Pirates began to dominate the Chinese entertainment industry.

"It's nothing, it's just a minor injury, I've recovered already." Liu Shishi's face was flushed as she quickly straightened up.

"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this." Ji Yun scratched his head.

Liu Shishi was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "You have a girlfriend?"

"We just broke up," Ji Yun said calmly.

"Oh," Liu Shishi replied, her head bowed.

This was clearly a bad thing, but she felt inexplicably happy.

Is she really a bad woman?

Liu Shishi tightened her lips and lowered her head further, trying to hide herself.

"How did your cleaning go?" Ji Yun asked, looking around.

Liu Shishi realized what was happening and, suppressing her emotions, said, "The master bedroom, which no one lives in, is very clean. I've also emptied the trash from the study. The kitchen hasn't been used much, and the bathroom has been cleaned and wiped down. I just need to tidy up the living room, and then we'll be done."

Ji Yun looked at her in surprise.

Surprisingly, this promising young actress is quite efficient at her job.

She's good at making money and bringing honor to her family, and she's also good at dating and taking care of her home. She's really a great girl.

Ji Yun never imagined that he would one day be taken care of by a big star.

My agitated mood immediately eased a lot.

Liu Shishi noticed the look he was giving her, but dared not look at him. She pretended to be nonchalant and observed her surroundings, but she could not find her target.

"I'm all packed. Let's go together."

Ji Yun helped Liu Shishi finish up in the living room.

He even mopped the floor at home, something he rarely does, with Liu Shishi directing him from the side.

Actually, when the people who want to buy the house come to see it in a couple of days, it gets dirty immediately, but he still wants to clean it up before leaving.

After all the corners were cleaned up

Ji Yun took a deep breath, picked up two suitcases, and Liu Shishi also picked up one. The two of them went out together.

Ji Yun stood in the corridor, looking back towards the main entrance.

Nearly twenty years have passed, and his memories of this place have become somewhat hazy. But when he sees it again in this lifetime, the two memories seem to overlap at this moment.

This house is far from his company; it takes more than half an hour to drive there.

But his father insisted on buying this place back then.

In his words, he had spent most of his life working hard in this most economically developed city in the country, but he never owned a house and had never been accepted by the locals.

When this residential complex first opened, it was a highly sought-after property in Shanghai. He bought it here to tell himself that no matter what others thought, he had put down roots here. This was the dream of this poor boy from a small town when he first arrived in Shanghai.

But now, Ji Yun is leaving this place again.

However, unlike his previous life where he was forced to sell his house to pay off debts, this time he chose to leave on his own.

But I still feel a deep sense of guilt. My father worked so hard for so many years to get this house, but I, as his son, couldn't keep it.

This feeling was making him feel a little uncomfortable.

Liu Shishi walked up and patted Ji Yun on the shoulder, saying generously, "It's just a house. Once I buy my own house, you can live there for free!"

Ji Yun snapped out of her daze and chuckled at her expression. "You won't let me stay in the rented room?"

"Hey! You can have it too, alright?" Liu Shishi laughed.

Ji Yun and Liu Shishi entered the elevator together.

As the elevator doors closed, Ji Yun took one last look at the house and let out a long sigh.

Liu Shishi suddenly turned around, looked directly at him, and said, "I'm not in a good mood. How about I treat you to the fireworks?"

"Fireworks?" Ji Yun glanced at the elevator. "Where would fireworks come from here?"

"Come here, look at me," Liu Shishi said eagerly.

She released the suitcase handle, slowly raised her hand, and held it all the way up.

Suddenly, he spread his five fingers.

"Boom!" Liu Shishi made a sound effect with her mouth and set off a firework with her hand.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Liu Shishi said, as if showing off a treasure.

Ji Yun smiled, but then gradually stopped smiling.

He knew that Liu Shishi was worried that he wouldn't be able to handle the blow of selling the house, so she deliberately acted silly to cheer him up.

Ji Yun looked down at her.

Her face was serene and gentle, and her eyes were like the dew on a lotus leaf on a summer morning, clean and untouched by any dust.

"Thank you," Ji Yun said earnestly, then teased, "But you can only set off two fireworks, that's not enough."

Liu Shishi thought for a moment, then looked down at her feet. "No, there are definitely four!"

They both laughed at the same time.

He laughed with a relaxed and contented expression.

The elevator continued to descend.

Ji Yun's mood, however, was actually improving.

What you lose now, you can earn back; what you don't have now, you will have in the future.

……

Ji Yun stuffed the three large boxes into the trunk.

He drove his BMW out of the underground parking garage and headed west.

The neon lights shone even brighter at night.

The car's heater was whirring.

Ji Yun suddenly realized that he spent half of his first day after his rebirth driving.

It's really troublesome not having a driver.

"Buzz~" The phone on the center console vibrated, and the caller ID showed Xu Zheng.

The dashboard displays the current time as 7:30 PM.

So early, not even until the next day, my sister-in-law really put in the effort.

Ji Yun found a place to park by the roadside.

She reached out to answer the phone and said warmly, "Good evening, Teacher Xu."

Liu Shishi sat to the side, turned her head to look at him, and listened quietly as he made a phone call.

"President Ji, I've seriously considered this proposal, and I'm willing to accept it, but I have one condition."

"If you say so, I will do my best to fulfill your request."

"Considering this is our first collaboration, trust needs to be built up gradually. Although the directorship of the second film can be written into the contract, who can say for sure what will happen in a year or two?"

I'd like to add another clause: if a second film isn't made within three years, your company can pay me my salary for the first one, how about that?

Ji Yun did not respond immediately.

He was well aware of Xu Zheng's concerns; he was afraid that Xu Zheng would run away.

In the end, Xu Zheng's efforts were all for nothing, and he lost the opportunity to direct the film.

This condition is reasonable; Xu Zheng isn't asking for an exorbitant amount.

Ji Yun readily agreed, "Of course, that's normal, you can do it."

Xu Zheng hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Furthermore, I hope that Tangren will provide the guarantee for this clause..."

Ji Yun frowned upon hearing this.

The fact that Tangren acted as guarantor suggests that he was afraid that if he and the company went out of business in three years, no one would pay him. Xu Zheng probably took his boastful words to heart and assumed that he had a deep partnership with Tangren. Naturally, he preferred the more reliable Tangren to step in.

But this is not an easy matter; why should the Tang people vouch for him?

The current cooperation with Tangren is mutually beneficial, and he needs Tangren more than Tangren.

If he dared to ask Cai Yinong about this, he would probably be treated like he was an idiot.

The solution is simple: settle the debt this time, and then refund it when we invite him to direct the second film.

But for Ji Yun, this was not worthwhile.

He calculated in the evening that the company currently only had two million in available funds, but the total expenditure was three million. The company was already in a tight situation, so how could it possibly take out several hundred thousand more to pay for the film's salary?

Ji Yun's mind raced as she considered how to respond.