The day for Quan Jiu and Bai Lin's meeting arrived quickly.
Early that morning, after dropping Mi Mi and Tu Tu off at kindergarten, Quan Jiu drove to Xiangyuan Modu, Lu Lian's residence. Considering Lu Lian was a public figure, she and Bai Lin had arranged to meet directly at Lu Lian's home.
Lu Lian was sound asleep when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was Bai Lin, he groggily got up to open the door.
"Old Bai, why so early today?" Lu Lian yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he looked at the person outside. But the next moment, his breath hitched, his movements froze, and he stared blankly at the person at the door with his mouth agape.
"Uh..." Quan Jiu smiled slightly. *As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to others.* She extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Nine. Bai Lin and I arranged to meet here."
A gust of wind blew in, making Lu Lian shiver. He instantly sobered up.
He glanced down at his boxer briefs, his face flushing and paling in quick succession.
"Oh, hello, hello. I... I... forgot it was today. You're here so early. No, not that, I woke up a bit late. Come in and sit. I'll go get cleaned up. Make yourself at home." He said this while rushing towards the bedroom, leaving Quan Jiu standing at the door.
Quan Jiu couldn't help but smile. On camera, Lu Lian was always an icon of fashion; even his candid airport photos could become fashion spreads. But in private, he was the type to have messy hair, go shirtless, and wear boxer briefs at home.
Quan Jiu entered and sat down in the living room, taking out her phone to inform Bai Lin that she had arrived.
By the time she put her phone down, Lu Lian had already gotten dressed and come out.
*Such speed...* Quan Jiu admired him inwardly. Aloud, she said, "Bai Lin said he's on his way and should be here in about ten minutes. You haven't had breakfast, have you? Don't mind me, you do your thing."
Lu Lian looked a bit embarrassed. "Then... I'll make some breakfast."
Slipping into the kitchen, Lu Lian took out his phone and asked Bai Lin: [Why didn't you say we were meeting in the morning?]
Bai Lin checked the time. [I didn't? But nine o'clock isn't that early.]
Lu Lian was somewhat exasperated. He secretly glanced at the living room and then asked Bai Lin: [I thought it was some female celebrity. Is she really Nine? She's so young.]
[I was surprised when I first met her too,] Bai Lin replied honestly.
*Then why didn't you tell me?* Lu Lian grumbled inwardly. He thought about his appearance just now... He muttered to himself, wondering if he should wait until Bai Lin arrived before going out.
After much deliberation, he could only urge Bai Lin to hurry. He then stood by the stove, cooking eggs, heating milk, and eating bread. Before he could finish, Bai Lin arrived. Lu Lian, as if seeing a savior, poured three glasses of juice and brought them out of the kitchen.
Bai Lin sat down and said with a hearty laugh to Quan Jiu and Lu Lian, "You've already met, so no introductions are needed. Let's get straight to business."
He looked at Quan Jiu. "Lu Lian was blacklisted, and I was targeted by Hei Li, all because we offended Duan Jing Lun. He has power and influence in City A. Hei Li's arm can't twist a thigh, so to quell his anger, they expelled me from the board of directors and canceled all of Lu Lian's activities."
Quan Jiu pondered, "Someone who can make Hei Li, one of the three giants of the film and television industry, helpless must have quite the background."
Bai Lin scoffed dismissively, "Hei Li has only been glorious for the past two years. Hei Li only rose to prominence after Lu Lian joined. In the two years Lu Lian was at Hei Li, he not only created financial value for Hei Li but also brought many business cooperation opportunities. Hei Li also took the chance to poach many big stars. All in all, Hei Li only managed to establish a firm foothold in the last couple of years."
Quan Jiu nodded slightly. "So, how did you offend Duan Jing Lun?"
Bai Lin looked at Lu Lian and said, "You tell her. You were the one involved."
Lu Lian took a sip of juice and recalled, "It happened the winter before last. I was attending a fashion show. Midway through, I caught a cold and had a fever, so I went to the backstage lounge to rest. Unexpectedly, I stumbled upon Duan Jing Lun forcing himself on a female model.
Afterward, I didn't intend to get involved. After all, when encountering such a situation, whatever an outsider says is wrong; only the person involved can decide.
But I didn't expect that three days later, the female model found me and asked me to testify in court, as she wanted to sue Duan Jing Lun. I was the only eyewitness. After discussing it with Old Bai, we decided to testify."
Bai Lin continued, "If I hadn't agreed then, Lu Lian wouldn't have ruined his bright future because of it."
Lu Lian advised, "If it happened again, I would still testify. It's just that power prevails."
Bai Lin sighed, "It's not that I regret having you testify, but I regret being so hasty about it."
"It seems there was a snag in court," Quan Jiu guessed.
Lu Lian nodded and continued, "I agreed to testify for the model, but I didn't expect her to recant in court. Not only did she overturn her previous testimony, but she also turned around and accused me, saying I tried to force her."
Quan Jiu thought for a moment. "You were set up."
"Most likely," Bai Lin said. "If she had just regretted going to court, she only needed to withdraw the lawsuit. There was no need to falsely accuse. It must be that Duan Jing Lun felt he had been caught by Lu Lian and, to eliminate future trouble, somehow convinced the model who was forced to set up Lu Lian like this."
"Then there shouldn't be any evidence, right?" Quan Jiu asked. If there was evidence, Lu Lian would have been reported across the entire internet, and the company wouldn't have just blacklisted him.
Lu Lian nodded. "Yes, the court couldn't find any evidence, and the matter was eventually dropped. But Duan Jing Lun pressured Hei Li to ban me."
Hearing this, Bai Lin's anger also flared up.
"Duan Jing Lun's move was a precautionary measure. He set a trap for Lu Lian not to send him to jail, but to prevent Lu Lian from causing trouble for him in the future using that incident. After all, if Lu Lian brought up that matter again, he could counter-accuse based on that lawsuit. That's why they didn't continue the prosecution at that time.
As for me, that scoundrel Zhao Kuo had long wanted to replace me. So, at that time, he and the company targeted me, falsely accusing me of damaging the company's reputation. They instigated a board vote and kicked me out of Hei Li."
"I didn't expect such a complex causal relationship behind this matter," Quan Jiu remarked.
Lu Lian sighed, looking somewhat dejected. "Hei Li has clearly stated that they will terminate the contract upon its expiration. But before that, I won't be able to have any activities, and they won't let me leave either."
Quan Jiu pondered for a moment before speaking, "I understand the whole story. There are two ways to solve your problems: either break the contract or terminate it. However, breaking the contract incurs a penalty of six hundred million yuan. Hei Li is also unlikely to terminate it."
Bai Lin was very helpless. "If I had the money, I'd sell everything I own to pay this penalty."
Quan Jiu, however, shook her head. "Six hundred million is not a small sum. I don't want to solve this with money. We need to make Hei Li terminate the contract willingly."
Bai Lin and Lu Lian were both taken aback.
Bai Lin affirmed, "That's impossible. Hei Li would never willingly terminate the contract. Terminating it willingly would also require them to compensate Lu Lian. That's simply impossible."
"I'll think of a way. As I said before, I might not be able to help you, but I will try. If I have any results, I will notify you. Of course, if Lu Lian successfully terminates his contract, you both will join my company," Quan Jiu said with a smile.
Lu Lian's dejected eyes immediately showed a flicker of hope. He nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes. As long as I can continue acting, I'll do anything."
"Alright then, I'm urgently recruiting employees for my company recently, so I won't stay any longer." Quan Jiu bid farewell to the two and left Xiangyuan Modu.