Chapter 38 You think one movie's paycheck is enough to buy your life, you punk!

After the meeting concluded.
Returning to the hotel.
Xu Ming stepped out of the bathroom, wiping his damp hair.
Ding-dong!
His phone lit up.
[Li Jinming: Teacher Xu, I have something I would like to discuss with you. Is it convenient for me to come over?]
Xu Ming directly sent his hotel room number.
Without changing his clothes, he called room service to have a meal sent up, accompanied by a bottle of red wine.
When a knock sounded at the door.
After entering, Li Jinming saw Xu Ming wearing a bathrobe, her expression entirely natural.
"Teacher Xu, I was foolish and hadn't thought things through before, but now I want to join your company. Can you give me a chance?"
As she spoke, she pouted her lips and looked at Xu Ming with a pitiful expression.
"I recall that you signed an exclusive performing contract with Gogo Entertainment, didn't you?" Xu Ming asked with a raised eyebrow.
He was not surprised by Li Jinming's surrender.
When he casually pulled out a provincial satellite TV variety show appearance as a welcoming gift right from the start, these rookie actors naturally could not resist.
Besides, in his past life, after *IPartment* aired, this same person had quickly terminated her contract with Gogo.
"I was ignorant back then and got tricked into signing it. It's been almost a year, and I haven't received a single gig."
Li Jinming half-squatted beside Xu Ming, who was swirling his glass of red wine, resting her hand on his arm and acting coquettishly. "I'll resolve the contract issue. Just please give me another chance."
My, oh my, with an attitude like this, it is no wonder she was dubbed the pioneer of sweet girls.
"In principle, that's definitely not possible..." Xu Ming said unhurriedly.
Li Jinming's face lit up with joy, and she pressed her body closer against him.
Anyone worldly-wise knows that "in principle, it is possible" means it is not possible, and "in principle, it is not possible" means it is completely possible.
"But since you're so sincere, I suppose I can give you a chance, provided that you sort out your contract with Gogo. The company won't clean up your mess, understand?" Xu Ming said.
"Understood. Thank you, Teacher Xu. You're so kind, I don't even know how to thank you." Li Jinming's face flushed red, tinged with a hint of bashfulness.
Since they were both in the industry, sometimes a single bathrobe was enough to imply a great deal.
Someone even more shameless would have gone completely commando, terrified that the other person might miss the hint.
"You've come at just the right time. The long night is young and I can't sleep, so keep me company for a few drinks."
After consecutive days of campaigns, Xu Ming still retained quite a bit of romantic flair.
If a man, upon seeing his partner dressed in scant clothing, still chooses to take things slowly, it simply means he is waiting for the medicine to take effect...

Of course, Xu Ming was certainly not at that stage. Just as he said, there was plenty of time in the long night ahead.
Ring-ring!
A phone ring suddenly pierced the air, shattering the ambiguous atmosphere in the room.
Xu Ming casually answered it.
A wave of commotion came from the other end of the line, followed by Cheng Ye's panicked voice.
"Ming, Brother Shenyang got into a fight with someone!"
"Take your time, don't panic."
Hearing this, Xu Ming frowned and stood up. Disregarding Li Jinming, who was nudged aside onto the floor, he said in a deep voice, "Send me the location."
He shrugged off his bathrobe while rapidly changing his clothes.
"We didn't have anything to do, so Brother Shenyang suggested we grab a table at a bar. There was a table of Hong Kong actors nearby, and they were talking all high and mighty, looking down on mainlanders."
"Then, somehow, your name came up. Those people started saying you're just a clown, and that Hong Kong actors are naturally born to ride on top of mainland actors. Brother Shenyang couldn't stand it, started yelling, and a brawl broke out."
Cheng Ye gradually calmed down as he explained the situation. "Judging by their posture, they don't plan on letting this go easily."
"You guys protect him first, I'll be there in ten minutes."
Xu Ming glanced at the location sent by the other party, finding it was not far away, and hung up the phone.
He turned his head and told Li Jinming, "You stay and rest here tonight. No matter who asks, just say the two of us were together, understand?"
"I-Understood."
Looking at the serious expression on Xu Ming's face, Li Jinming nodded hurriedly.
He immediately called his bodyguard, and then sent the location to his martial brothers at the Shanghai theater troupe, telling them to head over.
Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment and called Wang Chuanjun and Sun Yizhou along as well.
At least they were two guys; having more people builds up momentum.
Getting into the car, Xu Ming rubbed his temples. There was simply no end to troubles in the middle of the night.
The crucial point was that this matter seemed to involve people from the Hong Kong entertainment circle, though their exact identities remained unclear.
After pondering for a moment, he decided not to disturb his master just yet, preferring to assess the situation upon arrival.
Once inside the bar, there was no need to search around.
With a single glance, he spotted Xiaoshenyang and the others surrounded by a dozen or so people.
"Damn it, mainland boy, weren't you acting all arrogant just now? Go ahead, be arrogant for me again! Get out here, let's take this outside!"
The leading man reached out, attempting to slap Xiaoshenyang across the face.
Xu Ming strode over and slapped the man's hand away. "If you want to talk, talk. Keep your hands to yourself. Do you even understand the rule of law?"
He forcefully squeezed through the crowd of opponents, stood in front of Xiaoshenyang, and confronted the group of Hong Kong artists.

Scanning the group with a quick glance, he recognized quite a few familiar faces.
Standing right at the front was Chapman To—this jerk wouldn't be banned until 2014, and was still active in the mainland at present.
A bit further back, one person wearing a knit cap was unmistakably Dicky Cheung.
Truly, a den of thieves and rats.
Chapman To froze for a second, glanced past Xu Ming, and immediately sneered.
When Sun Yizhou and Wang Chuanjun were called, they happened to be having dinner with Chen He and Zheng Kai, so they received the message and came over together.
The four of them looked like college students, carrying zero intimidation factor.
Chapman To poked Xu Ming in the chest with his finger. "Wearing sunglasses, what big star are you pretending to be? Take a good look at our faces—the paycheck from a single movie could buy your life, you street trash!"
"I came here to reason things out. How did my friend offend you? I'll apologize on his behalf. Name your price."
Xu Ming raised his hands to indicate he harbored no hostility.
This cowardly demeanor not only caused the opponents to burst into mocking laughter, but even made the faces of Xiaoshenyang and the others flush with anger.
"Ming, I'll take responsibility for my own actions. I refuse to believe he can beat me to death," Xiaoshenyang said stiffly.
"If the bar security hadn't stopped us, I would have beaten you to death already, you punk."
Chapman To cursed, then said to Xu Ming, "Seeing as you're sensible, half a million, plus a slap."
"We can talk about money, but let's skip the slap," Xu Ming bargained.
"This slap is meant for you, street trash. Weren't you acting all high and mighty when you first walked over?" Chapman To sneered coldly.
Xu Ming paused for a moment, touched his own face, and smiled with harmless innocence. "Fine, then let's go outside to settle this. There are security cameras in here, and if this gets recorded, I suppose it wouldn't look good for you guys."
"Hahaha, this punk is even looking out for us."
After laughing, Chapman To waved his hand, signaling Xu Ming to lead the way.
The crowd swarmed out toward the exit of the bar.
Behind them, Zheng Kai tugged at Chen He and the others, whispering, "Is your boss really this much of a coward? Didn't Jianghu rumors say he has quite a fiery temper?"
"Acting like a big shot, acting like a big shot—if you don't have the status, how can you act like one?" Chen He whispered back.
Meanwhile, Xiaoshenyang's eyes were reddening. "I won't let you take this slap for me, I—"
"Calm down. When have I ever let myself get the short end of the stick?"
Xu Ming glanced at his phone, a brighter smile blooming on his face as he quickened his pace.