Chapter 118: It's Over

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"Speed it up a bit, I've got things to take care of."

Lin Yu pulled the girl up onto the stage—might as well take the photo up there, and with the crowd below joining in too. Otherwise, the arrangement of two men and one woman would look a little odd.

With his back to the audience, Lin Yu raised his phone and shouted into the microphone.

"Everyone, let's take a group photo together!"

"3, 2, 1... Cheese!"

Lin Yu and Wang Fei each crouched on one side. The petite girl was only about five feet tall—even standing, she looked like an underage little sister next to two guys towering over six feet.

The moment the photo was done, the production crew hurried Wang Fei back to his music accompaniment. But the influencer shooting the ad was in such a rush that she collided head-on with Wang Fei, and both of them went down to the ground together. A "damn" slipped out.

The backing track had already moved past that point, and Wang Fei had no choice but to press a hand to his forehead and struggle back up from the floor, still gasping for breath.

Could this actually be one of the lyrics?

Both the audience and Lin Yu couldn't help but burst out laughing. Since when did Wang Fei become the comedy act? Wasn't he supposed to be the sweet, saccharine little prince of love songs?

Lin Yu took advantage of everyone being absorbed in Wang Fei's song to slip away. The staff had wanted him to leave a signature on site, but by then, he was already gone without a trace.

"Hey? Where's Brother Yu?"

Liuliu asked in Nine-Nine's livestream room, and Nine-Nine was just as puzzled—wasn't he on stage just a moment ago?

What a bad man! It was one thing to fool her, but he vanished in the blink of an eye! And he wouldn't even take responsibility! Hmph! She absolutely had to catch him.

She wasn't a stalker, okay—it was all at wealthy patron Liuliu's request. She wanted close-up face shots, enlarged photos!

...

Lin Yu had already moved far away from the beach, walking along the small road just outside it. There were plenty of people at the music festival, but hardly anyone was around him now—probably all went to watch the excitement. Lin Yu wanted to check the time so he wouldn't miss his rest; he might have to shoot scenes tomorrow!

To his surprise, his phone had actually died. After quite a struggle to find a place to charge it, he'd just turned it on when—before he could even see the time—the phone started vibrating crazily.

Dozens of missed calls and messages, all from Ji Ya and Su Xiaolin!

Oh boy.

Cold sweat broke out on Lin Yu again. This wasn't right! They were so frantic they'd drained his phone battery completely! And he hadn't noticed a thing. Looking at the intervals between the incoming calls, they weren't long at all. Something urgent? And he'd had his phone off? The two people on the other end were probably fuming with anxiety!

His gut told him something was wrong. That many calls in the middle of the night—they must have realized he wasn't in his hotel room and discovered he'd gone out.

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He'd snuck out in the first place. If Su Xiaolin, his manager, and Ji Ya, his boss, found out about this, his head would be on the chopping block.

Before he could even figure out how to explain why he'd come out, his phone rang again. Lin Yu frantically answered Ji Ya's call, but there was no sound on the other end.

"Broken?"

He took the phone down to check—plenty of battery, didn't shut off. He didn't think he'd dropped it just now either? A perfectly good phone couldn't just break like that, right?

Silence. More silence. A bad feeling crept over him, and Lin Yu blurted out a line to break the awkwardness.

"Boss, haven't seen you all day—missed you so much."

"Oh, could it be that we're of one mind? The moment I thought of you, you called me?"

Still silence. But then the sound of brakes approached from afar, and a Rolls-Royce worth over ten million pulled up directly in front of him.

The hotel manager in the front seat gave Lin Yu a "good luck" look, then urged the driver to leave quickly.

When President Ji lost her temper, it was far more than just a thunderstorm...

Lin Yu's instinct for sensing danger was as sharp as ever.

Mm...

Something was wrong.

A bloody storm was about to hit.

"Boss, missing me doesn't mean you had to come all the way out here in person, right? So tiring for you."

Ji Ya crossed her arms and stared straight at him, as if she'd swallow him whole the next second.

How dare you, you little brat? After dealing with those old fogies, you've got an overseas meeting tomorrow. Time is this tight, and she still has to make a special trip to handle your ridiculous business of sneaking out to play without a word?

"Oh, look at you—wings all grown, are we? Ignoring calls until your phone dies."

"If it weren't for a kind-hearted netizen exposing your location, I'd have never known you had the talent to drop new songs at a music festival!"

Ji Ya grew angrier with every word. She and Su Xiaolin had been beside themselves with worry over his radio silence, and when they finally found him, he had the nerve to look all innocent, as if he'd done nothing wrong at all!!

That attitude of refusing to admit fault was just begging for a beating! She grabbed his ear with one hand, casting aside her usual cold elegance and refined composure, and launched into full scolding mode.

"Have you completely forgotten that you're a contracted artist, or what?"

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"Oh right, you're so cocky now you've got no limits—one disagreement and you threaten to break your contract?"

"Not even taking your luggage, just storming off like a runaway, is that it?! Go ahead and hand back the company card I gave you! Without me, where would you even go?!"

Lin Yu continued to play along with a pained expression, raising his hands in surrender. Going along with the female CEO's little quirks seemed to have become their own private unspoken understanding.

He really didn't want to break the contract, but the problem was he also didn't want everything to be so restricted—like what he ate, how much he ate, all being nagged about.

Maybe it was because he'd been so used to being ignored by his ex-girlfriend, or maybe it was just a boy's nature not to like being controlled too tightly—either way, he refused to live that way under force.

If it had to be like that, he'd rather be free and unfettered! Worst case, he'd open a Tai Chi studio!

Honestly, was there any possibility that he'd already worked hard enough in his previous life, and in this one he really didn't want to be bound by anyone or anything again, unable to be the person he wanted to be?!

All he wanted was a moment to breathe—what was wrong with that?!

Besides, waking up early was his habit. He did it for his own health, to get some cardio in—not for anyone or anything else. He was doing it purely for himself.

And if it weren't for Su Xiaolin's warning looks on set, telling him to do more tasks and make himself useful, he wouldn't have wanted to play assistant to anyone at all. He'd done everything except sweep and mop the floors.

Did a person have to please others just to live? Did he have to give himself up to satisfy other people's selfish desires?! Why should he?!

All he wanted was to live this life for himself!

"Boss, I've already stated my terms. I don't want to say much more. If things don't go my way, I'd rather be free!"

"You're still thinking about breaking the contract even now?" Ji Ya pretended to be angry, releasing his ear. Fine—if he didn't want to take the way out she offered, then they'd play rough!

Who couldn't talk tough? She'd dominated the business world for years. Did he think his childish little threats, which even kids wouldn't believe, would fool her?

But why not play along with him anyway?!

"The contract termination fee is three million. It's already written in the contract."

Three million?!

Lin Yu's confidence wavered.

The two songs "Decent" and "Love Song" had indeed earned hundreds of thousands in revenue on OO Music, but after taking out the company's cut and the production expenses and all that, what actually landed in his hands was only forty or fifty thousand.

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