Chapter 61: You Suddenly Getting Serious Makes Me a Bit Uncomfortable

[Dapeng's New Movie Actor Suspected of Drug Use]

When Zhou Le saw this trending topic, he felt it was entirely within reason.

After all, the internet has a way of magnifying baseless rumors.

Therefore, Zhou Le went straight to the police station for a drug test on the spot.

Then he posted several Weibos along with his previous fitness plan and the test report.

"Seriously, ever since my debut, I've made it to the trending searches a few times, but can they at least include my name? True gossip or fake insider info, can't you guys just write my name down? Am I really not worth even a sliver of traffic to you?"

Zhou Le posted a separate Weibo complaining about the marketing accounts.

As a result, this post promptly ended up on the trending list as well.

[A Certain Celebrity Rips Into Marketing Accounts for Taking Things Out of Context and Omitting Their Name]

Zhou Le: "I'm exhausted, just let the world end."

[New-Generation Artist Completely Disillusioned with the Trending Search Ranks]

Zhou Le: "......"

Yet, after this whole fiasco, even more people came to know who Zhou Le was.

Whenever marketing accounts posted headlines without naming names, people automatically substituted Zhou Le as the mystery celebrity.

"No, they are going way too far! Do you guys really take me for Sun Xiaochuan?"

That day, after finishing promotional events in Hengdian, Zhou Le complained to Nazha while taking a car to dinner.

Nazha looked completely bewildered: "Who is Sun Xiaochuan?"

Zhou Le: "...... Never mind, just some chubby guy who's done every bad thing imaginable."

"Oh. But well, this is normal too; didn't I get dragged through the mud all the way up? Bad publicity is still publicity. At least your visibility is much higher now than before. Besides, when chatting with people from our company earlier, they weren't very optimistic about Dapeng's movie this time. But looking at the current trend, because of all the absurd antics, a lot of people have actually developed an interest in the movie."

Zhou Le chuckled: "Well, if that's really the case, Dapeng owes me another huge red envelope... and needs to treat me to a month of meals... and preferably get me an apartment in Beijing. I'm not asking for much—just a slightly bigger place, better amenities, strong privacy, ideally within the second or third ring road. A courtyard house would be fine too. I'm not a greedy person."

Nazha was already used to Zhou Le being like this.

"Wow, you really are easy to satisfy, aren't you?"

"Of course. I'm just a kid from a poor family; a tiny bit of kindness is enough to make me content."

"So the 'tiny bit of kindness' you mentioned is a large apartment within the second or third ring road?"

"That works too."

Gulinazha: "???"

"That was clearly your own idea! What do you mean 'that works too'?"

Zhou Le: "Hehe."

Gulinazha: "No, what is that 'hehe' supposed to mean? You better explain yourself!"

However, joyful times are always brief.

By evening, Zhou Le suddenly received a call from Su Yingxia.

During this promotional trip, because the location was relatively close, Su Yingxia had taken the opportunity to return to Dayang Image's headquarters in Dongyang.

"Brother Le, it's over!"

Zhou Le: "What's over? I'm over? How am I over?"

"The company... the company..."

Zhou Le felt his heart skip a beat: "Is the company going under?"

"No."

"Is the company going to blacklist me? That shouldn't be right."

"Not that either, Brother Le. The company is dissolving its artist management department! Come September, all the artists' contracts with the company will be terminated!"

Zhou Le: "???"

"What the heck!"

Even Zhou Le was shocked!

He hadn't even been signed for a full year yet, and now the company's artist management department was dissolving?

"Ah, some things are hard to explain over the phone. Why don't you come to the company tomorrow? The executives said there are some things they'd like to discuss with you."

Zhou Le felt he indeed needed to go back and talk things through.

Because whether this contract termination was literal, or if they were being packaged and sold off to someone else, needed to be made clear.

If they were genuinely going to be packaged and sold off, he might as well just go take the civil service examination.

Taking the civil service exam and joining the army were practically the only two ways to quickly terminate a contract without paying penalty fees.

Though considering his age, he had just barely passed the recruitment threshold for the army.

Thus, Zhou Le asked Dapeng for a leave of absence that very day and headed straight back to the company the next morning.

If it was a normal contract termination, Zhou Le wouldn't mind. With a deeper immersion into the industry, Zhou Le now had better options, such as setting up a personal studio and partnering with major internet giants.

Anyway, the future film industry would gradually become inseparable from these platforms.

"Director Lu!"

"What's going on? Why are we suddenly dissolving out of nowhere? I just joined this big family, and I haven't even gotten familiar with many of the seniors yet."

Zhou Le asked the moment he stepped into Lu Wei's office.

Although the other party was no longer in charge of this specific area, Lu Wei was still the only senior executive Zhou Le was relatively familiar with within the company.

"Due to adjustments in the company's business strategy, we plan to focus wholeheartedly on production moving forward, so we decided to dissolve this department."

Zhou Le: "......"

"Then what about me?"

"A clean break on good terms. Or would you rather be packaged and sold off?"

"Not at all, but Foster Mother..."

Lu Wei got a headache the moment Zhou Le addressed her like that: "Stop, stop right there. I know what you're about to say. The variety shows and dramas that were promised to you will still happen; they won't be dropped just because this department is dissolving. After all, like I said, it's a clean break on good terms. Besides, the company actually values your potential very much. Even though we're dissolving now, it doesn't mean anything for the future. There will still be opportunities for us to collaborate down the line."

Zhou Le nodded. In fact, upon hearing this, he already understood the other party's implication.

When he arrived in the morning, he had also heard Su Yingxia mention that after the artist management department dissolved, Jin Dong and Wang Kai from the company would further cooperate with Dayang Image to start their own companies.

The fact that the other party didn't mention such an arrangement to him meant he simply wasn't at that level yet.

Yet, under the current circumstances, the company had already acted with utmost benevolence and righteousness, truly living up to a clean break on good terms.

Direct contract termination, with no extra conditions demanded.

Even the previously agreed-upon projects, *Like a Flowing River* and *National Treasure*, still counted.

It was equivalent to him having signed for less than a year, earning the company a few million through *Dying to Survive*, and subsequently securing *Like a Flowing River* and *National Treasure* through the company's backing.

Even getting cast in *Duckweed* so quickly back then was thanks to the company.

Later on, he managed to land two songs through *Duckweed*—one was an interlude, and the other was composed by Li Ronghao himself, originally written for his ex-girlfriend.

Calculated overall, not only did he not suffer any losses, but he actually profited quite a bit.

"Alright, even after I leave, I'll still come back to visit you often," Zhou Le said.

These words came straight from the heart.

Lu Wei: "???"

Zhou Le looked puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Lu Wei: "Nothing, it's just that you suddenly turned serious and I'm not used to it."

"Haha, actually I'm a very serious person; my usual self is just my camouflage."

"As if I'd believe you." Lu Wei said, then added a word of caution: "This matter is currently only circulating internally. Aside from your manager, don't mention it to anyone else outside. Also, that manager of yours is still sticking with you. You can keep using her if you want, or replace her—from now on, you'll be her sole boss.

Finally, considering our relationship, let me tell you one thing: given your ability, joining any talent agency right now wouldn't be appropriate. They would only restrict your development, as not every company is Dayang Image.

I suggest you set up a personal studio first, and wait until you have something solid to show before trying to talk to Tencent, iQiyi, and Youku."