Chapter 41: Negotiating to Terminate the Contract

Chapter 41: Negotiating to Terminate the Contract

Inside the coffee shop with its melodious piano music, Chen Feng and Mai Hui sat across from each other.

“Mr. Chen, I am really sorry about what happened last time. I apologize to you, please accept my sincerest apologies.”

Though he had already apologized once using Zheng Rou’s phone, and Chen Feng had passed a message through Zheng Rou saying he would let bygones be bygones, Mai Hui still took the opportunity in person to apologize seriously once more.

Chen Feng gave an awkward smile. “It’s fine.”

“I knew Mr. Chen was a man of great magnanimity and wouldn’t hold it against me.”

The two chatted about this and that for a while longer and soon got down to business.

“How is the song you mentioned wanting to sell to us coming along? The remastering?”

Chen Feng nodded. “Basically finished. I’ll send you the demo at the latest by next week.”

Mai Hui waved a hand grandly. “Mr. Chen, there’s no need to listen to the demo. Why don’t we just sign the contract directly! Fifty thousand for the single’s copyright!”

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes slightly. “Without even seeing the lyrics or the sheet music?”

Mai Hui shook his head confidently. “No need.”

He believed he was showing great sincerity.

Fifty thousand was a price that was absolutely not shabby at all.

For a new creator who had only written one song so far, it was completely reasonable and fair.

And just as Chen Feng had said, they hadn’t even asked for the demo or sheet music yet. They didn’t even know the song’s title or lyrics. They were willing to offer fifty thousand just based on Chen Feng himself. That was really being decent.

Chen Feng thought for five seconds and decided to politely decline Mai Hui’s offer.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sell the song to He Jiaqi, but he judged that in another week, Zhong Lei’s popularity would rise even higher.

Also, right now Mai Hui was offering 50,000 without even hearing the demo, which seemed high.

But after they heard the demo for “Night Has Grown Deep”, Chen Feng thought they would raise their expectations further.

It was only waiting a week. If he could earn ten or twenty thousand more, why not?

He really couldn’t be said to be tricking them. You get what you pay for; that was the principle.

“Buying a song without hearing the demo is too hasty. Let’s wait until next week, okay? Next week.”

Mai Hui was a little disappointed, but seeing Chen Feng’s firm attitude, he didn’t insist too much.

“Mr. Chen, you are just so modest,” Mai Hui flattered, then changed the subject. “By the way, you used to work here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Was it because Zhong Lei made ‘Dullness’ popular that you decided to quit?”

Mai Hui asked with a bit of curiosity.

Chen Feng shook his head. “No, I had to leave. I was fired.”

He had been waiting for Mai Hui to ask this question for a long time.

Compared to selling the song, Chen Feng actually wanted to talk about this more.

Just then, He Jiaqi’s voice came from behind the two of them. “Why were you fired?”

He Jiaqi had arrived very quickly.

The big boss of Kelai Apartment, Zeng Guanlin, had barely started to protest earlier and almost caused them to lose the much-sought-after spokesperson they had finally secured. How dare he delay He Jiaqi’s time any further? He only took her on a brief walk through two out of the eight departments in the company before setting her free.

He Jiaqi didn’t stand on ceremony either. While thanking them for their understanding, she slipped away very quickly.

As soon as she arrived, she happened to notice that when Mai Hui asked Chen Feng this question, Chen Feng’s eyes brightened slightly, as if he had been waiting to talk about it. So she took the initiative and asked directly.

It might seem abrupt, but He Jiaqi knew this was catering to his interests.

Chen Feng, being straightforward, revealed the truth without exaggeration. He just laid out all the details of the unfair treatment he had been suffering at the company during this period.

He didn’t care much about this job himself. In his mind, he just saw Lin De and Zhou Yunbo as clowns, so he didn’t feel deeply about it. On the contrary, Mai Hui and He Jiaqi, who needed something from him, were indignant after hearing it and both spoke up to defend him.

“That Lin De is really bullying others too much,” He Jiaqi sighed. “Mr. Chen, you made the right choice leaving that company.”

Mai Hui agreed. “Actually, I think this is an opportunity for us.”

He Jiaqi nodded.

Chen Feng was puzzled. “How so?”

Mai Hui said, “Actually, the business Kelai Apartment wants to use Jiaqi to promote now goes beyond the contract’s scope. We were already thinking about applying for arbitration to terminate this contract. But before, we held back because it wouldn’t look good for our reputation in the industry if word got out.”

He Jiaqi leaned back against the sofa. “Terminating a contract without a valid reason is never good. Now, Mr. Chen’s situation can be the reason we take action. My friend was wronged in this company, so naturally, I have no reason to meet their requests that are outside the contract.”

Seeing this, Chen Feng understood a principle.

These two genuinely wanted to hold on tight to his “strong” leg.

“This is ultimately your own matter, so I shouldn’t say too much. But in my opinion, Kelai Apartment isn’t a very good partner. They want Ms. He to help promote their rent financing business, right?”

Mai Hui nodded. “Right.”

“I’ve heard a bit about this too. The core of this business is monthly rent payments. Besides signing a contract with Kelai Apartment, the tenant also has to sign with a financial credit company. After the three-party contract is signed, the financial company pays the full amount of the rent to Kelai Apartment on the spot. As for the tenant, they repay the loan to the financial company every month through a mobile app.”

Mai Hui said, “Right. For this kind of business, they really need social credibility, so they came to us. But when we signed the contract before, they didn’t fully inform us about this additional business.”

Chen Feng replied, “Then your concerns are completely understandable.”

He wasn’t very interested in these commercial matters, nor did he understand them well.

But as long as they weren’t doing this entirely for his sake, that was fine. He didn’t want to owe too many favors either.

While the three of them were discussing things heatedly, upstairs, Lin De was standing in the chairman’s office like a schoolboy who had done something wrong.

Zeng Guanlin and President Jiang sat opposite him with grim faces.

Many of the leadership team already knew the whole story.

The vice president who had helped Lin De handle the matter previously was also quite embarrassed.

He was the first among the senior executives to know, but hadn’t paid much attention and thought he had handled it rather well. He hadn’t expected further trouble to arise.

Who could have imagined that Chen Feng, who seemed entirely insignificant in the company, actually had connections in the entertainment industry, and seemingly deep ones at that.

If they had known earlier, why would they have acted that way?

“Lin De, the company just hired a celebrity as a spokesperson, and you went around the company making irresponsible remarks and gossiping about celebrities. Tell me, what is wrong with your mind?”

He Jiaqi’s attitude had been too firm earlier, and Zeng Guanlin had a vague sense of foreboding. So now, seeing Lin De like this made him furious.

Lin De looked miserable. “No, that wasn’t what I meant. You didn’t see, but Chen Feng was really just loafing around at work. I just wanted to find a pretext to counsel him out.”

“Counsel him out? Were you perhaps worried that Chen Feng would use his connections in the entertainment industry to snatch the position you’re sitting in?”

President Jiang said something cutting in a sinister tone.

Lin De waved his hands repeatedly. “That’s not true! I’ve been wronged!”

At this point, another one of the senior executives spoke up.

“Then explain, why did you make those remarks about celebrities just because you saw Chen Feng browsing Weibo? What you said was a bit harsh, but as far as I know, this employee Chen Feng doesn’t usually cause trouble. Yet he physically attacked you. Isn’t there something odd about that?”

“Speak up! If he wasn’t on good terms with that artist Zhong Lei, whom you insulted, would he have gotten so agitated? Would he have resorted to violence? Do you really think the High-Tech Zone branch is your personal fiefdom? That no one knows what you do? You deliberately wanted to provoke him, to make him leave justifiably, so your close associate could take over Chen Feng’s residential complex, right?”

Lin De’s maneuvers weren’t actually subtle. Few who made it to corporate executive positions were fools. They just needed to ask around a bit below, and the truth would come out.

Lin De hadn’t tried very hard to hide it either; it was a fairly routine practice in the workplace.

Others did the same. He had used similar methods to push out several disobedient employees before and never had any trouble.

Other senior executives weren’t unaware; they just couldn’t be bothered or saw no need to intervene.

But this time, they had to intervene.

So someone had publicly aired these widely known but usually unspoken words in front of everyone—words that, once spoken, were a death sentence.

Lin De finally became scared.

He realized that Chen Feng’s situation was probably a catalyst.

This time, the big boss had chosen the High-Tech Zone as the main marketing venue for He Jiaqi, indicating the company’s strategic direction was changing.

Then his position naturally became a hot commodity. Another faction among the senior executives was making a move against the faction he was aligned with.

He looked toward the vice president who had helped him before.

This person was his backer.

His backer certainly couldn’t stand by and watch his underling get skinned alive like this. What authority would he have left in the company otherwise?

The vice president waved his hand. “That’s enough. Both of you have gone too far. We’re all just working hard for the company, striving to create benefits. There’s no need for so much conspiracy theory. The cause of the incident probably started the other day when Chen Feng took sick leave but was seen by a colleague at an internet cafe. Lin De thought Chen Feng had a poor work attitude, so he wanted Chen Feng to leave. Right?”

Lin De nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes! I admit I didn’t handle it well. I should have only used company rules and regulations to talk to him. But offending the celebrity was really just a coincidence. Chen Feng hardly had any friends in the company, didn’t interact with many people. How could we possibly know about his social circle?”

Zeng Guanlin concluded this criticism session, temporarily bringing it to an end.

“Enough. Whether or not you had ulterior motives, you know in your own heart. We’ll discuss it further later.”

Just then, the office door was pushed open from the outside by Zeng Guanlin’s secretary.

The secretary looked a bit panicked and seemed hesitant to speak.

Zeng Guanlin said, “Speak.”

“Mai Hui just contacted me. He said after careful consideration, they find they cannot accept the work outside the contract, which is endorsing the financial product. So they hope to negotiate with us to terminate the contract.”