Lin Dundun had watched too many overbearing CEO dramas.
It was too noisy. Half-asleep and half-awake, Lu Yuanxing directly pressed the phone call off.
The manager’s face turned green: …
Half an hour later, the call finally connected again.
The manager opened with a harsh scolding. “What is wrong with you? Why did you personally go online and curse people? Do you think you haven’t been hated badly enough?”
Lu Yuanxing took a deep breath and said calmly, “They were cursing Lin Dundun.”
“Haven’t I always told you to maintain your image? Do you still want to become popular or not?”
Lu Yuanxing said, “I don’t.”
Manager: .
How did he suddenly not want to?
Lu Yuanxing’s public reputation was so bad that the manager could not even be bothered to give him resources. But Lu Yuanxing had clung desperately and caused trouble. This time, the manager had called to demand an explanation.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuanxing retorted with one sentence.
“Cough, cough.” Lu Yuanxing deliberately coughed weakly a few times. “My body isn’t good.”
“Xingxing baby, don’t be angry.” Lin Dundun worked hard to climb onto the sofa, crawling onto Lu Yuanxing’s lap. He stretched out his little hand and imitated the nanny’s way of coaxing him, patting Lu Yuanxing’s back. “Be good. Dundun will coax baby.”
Hearing Lu Yuanxing coughing from the other end, the manager immediately lost his momentum, and his tone softened too. “You should still come to the company today. Do you still remember that parenting variety show, Happy Baby? I need to tell you about the process.”
Lu Yuanxing said, “Can I not participate?”
If he did not participate, he could immediately escape the plot of being hated by the entire internet and begin his happy salted-fish life of giving up!
In that variety show, not only did the original owner get hated and mocked by the entire internet until he became depressed and left the industry, even Lin Dundun would be scolded. If he could hide, then he should hide and enjoy the peace.
Manager Zhang was clearly stunned. Normally, the company did not recommend any resources to Lu Yuanxing. This time, they had recommended a parenting variety show, and Lu Yuanxing should have been endlessly grateful. Why had this person’s attitude changed?
He had heard that Lu Yuanxing had been flirting around outside, clinging to this person and that person, all just to use connections to get resources.
“Why won’t you participate? Don’t you want to step out of your comfort zone and begin a new career…” The manager began trying to motivate Lu Yuanxing.
“I don’t want to. I want to stay in my comfort zone!” Lu Yuanxing nodded, constantly affirming his own wisdom and greatness in his heart. Giving up in one’s comfort zone was truly wonderful. Lu Yuanxing did not understand why people clamored to step out of their comfort zones. Were novels not enjoyable enough? Was the phone not attractive enough?
Manager Zhang had no tricks left and said decisively, “You can’t.”
“Why?”
Manager Zhang said, “If you don’t participate, you need to pay a ten-million penalty clause.”
Lu Yuanxing: “…”
Subway, old person, phone.
Sure enough, the evil penalty clause plot never went out of date!
Fine.
They could ask him for anything except money! He wished he could write money into his family genealogy and hold it every day.
Right now, his savings were still negative. Where would he get a ten-million penalty clause? And that was ten million, ten million! How many years of fried chicken would that convert into?
Lu Yuanxing’s vision was instantly filled entirely with fried chicken. Countless pieces of fried chicken lined up and flew through his sight, accompanied by hamburgers and cola.
“Then I’ll go to the company.”
Lu Yuanxing hung up the phone.
There was another reason he was going to the company: he wanted to terminate his contract with this company.
This company was one of the Lin family’s old entertainment companies, controlled by Lin Jingzhou’s uncle. In reality, the inside of the company was rotten and stale to the core. All kinds of unfair incidents occurred frequently, and many talented artists were shelved.
The original owner had also signed an unequal contract with the company and was often used as a stepping stone.
Lu Yuanxing remembered that Lin Jingzhou and his uncle did not get along. Later, Lin Jingzhou directly cut this company away from the Lin family, tossed his uncle to the edge of the power center, and left him burdened with a mountain of debt.
“Xingxing baby, are you going to the company?” Lin Dundun kicked his little legs in Lu Yuanxing’s arms.
“Yes.” Lu Yuanxing rubbed Lin Dundun’s soft little face. “Will Dundun wait at home for Daddy?”
“Xingxing baby, I, I want to go with baby!” Lin Dundun excitedly held Lu Yuanxing’s hand.
“Mm?” Lu Yuanxing pinched Lin Dundun’s little face. “Dundun wants to go too?”
“That person is bad. Dundun wants to protect Daddy!”
Unexpectedly, even Dundun could tell that the manager was a big villain. Dundun really was his considerate little… big quilt. He even knew to protect Daddy. Wuwuwu.
What kind of considerate little baby was this?
Taking Dundun along was fine too. Although this entertainment company was managed by Lin Jingzhou’s uncle, Lin Jingzhou was the big CEO of all the companies. As Lin Jingzhou’s son, Dundun was their future young owner.
The Lin family’s future little master. Surely these people would not bully even Dundun. Hmph.
“Okay. Dundun is Daddy’s little knight.”
“Little, little anger-death!”
Lu Yuanxing patted Lin Dundun’s back and lay on the sofa, beginning to give up.
He only had to propose terminating the contract. It should not take too much time. He planned to go in the afternoon.
Having lived again, he would never do meaningless work, and he would definitely not rush eagerly to work. In his previous life, he had competed until he coughed blood. He had truly had enough!
He wanted to be a salted fish. Mm. A happy life began with sleeping!
Lin Jingzhou’s sofa was really soft!
Poor him. In his previous life, he had suffered from a terminal illness and had never even experienced sleeping carelessly on a sofa.
So comfortable, so comfortable.
Lu Yuanxing happily dozed for a while, then suddenly smelled a hint of paint.
Lu Yuanxing opened his eyes in confusion and saw Lin Dundun on the carpet, holding a man’s clothes and covering them with blue dye.
It was a suit. At this moment, Dundun had already drawn all over it with a blue watercolor pen until it was completely unrecognizable. Lu Yuanxing vaguely sensed that there was also a pentagon on the clothes, similar to a shield.
“This is…?” Lu Yuanxing was certain this was not his clothing!
His size was not like this. These clothes looked much larger than his size. Then in this household, there was only… only…
Bad news. It seemed to belong to his sponsor daddy, his great villain husband Lin Jingzhou’s dedicated suit.
Lu Yuanxing worked hard to smile, but his expression twitched a little. “Dundun, ah, what is this?”
Dundun picked up Big Daddy Lin Jingzhou’s suit and held it in front of himself as a shield. “This, this is an anger-death shield! Dundun wants to be Xingxing baby’s anger-death!”
Lu Yuanxing understood. Little Dundun was drawing a knight’s shield that was as tall as his entire body.
Mm, perhaps it was because Big Daddy was very towering and mighty.
Lu Yuanxing pressed his palms together. Lin Dundun had not become a knight, but perhaps he was about to anger to death his old father who was working himself half to death outside.
He hurriedly knocked a few times on an electronic wooden fish. CEO Lin Jingzhou was so tolerant; surely he would not fuss over a little figure like him. It was only an insignificant suit that had sacrificed itself, and it had already found its own destination, which was to change careers and become Lin Dundun’s shield. Amen.
Lin Jingzhou: You really are Daddy’s good eldest son!
Lu Yuanxing was just preparing to take Lin Dundun out when, unexpectedly, the usually aloof Lin Xiaoxiao also pushed open the door to his room. Lin Xiaoxiao wore a cold little face and said, “I’m going too.”
Lu Yuanxing was a little surprised. “?”
“Xiaoxiao wants to go too?”
Lin Xiaoxiao turned his head aside and said awkwardly, “I’m worried you’ll be kidnapped.”
His bad stepdad’s illness had not even healed, yet he wanted to go out. Did he understand what health preservation meant?
Was there something he had to do urgently? Was it possible that Big Daddy did not earn enough money?
He would earn money in the future too!
Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly felt his heart break from worrying over this family.
Sigh. Without me, this family would fall apart.
Lu Yuanxing looked at Lin Xiaoxiao’s sudden old-father expression and felt somewhat baffled.
This child, how did he seem more like a dad than him?
However, this was a good thing!
A burst of surprise filled Lu Yuanxing’s heart. This way, in the future, there would be two overbearing CEOs supporting him!
Was there really such a good thing? .jpg
He touched his brain, which had not fully grown back, and reached out to Lin Xiaoxiao. “Then all right. Daddy will take you both together.”
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Lu Yuanxing’s hand reaching toward him and was somewhat surprised.
Bad stepdad had not treated him like this for several years already…
Sure enough, his brain had been damaged, and he had mutated.
Thinking was one thing, but Lin Xiaoxiao still awkwardly walked to Lu Yuanxing’s side. As he passed by, he took a deep breath.
Lu Yuanxing looked at his empty hand. So he really would not hold it?
The child had grown up. This old father felt somewhat empty and lonely…
Before he could finish thinking, he felt a cool warmth on his hand.
Lin Xiaoxiao’s slightly cool little hand held his. His fingertips were very cold, but his palm was very hot.
It was like holding a little stove.
Sure enough, children had strong internal heat.
When they reached the door, Lu Yuanxing ran into a difficulty. The Lin family manor was too big. How were they supposed to get out?
He did not know how to drive!
Lu Yuanxing felt somewhat at a loss.
Lin Zixiao had an expression that said Daddy’s brain really had been damaged. Sigh. Daddy had even forgotten there were drivers at home!
So Lu Yuanxing watched in shock as the butler brought a car over. The driver drove the car to the villa entrance, and the butler respectfully opened the car door for Lu Yuanxing. “Young Master Xing, please.”
Lu Yuanxing dazedly brought the children into the car.
The back seat was very spacious. He sat in the middle, with one little child on each side.
Sunlight streamed in through the car window, and Lu Yuanxing became a little sleepy again.
Lin Xiaoxiao quietly looked out the window. Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at Daddy, who had fallen asleep again, then silently raised the car window.
Bad stepdad was this delicate. It would not be good if he caught a cold from the wind.
Then Lin Xiaoxiao would still have to take care of him. Hmph.
As for Lin Dundun, he happily leaned against Daddy the whole way until they arrived downstairs at the Lin family’s old entertainment company.
After Lu Yuanxing got out of the car, he relied on some of the original owner’s memories and went upstairs all the way to the fifteenth floor, where Manager Zhang was.
Before he could walk to the door, he saw someone coming from the opposite end of the hallway, wheeling himself in a wheelchair.
Sitting in the wheelchair was a middle-aged man in his forties. His hair was somewhat long, his expression dispirited, his eyes dead-fish-like, and his gaze somewhat sinister.
Lu Yuanxing immediately pulled the two little children up.
He remembered that this person across from him was Lin Jingzhou’s great-uncle, a villain who made money by stepping on countless company newcomers.
Many newcomers in the company were used as stepping stones. He only supported those who had begun to show promise. As for unknown newcomers, he either used them as stepping stones or stripped them of resources. He could be as dirty as possible.
The visitor had bad intentions. Lu Yuanxing felt that he had an obligation to protect the children.
Lin Zixiao’s hand was held by Lu Yuanxing, and he felt somewhat surprised.
He had thought… Lu Yuanxing would again be like before, seeing Xu Qi and leaving them behind to approach him, or pushing them out to take the blame.
Unexpectedly… bad stepdad was actually protecting them.
The way Lin Zixiao looked at Lu Yuanxing changed slightly. Hmph. This, this had to be another one of bad stepdad’s schemes.
Bad, bad stepdad must want… to please them so he could ask Big Daddy for something!
Only, when Xu Qi coldly opened his mouth, wanting to mock them, Lin Zixiao moved.
He stepped slightly forward and blocked Lu Yuanxing, his eyes carrying a trace of warning. “Great-Uncle.”
Xu Qi was stunned when he saw Lin Zixiao’s expression too.
As Lin Jingzhou’s eldest son, Lin Zixiao was actually looking at him like this… protecting Lu Yuanxing behind him.
Was Lu Yuanxing not on bad terms with Lin Jingzhou’s two children?!
Even the younger one was blocking Lu Yuanxing.
Xu Qi did not dare act recklessly. The provocation had only just begun, but his momentum deflated. He could disregard Lu Yuanxing, but he did not dare go against Lin Zixiao and Lin Zihang. Barring any accidents, these two little children would be the future heirs of the Lin family’s CEO.
Xu Qi lowered his banners and stopped fighting.
He only said, “I heard you want to terminate your contract.”
Lu Yuanxing nodded. “Yes. The contract is about to expire. I don’t plan to renew it.”
Being used as a stepping stone in this company and having his blood sucked dry. Did they really think he was a great fool?
No matter what, he was Lin Jingzhou’s wife in name. Truly, when the tiger did not show its might, they took him for a sick cat… He was not a sick cat!
Xu Qi manipulated his wheelchair and retreated a step, making way for them. He said to Lu Yuanxing, “Then go discuss this with your manager.”
Lu Yuanxing did not waste more words. With a nod, he held the two little children and walked into Manager Zhang’s office.
Inside the room, Manager Zhang was looking at this month’s report. He was currently immersed in the joy of Lu Yuanxing joining the parenting variety show and bringing another source of income.
In reality, Lu Yuanxing’s hated popularity had also created quite a bit of revenue for him.
Although Lu Yuanxing was a stepping stone and was far inferior to the ace under his management, the profit was still considerable.
Seeing Lu Yuanxing arrive, Manager Zhang smiled broadly. “Yuanxing, you came at just the right time. This is the process for the variety show Happy Baby. If nothing unexpected happens, filming will begin soon. Take Dundun and prepare…”
Lu Yuanxing pulled out a chair and sat opposite him. He crossed his legs and used a salted-fish sprawl. “I came to discuss the matter of terminating my contract.”
Manager Zhang: The smile gradually disappeared.jpg
“You, you really want to terminate the contract?”
He panicked.
Was this still the Lu Yuanxing who wanted to stick himself to every kind of resource he came across, the Lu Yuanxing who had gone mad wanting to become popular?
Lu Yuanxing lounged lazily in the chair like a cat pancake. “Jingzhou can’t come back for a long time recently, and no one is watching over the Lin family mansion. Jingzhou wants me to go back and oversee the overall situation.”
He used his unfortunate husband as a shield… that was fine, right?
…Probably?
Far away on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Lin Jingzhou suddenly sneezed at his foreign office desk.
“President, are you cold?” Assistant Zhang put down the coffee in his hand and asked, “Should I adjust the temperature?”
“It’s nothing.” Lin Jingzhou lightly twirled the pen in his hand, paused, then glanced at the photo of Lu Yuanxing and the two children on his smart watch. “Continue.”
Manager Zhang: “…”
What the hell did he mean by oversee the overall situation?
If you want to go back and give up, just say so.
Could there be a little less scheming and a little more sincerity?
However, Manager Zhang looked at Lu Yuanxing, who seemed indifferent and free of worldly desire, and felt somewhat unable to believe it.
Was this another one of Lu Yuanxing’s little designs?
He had always liked making poor schemes that anyone could think of with their feet, crying and making a scene to demand resources and camera time, regardless of whether that camera time was positive or negative.
“Do you have some earth-shattering idea you want to realize again?”
Lu Yuanxing smiled shyly. “There are indeed some of my small clever thoughts in here.”
“All right, I can talk to the director and ask the parenting variety show to give you more camera time—” Manager Zhang thought that there would be camera time, but whether it was supportive or defamatory was uncertain.
“No.” Lu Yuanxing shook his head. “I truly want to terminate the contract.”
Manager Zhang’s eyes widened.
Even Xu Qi appeared outside the door, looking at Lu Yuanxing inside the room, his expression gradually turning complicated.
No matter what, Lu Yuanxing was still Lin Jingzhou’s wife.
With him here, no matter how one looked at it, he was a kind of help to the company.
However, Lu Yuanxing, who had always valued resources highly and dreamed every day of becoming popular, had actually said that he wanted to go back and “oversee the overall situation”??
His cold and ruthless nephew was actually letting him do that?
Heh, Lu Yuanxing—he simply relied on the fact that his mother had once saved his little nephew’s life.
But so what? That one life was enough.
Enough to make his cold-blooded nephew marry him home, worship him like a Bodhisattva, give him money when he wanted money, and resources when he wanted resources.
Thinking about this year, spring had only just begun, and already two hundred million had been spent on him.
How good it would have been if that money had been given to Xu Qi!
Unfortunately, he did not have such a mother, nor a life-saving favor. He could only sigh that different people had different fates.
Lu Yuanxing calmly looked at Manager Zhang. Manager Zhang did not ignore the two little beans beside him and subconsciously looked at the older one.
He saw Lin Zixiao sitting on the small chair beside Lu Yuanxing. He was wearing a small black hoodie, lying back in the chair with his eyes closed to rest. Sensing Manager Zhang’s gaze, he suddenly lifted his eyes.
Those eyes, like cold stars, were exactly like Lin Jingzhou’s.
As though saying: Are you done?
Manager Zhang’s heart jolted, and he hurriedly soothed his wounded soul, thinking to himself how he could possibly be frightened by a child.
But this—this was the future heir of the Lin family.
So Manager Zhang squeezed out a smile. “Fine. There are still two months before the contract expires. During this period, as long as you participate in this parenting variety show…”
Lu Yuanxing said, “Can I not participate?”
If he did not participate, he could directly avoid those hated-and-mocked plotlines from the original novel! He also would not be cursed by the entire internet, and Lin Dundun would be spared that harm.
Solving it once and for all!
Manager Zhang said, “No.”
“Why?”
“Because the penalty clause is ten million.”
Lu Yuanxing: “…”
Sorry to disturb you.
They could mention anything to him except money!
That was ten million! His flesh hurt just thinking about it.
“All right.” Lu Yuanxing quickly said, “Then let’s do that.”
He took the parenting variety show contract and turned to leave. “From now on, the company and I will have no business relationship, except for this parenting variety show.”
Wanting him to be a stepping stone, a green leaf, a foil, letting others step on him, this “vase,” to climb up? Not a chance.
“After filming the parenting variety show, I will terminate the contract.”
