Chapter 79

In the gentle sea breeze of Santa Monica, on the third floor of the headquarters of Xia Yan Enterprises, in the CEO's office.

Rifkin sat behind a high-end solid wood desk, his long face full of smiles, and handed a few contract documents to Ye Wei, who was sitting across the table. He laughed and said, "Kid, it's been a pleasure working with you. As you said, soon the whole world will be shocked."

"Ha ha, it's been a pleasure." Ye Wei happily took the stack of contracts and casually flipped through them. One was a joint production contract, and the other two were employment contracts for the project's producer and director.

Actually, by the time it came to signing, it was just a formality, because the real negotiations took place during the contract drafting stage. Each of these three contracts was over fifty pages long. If he had to read them alone, he wouldn't understand many parts, which was why he brought Solton, the lawyer, for support.

However, after a while, he didn't ask any questions. Solton, the lawyer, sat beside him like a robot, but the joy in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

"Sign it if you have no issues, and then we can move on to the next step." Rifkin mentioned some good news: "Loweit has already made arrangements. Nickelodeon is considering airing 'Dance of the Angels' during prime time at the end of the month. Millions of children will see your short film, hehe."

"Cool!" Ye Wei couldn't help but widen his eyes. Nickelodeon is a cable children's channel that kids from ages 2 to 14 love. 'SpongeBob SquarePants' is one of its masterpieces, and he grew up watching Nickelodeon. Children's preferences determine whether someone can become a teen idol.

He was confident that 'Dance of the Angels' would succeed, but he wondered if this was for commercial use, so he asked this question.

"No problem, it's a public service broadcast, and the revenue will be donated to charity," Rifkin replied.

"Alright then." Ye Wei nodded excitedly. It was fantastic; all his efforts were finally about to bear sweet fruit. It felt almost surreal!

Director! Producer! Just thinking about it made him eager. He couldn't help but flip through the joint production contract to the part about the project director: "Ye Wei from the Dream Chasers Alliance will participate in the creative affairs of the project director team."

That was good... but...

Something suddenly flashed in his mind, a line from the prank letter: "You are no longer the director." Participation, team... his heart tightened, and a not-so-good thought came to mind: this clause didn't explicitly state that Ye Wei would be the project director!

The first assistant director, second assistant director, even the third and fourth, were also part of the team and participated in creative affairs.

He flipped back to the part about the project producer, and it was the same. It didn't explicitly state that Ye Wei would be the first producer, only that he would participate in the producer team's affairs...

Ye Wei suppressed these thoughts, looked at Solton, the lawyer, and then at Rifkin, and smiled, "I have a question. The contract doesn't clearly state that I will be the director and the first producer. I think it's better to make it clear."

"Ha ha!" Rifkin slightly changed his posture, raised his hand to touch his chin, "Kid, it's not necessary. It's like Loweit's image-building plan for you; it won't be written into the contract. These are private agreements, and there are employment contracts."

Solton, the lawyer, also had doubts, "Clarifying it is the best. It can be a binding clause. We overlooked this during the contract drafting."

He wasn't a top-tier lawyer yet, and facing the top-tier Skip-Bridenham, he was too humble due to the power imbalance, realizing he had been subtly led astray.

"Let me see..." Ye Wei flipped through the two employment contracts again. After a while, his doubts grew rather than diminished. The employment contracts had termination clauses, and he could be fired without compensation for "unprofessional behavior that harms the project." What did that mean? How was it determined? They decided?

No matter where he looked, he couldn't find any guarantee that when the film was released, the names of the producer and director on the screen would be Ye Wei.

He remembered the Focus contract, remembered Kevin Thomas. Don't make any possible foolish mistakes! Don't let joy blind you, especially after receiving that mysterious letter.

"Arnold, I need a clear clause to ensure the plan doesn't change." Ye Wei spoke very seriously, "This way, everyone can be at ease. Why not?"

Rifkin's smile slightly faded, "That's not the way it works, kid. This is fine as it is. You can rest assured."

"No, our project is not a regular project. I need it." Ye Wei's face was full of sincerity, but he was starting to feel anxious, sensing something was wrong, "I don't understand why not."

"Revising the contract is a hassle. We'll have to make the lawyers do a lot of work and spend a lot of time..." Rifkin spoke vaguely, and it was clear he was lying.

"It's not a hassle, just add a clause." Solton, the lawyer, said, while Ye Wei frowned, "I'm not joking about this. Please!"

Rifkin was silent for a moment, his long face no longer smiling, his eyes showing disappointment, "Kid, with these three contracts, the only thing you need to do now is sign them, take them home for your parents to sign, and then give them to us."

"I need that clause!" Ye Wei's voice was a bit urgent.

"You won't get it." Rifkin's expression grew darker. Ye Wei asked anxiously, "Why?" Rifkin shook his head, looking at him like a spoiled child, and sighed, "Don't do this. You'll make everyone uncomfortable. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't understand!" Ye Wei felt both anxious and angry, and he couldn't help but punch the desk. The letter was real... how could it be real...

Rifkin still looked concerned, speaking earnestly, "As someone who has been in the film industry for many years and in the adult world for many years, my advice to you is to learn to play dumb. You need to understand that only by taking a hit now will you have a bright future."

"What are you talking about..." Ye Wei's heart sank, his voice trembling, "Has something changed?"

"Sign the contract, and you'll find out!"

"What then, fire me immediately and give me the titles of assistant producer and assistant director? What happened?!"

"Some things just happen." Rifkin shrugged helplessly.

"Is this Mr. Willis's idea?" Ye Wei narrowed his eyes, a surge of anger building in his chest, "Does he know? Whose idea is this?! Loweit? He's dissatisfied that I didn't agree to his romance publicity plan?! Or Mr. Bloch... whose idea?!"

Rifkin didn't answer, only saying, "Sign the contract, and everything will be fine. I promise you won't lose out. The Dream Chasers Alliance will have a 10% stake, which is clear enough, right? Kid, this is a project starring Bruce Willis! A 10% stake!"

No, if one part of the contract is deceptive, another part can be too... Ye Wei turned to look at Solton, the lawyer, suddenly understanding what "don't trust anyone" meant. Was this part of their plan? Who could he trust?

Under this intense gaze, Solton, the lawyer, looked ashamed, "Wei, I really didn't participate. I'm just not good enough... almost let them get away with it..."

"Yes, it's not his fault." Rifkin shrugged, "Kid, besides the stake, you'll become an idol."

"Who cares about being an idol? I only care about making movies!!" Ye Wei's heart ached, trying to suppress his anger, and said in a low voice, "Tell me clearly what you want to do now. Don't play these despicable tricks to steal my project! It's impossible. If I'm not the producer and director, no one can take 'Little Miss Sunshine'!"

"Ah!" Rifkin shook his head, his tone changing, cold and hostile, "Kid, this is your choice. The bad impression is also your choice."

He picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said, "The kid found out. He won't sign. Come and handle it."

Who... who?! Ye Wei took deep breaths, like a bull tied up and enraged, wanting to overturn the desk but unable to move, only clenching his fists until they trembled.

What do they want to do, these people, who are they, what do they want to do...

The office was deathly silent. Soon, the door opened, and Richard Loweit walked in. He wore a gray casual suit and round glasses, still looking like a high school teacher, but his face was clearly cold and impatient.

Before he even sat down, he scolded Ye Wei, "Kid, why are you so disobedient? What do you have to be so disobedient?"

"Sir, just tell me directly, stop this nonsense..." Ye Wei's eyes burned like flames.

These so-called big shots, the mentors he once thought were close, suddenly turned into venomous snakes, ready to bite and devour him...

Loweit pulled a chair over, sat down on the other side, and looked at Ye Wei, suddenly smiling, "Sometimes, I really hate you dreamers. You're so smart, yet you don't understand being smarter. You talk about dreams all day, wasting your talent, wasting your youth!

When you become someone, you can spit in my face, and I won't dare say a word, but who are you now? You are nothing! If you keep this up, you'll get nothing!"

"You just need... to tell me the truth!" Ye Wei was almost unable to contain himself.

Loweit leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said conversationally, "Things have changed. David Linde, the co-chair of Focus Features, you know him, right?

He invited an Oscar-level director to helm this project. I won't tell you who it is yet, but that man can bring 'Little Miss Sunshine' to the Oscars! They had dinner with Bruce, and Bruce changed his mind.

Do you know how a clearly Oscar-worthy actor, because he's typecast as an action star, can't even get a decent nomination? 'Hart's War' didn't, 'Jack the Bear' didn't... even 'The Sixth Sense' didn't! Do you know how that feels?

I know! Bruce has been very frustrated over the years. Even when he was a Broadway understudy, he dreamed of walking the Oscar