Chapter 37 – Contract Signing and Lawsuits
Lin Jiu wasn’t online and had no idea about the storm brewing on Weibo. The system didn’t waste energy notifying him about these trivial matters.
Right now, Lin Jiu had to focus on dealing with the Special Powers Management Department agents who had come back.
Lin Jiu had prepared a beginner-level magical meal, thinking he could deliver it to Si Xu by noon, but Si Xu himself had shown up instead.
Si Xu felt helpless. He was very busy today, but since the Special Powers Management Department wanted to discuss the ingredient situation with Lin Jiu, he was concerned about how Lin Jiu would handle it. So, he put his work on hold and accompanied them.
Lin Jiu had already made up his mind and invited them into a private room for the discussion.
Once inside, Lu Yu was the first to introduce himself. Lin Jiu, hearing that he was the captain of an enhanced team, showed little reaction.
Lu Yu had heard the report from Shi Shuqing and wanted to meet Lin Jiu the night before. Fortunately, Shi Shuqing stopped him. As soon as Lin Jiu opened his shop at noon, Lu Yu hurried over.
“Thanks to Si Xu, we get to cut the line and have a meal—three large servings of seafood rice,” Lu Yu said.
Though he had already learned the situation from Shi Shuqing, as captain, he needed to verify it himself.
Lin Jiu glanced at Si Xu, knowing that the beginner-level magical meal wasn’t appropriate at the moment. Instead, he prepared seafood rice for them.
The ingredients for the seafood rice had already been prepped, so the three portions were served quickly.
The dish was straightforward yet impressive—a small mountain of seafood layered on top of rice. The arrangement was meticulous, with bright, fresh colors and a beautifully garnished top of pomegranate-red fish roe.
Without even tasting it, the freshness of the ingredients was evident just from looking at them.
Lu Yu, accustomed to a rough dining style, didn’t bother with elegance. He dipped the corals into seafood soy sauce, poured it over the seafood mountain, and dug in with a wooden spoon. His goal was to test the energy of the ingredients, but he was completely captivated by the delicious flavor.
With just one bite, a warm sensation spread through his body, causing him to relax both mentally and physically. It was only at this moment that he realized how tense he usually was, always prepared for action. The stress had become second nature, and it surprised him how one mouthful of food could make him feel so at ease.
Lu Yu didn’t know if this was the power of the food, but he realized that such an effect might have other applications.
With a serious expression, he quickly finished his seafood rice, downing the accompanying shrimp soup in two bold gulps.
It was hard to discern which ingredient carried the most energy in a dish that mixed various seafood. The only thing Lu Yu felt was an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and comfort. The multiple energies blended seamlessly, without being harsh or chaotic—just perfectly harmonious.
It was a very gentle, soothing kind of harmony.
As enhanced individuals, they were used to pushing their genetic limits with every training session, enduring the sharp pains that came with it. They had never experienced such gentle treatment before.
They all knew that pain was a response to physical strain, but they had no choice but to endure it to grow stronger. Yet here was the Demon Fish Shop’s food, gently nourishing their bodies.
Lu Yu realized that the shop’s greatest strength might not lie in the energy of its ingredients, but in Lin Jiu’s ability to imbue those ingredients with healing properties.
With that thought, Lu Yu’s gaze toward Lin Jiu changed, suspecting that Lin Jiu’s abilities were connected to this.
Lin Jiu stayed and watched them finish their seafood rice, knowing that it was time to discuss the real matter at hand.
Lu Yu said, “Yesterday, Vice-Captain Shi probably mentioned a few things to you. Are you interested in joining our department?”
“I’m not interested. My shop can’t run without me, and I don’t want to be tied down,” Lin Jiu replied firmly, without hesitation.
Lu Yu had expected this answer. “In that case, would you be open to a partnership?”
Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow. “I’d need to hear more about what kind of partnership you’re proposing.”
Lu Yu spoke with sincerity. “You don’t want to disclose the source of your ingredients—we won’t ask. You don’t want to join our department—we won’t force you. But we do need these ingredients. We’re willing to pay for them. If we establish a partnership, we’ll be your support, allowing you to run your shop and do business without worrying about anything. What do you think?”
Last night, when Si Xu had asked if Lin Jiu was willing to sell ingredients to enhanced individuals, Lin Jiu hadn’t given a direct answer. He wanted to see how much sincerity they would offer first. He hadn’t expected them to come right out and offer to be his backing. With such strong support, what did he have to fear?
Moreover, he wouldn’t have to make any effort to sell the ingredients—everything would be handled in a formal, safe, and trouble-free manner. With the Special Powers Management Department backing him, what could possibly go wrong?
He was afraid of nothing!
The three people present waited for Lin Jiu’s response. Lu Yu spoke calmly, “History teaches us that falling behind means getting beaten. We cannot afford to lose in the field of supernatural abilities. In the early days of our enhancement experiments, we fell behind, and others exploited that. They used superhumans to steal secrets, kidnap important figures, and disrupt social order. These enemies were elusive, and we couldn’t catch them. When we confronted them, our entire capture team would be wiped out, while the superhumans walked away unscathed… Ultimately, it was because we were too weak in this area. To prevent such things from happening again, we must grow stronger.”
Lin Jiu looked at Si Xu, wanting to hear his thoughts.
Si Xu clenched his fists. “Don’t worry, no matter what happens, I’ll always stand by your side.”
Lin Jiu smiled, his eyes curving slightly.
“I can sell the ingredients to you, but not whole ones. I’ll process and portion them. Would that still work for you?”
Shi Shuqing was puzzled. “I think that’s actually better, but I’d like to know why.”
Lin Jiu didn’t hide it. “Things like fish bones and shrimp shells aren’t edible. They’re useless to you, but very useful to me.”
Lu Yu chuckled, “It might not be useless. If there’s energy in those fish bones and shrimp shells, we might be able to consume them too.”
Lin Jiu: “…”
Are all enhanced people like werewolves?
Si Xu knew Lu Yu wasn’t joking. Thinking back to the energy water, they didn’t even throw away vegetable roots.
Lin Jiu calculated in his mind. After his contract ended, he wouldn’t have many expenses. Compared to money, magic points were more important to him.
“I’ll give you three reservation opportunities per month. You’ll be the only ones—no one else has ever been able to reserve a spot at my Demon Fish Shop.”
“Deal.” Lu Yu quickly agreed, afraid Lin Jiu might change his mind.
Shi Shuqing pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase and handed them to Lin Jiu for signature. “Just a formality—the confidentiality and partnership agreements. Please sign.”
Lin Jiu, who hated signing such things, didn’t rush to read them but instead said, “I’m not done talking.”
“Go ahead.” Both Shi Shuqing and Lu Yu were all ears.
Lin Jiu continued, “When and how much I supply will be up to me. Also, I should warn you in advance, I can’t supply too much. Don’t think of me as a large-scale supplier—these ingredients require me to personally harvest them. You should know that one person’s abilities are limited; mass production isn’t possible.”
Getting these ingredients at all was a surprise, so any amount was acceptable.
Lin Jiu added, “You should also prepare for possible shortages. Of course, if you come to dine at my shop and manage to get in line, you’ll definitely get a meal.”
Lu Yu: “…”
Lu Yu asked, “How long will these shortages last?”
It couldn’t be indefinite, right? If they urgently needed energy ingredients and Lin Jiu was out of stock, lives could be at risk.
Lin Jiu remained calm. “I know you need these ingredients to replenish the energy consumed by enhanced individuals. But rather than food, perhaps drinks would be more convenient. It would also reduce the risk of you eating spoiled seafood while providing even more energy.”
Si Xu’s eyes lit up, understanding what Lin Jiu intended.
Lin Jiu got up and returned shortly, carrying a barrel of wine. “When ingredients aren’t available, I’m willing to offer this fruit wine as a substitute. You can judge the quality for yourselves.”
Lin Jiu handed Lu Yu and Shi Shuqing each a cup, pouring them some wine from a jug.
Si Xu could smell the light fragrance of flowers and fruit, realizing that the barrel contained red plum wine.
Both Lu Yu and Shi Shuqing drank their cups of wine, looking astonished!
One cup of wine provided as much energy as a serving of seafood rice. The best part was that the wine was portable—much easier to carry on missions than a bowl of seafood rice.
“Great wine!” Lu Yu couldn’t help but praise.
Lin Jiu modestly said, “It’s just ordinary wine.”
Lu Yu excitedly asked, “Is there even better wine?”
Lin Jiu replied, “There is, but it’s not suitable for you. The energy in regular plum wine is already sufficient.”
Lu Yu and Shi Shuqing exchanged complex glances. From Lin Jiu’s words, it was clear that he wasn’t new to the concept of energy. Just what kind of abilities did he have?
Lu Yu turned to Si Xu and remembered his small wine flask. “Is the wine in your flask the same as this fruit wine?”
Si Xu didn’t answer. His flask didn’t contain red plum wine but something even better—green plum wine.
Lu Yu seemed to understand, glancing between the two. It was clear to him now that Si Xu and Lin Jiu had a very close relationship.
With such good plum wine as a substitute for food, Lu Yu had no reason to refuse. He was already thinking about taking a barrel of red plum wine back with him.
Lin Jiu glanced at them. “As long as the money is right, you can take the red plum wine with you right now.”
Lu Yu finally calmed down. The high prices at the Demon Fish Shop were well-known. The ingredients and fruit wine were definitely not cheap.
“How much is this wine?” Lu Yu asked.
Lin Jiu held up three fingers. “Three thousand.”
Lu Yu: “Per jug?”
Lin Jiu smiled. “Per cup.”
Lu Yu: “…”
Shi Shuqing: “…”
Si Xu remained composed—he’d had green plum wine before, which cost 10,000 per cup. Three thousand per cup was nothing to him.
Lin Jiu tapped the cups in front of them. “A 50ml cup—three thousand each.”
Lu Yu felt a bit shaken and took a moment to respond. “Any discounts?”
Lin Jiu spread his hands. “My shop doesn’t negotiate prices.”
The fruits from the Demon Sea had high magical energy content. Turning them into ordinary fruit wine was a bit of a waste, but it was safe and suitable for everyone to drink.
Captain Lu felt his heart bleeding. He would need to apply for funds. Now that the partnership was secured, whether they could afford the ingredients and wine was their problem.
Shi Shuqing said, “Let’s sign the contract first.”
“Okay.” Lin Jiu felt relieved. He had been worried about not having enough ingredients to sell, but it seemed he had overthought it.
Even if he could sell them, the other party would need enough financial resources to buy.
Lin Jiu glanced over the confidentiality agreement, which simply stated that it was prohibited to disclose anything about enhanced individuals, or there would be legal consequences.
He signed the confidentiality agreement without hesitation.
When it came to the cooperation agreement, Lin Jiu was extremely careful, reading it almost word by word, wary of any potential traps.
After finishing, Lin Jiu asked Si Xu to check it over as well.
Being trusted by Lin Jiu like this made Si Xu very happy. The cooperation agreement had no issues; it simply outlined their intent to collaborate, without detailing specific terms.
Shi Shuqing said, “We can draft a supplementary contract for the specific details later.”
Lin Jiu agreed and signed the cooperation agreement first. They then spent another half hour discussing the details before Lu Yu and Shi Shuqing left to finalize the supplementary contract, which they promised to bring to Lin Jiu the next day.
The customers in the dining hall had already left one by one, and Si Xu still had work to do, so Lin Jiu walked him to the door.
Seeing that Lin Jiu didn’t seem to have anything to say, Si Xu smiled, “Is there nothing you want to tell me?”
Lin Jiu thought for a moment. There was, but it didn’t seem like the right time to say it.
Si Xu said, “I heard ‘Creation Star’ plans to film a cooking show, and they want to use the Demon Fish Shop as the setting…”
Lin Jiu’s expression turned cold. “I don’t care what show ‘Creation Star’ wants to film. The Demon Fish Shop will not be their backdrop.”
Si Xu asked, “What do you plan to do?”
Lin Jiu stood tall. “I want to terminate my contract through legal means. Could I borrow your legal team?”
Si Xu smiled. “Of course. Starting now, don’t deal with ‘Creation Star’ anymore. Whatever they want to discuss, let them talk to your lawyers. By tomorrow at the latest, my legal team will officially file a lawsuit against ‘Creation Star’ to help you terminate the contract.”
A simple “thank you” seemed too weak to express Lin Jiu’s gratitude. Si Xu had helped him so much, both in the past and now. The support Si Xu had given him went far beyond what words could describe.
The best thing Lin Jiu could do in return was to work hard to help Si Xu activate his latent genes and ensure he survived.
*
Two days later, news of Lin Jiu filing a lawsuit to terminate his contract exploded on the internet.
Under Si Xu’s team’s operation, a “well-informed source” leaked the three conditions ‘Creation Star’ had set for Lin Jiu’s contract termination. It was also revealed that Lin Jiu had to pay 40 million in compensation to the company for unilaterally closing his business for a year.
The mention of 40 million shocked everyone!
“Wait, Lin Jiu wasn’t that popular as a celebrity, right? How could he make 40 million in one year? Am I crazy, or is ‘Creation Star’ insane?”
“My god, this is shocking! Running an entertainment company is way too profitable! A single price tag of 40 million—are you going to pay or not? If not, they’ll blacklist you. See if you’ll pay then!”
“At first, I thought Boss Lin made a lot of money selling Black Star Pearls. Turns out all that money went into a black hole named ‘Creation Star.’ Ugh, this is way too deep, and I’m getting scared.”
“When I saw those three termination conditions, I couldn’t help but laugh. Is ‘Creation Star’ trying to get rich by dreaming? A 2 billion termination fee, exclusive rights to the Black Star Pearls, and even the Demon Fish Shop? Does ‘Creation Star’ think it can reach the stars and the sun?”
“Quick, someone call the authorities to investigate this!”
“I just want to ask: if Si Xu terminates his contract, would Huasheng dare to ask for 2 billion?”
“Whoa! So by this logic, is Boss Lin even more valuable than Si Xu?”
“Let’s be reasonable here. Don’t drag my idol into this. If my idol wanted to terminate his contract, the company would offer him money and beg him to stay, not the other way around!”
“Seriously though, 2 billion is outrageous. Is ‘Creation Star’ crazy, or do they think Lin Jiu has no backing and is easy to bully? They’ve got some nerve!”
“Who said Lin Jiu has no backing?! Si Xu, your personal chef is being bullied, come and save him!”
“Get lost, you CP shippers! My idol is just a regular customer. He’s not that close with Lin Jiu!”
“This kind of behavior from the entertainment company is illegal, right? I fully support Boss Lin suing ‘Creation Star’!”
“Support +1.”
“Boss Lin just wants to run his restaurant in peace. ‘Creation Star,’ stop causing trouble. Support Boss Lin in suing them!”
“Support +10086!”
‘Creation Star’ never expected Lin Jiu to be so bold as to file a lawsuit without saying a word. The company put pressure on Manager Zhang and Jiang Xiwen to immediately contact Lin Jiu and resolve the issue.
Jiang Xiwen ignored the company, and Manager Zhang discovered he had been blocked by Lin Jiu. He tried calling from another number, but it was intercepted as an unknown number. He couldn’t reach Lin Jiu at all.
‘Creation Star’ quickly issued an official statement on their social media, denying the three termination conditions, claiming that someone was intentionally slandering the company. They also stated they would pursue legal action to protect their reputation, while deploying internet trolls to control public opinion.
Those three termination conditions had only been discussed during Jiang Xiwen’s negotiations, with no formal documents or successful implementation. ‘Creation Star’ flatly denied them, and there was no evidence to suggest that they had officially proposed those terms.
Initially, the online comments were overwhelmingly critical of ‘Creation Star,’ but after the clarification, some people started questioning the authenticity of the situation, and the trolls began stirring the narrative.
“I think this whole thing seems fake. Lin Jiu wasn’t even that famous. Why would the company go to such lengths? I seriously doubt this is Lin Jiu trying to stir up publicity.”
“I don’t believe it either. I’ve never heard of any artist’s termination fee being 2 billion. Someone’s definitely out to tarnish ‘Creation Star’s reputation.”
“I suspect this is all orchestrated by Lin Jiu to boost his market value. He’s really shameless.”
“Hah, I’ve always said Lin Jiu’s character is sketchy. Look, here he goes again, causing trouble.”
“…”
Jiang Xiwen sent Lin Jiu a voice recording.
She had secretly recorded her conversation with the company, just in case things got messy later on. Now that the company was shamelessly denying everything after their conditions were exposed, she found herself stuck in an awkward position, caught between the two sides.
“Since that’s the case, Jiang Xiwen wasn’t afraid to make the recording public.
After listening to the recording, Lin Jiu hesitated a little. If the recording were released, ‘Star Creation’ would definitely know it was Jiang Xiwen’s doing. How would she be able to stay at the company after that?
Jiang Xiwen sensed Lin Jiu’s hesitation and laughed softly over the phone, “Go ahead and use the recording. Don’t worry about me. Even without this, I was planning to resign, so I won’t try to stop you, because I also want to leave.”
Lin Jiu was surprised, “Are you switching to another company?”
Jiang Xiwen was silent for a while before speaking again, “No, I’m not switching. I just don’t want to work anymore… I don’t want to waste my remaining time on work…”
Lin Jiu noticed something was off, “What do you mean? What’s going on with you?”
Jiang Xiwen didn’t answer and continued, “I brought you into this industry, and now I want to help you get out. That way, everything will come full circle, and I’ll feel more at peace…”
“Xiwen! What’s going on with you?” Lin Jiu asked anxiously.
Jiang Xiwen sighed, “It’s nothing. I’m just tired and need a break. If you need me, just reach out.”
With that, she hung up.
Lin Jiu stood frozen for a long time before sending the recording to Wen Qin.
On Wen Qin’s side, after editing it, they released the raw audio of the ‘Star Creation’ executives making the three demands.
The situation flipped. Countless people flooded the official ‘Star Creation’ blog, bombarding them with criticism. Now that they were forced to eat their words, how did it taste?
‘Star Creation’ insisted that someone was deliberately defaming the company. Even when the original audio was played, they refused to acknowledge it—absolutely would not admit it!
‘Star Creation’ repeatedly tried to contact Lin Jiu for a face-to-face meeting. When they couldn’t reach him, they went to block him at the Demon Fish Shop. Lin Jiu had only one response: “If there’s anything to discuss, speak with my lawyer.” Beyond that, he wouldn’t say a word.
Netizens continued to follow the drama, fans and haters battled online, and water armies clashed in a war of words that lasted for three days. It wasn’t until Lu Yu and Shi Shuqing finally secured the funds and came to buy wine from Lin Jiu that they learned about the whole affair.
Lu Yu’s face darkened immediately. Were they deliberately trying to embarrass the Special Abilities Management Department? They had promised to protect Lin Jiu, but meanwhile, the internet had exploded into this mess. The audacity was shocking!
Captain Lu, forgetting about the wine, made several calls to clarify the situation. He had only one directive: Don’t delay this case. Speed it up, or else their department’s reputation would be ruined.
