novellhall Chapter 105 Signing Completed
Chapter 105 Signing Completed
The aroma of coffee quietly filled the private room, mingling with the occasional rustling of turning pages.
The lattes served by the waiters were steaming in front of each person, but no one touched them.
Everyone's attention was focused on the few neatly bound contracts.
The two lawyers were simply making a final comparison to confirm that every clause in the paper version was exactly the same as the electronic version they had received.
The process itself doesn't take too long, but no one there rushed them.
Aunt Hong closed the contract first.
She took off her glasses and placed them on the table, gently pressed her finger to her brow, then looked up and nodded slightly to Mother Tian.
"There's nothing wrong with this contract! It's exactly the same as what I saw before!"
"Mine is mine too!" The male lawyer brought by Liu's mother also placed the contract on the table, his tone brief and certain.
Both Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Tian breathed a sigh of relief.
The breath seemed to have been suppressed for a long time, slowly and silently exhaled from deep within the chest.
This was their daughter's future security, and they read every single word over and over again.
They weren't rich and couldn't pave a golden road for their daughter, but at least before signing the papers, they wanted to examine every single pebble on the road carefully.
"Let's sign then!" The lawyer next to Wang Zian placed pens in front of each person in turn.
Both Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Tian looked at their lawyers and nodded.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Tian Xiwei was the first to pick up a pen.
She acted faster than anyone else present. Without hesitation or glancing at the contract terms again, she flipped directly to the last page and carefully wrote her name in the signature column.
After finishing writing, she put the pen on the table, looked up at Wang Zian and gave him a bright smile, her dimples deeply embedded in her cheeks.
Liu Haochun's contract was signed by her mother on her behalf, as she was not yet eighteen years old.
When Liu's mother picked up the pen, her fingers trembled slightly, but the tremor was so brief that only her daughter sitting next to her noticed it.
Liu Haochun gently squeezed her mother's wrist, and Liu's mother took a deep breath and wrote her name stroke by stroke.
The two contracts were pushed onto the table in front of Wang Zian.
He picked up the pen and steadily signed his name on both contracts.
The pen tip glides across the paper, making a soft scratching sound.
These two contracts have officially come into effect.
···
The moment the signing was completed, it was as if an invisible hand had gently turned open a valve in the air inside the private room.
"Aunties, if you don't have any other plans for tonight, let's have dinner together."
Wang Zian handed the contract to the lawyer for safekeeping, leaned forward slightly, and spoke in a casual and friendly tone.
"Okay," Mrs. Tian readily agreed.
"No problem." Mrs. Liu nodded as well.
After confirming the contract, the male lawyer brought by Liu's mother got up and left in a businesslike manner.
Before leaving, he shook hands with Liu's mother and said, "Contact me again if needed," and walked steadily out of the private room.
But Aunt Hong didn't leave.
She sat in her seat, picked up her coffee, took a sip, then put the cup down and looked at Wang Zian's face.
She watched Tian Xiwei grow up from a young age, and treated Xiao Tian like her own daughter.
She reviewed this contract three times from beginning to end today, looking for pitfalls each time—the kind of traps that entertainment companies set for newcomers that the newcomers wouldn't even notice.
But she couldn't find it.
"Mr. Wang, may I call you that?"
"Sure!"
"I have a question. The terms in this contract are just too good to be true," Aunt Hong asked suspiciously. "The profit sharing starts at 40/60, and it's based on the gross income for the whole year, not the net income after deducting all the fees."
"It also stipulates that many expenses such as training fees and transportation fees are included in the gross income, which is very disadvantageous to your company."
"In all the entertainment industry contracts I know, for a newcomer, these conditions are practically unheard of in the entertainment industry. You didn't fall into any of the common traps." She paused, choosing a restrained word, "...it's almost unheard of in the entertainment industry.
The prince listened quietly, then smiled.
He picked up the now-cold coffee in front of him, took a sip, put the cup down, and said in a calm and serious voice, "There are two reasons!"
"First of all, Xiaotian, Haochun, and I are the same age and friends. Friends shouldn't sabotage each other."
Secondly, I personally don't like hiding problems in contracts. Everything should be out in the open, discussed properly, and if we can reach an agreement, we sign; if not, we wait.
He paused, removed his hand from the rim of the cup, and placed it on the table.
"I once heard a saying: all schemes and tricks are short-lived. Those who think they have outsmarted others and are very clever are actually the most foolish, and they will not end well. So it is better to put many things openly and honestly."
After he finished speaking, the private room was silent for several seconds.
Aunt Hong's gaze lingered on Wang Zi'an's face.
She is in her forties and has worked in the court system for nearly twenty years. She has seen countless people plant traps in contracts, hide daggers in clauses, and turn their backs on others when faced with interests.
She thought she already had a sufficient understanding of the word "businessman".
But the young man in front of me, who had just come of age, said these words in a very calm tone.
She suddenly had a strange feeling that she had been slightly outshone in some aspects.
Tian's mother sat beside her, her gaze shifting slightly between her old classmate and Wang Zi'an.
She didn't say anything, but simply picked up her coffee and took another sip.
The coffee was still bitter, but the corners of his mouth were curved.
Actually, Prince An had another reason that he didn't say aloud.
He didn't care about the little money they earned.
This amount of money is really less than the daily natural growth of the stocks he holds in the stock market.
But this reason sounds too pretentious and is unnecessary.
He chose to keep it in his stomach.
···
In the evening, at Yuancui Pavilion near Wanliu Garden.
The restaurant's menu covers several cuisines, including Huaiyang cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and Beijing cuisine, and each dish is made authentically and with great care.
Zhou Ye is a regular customer of this restaurant. He booked the largest private room in advance. The wooden round table can seat nearly twenty people. The table is covered with a clean white tablecloth, and the bone china tableware gleams softly under the warm yellow light.
Wang Zian invited everyone currently in the company.
Old Li and his behind-the-scenes team.
The main purpose was also to let Liu Haochun and Tian Xiwei's mother meet the company's behind-the-scenes team.
There were nearly twenty people sitting in one of the private rooms.
After Wang Zian introduced everyone, they started chatting.
Tian's mother and Tian Xiwei sat together, while Liu's mother and Liu Haochun sat together.
Xiaotian, holding her mother's hand, introduced her new friends one by one: "Mom, this is Sister Xiaoqi. She did my orange soda makeup today. Isn't it pretty?"
Xiaoqi was a little embarrassed by her praise and smiled, saying that you have a good foundation and everything you draw looks good.
Liu Haochun was also speaking quietly to her mother, who listened and nodded from time to time, occasionally reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair that had fallen by her daughter's ear back in.
The dishes were served quickly.
In 2016, the catering industry had not yet been fully conquered by pre-made dishes, so the dishes on the table were basically cooked to order.
Stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, taro casserole, braised eel in sizzling oil, small yellow croaker, braised pork meatballs, roast duck...
Wang Zian ordered twenty dishes in one go, and even specifically instructed the kitchen to add two Northeastern dishes and two Sichuan dishes.
After the meal, everyone's relationship took another significant step closer.
At the very least, I noticed that Liu Haochun's mother was no longer frowning.
She held a cup of hot tea and listened quietly as Lao Li recounted the day's photoshoot. Lao Li said, "Your daughter is very photogenic. It's really great that she did this well for her first photoshoot." As she listened, a faint, genuine smile appeared on her lips.
Xiao Tian's mother had been observing him closely, and she always felt that Wang Zi'an was a very proper person.
Tonight I saw the dinner he specially arranged for her, and the Sichuan cuisine he ordered.
This shows that the person knows how to behave appropriately and is a good kid.