Contract Couple – CH55

Chapter 55

The fat man wailed for a long time, but Fang Jing Yao’s acting skills were not as good as his, so he simply took a few photos and sent them over, photoshopping them to make him look even more like a seductive woman, raising his eyebrows and wearing a sly smile of smug satisfaction.

The fat man said he had never seen such a shameless person, and replied with a “Our country is doomed” emoji. He decided to impeach him another day and left the court in anger to cry for his emperor.

Fang Jing Yao added the editor introduced by the fat man, and the other party almost immediately approved the application, as if they were waiting for it. A Youxi monkey rubbing hands and smiling emoji was sent over: “Hello!”

Fang Jing Yao quickly replied, “Hello, editor!”

Hou Ziyu: “Hello, author!”

Fang Jing Yao: “Hey, big shot!”

Hou Ziyu: “Good job!”

Fang Jing Yao: “…You’re too kind. Please just call me by my name.”

The young man over there was particularly cheerful, calling out “Madam” repeatedly. Fang Jing Yao was a little unaccustomed to it and said, “It seems like they usually call her ‘Big Sister’? Female authors are called ‘Madam’ more often.”

Hou Ziyu said, “That’s not true. In the old days, we called all teachers ‘Sir,’ regardless of gender. Don’t worry, Madam!”

Fang Jing Yao tentatively suggested, “Why don’t you just call me ‘Big Brother’?”

Hou Ziyu flatly refused: “That won’t do. We usually call ‘Grandpa’ or ‘Uncle’ here, which isn’t appropriate.”

Fang Jing Yao thought to himself, “Why didn’t you stop me when I called you ‘Big Brother’?! Besides, calling me ‘Madam’ isn’t appropriate either; you have to add a surname as a prefix. Should I call him ‘Mrs. Fang’? He’s not selling kitchenware.” After thinking it over, Mrs. Long was barely acceptable.

However, they couldn’t let him call them that. Both of them knew Fatty; one was a high school classmate, and the other was a college alumnus. They quickly became acquainted, and after a few words, they started calling each other by name. Perhaps because their personalities were compatible, they chatted and laughed for a while before becoming sworn brothers.

Hou Ziyu said, “I knew about you before. You draw exceptionally well. I bought the whole set of your previous books!” He was familiar with Fang Jing Yao’s works and mentioned a few passages that happened to be places that Fang Jing Yao had foreshadowed for a long time. Fang Jing Yao gave him a few spoilers, and Hou Ziyu listened with surprise, just like a mystery enthusiast.

Fang Jing Yao also praised “Interstellar Alliance” a few times, saying, “I like this book too. When Fatty told me about it, I never thought I would be able to write such a great book.”

Hou Ziyu listened as if he were praising himself, and even said a few words of humility on behalf of the original author’s husband. The two got along well, and Hou Ziyu liked Fang Jing Yao’s paintings, so he immediately decided to finalize the design. Hou Ziyu was very sincere, sending over the outline and character designs, and paying a 30% deposit, asking Fang Jing Yao to draw the main character designs first.

Hou Ziyu asked him, “Should the contract go through your side or the studio?”

Fang Jing Yao didn’t hide anything from him and said directly, “I’ve already terminated my contract with the studio, and I probably won’t be going back. I’m leaving.”

Hou Ziyu said, “Alright then, I’ll contact you directly if anything comes up!”

Fang Jing Yao agreed, and with his love for the original work, he eagerly began to get to work.

When Long Yu returned at noon, he was still drawing in the study. Fang Jing Yao leaned over and looked at him with interest for a while. With a hint of smugness, Fang Jing Yao showed him a drawing. The original work featured two male protagonists who were locked in a love-hate relationship , constantly vying for supremacy and plundering each other’s resources, from supplies to their subordinates. In the end, the two powerful figures were trapped on a desolate planet, leading to a major reshuffling of power and forcing them to make peace.

Fang Jing Yao drew one of the pictures of the second male lead being injured. The male lead was sitting cross-legged, while the second male lead, with bandages wrapped around his chest, was still laughing and joking with him, looking up at him with a natural air of charm.

Fang Jing Yao said smugly, “How about it? Handsome or not?”

Long Yu glanced at it, then quickly went out to his study and retrieved two miniature skeleton figures. He arranged the skull in the position shown in Fang Jing Yao’s drawing and said seriously, “If it’s lying on its back, the angle of the person’s head is wrong, and you can’t see the other eye.”

Fang Jing Yao: “…”

Long Yu carefully struck a pose that was both professional and awkward, and told him, “This is the right way.”

Fang Jing Yao: “Too ugly, I refuse.”

In the end, they modeled a relatively accurate angle and pose from a 3D library that also conformed to popular aesthetics. Long Yu expressed some doubts about their sharp chins, but nodded and said, “Bone-shaving techniques can also achieve this.”

Fang Jing Yao made several revisions with a frustrated expression, feeling like he was having the desire for plastic surgery but doing the work of a graphic designer.

After finishing saving the images, he came out and mentioned to Long Yu, “I called your aunt this morning. She’s a bit busy right now and might not be able to come back anytime soon. She told us to go visit your aunt first.”

Long Yu nodded and said, “That’s exactly what I was thinking too.”

Fang Jing Yao said, “Ah, I know. You said you were going to take me somewhere when you left this morning, to my aunt’s place, right?”

Long Yu laughed and said, “No, that’s another place, but it’s not far from Auntie’s place, so we can go and take a look together on the way.”

Fang Jing Yao was a little curious, and when he asked again, Long Yu just smiled and refused to say more.

In the afternoon, Long Yu took Fang Jing Yao there. They were familiar with the area and soon arrived at Fang Jing Yao’s neighborhood. Fang Jing Yao glanced at him. Long Yu had just been to his house yesterday, so why was he here again today? Just then, Long Yu drove to the neighboring neighborhood, which was across the street from Fang Jing Yao’s house. However, it was a villa community, mostly townhouses, and the prices were slightly higher.

Fang Jing Yao asked, somewhat puzzled, “Are you here to see someone?”

Long Yu smiled and said, “No, I just came to look at the house.”

Fang Jing Yao was full of questions. After getting out of the car and looking at two or three villas with Long Yu, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to buy a house here?”

Long Yu said, “Well, actually I’m still hesitating.”

Fang Jing Yao looked at him strangely. Long Yu was living comfortably in the apartment, so why did he suddenly want to move?

Long Yu said, “The advantages here are the mature community environment and the large number of neighbors nearby, making it quite lively in the evenings. There’s also a small yard where you can grow vegetables.” He carefully analyzed the situation with Fang Jing Yao, “The disadvantage is that it’s a second-hand house, so you might need to renovate it after moving in, which could be troublesome. There are newly opened developments in Shanghua Yajun, and there should still be some ground-floor apartments with yards, but the location is a bit out of the way…”

Fang Jing Yao said, “Why do we suddenly want to change places to stay? Weren’t we staying in our previous place quite nice?”

Long Yu held his hand and slowly walked along the path in the backyard, smiling as he said, “It’s not for us to live here, it’s for your uncle and aunt. When I chatted with them last time, your uncle said that when you used to live in the compound, your aunt especially liked to grow vegetables and even raised a rabbit for you.”

Fang Jing Yao was both amused and exasperated. “I don’t raise rabbits anymore, so there’s really no need to change them.”

Long Yu pondered for a moment and said, “I remember you had some savings before?”

Long Yu’s finances were all written in the contract, including income from several patents. Fang Jing Yao hadn’t hidden anything about his finances from him either, nodding and saying, “I have some savings. I was planning to save for another two years to get them a new house…” He glanced at the small villa, genuinely tempted. It was one of his options. With his hundred thousand or so, plus Fang’s parents selling an old house, they could basically scrape together the money. Second-hand villas weren’t expensive, and there were some old friends there—it couldn’t be more perfect. “But it’s not enough right now. Let’s wait and see.”

Long Yu also estimated the cost, gave a figure, and said with a smile, “This company is in a hurry to sell, and the price seems quite reasonable to me.”

Fang Jing Yao calculated that at this price, it would only cost eight or nine thousand yuan per square meter, which is about the same price as school district housing.

Long Yu then calculated the renovation cost for him, saying, “We can stop at under three million, and there will still be some left over.”

Fang Jing Yao joked with him, “I’m going to buy a lottery ticket now, maybe I’ll win three million tonight.”

Long Yu said, “No need to buy lottery tickets. Your lawsuit with Luo Yi has been decided. The contract he signed privately is invalid. You will be compensated for the copyright fees, and the film and television fee will be supplemented by three million. The game copyright will be paid separately.”

Fang Jing Yao was startled. “So many?”

Long Yu raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s not much. Luo Yi’s ambitions are much greater. His lawyers have investigated a lot of information and dug up some things from years ago. Back then, the market investment situation wasn’t good, and he wanted to mortgage the copyright to the bank, right?”

Fang Jing Yao thought about it carefully and said, “It seems like he mentioned it once two years ago, but it didn’t work out. He wanted to transform the studio into a film and game company, but I felt the foundation wasn’t solid enough, so I didn’t really agree at the time, and it just fizzled out.” That time wasn’t so easily forgotten; it was the first time he and Luo Yi had a disagreement. They had a long cold war, communicating through online chat even across their desks. For a full three months, Luo Yi didn’t give him a kind look, and Fang Jing Yao was quite annoyed.

Long Yu gave an objective assessment, saying calmly, “This person is quite capable and has a high vision. He didn’t succeed in mortgaging his assets at first, but he still wanted to pursue this direction. The company you talked to later actually wanted to invest in you initially, but they required you to bundle the game copyright. Luo Yi signed the contract, and the game prepayment was the most important thing; the film and television were just a bonus.”

Fang Jing Yao was taken aback. “Game prepayment?”

Long Yu told Fang Jing Yao what he had learned: “It’s normal that you haven’t heard of it. Luo Yi converted this part of the revenue into an investment from that company that valued the studio at over 100 million yuan, which is about 25 million yuan in cash.”

Fang Jing Yao had never even heard of this sum of money. He was mainly responsible for his creative work, and Luo Yi told him to focus on his creative work. Luo Yi was in charge of many external collaborations, so he didn’t know much about it.

Things that hadn’t been investigated before were unearthed, which made him feel uneasy.

Long Yu said, “You’ve known Luo Yi for so long, you should be able to guess why he wants to start a company, right?”

Fang Jing Yao remained silent.

Long Yu said bluntly, “Because that way he will have absolute rights and can participate in the development himself. When the project starts in the future, whether he is the director or the planner, once he is credited, the work can truly be considered his personal work. Jing Yao, you don’t care about money, but not everyone does. Don’t underestimate your own work. If it is rightfully yours, you must fight for it.”

Fang Jing Yao nodded and said, “I understand.”

Seeing him like this, Long Yu felt a little sorry for him, but he always spoke seriously about Luo Yi’s matter, constantly reminding Fang Jing Yao not to show the slightest leniency.

“For a period of time, you were the one creating independently, which could have helped you gain an advantage. However, when you first established the studio, you signed a contract with him, the first clause of which stipulated that the copyright was jointly owned by both parties. This is not an employment contract, so he cannot explain the copyright of the work as a work created for hire. But your independent creations during that period cannot be separated either…” Long Yu frowned and said, “We can only ask the lawyer to try to get some more in other areas. In the end, he will still take at least 30%, so you need to be mentally prepared.”

Fang Jing Yao quickly said, “It’s already very good. I never thought I would be able to get this money back.”

Long Yu corrected him, saying, “Yes, we must go back.”

Fang Jing Yao readily agreed, nodding and saying, “Yes, it’s our own, we can’t be soft-hearted about what we deserve.”

Long Yu was somewhat satisfied then. He looked at the villa next door and smiled, “So, you have enough money to buy a house now?”

Fang Jing Yao had money in hand and wasn’t flustered. He calculated his savings and added the huge sum of money Long Yu had mentioned, and immediately smiled, “Yes, buy it!” When he looked over again, the houses seemed much more lovely than usual, and felt just like his own home.

Long Yu raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Mr. Fang, I’ve done so much for you, perhaps you should give me a gift as a token of my gratitude?”

Fang Jing Yao moved his fingers in Long Yu’s hand and said seriously, “Actually, I had thought about giving you something before. Your family isn’t short of money, but my mom said the other day that she wanted me to show my sincerity by putting both our names on the house Huang Bao’er lives in. You might not know, but that house is for my mom to use when I get married. The old lady saved up for half her life, hoping that I could live a stable life like everyone else. She’s really good; she’s always thought I’m no different from ordinary people, except that other people marry women, and I married a man.” Fang Jing Yao laughed as he spoke, looking up at Long Yu, “The old lady’s thinking is quite simple. She thinks it’s inconvenient for us to get a marriage certificate, so having us tied together on the property deed is like a notarized document.”

Long Yu listened to him, his eyes filled with tenderness.

Fang Jing Yao rubbed the tip of his nose, a little embarrassed, and said, “If you’re willing, you can take some time to go with me to transfer the property. It’s just that the house is a bit small, so I’m sorry to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Long Yu has received many things since childhood, but he has always taken them lightly and has not had a strong desire for money. If it weren’t for this, he would not have followed his heart and worked his way up from the bottom as a doctor in the city hospital. He lived a carefree life, but he has never been so happy because of material things.

Fang Jing Yao’s house felt more like a home, a warm little home that Fang Jing Yao had promised to give him .

Dr. Long bent down and kissed him, her eyes crinkling with laughter. “Okay, but I want the ring too. I can’t have either of them.”

Fang Jing Yao nuzzled his nose and couldn’t help but laugh, “Okay, it’s all yours, it’s all yours!”

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