Chen Cheng curled the corners of his mouth, reached out to wrap his arms around her, and tightened his hold, "You are my girlfriend; if I don't treat you well, who would I treat well?"

Qiao Jingjing blinked, "But if I terminate the contract, the penalty might be an astronomical figure."

She rolled her eyes, "How about we just keep the status quo? I can reduce some work, I can still control that."

Chen Cheng met her eyes, "Silly, how could an entertainment company let a cash cow like you lie fallow?"

"As soon as you express the idea of wanting to take a more laid-back approach, they will definitely find ways to book more commercial activities and endorsements for you."

"After all, the less exposure you have, the more your commercial value will gradually decline."

"If you accept them and then don't go to the promotional events,"

"it will ultimately damage your reputation."

"By relying on the brand of commercial reputation, they can force your hand and make you follow their plans."

"Only by being your own boss can you have the right to choose independently."

He pinched her cheek, "I want you to be in charge of your own decisions."

Qiao Jingjing looked at Handsome Chen affectionately, her heart melting.

"I want you to be in charge of your own decisions!"

This was the most beautiful love confession she had ever heard.

Qiao Jingjing raised her arms to wrap around Chen Cheng's neck and nodded gently, "Then I'll listen to you."

Chen Cheng smiled; this was the first step in compensating Qiao Jingjing.

Later, he would also stuff Starlight, which manages music copyrights, into Qiao Jingjing's new company.

As for variety show, TV, and movie scripts, when he had time, he would also copy some and give them to Qiao Jingjing to play with.

Qiao Jingjing calculated her bank account balance in her mind; counting various investments, it was estimated to be just over one hundred million.

Qiao Jingjing was stunned; she didn't know if that was enough.

Based on the nearly two hundred million in revenue the company brought in last year, her penalty fee would probably be an astronomical figure.

Chen Cheng took her hand and continued walking forward, while explaining his plan.

"Regarding the contract termination, I will arrange for the best lawyers to negotiate and strive to minimize the losses."

Qiao Jingjing felt warm inside, "Mm~ once you've arranged it, I'll have Sister Ling handle the coordination."

Chen Cheng smiled, "You trust her very much?"

Qiao Jingjing lifted her chin, "Of course. Sister Ling has been managing me since I debuted."

She understood what Chen Cheng meant and raised an eyebrow at him, "I at least graduated from a 211 university; I won't be easily deceived. You can rest assured."

Chen Cheng curled the corners of his mouth, "Looks like I was worrying for nothing."

He smiled, "You don't need to worry about the penalty fee."

Qiao Jingjing shook her head, "No need, sister has money!"

Watching her proud and spoiled look, Chen Cheng's mouth twitched.

It seemed Qiao Jingjing wouldn't accept money directly.

Chen Cheng thought for a moment and said, "How about this: I'll be responsible for the penalty fee, and then we'll partner up to open a family business; the penalty fee will be equivalent to the cost I paid to poach you."

Qiao Jingjing's eyes widened, and she chided him, "Who is a married couple with you? I haven't agreed to that."

Her fair face was covered in a rosy blush.

She suppressed the joy in her heart.

Chen Cheng didn't tease her and continued, "In the new company, you hold 51% of the shares. The employee stock ownership plan is 10%; you decide how much Sister Ling gets, but of course, it must come from the employee stock ownership plan, and the remaining 39% belongs to me."

The entertainment industry is an exchange for networking resources.

Film and television resources, commercial collaborations, and networking connections—managers are indispensable.

In fact, many entertainment company bosses started out in the management profession.

The reason is that whoever controls the resources holds the power of discourse.

As for why Sister Ling's equity also has to come from the employee stock ownership plan.

That is because the resources others are proud of are not worth mentioning to Chen Cheng.

If he wanted to, he would only need to take Qiao Jingjing for a walk in the upper-class circles, and business resources would drift toward Qiao Jingjing like snowflakes.

The entertainment industry, after all, is still too shallow.

Anyone with a little bit of background gets called a "resource-backed" celebrity.

Judging from the conversation with Sister Ling today, it's clear that Sister Ling also understands Chen Cheng's worth.

"Mm, I have no objections," Qiao Jingjing agreed immediately.

Chen Cheng smiled, "Let's go, let's go, let's go home."

"Going home to work out."

"Work out?" Qiao Jingjing muttered suspiciously.

Chen Cheng nodded, "Mm, you ate so much tonight, I'll have you practice glute bridges in a while."

Qiao Jingjing stopped in her tracks, her eyes round, a blush spreading across her fair face, and she raised her hand to hit him, "Chen Cheng, you're dead meat!"

"Hahahaha..."

Rolling back the timeline.

After seeing everyone off and coaxing his daughter to sleep, A Guo started examining the gifts he had received.

Several colleagues from the studio gave him a rather expensive mug, a car aromatherapy diffuser, and small things like refrigerator magnets.

They came in a rush, and it wasn't Sister Ling's birthday anyway.

The fact that they brought gifts already shows that Sister Ling is very well-liked.

Just as A Guo was staring blankly at the Petrus wooden box, Sister Ling walked out of the room after taking a shower.

She immediately glared with her almond eyes, "Don't even think about it."

"We can't afford to drink such expensive wine."

A Guo had a relatively soft personality, but he wasn't stupid, "I know."

"I was just thinking, this Chen Cheng is really generous."

"I just looked it up, it's nearly forty thousand yuan."

Sister Ling snatched the wooden box, rolled her eyes at him, and while putting it back in the cabinet, said, "You even trade stocks, yet you don't even know who he is? I think you'd better stop trading, otherwise, the money we have at home will sooner or later be squandered by you."

A Guo's eyes widened, looking puzzled, "Who is he?"

Sister Ling carefully put away the wine box and sat back on the sofa, "Can't you move your pig hands and use your phone to search for his name?"

She rolled her eyes at him impatiently, "And don't you use your pig brain to think—with the fame our Jingjing has now, would she be interested in just any ordinary person?"

A Guo's mouth twitched, and he used his phone to search for Chen Cheng's name.

Suddenly his pupils dilated, his face full of disbelief, "Time Magazine?"

After public relations, many reposted articles were deleted, but a small number of media outlets didn't want to earn that money.

Especially since once image information has appeared on the internet, it's equivalent to being undeletable.

So now, Chen Cheng has also become someone who has left his name on the internet.

Shocked for a long while, A Guo smacked his lips and muttered, "No wonder he talks about economics so eloquently."

Sister Ling shook her head impatiently, thought of Qiao Jingjing, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Tell me, is it better to have an elephant's ear, or half a chicken?"

A Guo was stunned, not knowing what she was talking about, "What kind of metaphor is that?"

Sister Ling was already somewhat used to his slowness, sighed, and explained what Chen Cheng had discussed with her before the meal.

"..."

The gears of fate had turned again without anyone noticing.

On Chen Cheng's side, he left early the next morning.

He didn't wake Qiao Jingjing up; they had exercised too late last night, so he decided to let her sleep a bit longer.

Chen Cheng didn't immediately go to find Guan Juer, but instead went to take a look at that Old Western-style house on Huaihai Road.

Four months had passed, and the renovation was almost finished.