Huayu: I Have a Doraemon

In the film and television industry, reading between the lines is an instinct.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Ji Tao quickly got up and made a hasty escape.

He straightened his collar and bowed slightly to Lin's parents:

"Uncle and Aunt, then we won't bother you any longer. I'll treat you to dinner again next time."

Lin's mother hadn't fully recovered from the shock of "600,000" and "Wang Fei and Nicholas Tse," and simply nodded mechanically upon hearing this.

Lin's father reacted quickly, extending his hand to shake hands with Ji Tao, repeatedly saying, "You're too kind."

Lin Cong was the second to get up.

She stuffed the script into her canvas bag, paused at the door, glanced at Lin An, and seemed to say, "Take care of yourself."

Lin An rolled his eyes.

Shen Teng, Qiao Zhenyu, Dong Xuan, Gao Lu and the others filed out, tacitly avoiding eye contact with Lin An.

The copper bell rang a few more times.

The convenience store fell silent.

Gao Yuanyuan gently poked Lin An's arm with her finger and whispered:

"So I'm leaving too?"

"You want to leave too?" Lin An looked at her expressionlessly.

Gao Yuanyuan felt a little guilty under his gaze, her ears turned slightly red, and her voice lowered even further:

"I don't know..."

In her mind, such expensive furniture being mortgaged or traded must be a match made up by elders.

At most, Lin An's job is to find sales channels and run errands.

Who knew someone would be so outrageous, actually handling everything by themselves from start to finish? It's simply outrageous!

Aren't you worried about being scammed? Aren't you afraid of losing your things?

Lin Yi also has many flaws, but the main criticism is Lin An's unreliable behavior.

She tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered:

"No problem? What if your friend changes his mind? He won't come after us for money, will he?"

It can only be said that different environments lead to different perceptions.

Lin Yi readily accepted the fact that someone was making a lot of money behind her family's back, but precisely because of this, she was very worried.

Worried that someone might accidentally cause trouble.

Lin An didn't want to talk to his younger sister, so he coughed and said to his parents reassuringly:

"Actually, it wasn't a big deal... I just wrote a script, started a project, and resold a batch of furniture."

It's nothing serious... Lin's mother's eyelid twitched.

Lin's father glanced at his wife:

"Regardless, it's always a good thing that the boss's business is on the right track. As for the rest..."

He looked around, his expression somewhat complicated.

"As long as he's happy, there's nothing wrong with that."

Lin's mother fell silent.

Her husband's words, though harsh, were reasonable. But she still found it hard to accept that her son could go to such lengths.

This involves project approval, furniture resale, and Wang Fei and Nicholas Tse... It's really gone too far from their original lifestyle!

"belch......"

Lin Meng then let out a loud burp, the sound particularly clear in the silence.

The group looked down and saw Lin Meng sitting cross-legged on the ground. The snack bag next to her was mostly empty, and there were still crumbs of biscuits stuck to the corners of her mouth. The huge lollipop was also gone.

"I'm full," she announced contentedly, patting her stomach.

Looking at her youngest daughter's carefree attitude, Lin's mother felt a little dizzy.

"well......"

She sighed deeply, looking at her son with a complicated expression: "I won't ask about the specifics. Be more careful in the future, pay attention to your business dealings, and never sign any messy contracts."

Lin An, who signed the performance-based agreement: "..."

Gao Yuanyuan, who knew he had signed a performance-based agreement: "..."

Lin's mother, oblivious to their subtle reactions, continued rambling:

"Also, don't ruin your health just because you're young. Eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired. Don't stay up all night."

Lin An nodded repeatedly and interjected, "Please let me know in advance next time you come, so I can pretend."

Thinking she was being disliked, Lin's mother immediately lost her temper, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

She walked to the door, paused, turned her head, and raised an eyebrow, saying:

"You haven't been dating anyone lately, have you?"

Lin An was taken aback, then waved his hand dismissively.

"I've been so busy lately, I don't have time for romance."

Lin's mother scrutinized him for two seconds, making sure there was no exaggeration in his words, before nodding, turning around, and walking away.

Mr. Lin patted his son on the shoulder with satisfaction, said nothing more, and left with the words "Take care of yourself" before disappearing from the room.

Lin Yi asked one more question: "Where's Doraemon?"

Lin asked blankly, "You went to work, didn't you?"

Lin Yi gave him a deep look, then took his younger sister's hand and walked towards the door.

Lin Meng waved goodbye as she walked away:

"Big brother, I'll come see you in a few days!"

Please don't come again... Lin An smiled and waved:

"Remember to call before you come, and I'll prepare some delicious food for you in advance."

Lin Meng's eyes lit up: "Yeah! I'll definitely call you every day!"

The copper bell swayed twice more before falling silent.

The convenience store fell silent again.

Lin An slumped onto the sofa and let out a long sigh.

Gao Yuanyuan's voice came from beside me:

"It's clear that your family loves you very much."

Lin An didn't really want to talk to her, so he took out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts.

Gao Yuanyuan continued, completely unaware:

"Have you always been this independent since you were little?"

While searching for his phone, Lin An gave a perfunctory answer:

"There are many people and things to do in the family, and they can't manage everything."

Gao Yuanyuan asked, puzzled, "Such a big business, and they don't even bother with it?"

Isn't this a bit too carefree?

Lin An sighed. "How about we sit down and have some tea?"

Aren't you tired of talking so much?

Gao Yuanyuan realized someone's subtext this time.

He lowered his head awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry."

After saying that, she looked around and was about to find an excuse to leave when Lin An had already found a number and pressed the dial button.

There were two beeps in the receiver, and then the call was connected.

"They're gone, you can come in now."

Huh? Gao Yuanyuan was stunned.

She subconsciously turned her head to look at the door, then turned back to look at Lin An, her expression confused.

Half a minute later, the door was gently pushed open a crack.

Ji Tao poked his head in, looked around to make sure it was safe, and then squeezed through the crack in the door.

Next came the woods.

Then came Shen Teng, Qiao Zhenyu, Dong Xuan, and Gao Lu.

A group of people filed in, their movements so synchronized and their expressions so furtive.

"Gone?"

Ji Tao asked in a low voice, glancing uneasyly towards the door.

Lin An leaned back on the sofa and nodded weakly, "I'm leaving."

"That scared me to death."

Shen Teng was the first to break down, collapsing onto the sofa with his hand on his chest:

"I thought they were here to catch someone cheating."

Lin An's lips twitched: "Can't you speak properly?"

Qiao Zhenyu chuckled softly to himself, his shoulders twitching.

Dong Xuan and Gao Lu relaxed and sat down on the sofa again.

They instinctively wanted to gossip, but Lin Cong interrupted them first:

"Now that we're here, let's talk about the script. We'll be filming non-stop from now on, so you'll have to memorize your lines."

Shen Tenggang's body, which had just slumped down, sprang up again, and he said seriously:

"Don't worry, Director Lin, I memorized the script three times from beginning to end last night."

"The script hasn't even been officially finalized yet, what's the point of memorizing it three times?" Qiao Zhenyu asked abruptly.

Shen Teng's expression froze.

Ji Tao didn't participate in their banter. He took out the contracts from his briefcase and laid them out one by one.

Each contract is an A4 sheet of paper, about ten pages long, with the words "Actor Employment Contract" printed in bold on the cover.

The atmosphere at the scene visibly froze.

Even Shen Teng, who is usually playful, hesitated.

Ji Tao didn't pretend to be serious.

He straightened the last contract, then leaned back on the sofa.

"Once you sign the contract, you'll officially be part of the 'iPartment' production team."

His gaze swept across the faces of the several people:

"When the series airs next January, we will officially begin competing with Ying's. This may offend some directors in the Beijing film circle, and we may also be ostracized by the industry for a period of time."

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"However, this is also a rare opportunity. Conflicts generate buzz, and if we succeed, both you and I will see a significant boost in our careers."

The living room fell silent.

The actors looked at each other, but no one spoke first.

In the end, Gao Yuanyuan made the first move.

She stretched out her right hand, her fingertips gliding over several contracts until she found the one that belonged to her.

After flipping through a few pages, I started signing.

Lin An frowned as he looked at it, and couldn't help but say:

"Don't you want to discuss it with the people around you?"

After Gao Yuanyuan finished signing, she glanced at him and asked in return:

"Why haven't you discussed these things with your family lately?"

Lin An said calmly, "This is my own business, so of course I should handle it myself."

Gao Yuanyuan retorted, not to be outdone, "This is my own business, and I can handle it myself."

Lin An paused for a moment, lowered his eyes slightly, and said nothing more.

Shen Teng's eyes darted back and forth between Lin An and Gao Yuanyuan. After a long while, he gritted his teeth, grabbed the contract, and started signing it.

Qiao Zhenyu's lips twitched slightly as he looked at Shen Teng's expression.

He reached out and took his copy of the contract.

Gao Lu no longer hesitated and picked up the contract to sign it.

Dong Xuan was the last one.

With all five formal contracts signed, filming for "iPartment" officially began!