Chapter 65

Lu Juxu said this with a straight face, but Su Xingyao couldn't help feeling that something was off.

He didn’t rush to read the contract’s contents but instead asked Lu Juxu after seeing “Lanxing Entertainment Co., Ltd.” on the first page.

"When was this contract drafted?"

At first, when Lu Juxu asked him, Su Xingyao thought he was joking.

But now, having read through it clearly, he realized that Lu Juxu wasn’t kidding at all.

The terms were written out in clear and complete detail, and the agency was a legitimate entity.

Lu Juxu was serious.

And he had prepared the contract long ago.

Actually, Su Xingyao wasn’t surprised that Lu Juxu was getting into the entertainment industry.

After all, they had already co-invested in Xu Huan’s new movie together last time.

He had believed Lu Juxu’s words then, thinking he was just dipping his toes into the film industry as a trial.

He never imagined that one day, Lu Juxu would establish a proper talent agency and invite him to join.

Su Xingyao actually wanted to ask when the company was founded.

But before he could voice his question, the man opposite him had already answered his previous query earnestly.

"The contract was drafted the day after you—"

Suddenly realizing that a certain name might bring bad luck, Lu Juxu decided not to mention it in front of Su Xingyao and paused for half a second before changing his words, "the day after your contract with the other party was terminated."

The day after the contract with the other party was terminated...

Hearing Lu Juxu specify such an exact time, a flicker of surprise flashed across Su Xingyao's eyes.

He actually... drafted the contract so early?

Su Xingyao's heart in his left chest inexplicably skipped several beats at that moment.

His mind kept repeating a question: Why was it at that particular time?

And why did Lu Juxu only bring this up now, even though he had apparently planned it so early?

Su Xingyao looked at Lu Juxu, as if trying to read the answer from his eyes.

But in the end, he felt that asking directly might create a misunderstanding, making it seem like he was blaming him.

After hesitating for a long while, he finally just made a joke.

"Mr. Lu, you have quite an eye; you saw my potential so early on."

Lu Juxu chuckled in response, "Yes, I've always had good judgment."

His tone was rather proud.

After speaking, Lu Juxu noticed that Su Xingyao seemed lost in thought, his eyes downcast. He then said, "Su Kitty, consider joining Lanxing as well."

Feeling Lu Jiuxu's gaze directed at him, Su Xingyao felt a peculiar emotion gradually spreading within him.

He looked up to meet Lu Jiuxu's gaze and retorted, "Just consider?"

"But your eyes seem to be urging me to agree right away."

When Su Xingyao said this, there was not much emotion on his face, but he was a bit nervous.

He wasn't sure why he was nervous or why he had said that.

But he was certain of one thing: whenever he was around Lu Jiuxu.

Just a look or a word from Lu Jiuxu could easily unsettle him.

Having his intentions exposed by Su Xingyao, Lu Jiuxu was not at all embarrassed and directly admitted it generously.

"Exactly."

He chuckled softly, amused by the situation.

Upon accidentally discovering Su Xingyao's desire to terminate his contract, he promptly set up this company.

But for such a long time, he had never mentioned the purpose and importance of the company's establishment to Su Xingyao.

From the start, he had intended to reveal the company's existence only when Su Xingyao needed it.

If Su Xingyao decided to leave the entertainment industry after terminating his contract and no longer required an agency.

Then he would never bring it up.

Lu Jiuxu picked up half a lime from the plate and dropped it into the glass.

The soda fizzed as it mixed with the lime.

After adding two more ice cubes, he cast a soft glance at Su Xingyao.

In fact, this timeline and motivation could be traced back even further.

After all, from the first moment he saw Su Xingyao, he couldn't help but feel an urge to keep this person and protect him.

All this time, in Su Xingyao's presence, he had always played the role of a friend.

But only Lu Jiuxu knew the truth.

All the talk of friendship was just a facade.

Everything he felt for Su Xingyao was simply love at first sight.

Lu Jiuxu reclined on the sofa, tilting his chin up to look at Su Xingyao.

At that moment, he made no effort to conceal the affection in his eyes.

Sadly, Su Xingyao didn't meet his gaze.

"I truly hope that you can agree."

Lu Jiuxu paused for two seconds before adding, "But more than that, I hope you can make your decision freely, without any constraints."

"Including friendship, family, or any other emotions..."

The two words "love" remained unspoken by Lu Juxu.

His voice, unusually gentle and deep, as he looked at Su Xingyao, seemed to be making a solemn vow, incredibly earnest.

"You just need to do what you like."

"I will always respect your choices unconditionally."

After speaking, Lu Juxu lazily handed the prepared lemon soda to Su Xingyao.

"This contract is just an opportunity I'm fighting for myself. If you don't like it, it's completely fine."

Su Xingyao stared intently at the person in front of him, his heart swelling with emotion.

Reaching out to take the lemon soda, he lowered his head and took a light sip.

"I'll think about it carefully."

That night, Su Xingyao tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, Lu Juxu's words echoed in his ears.

Before meeting the other person, perhaps influenced by the world's will, Su Xingyao felt that his past was like a machine serving the plot.

No one cared about the choices and feelings of someone so widely disliked.

But not Lu Juxu.

He had always truly cared about his feelings.

The bed in the bedroom was soft and large. After tossing and turning several times without falling asleep, Su Xingyao pulled out his phone.

Originally, he just wanted to check the time, but somehow he ended up opening WeChat.

After staring at the pinned avatar for a while, he still opened the chat window and sent a sunset meme he had edited.

Su Maomao: Dog snoring.jpg

As soon as the meaningless sticker was sent, the other party quickly replied with a sticker as well.

Lu Gougou: Cat wagging tail.jpg

Seeing the sticker he had once used sent back to him, Su Xingyao smirked slightly and quickly typed.

Su Maomao: Stealing my sticker secretly

Lu Gougou: It's openly and honestly

*

In the following days, Su Xingyao carefully reviewed all the agency contracts he had received.

Among the companies he was considering signing with, there were some that were not very reliable.

However, compared to them, most of the companies offered very favorable terms, with two of them showing particularly strong determination, nearly offering him the most rights and concessions they could.

But no matter how appealing these agencies' offers were, they still couldn't compare to Lanxing.

Lanxing's offer was practically charitable.

Every clause favored him, with no restrictions on his work, and each contract was written with complete transparency, with no sneaky fine print.

This management contract, to put it mildly, if one were to ignore the names of the parties involved, anyone seeing it would mistakenly think that Su Xingyao is the behind-the-scenes boss...

No one could resist such terms.

After a brief rest at home for a few days, Lu Jiuxu had already flown overseas to conduct business negotiations.

This actually put Su Xingyao more at ease, as he didn’t discuss the follow-up matters of the contract with Lu Jiuxu but instead with his manager, Zhou Mengxue.

Su Xingyao arrived at the high-end café a bit earlier than the agreed time to meet Zhou Mengxue.

As he gazed out at the city skyline at night through the café's large floor-to-ceiling windows, he suddenly heard the sound of high heels clicking.

Turning toward the sound, he saw Zhou Mengxue, her big wavy hair and ten-centimeter stilettos making her entrance as if she owned the place.

"Mr. Su, hello, I'm Zhou Mengxue."

She briskly sat down across from Su Xingyao and introduced herself.

Hearing this, Su Xingyao finally got a clear look at the legendary manager who had stepped back after launching two top stars.

Before this, Su Xingyao had only heard snippets about her name and accomplishments but had never met her face-to-face.

Meeting her today, he realized that despite retiring three years ago, she looked no older than thirty-four or thirty-five, exuding youth and poise.

Nothing like he had imagined.

"Hello, Sister Zhou."

Zhou Mengxue nodded at Su Xingyao and sipped her coffee.

She was impeccably dressed but in no rush.

After chatting with Su Xingyao about work to get to know each other better, Zhou Mengxue turned the conversation to the contract.

After thoroughly discussing the details, Zhou Mengxue circled back to ask for Su Xingyao's opinion.

"Xiao Su, is there anything in this contract that doesn’t sit right with you, or any gaps in your career planning and development? Feel free to suggest changes."

Without realizing it, Zhou Mengxue’s tone toward Su Xingyao had shifted subtly.

She smiled at Su Xingyao, giving him the space to share his thoughts.

In response to Zhou Mengxue’s question, Su Xingyao genuinely couldn’t think of any changes to suggest.

After all, Lanxing’s contract had already gone above and beyond.

Even his sole concern about job selection was entirely in Lanxing’s hands.

This contract was flawless by industry standards.

Asking for more would be pushing it.

So Su Xingyao shook his head and replied honestly, "No, everything’s perfect."

Zhou Mengxue arched an eyebrow and smiled warmly.

"Then the day after tomorrow is a lucky day. If everything looks good to you, let’s sign the contract."

When Su Xingyao heard about the auspicious date, she was momentarily stunned.

They even picked the date? Isn’t Sister Zhou’s preparation a bit over the top?

Zhou Mengxue, however, didn’t seem to mind these details and held out her hand to Su Xingyao. "Xiao Su, looking forward to working with you."

Su Xingyao nodded and politely shook her hand. "I’ll be counting on your guidance, Sister Zhou."

Without further delay, the two happily finalized the contract.

After discussing the contract, Zhou Mengxue was in no hurry to leave and sipped her coffee leisurely while chatting with Su Xingyao.

Despite her fame, Zhou Mengxue is surprisingly gentle and approachable.

Su Xingyao is also a very gentle person, and the two hit it off right away.

After becoming more familiar, Su Xingyao asked a question she was very curious about.

"Sister Zhou, can I ask why you decided to come out of retirement to manage me?"

Zhou Mengxue smiled gently. "Because I really admire your talent."

Hearing this, Su Xingyao also smiled.

"Sister, you’re just flattering me."

Zhou Mengxue nodded. "Alright, I’ll stop teasing you."

After saying this, she took out a hundred-yuan bill from her wallet and placed it on the table, tapping it lightly with her fingertip.

"Because of Mr. Lu’s deep pockets."

*

Two days later, on the auspicious day, Su Xingyao was chauffeured in a special car to the Lanxing building, where she signed the management contract without a hitch.

Even though there was no live media coverage, Lanxing still hosted an elaborate signing ceremony for Su Xingyao within the company.

Once everything was taken care of, Su Xingyao sent a WeChat with a photo of today’s signing at Lanxing to Lu Jiuxu.

Su Maomao: Mr. Lu, Lanxing left me with no other choice.

Across the ocean, a soft chuckle broke the silence in the car.

Lu Jiuxu narrowed his eyes slightly as he read the message from Su Xingyao several times.

Indeed, he would give Su Xingyao many choices.

But equally, among the many choices available to her, he would ensure he was Su Xingyao’s top choice.

After the signing, that very evening, Lanxing Entertainment posted Su Xingyao’s photo and details on their official website.

At the same time, the official Weibo account also announced Su Xingyao’s signing with Lanxing Entertainment.

Lanxing Entertainment: #Su Xingyao Signs with Lanxing Entertainment#

When a rose falls into the Klein blue sea, every moment of waiting turns romantic and meaningful.

@ssSu Xingyao Thank you, Mr. Su, for your trust and support in Lanxing Entertainment.

If our meeting was fate, then our companionship will be steadfast.

Grateful to have you, Lanxing will walk the future path hand in hand with you.

Right after Lanxing Entertainment made the official announcement, they went all out promoting it on every platform.

The news of Su Xingyao signing with Lanxing directly topped the charts.

With the company's high-profile promotion, the fandom caught wind of the news right away.

Su Xingyao's fans, who had been waiting forever, were thrilled to hear about his new deal and immediately followed his new account and Lanxing's official Weibo.

The fans, who had been all over the place, finally had an official home.

While fans were happily holding raffles to celebrate Su Xingyao's signing with a new company, some haters and netizens mocked Su Xingyao.

"??? What kind of no-name company is Lanxing Entertainment?"

"Never heard of it. Did Su Xingyao start his own studio or something?"

"Is Su Xingyao out of his mind? He finally gets popular again, and instead of signing with a big-name company while he's hot, he waits forever and picks this??"

Lanxing Entertainment is so new that netizens only learned of its existence after Su Xingyao signed with it.

Curious, people dug into the company's background but came up empty—totally blank.

No one could figure out why Su Xingyao would go with such a no-name company.

"Is it that Su Xingyao can't land a decent deal at his level?"

"How could that be? He's been really popular lately, and several well-known companies in the industry have contacted him."

"Then why'd he go with this company? What's Su Xingyao even thinking..."

"He's always had bad taste, from his last agency to now Lanxing... nothing but duds."

"Ugh, why do they all have 'star' in their names..."

Just as netizens were baffled by Su Xingyao's choice of agency, those who dug into Lanxing's background returned with shock.

"Well... let's just say a new company isn't always a bad thing."

"Seriously, you guys need to look up Lanxing yourself—this company's not what you think, it's actually pretty legit."

"After checking it out, I'm ready to call Lanxing 'Daddy'."

"?"

"Trolls???"

"Stop beating around the bush—just spill it."

"Calling it 'Daddy'? Never even heard of this crappy company—how good can it be?"

Since so many didn't buy it, the so-called trolls just dropped two photos.

The first pic was of Lanxing's HQ.

In the city's most prime commercial district, a grand, standalone building stands prominently in the middle.

At the front of this clearly expensive building, the words "Lanxing Entertainment Co., Ltd." are boldly written.

Before the stunned netizens could even estimate the building's value, someone posted a second photo.

Netizen: I just took this photo on-site. The photo doesn't do justice to how shocking it is.

Hearing this, netizens quickly clicked to see the larger image.

The photo was taken from an angle, lying against the building's glass door, peeking inside.

Netizens originally wanted to see how luxurious the building's interior was.

But when they saw what was inside, they realized the outrageously expensive decor wasn't the main attraction.

The highlight was a massive poster of Su Xingyao, about twenty to thirty meters high, hanging on the building's wall.

Even the decorations and small ornaments inside were all about Su Xingyao.

The whole company felt like it was made just for Su Xingyao.

Netizens who had just called Lanxing a low-tier company were now left with one word: awesome.

"This building and its decor are grand, luxurious, and downright awesome."

"Totally blinded by that huge poster."

"This isn't a talent agency—it's basically Su Xingyao's fan club headquarters."

"Sorry, Lanxing Daddy, I didn't see the big picture earlier."

"Wow, this building screams money at first glance."

"It's seriously rich—a friend told me Su Xingyao's poster alone costs seven figures."

"With this kind of display, I'd sign too if I were Su Xingyao."

"Does anyone know Lanxing's backstory?"

"Not sure about Lanxing, but Su Xingyao's current manager is a big deal."

"Su Xingyao has a manager? Who is it?"

"Zhou Mengxue, who launched two top stars and then left the industry for three years, saying there were no more challenges."

"Wow..."

As attention grew, news about Su Xingyao and Lanxing kept flooding in.

Knocking out anyone who had been gossiping and dismissing Su Xingyao and the new company.

However, before the netizens could recover from these events, Lanxing high-profile announced a new resource for Su Xingyao.

The top-tier variety show *Exit Gracefully*, with an all-star guest lineup, is set to feature Su Xingyao as the newest guest.