are you suddenly talking about Sun Yaozu? Didn't you say you hated spoiled brats like them?" He Yu asked, somewhat puzzled.
Hearing this, her roommate's eyes flickered, and she said, "I...I'm just thinking of you, aren't I? Think about it, Young Master Sun comes from a good family and isn't bad-looking. If you marry him, you'll be Mrs. Sun, and you'll never have to worry about food or drink, or have to suffer at work. Do n't you think so?"
He Yu, however, was very clear-headed: "...All of this can only happen if Sun Yaozu really likes me, but I don't think he likes me."
"More than liking, I think he finds pursuing me interesting. Once he gets me, he'll lose interest!"
Her roommate: "...Aren't you overthinking it?"
He Yu shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "Just consider it overthinking. Anyway, I won't accept his advances. I don't like him."
She rested her head on her arm and yawned.
Her roommate looked at her, her expression somewhat anxious, as if she wanted to say something, but the words caught in her throat, and she swallowed them back, only staring at He Yu with a strange look.
*
As evening approached and the summer heat subsided, Xu Gui received another message from Grandma Qiao Qiao.
She glanced at the message, typed a reply to Grandma Qiao, and prepared to head to Grandma Qiao's niece's school. However, as she was leaving, she suddenly remembered something and turned to Yuan Lu, saying,
"I just remembered I need your help with something!"
Yuan Lu looked on with delight as she pointed to the fish tank on the table, saying, "When I'm short on time, I might need you to take care of this little turtle for me, make sure it doesn't die."
This little creature was the only one she needed to look after.
Hearing this, Yuan Lu glanced at the fish tank first, then looked at Xu Gui, nodded seriously, and said, "Teacher Xu, don't worry, as long as the turtle lives, I live; if the turtle dies, I die!"
Xu Gui: "...Ah, is it really that serious?"
If something really happened, she felt Yuan Lu should consider her first.
But Yuan Lu seemed very serious.
Xu Gui: Okay.
Grandma Qiao's niece attended the best school in City A, namely University A. Xu Gui and Grandma Qiao communicated, and they agreed to meet at the east gate of University A.
When they met, Grandma Qiao wiped the sweat from her brow and whispered to Xu Gui with a look of lingering fear, "You have no idea how much trouble I went through to get here. Mingyue kept asking me why we were so close, and what I was doing at the school. I really racked my brains to come up with an excuse to fool her."
Xu Gui asked, "What excuse did you come up with?"
"A walk!"
"..."
Your home is in the north and south of A University, so you crossed most of A City to come to A University just for a walk?
This excuse...
"Miss Xue, didn't she say anything?" Xu Gui asked.
Grandma Qiao happily said, "She didn't say anything, just told me to be careful!"
Xu Gui nodded, understanding.
Obviously, Miss Xue knew there was a secret between Grandma Qiao and Xu Gui, but perhaps seeing her mother-in-law's predicament, she didn't ask any more questions.
Grandma Qiao was still feeling smug about having lied to her daughter-in-law—she had succeeded, managing to fool her shrewd and capable daughter-in-law.
Grandma Qiao: Hahaha!
"Yaoyao's dormitory is over here..." Grandma Qiaoqiao hurriedly led Xu Gui to the dormitory building, while simultaneously calling her niece on her phone to ask her to come downstairs and pick them up.
She had actually called her niece once at noon to tell her she would be coming over in the afternoon and that she shouldn't go out so they wouldn't miss her.
So Yaoyao hadn't gone out today, and after Grandma Qiaoqiao called her, she went downstairs to meet her. Therefore, when Xu Gui and the others arrived at the dormitory building, they saw Yaoyao already waiting there.
Upon seeing her aunt, Yaoyao immediately ran over, excitedly calling out to Grandma Qiaoqiao, "Auntie!"
After calling out, she glanced at Xu Gui with some curiosity.
Grandma Qiaoqiao was anxious about the bracelet, but seeing her niece made her happy, and she readily gave her the things she had brought—she always brought something when visiting her niece.
This time was no exception.
"Auntie, you brought me so many things again..."
"Not at all, just some food and clothes."
After a few words, Grandma Qiaoqiao got down to business.
"Yaoyao, your aunt gave you a bag before, do you remember?" Grandma Qiao asked.
"Bag? Which bag?" Yaoyao couldn't remember for a moment.
Grandma Qiao said anxiously, "It's the bag I gave you to carry your things when you came to school to register last year, the big one, black, do you remember?"
Grandma Qiao gestured.
As soon as she heard that, Yaoyao remembered and said suddenly, "The black bag you mentioned, I remember, I put that bag in my dormitory... What, Aunt, do you need that bag? Then I'll take you upstairs to get it."
As Yaoyao led them upstairs, she asked somewhat strangely, "Aunt, you came to see me just for this bag?"
She had thought something serious had happened when she saw her aunt's anxious expression, which had startled her, but now that she knew it was just for a bag, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You could have just given me a call, and I'd have brought it to you when I had time," she said. "Why did you make this special trip?"
Grandma Qiaoqiao replied, "You don't understand. How could I wait this long? If you knew there was a gold bracelet worth over ten thousand yuan inside, you'd probably be even more anxious than I am."
Yao Yao didn't know this and genuinely didn't understand.
When Xu Gui arrived at the dormitory, she found that there was already someone else there. The person looked at Xu Gui and her friends curiously, then greeted them politely.
Xu Gui casually glanced around the dormitory and asked Yao Yao, "Where are your other two roommates? Aren't they here?"
It was a four-person dormitory, and two were there, so two must be missing.
Hearing this, Yao Yao casually replied, "They went out..."
She walked to the closet near the door and took out the bag that had been crammed into the side of the closet.
The bag wasn't small, but it wasn't very spacious either. Yao Yao had used it to store some clothes she didn't wear and miscellaneous items. Because it had been crammed into a corner and hadn't been cleaned, it was covered in dust. Taking it out, you could see dust floating everywhere.
Yao Yao was a little embarrassed and explained, "I don't usually use it..."
Seeing the bag, Grandma Qiao's previously hazy memories became clear; she remembered where she had put her gold bracelet.
She crouched down, opened the bag, and went straight to her target, reaching into the inner compartment and feeling around inside.
A few seconds later, she withdrew her hand, now holding a red velvet pouch. As the pouch opened, a heavy-looking gold bracelet immediately caught the three of them's eyes.
"...Found it!!" Grandma Qiao looked at Xu Gui with delight, saying, "Xiao Gui, you really didn't miscalculate, I really put the bracelet in here!"
Yao Yao, however, was somewhat bewildered and shocked upon seeing the gold bracelet—she had left the bag in her dorm for so long, and she hadn't even known there was a gold bracelet in the inner compartment? No
wonder her aunt was so anxious.
But Yao Yao's shock didn't last long, because the next second, she heard something even more bewildering.
"This is fake..."