After a quick wash, Jiang Cheng left in the Rolls-Royce from Aman at Yangyun, and the car quickly arrived at the location Su Wan had provided.
The residential complex where Su Wan lived appeared to be a mid-range apartment building, neither new nor old.
After about five minutes, a graceful figure was seen hurrying towards his car.
Jiang Cheng focused his gaze and saw that it was indeed Su Wan.
Today, she was wearing a light goose-yellow top, black thick-soled Martin boots, and her fair, straight legs were openly displayed. It was still her typical 'Wan-style' outfit.
After getting into the back seat of the Rolls-Royce, Su Wan took off her black baseball cap and mask.
Seeing Su Wan get into the car, the chauffeur respectfully asked, "Mr. Jiang, where would you like to go now?"
Noticing Jiang Cheng glance at her, Su Wan immediately said, "Driver, please go to the Baiyue Hotel in Lujiazui."
"Understood," the driver politely replied.
After the car started, Su Wan tidied her bangs using her phone screen, then blinked her bright, foxy peach-blossom eyes at Jiang Cheng and said with a smile, "Good afternoon, Mr. Jiang."
"You came down quite quickly, but aren't you hot?" Her speed in coming downstairs suggested Su Wan was always ready.
Su Wan covered her mouth and chuckled, "The places we're going to are all air-conditioned malls, and in our line of work, wearing down jackets in summer and evening gowns in winter is normal."
"Now that you mention it, that's true."
"Mr. Jiang looks very young. I'm a bit curious, what do you do for a living?" Su Wan asked tentatively.
Jiang Cheng smiled and replied, "I remember telling you I'm here for tourism. I'm planning to apply to Magic City University, so I came to see what it's like here first."
Upon hearing this, Su Wan's expression showed a hint of shock: "I thought about that when I went back yesterday, but I thought you were joking."
Are rich second-generation heirs so arrogant now? Able to control so much cash flow at eighteen?
Seeing Jiang Cheng just smile, Su Wan sighed, "I'm really envious. Does your family really own a mine? You can buy a Ferrari so casually at such a young age."
After saying that, she couldn't help but recall that at eighteen, she was still attending university while working as an extra.
Jiang Cheng shook his head lightly, "Just an ordinary family."
Seeing that Jiang Cheng wasn't telling the whole truth, Su Wan didn't press further.
Looking at Su Wan sitting obediently beside him, Jiang Cheng asked.
"By the way, will Huang Ming's incident affect your work?"
Su Wan smiled bitterly upon hearing this: "There is an impact, but it's not huge. As an investor, he came to inspect our company and chose me..."
Mid-sentence, she glanced at Jiang Cheng again, hesitated, and said, "Our circle, I don't know if you're aware, has certain rules. When an investor chooses you to be the female lead and funds you, sometimes it's not unconditional. It might come with other attached conditions..."
Jiang Cheng naturally understood Su Wan's words; he wasn't really just eighteen.
Unspoken rules, of course.
The drama has to be filmed anyway, and money has to be invested. Choosing someone they like, who is obedient, and can also have fun with—these are the conditions for most investors when casting.
Unless you are a top-tier celebrity, and the drama needs you to attract popularity, in which case you can bypass this rule.
After all, the investor needs your fame to promote the drama.
Otherwise, a third or fourth-tier celebrity like Su Wan is destined to be chosen by others.
"Huang Ming proposed some conditions to me. If I accepted, the female lead would be me. Of course, if I didn't accept, someone else would be chosen. And the company sending me to entertain Huang Ming also implied this."
"So, were you planning to accept?"
Su Wan shook her head: "Of course I wasn't going to accept. I've been in the industry for so many years; if I had accepted early on, I wouldn't still be such a small, third-tier celebrity. The most I'd do with him is go shopping. I wouldn't accept any other conditions."
Jiang Cheng didn't doubt Su Wan's words, as her privacy value was 0.
"Judging by Huang Ming's demeanor, he probably made such demands to many actresses, right?"
Su Wan nodded: "Of course. If I don't accept, someone else will."
"Have you never thought about accepting?"
Su Wan looked at Jiang Cheng upon hearing this, then said frankly, "Of course I have. Even my agent advised me, as the script for this investment is indeed very good and has the potential to be a huge hit. But I don't want to rely on 'lying flat' to get ahead."
Jiang Cheng didn't respond to her last sentence. Since she said that, wasn't she hinting that she wouldn't accept his unspoken rules?
However, his main purpose in investing in Su Wan was certainly not for unspoken rules, but for rewards, after all, he was such a superficial person.
"En, is your drama a big investment?"
Su Wan shook her head: "Not at all. If it were a big investment, there's no way I'd be the female lead. It's just a small web drama."
"Web drama?"
Upon hearing this, scenes of crudely produced web dramas appeared in Jiang Cheng's mind, and his interest immediately dropped by more than half.
Seeing Jiang Cheng suddenly lose interest, Su Wan quickly explained, "Small productions have their advantages, you know. Low cost, quick returns, and most importantly, no fear of losing money. Plus, the plot of this drama is really excellent. I've read the script, and I think it has great potential."
Seeing Jiang Cheng remain silent, Su Wan couldn't help but nervously say, "Mr. Jiang, if you can, please help me. I really need this opportunity."
"Alright, since you put it that way, I can only respond with a 'hard' yes to your request."
"Are you serious?? You really agreed?"
"Of course it's hard? Don't believe me, want to see??"
Hearing this, Su Wan quickly waved her hand: "That's not what I meant. I'm just a little surprised. This is only our second meeting..."
"You think it's too fast?? I think it's fine."
Su Wan was excited at this moment, her breathing becoming a little rapid: "You're the investor, you call the shots."
"Relax, don't breathe so heavily. I can invest in this web drama and let you be the female lead, but the prerequisite is that you join my company as an artist."
Su Wan not only didn't relax upon hearing this, but her breathing became even more rapid: "You want to sign me?"
She was just a semi-old, neither new nor popular actress. Why would Jiang Cheng want to sign her?
Jiang Cheng nodded: "Yes, sign you. You become an actress for my company, and I'll invest in you."
"Mr. Jiang, my contract hasn't expired yet, do you know that?" Su Wan's beautiful foxy eyes looked at Jiang Cheng with inquiry.
"I know, right?"
"Then signing me would require you to pay my breach of contract fee."
Su Wan's fingertips unconsciously picked at her bag strap, her voice dropping a few octaves: "Mr. Jiang might not know how harsh our company's contracts are."
When she looked up, the sparkle in her eyes was overshadowed by a layer of helplessness: "I was only nineteen when I first signed with the company, I didn't understand anything. My agent held out an eight-year contract and said, 'This is standard in the industry,' so I signed it in a daze. Who knew back then that those eight years were actually shackles to trap me."
The car drove past the Huangpu River, and the river wind slipped through the window cracks, stirring the wisps of hair at her temples.
"Whatever the company says, we have to listen. If they tell you to go for drinks, you can't say no; if they tell you to take on a bad project, you have to accept it with a smile; even for demands like Huang Ming's, as long as the company approves, if you don't agree, it's 'disobeying arrangements'." She gave a self-deprecating laugh, "There are only two outcomes for disobedience: either you get blacklisted, or you pay an astronomical breach of contract fee and leave."
Jiang Cheng tapped his fingertips lightly on his knee, not interrupting.
"I've seen several predecessors who, just for refusing to have dinner with an investor, had all their resources cut off the next day. Scripts were replaced, endorsements withdrawn, and they didn't even get opportunities for walk-on roles. Then the company would hold onto your contract, forbidding you from taking any private work for eight years, from contacting other companies, and even live-streaming to sell goods would be considered a breach of contract."
Su Wan's voice tightened: "They wanted to leave, but the breach of contract fee was an astronomical sum. How could artists who just debuted have that much money? They could only watch as time wasted away, and by the time the contract expired, they would have long passed their prime, their spark would be gone, and the market would have long forgotten them."
She looked down at her hands, those hands that could express a myriad of emotions in front of the camera, now clenched so tightly her knuckles were white: "I rejected Huang Ming yesterday, and today the company has already sent a warning, saying that if I 'mess up another collaboration,' it will be treated as a 'serious breach of contract.' Either I obediently comply and attend his wine reception next week, or... I'll end up like those predecessors."
Outside the car window, the Lujiazui skyline grew closer, and the reflections on the glass curtain walls flickered on her face.
"It's not that I don't want to be strong; it's that I really can't afford the time. The eight-year contract has only gone on for three years; if I'm blacklisted for the remaining five, my life will truly be over."
"That's not a problem, I know."
Jiang Cheng currently had over 430 million in funds. With Su Wan's current worth, at most, a few million in compensation would settle it.
Su Wan fell silent upon hearing Jiang Cheng's words.
She knew that no one would support her for no reason.
Having been in the industry for so many years, she was no longer an innocent young girl.
At this moment, she couldn't help but wonder if Jiang Cheng had some ulterior motive for her.
Could it be? Su Wan's mind couldn't help but conjure many inappropriate images at this moment.