The CEO finally put down the contract, a thoughtful expression on his face. There was nothing in there that was going too far, although quite a few points would be a headache to deal with. "Overall, I do understand your concerns. Since the two of you are married, we will naturally not keep you from being together. It is just that your husband’s image would suffer from making this public and his chances of becoming popular would decline. Thus, it would be in his own interest to have this stay a secret."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "I do see your point and we will comply to a reasonable degree."
"Then that clause in the contract …" The CEO raised his hand, making a gesture as if that entailed anything.
Leng Jin Yu just smiled. "Since you say it’s important and we agree you can rest assured that we won’t make unnecessary trouble. No reason to try to bind us with this piece of paper. Anyway, we do have lines that can’t be crossed. The things that are done to cover up some scandals … We know about that." After all, his husband hadn’t read all those gossip magazines for nothing. Now, this knowledge really came in handy. "Whether it’s having either of us show up with some woman pretending to be our partner in public or denying our relationship when asked, I’m afraid we’ll be unable to do it. I value my husband and he values me. We will not pretend that it is different under any circumstances."
The CEO lowered his hand, giving Leng Jin Yu a deep look. Normally, nobody would talk to him like this. "What if I said that we won’t sign this contract if you even refuse to compromise on this issue?"
Leng Jin Yu just gave a breezy smile. "Please don’t take this as an offense but … I’m pretty sure that your side is more eager to sign this than us. While we never talked about it previously and originally had other plans, I’m not delusional. I know that my husband has the looks to make a living off it. If you don’t want to sign a contract with him … I’m pretty sure others would be more than willing to do so."
The CEO’s lips tightened imperceptibly. This really was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? He couldn’t refute it either. After all, those looks were indeed ethereal. In fact … He gave Leng Jin Yu a closer look and couldn’t help but admit that even though he wasn’t as ridiculously beautiful as his husband, he still wouldn’t have a problem becoming an instant hit in the entertainment industry. Thinking of that …
The CEO lowered his gaze for a moment before he looked up again. "Well, I can see your concerns. It certainly wouldn’t be easy to completely separate your work and love life. Especially since you’ll be working very closely together. I guess I will have to take you on your word. But … You should realize that as soon as this becomes public, it might make a dent in your husband’s career, one he might not be able to recover from."
"I am aware. It is alright. As I said: Originally, we didn’t even consider this path. If it does come to an end, we will be alright with it."
The CEO really couldn’t help but feel annoyed. That was not the way he was supposed to react! He cleared his throat and forced himself to give a rare smile. "I do hope that you won’t throw things away that easily. There will be possibilities to salvage the situation which I think would be for the best. In fact, I think that you would be able to help your husband out in that situation. So … Would you be willing to do that?"
Leng Jin Yu’s smile brightened. So now this guy was trying to manipulate him with his feelings for Jinde? What a smart move! "Well, I’d really like to hear what this is about."
"Staying together in the face of adversity is something a lot of people deeply admire. If you were willing to show your closeness off …"
"I see." So they wanted to use him too.
"It would be alright to just appear alongside him in a few projects. In fact, if you did so every now and then throughout his career, people would associate you with each other already and the shock of finding out that you are, in fact, a couple would not be as big. Would that be acceptable to you?"
"Will that be part of the contract?"
"If you would be alright with it."
Leng Jin Yu glanced at the papers on the table and finally nodded. "If you will agree to all the other changes we are requesting, then I don’t think this will be too much."
The CEO didn’t even think about it for a second longer. Those changes were reasonable and he could even make a huge profit out of it! He would be an idiot to reject this deal. Thus, he nodded and then called for his secretary to set up the revised version.
A few minutes later, his secretary walked in, putting the new contracts down in front of them before she left again.
The CEO took out a pen and signed the contract before pushing it over to the other side of the table and handing the pen over.
Leng Jin Yu stared at it, his gaze subtle. This … was quite novel. Considering everything he had seen so far, he had to say that it was likely one of the most fascinating things. Exchanging being able to fly on your own against a small cabin that moved only up and down wasn’t that impressive but … this strangely-shaped brush was actually able to write without dipping it in ink. This really was revolutionary! He’d like to see how modern calligraphy looked.
With that thought, he did as he had seen the CEO do and clicked on the end of the pen, making the pen refill shoot out. Feeling quite powerful, he put his name under the contract. Unfortunately, it turned out pretty ugly. Well, it seemed he’d have to learn using these modern brushes before he could even think of calligraphy.
Anyway, now, they had at least solved their first major problem in this world: They finally weren’t out of the local currency anymore and thus, would soon be able to find lodgings as well. Things really were looking up.
