Wang Ying introduced a young man who had come with her. “This is the assistant we’ve arranged for you. His salary will be covered by the company. In the future, if you feel you need more assistants, you can hire them yourself, but their salaries will be your responsibility.”
“Alright.”
Liao Tan added, “The company can’t offer you such a great contract without some expectations. The obligations you must fulfill are all listed at the end of the contract. You should read them carefully.”
Upon hearing this, Chi Yan flipped to the end of the contract.
First was the penalty clause. The compensation fee was sky-high—clearly intended to prevent her from quitting halfway to return home and inherit her family’s fortune.
The contract duration was eight years. If she terminated it early, she’d have to pay double the profits Bo Le had earned from her, plus an additional 200 million yuan.
Then came various requirements—maintaining the company’s image was basic. The key point was that she had to meet yearly performance targets. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be allowed to take vacations.
The targets set by Bo Le were quite demanding—such as securing a regular role on a variety show or filming two major films every year.
Lastly, the contract specifically stated that if she stayed with Bo Le for the full eight years, the villa currently assigned to her would be transferred to her name. The chauffeured car would belong to her from the moment the contract was signed.
“These terms are kind of brutal,” Chi Yan commented.
Liao Tan asked, “So, will you sign?”
“Of course,” Chi Yan replied. “But just to be safe, I’ve called a lawyer. He should be here soon. Do you mind waiting a bit?”
The Bo Le team had no objections.
Chi Yan had asked her uncle to find a lawyer for her that morning. They had agreed to meet at Bo Le’s office at 4:30 PM, but since the company came to her instead, she asked the lawyer to arrive earlier.
Soon, the doorbell rang again. Chi Yan opened the door.
“Uncle, you came too?” she exclaimed.
“Of course. You’re signing a contract—I have to be here for that,” her uncle replied. Seeing the three strangers sitting in the living room, he asked, “These are the ones here for the signing? You haven’t signed yet, right?”
“I wouldn’t dare before the lawyer reviews it.”
“The contract looks fine,” the lawyer said to both her uncle and Chi Yan. “Mr. Lin, Miss Chi, you can sign it.”
“Good,” her uncle said to her. “I know I can’t change your mind anymore. Do whatever you want to do.”
“Thank you, Uncle.” Chi Yan turned to Liao Tan and said, “I only invited the lawyer to be thorough. Sorry for taking up your time.”
“No worries at all. That’s totally understandable,” Liao Tan replied. “Since everything’s in order, why don’t you go ahead and sign?”
Chi Yan took the pen and signed her name under “Party B.”
Wang Ying immediately gathered the documents. “There are two copies of the contract. One is for you, and one for the company. From now on, you’re officially a contracted artist of Bo Le. You can move into the villa assigned to you right away.”
“Okay, Sister Ying,” Chi Yan said. “By the way, I met Editor Huo Yixuan at the art exhibition. She’s considering me for the lead role in her next drama. She might reach out to you in the next few days—please help me keep that slot open.”
Wang Ying’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Really? Huo Yixuan? The screenwriter of True Lies?”
Chi Yan nodded. “It’s just a possibility. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”
Wang Ying repeated “Great” several times in excitement. Her eyes sparkled. None of the artists she managed were as promising as Chi Yan—she had just won a competition, was finding her own opportunities, and required minimal supervision. She was practically a miracle.
“Sister Ying, I’ll visit the company tomorrow. Also, about the car mentioned in the contract—do I need to hire my own driver?”
“Yes,” Wang Ying replied. “The company is short on staff at the moment. We’ve signed too many artists recently, so you’ll have to find a driver yourself for now.”
“That’s not a problem,” her uncle chimed in. “You can use the private driver I recommended earlier.”
Chi Yan nodded.
“Alright, let’s wrap things up for today. Please send me your Weibo account and password. For now, the company won’t restrict your posts, but that might change later,” Wang Ying said.
“Sure.” Chi Yan agreed easily—she had been through all this in her past life.
Back then, Niu Quan wouldn’t even let her post on Weibo, afraid she’d say something inappropriate.
“This is Xiao He. I won’t be able to accompany you to filming sets in the future, so he’ll go with you instead. I’ll create a group chat for you all to stay in touch.”
Chi Yan glanced at Xiao He. He looked like a sincere, honest guy, so she nodded.
With that, Wang Ying and Liao Tan took their leave, and the lawyer said he had other matters to attend to and left as well.
Chi Yan and her uncle walked them to the door.
“Did you tell your dad?” her uncle asked.
Chi Yan shook her head. “Why would I? Just to get scolded?”
“He’s still your father. Letting him know might help you navigate this industry better.”
“Uncle, let’s drop it. He hopes I won’t get any roles and wants me to hurry up and work in his company to save him face.”
Seeing he couldn’t convince her, her uncle gave up. “And your mom? She’s not here for such an important event?”
“She’s in her studio painting. She sold two pieces at the last exhibition and is still in a good mood.” Chi Yan then asked, “Uncle, want to stay for dinner?”
“Sure, I’ll eat with you guys.”
After settling her uncle, Chi Yan sent a message to Huo Yixuan to inform her that she had officially signed with Bo Le.
Huo Yixuan replied: “Okay, I’ll talk to your agent tomorrow.”
As promised, Huo Yixuan brought it up with Wang Ying early the next morning.
When Chi Yan knocked and entered Wang Ying’s office, she could immediately sense the good mood.
“Good morning, Sister Ying, good morning, Ye Jiawen,” she greeted the two people in the office.
“You’re here, Chi Yan. Have a seat,” said Wang Ying. “Jiawen just arrived too. I’ll go over your upcoming schedule.”
Once Chi Yan was seated, Wang Ying continued, “We’ve signed a contract with Weekly Joy. The top five finalists can appear on an episode of their show. The contract’s already been sent over. Take a look and let me know if there’s anything you want to add.”
Chi Yan knew about Weekly Joy, a variety show that had been running for five years, airing every Friday night. Every episode featured popular celebrities and actors, and it had the highest ratings on Xiyou TV.
She had even appeared on it in her previous life after being nominated for Best Actress, though it hadn’t made much of a splash.
Weekly Joy had two permanent hosts and liked to play lively games with large groups—crowds were its norm.
Chi Yan said, “The contract looks fine. But we’re filming next Tuesday? Isn’t it usually on Fridays?”
“The director said they’ve already pre-recorded three episodes,” Wang Ying explained. “Xiyou wants to ride the wave of Path of the Actor while it’s still hot, so they want you to shoot now and air it early.”
Ye Jiawen asked, “Can I ask for an autograph? I’m a huge fan of the host, Mr. Li Xuebo.”
Wang Ying laughed. “Of course, go ahead.”
She continued, “Besides that, there’ll be plenty of commercial offers coming in. I’ll filter out the suitable ones for you. Before that, though, to welcome you both, the company bought you a trending topic on Weibo. Go take a look.”
Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen, unsure what she meant, opened their Weibo accounts and saw that the official Bo Le company account had tagged them, welcoming them aboard.
The trending topic was: #ChiYanYeJiawenSignWithBoLe.
Signing with a company really did make a difference—Chi Yan noticed her follower count had suddenly shot up to 8 million.
“Sister Ying, did you buy me 3 million followers? That’s a bit much.”
“How come I only got 2.3 million more? You’re playing favorites!” Ye Jiawen joked.
Wang Ying replied, “The company did buy some followers, but definitely not that many. It’s probably because of the short videos of you two—people must’ve followed from those.”
“Alright, it’s 8:30 now. I’m free this morning, so why don’t I take you two to see your villas? You signed your contracts back-to-back, so we arranged for your homes to be right next to each other.”
“Thank you, Sister Ying! I’ve been dreaming of a villa,” Chi Yan said. But in truth, this villa wouldn’t stop her from buying a house in the new district of the city.
The company-arranged residences were not too far, not too close—about a 20-minute drive away.
“Your vans are already parked in the garage. Don’t forget to find drivers. If you really can’t find one, just ask your assistant—they’ll help you out.”
“Thanks, Sister Ying, that’s very thoughtful.”
They drove into the gated villa community, which was heavily secured. A tall iron fence with sharp spikes surrounded the compound, and Wang Ying told them there were also motion detectors installed on top. No intruder would get in unnoticed.
“The area is quite large. There are two security posts near each main gate, and any unfamiliar visitor has to register. Your vehicle plates are already registered, so you can enter freely.”
“The environment is great—lots of greenery, fresh air, and beautiful scenery,” Ye Jiawen commented.
“That’s right,” Wang Ying said. “Even Best Actor and Best Actress winners have bought homes here. Who knows, maybe you’ll run into one.”
“Now I’m excited,” Ye Jiawen’s eyes lit up.
“These are your places—Jiawen’s is on the left, Chi Yan’s on the right. The door codes are your birthdays in the Gregorian calendar.”
“Thanks, Sister Ying. You’ve really thought of everything,” Chi Yan noted, clearly feeling the care Bo Le had put into their arrangements.
“Alright, go check them out. I’ll wait in the courtyard.”
Each villa had its own small yard out front, fenced off with a low wooden picket fence. In the corner, there was a stone table and stools.
With one glance, Chi Yan thought it would be the perfect place to invite a few industry friends for a dinner gathering.
She could only imagine how nice the interior would be.
“Sister Ying, I’m going in!” she said excitedly and unlocked the door.
As it was a villa for a single person, it had only two floors—but the first floor alone was about 100 square meters, which was excellent by Haishi standards.
She did a quick tour of the first floor, which included a kitchen, dining room, game room, a spacious living room, and a bathroom. Upstairs had a guest bedroom, a master bedroom, a large walk-in closet, and a small gym.
Everything one might need was there—the designer had thought of it all.
Chi Yan thought to herself that she could comfortably live here for at least six months. That thought alone brightened her mood.
The only downside was probably the lack of people to talk to.
Her mom was enjoying her current lifestyle, and Chi Yan didn’t want to ask her to move in.
Even though the security here was great, many celebrities lived in the community, which made it a prime target for paparazzi.
On the day of the finals, her mom came to watch her performance—someone was bound to have noticed. If reporters surrounded her mom and bombarded her with questions about Chi Yan… she couldn’t tolerate that at all.
Her agent and assistant had staff dorms and weren’t allowed to live with the artists.
When she wasn’t working, she might not even be able to invite friends over.
But she had been through all of this in her past life, so it didn’t feel especially difficult now.
