Zhu Ning had never thought anyone would ask him this question.
Although the company exploited him severely, he had never considered jumping ship. Apart from being tricked into signing a fifteen-year contract when he joined, requiring a hefty penalty for breaching it, there was another extremely troublesome matter.
So, Zhu Ning had never considered leaving Summit Entertainment because the cost of doing so would be too high.
When Ye Zhou initially asked if he was willing to change companies, Zhu Ning’s heart skipped a beat.
The gap between Summit Entertainment and Jingzhe was immense. Whether in resources, treatment, or other aspects, Jingzhe far surpassed Summit Entertainment.
If anyone else had been asked this question, they would have readily agreed without hesitation.
But Zhu Ning couldn’t.
Regaining his composure, he met Ye Zhou’s gaze, flashing a faint smile and blinking his eyes. In a cheerful tone, he said, “Director Ye, my manager is outside. Please don’t joke like that.”
His words were a polite refusal while also providing Ye Zhou an out.
Even if his manager had overheard their conversation, he wouldn’t dare make trouble for Ye Zhou over a mere joke.
“I’m not joking,” Ye Zhou insisted, unwilling to drop the subject as Zhu Ning had hoped.
Staring intently at Zhu Ning, he continued, “If it’s a matter of the penalty fee, you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Sky-high liquidated damages are not supported by the law. If they demand it, you can file an objection in court. The penalty generally won’t exceed 30% of their actual losses.”
“If you can’t afford it, I can cover it for you first, and you can repay me later when you’re able.”
Ye Zhou didn’t offer to pay outright because, based on his understanding of Zhu Ning, the other would refuse even if he did. He decided to skip that step.
Zhu Ning understood the sincerity in Ye Zhou’s words.
He couldn’t deny the appeal. He was well aware of his situation at Summit Entertainment, but he was left with no choice but to endure.
But now, Ye Zhou offered him an opportunity, a chance to break free from this quagmire.
Zhu Ning wanted to seize it, but after a pensive silence, he still declined.
“Director Ye, thank you, but I can’t leave. Summit Entertainment won’t let me go so easily.”
Ye Zhou was one of the few good people Zhu Ning had encountered since entering the industry, bringing him much warmth. Precisely for this reason, he couldn’t selfishly agree and knowingly cause trouble for Ye Zhou and Jingzhe.
No one understood Summit Entertainment’s viciousness better than Zhu Ning. If provoked, they would immediately turn into vicious hounds, stopping at nothing to tear off a piece of flesh from their opponent.
Under such circumstances, how could Zhu Ning allow Ye Zhou to become involved in this mess?
“As long as you want…”
“Sorry, I’m a bit tired.”
Ye Zhou’s words were cut off by Zhu Ning, who gave him an apologetic smile, closed his eyes once more, and refused any further interaction with Ye Zhou.
Seeing this, Ye Zhou’s lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing further.
Previously, he had seriously considered poaching Zhu Ning away, and he had even thought about the specific plans. However, those plans were dependent on one premise: Zhu Ning had to be willing. If he wasn’t cooperative, no matter what Ye Zhou did, it would be futile.
Upon leaving the ward, Ye Zhou noticed that the Summit Entertainment bodyguard, who had been pinned to the ground earlier, was now standing behind the manager, no longer as arrogant as before.
Meanwhile, Boss Jiang stood expressionless by the window, his eyes fixed outside, not sparing a glance at the Summit Entertainment people.
Hearing the sound of the door, Jiang Tingyuan turned his head. Seeing Ye Zhou emerge, he approached him and asked, “Did you come to an agreement?”
With Zhu Ning’s manager glaring at them nearby, Ye Zhou didn’t elaborate. He simply nodded and led Boss Jiang out.
Halfway through, as if suddenly recalling something, Ye Zhou took out his phone from his pocket, turned around, and waved it at the manager, calmly stating, “I hope not to see him at any events for at least two weeks. Otherwise, I might contact his fans and spread the word about his illness.”
When he said this, Ye Zhou didn’t have any of his usual pleasant demeanor, and the threats and warnings in his words reached the agent’s ears very clearly.
Upon hearing this, the manager was fuming. Two weeks? Did he know how much money Zhu Ning could earn in that time? To suggest a vacation like that, he must be living in a dream!
The manager was about to retort when the previously silent Boss Jiang suddenly spoke up.
“An endorsement shoot is about to commence. As the client, we hope he will maintain his best condition. If his condition is unsatisfactory, we will have to postpone filming.”
Boss Jiang’s voice was not loud, but it successfully caused the manager’s sarcastic words to become stuck in his throat, leaving him in extreme discomfort.
While he didn’t have to give Ye Zhou face, he couldn’t disrespect Jiang Tingyuan.
Jiang Corporation’s endorsement this time was a resource he had obtained with great difficulty. For this reason, he even sacrificed several months of Zhu Ning’s time to let him join the crew to make a movie.
After paying such a high price, if the endorsement was withdrawn again, he would have no way to explain it to the company.
The manager watched their departing figures, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, his expression extremely ugly.
Back in the car, Ye Zhou leaned his head against the window, unexpectedly silent throughout the journey.
Jiang Tingyuan noticed but didn’t ask anything.
The ride continued in silence until the car stopped in front of the Jingzhe Dream Incubation Building. As Ye Zhou got out, he realized Boss Jiang had no intention of joining him this time, prompting him to ask, “Jiang-ge?”
“I’m heading back to the company.” Jiang Tingyuan naturally ruffled Ye Zhou’s hair. “I’ll pick you up this afternoon.”
Only then did Ye Zhou realize that Boss Jiang wasn’t as free as he had claimed earlier. If he truly had time, he wouldn’t have rushed back to the company immediately after leaving the hospital.
As for why Boss Jiang had accompanied him upstairs, considering the attitude of Zhu Ning’s manager towards him earlier, Ye Zhou could easily guess Boss Jiang’s intention.
He felt a little warm and a little depressed in his heart, and his emotions were so complicated that even he couldn’t distinguish his current emotions.
After Boss Jiang left, Ye Zhou took the elevator to the seventeenth floor following his memory and successfully found the room with the sign ‘Chenzhou Esports.’
The door was open, and as Ye Zhou entered, he found that the room was very dark. Xu Cheng was standing in front of the big white screen, explaining something with a laser pointer. The other four members, contrary to their usual laziness, were all listening attentively with serious expressions.
What was playing on the screen should be a match video. Although Ye Zhou had watched some esports matches in his previous life, he knew nothing about the esports events in the book.
Without disturbing them, Ye Zhou found a seat and quietly listened alongside them.
After a while, Ye Zhou learned that the game was called ‘Devour,’ a competitive battle game where players were divided into red and blue teams of five each. The two sides could devour each other through combat, with the devoured being eliminated and the devourer inheriting all of the devoured’s attribute points.
The acquired attribute points from devouring could be added to oneself or shared with teammates to enhance the team’s combat strength.
During the battle, resources would continually spawn on the map, and both sides would compete for resources, replenish them, and devour enemies to continuously enhance their combat strength, engaging in new battles until one side had all five members devoured, ending the game.
The game had different classes, though Ye Zhou couldn’t quite remember the specific names, only that they broadly fell into five categories: healing, support, ranged, melee, and control.
Ye Zhou had initially only intended to take a casual look, but before he knew it, he had become engrossed.
Time ticked by, and as the video playback ended, this analysis session officially concluded. Xu Cheng put down his laser pointer, took a sip of water, and opened all the blackout curtains.
It wasn’t until then that he noticed the unexpected addition of Ye Zhou in the room, initially startled before regaining his composure upon recognizing him.
“Ye-ge, why didn’t you call me when you arrived?” Xu Cheng’s expression was slightly awkward, lacking the composure and calmness he had during the analysis.
Ye Zhou waved his hand dismissively, “I just saw you were in the middle of an analysis, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Xu Cheng kicked each of his teammates on the butt, scolding in a low voice, “Those who need to clean, clean; those who need to serve tea and water, serve it quickly. Can’t you show some initiative instead of standing there like idiots?”
The members of the former Devour World Championship team, who were still processing the situation, finally came to their senses after being kicked like this. Each of them actually obeyed Xu Cheng’s instructions and started doing these chores that they had almost never done before.
Ye Zhou felt helpless as Xu Cheng pulled him to sit on the office’s only sofa. Soon after, Wei Xun brought over two glasses of water, casting a flirtatious glance at Ye Zhou as he set them down.
Of course, the next second, he was immediately kicked away by the team captain Xu Cheng.
“How has the team’s development been recently? Have you found all the members?” Ye Zhou deliberately slowed his speech, trying to appear more amiable.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he brought this up, the previously relatively normal Xu Cheng’s arrogant face rarely revealed a hint of anxiety.
Xu Cheng was quite embarrassed to discuss this matter, but considering it was Ye Zhou, he still answered truthfully, “Not yet.”
The ‘Devour’ season this year had not yet concluded, with one final round of matches remaining.
Wei Xun and the others had to complete the remaining matches, as team transfers could only occur after the season ended.
Moreover, although Wei Xun and the others had not achieved any notable results in the past two years and had even been sold to two different teams by their former boss, they were still members of the once-legendary championship team that created a continuous legend. To buy them back before their contracts expired would require a substantial sum of money.
When Xu Cheng initially mentioned their exorbitant breach of contract fees, he was not exaggerating in the slightest.
Before the team achieved any results, Xu Cheng felt too embarrassed to broach this topic with Ye Zhou regarding their financial constraints. He had even prepared to randomly assemble a temporary team, participate in matches, win some prize money, and first prove their capabilities to Ye Zhou before gradually bringing up the matter.
Simultaneously, Xu Cheng had his teammates calculate their available funds, which only barely covered the buyouts for Wei Xun and Fatty. The breach fee for the vice-captain Chi Mu was astronomical, making him undoubtedly unattainable.
Hearing this, Ye Zhou paused in confusion and asked, “What’s the matter? Is it that you can’t find suitable players, or is there another reason?”
Xu Cheng hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to be honest when meeting Ye Zhou’s gaze.
“That’s not it, it’s probably… we don’t have enough money.”
As he spoke those words, Xu Cheng’s entire baby face flushed red, his voice growing softer towards the end until the last few words were barely audible.
Ye Zhou had initially been startled, thinking something major had happened during this period, but upon learning it was a financial issue, he relaxed entirely.
“Ah, I thought it was something serious.” Ye Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.
He assumed Xu Cheng was reluctant to ask Jingzhe for assistance, so after a moment’s thought, he reached into his coat pocket, retrieved a card, and placed it in front of Xu Cheng.
“I forgot to mention, the reason I came this time was to offer some warmth.” Ye Zhou’s tone was relaxed, purposefully elongating the final syllable.
“Take this card and use it freely. If it’s not enough, come find me for more.”
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