Chapter 302: Chapter 302 - 298: Mrs. Jing’s Freedom Is Priceless

Shi Su dialed Jing Jihan’s private number. She wasn’t sure if he kept this phone with him while at the company.

After a few rings, the call was answered, "Shi Su?"

The man’s deep voice came through the phone, instantly clearing away the slight annoyance Shi Su felt earlier from Cherry Yang’s interruption.

She hadn’t realized that just talking to him over the phone would make her somewhat bashful, playing coy like a young girl, as she bit her lip and said softly, "Don’t spoil Mianmian too much. If she gets too unruly, no one will be able to handle her in the future."

There was a pause on the other side, a faint electronic sound indicating a page being closed before the man spoke, "When you were unruly, wasn’t I able to handle you just fine?"

Shi Su was shocked, "When was I ever unruly? At most, I’ve blocked you on WeChat and calls!"

"Didn’t you add an extra lock to the door on the thirty-first floor?"

"..."

"Living in my place, guarding against me like a thief."

"......"

Shi Su turned her head, looking out at the winter sun from the car window, her face flushed, unable to respond.

Lately, this drama’s crew has been eager to finish shooting as quickly as possible, ideally before the Spring Festival, making the newly arranged shooting schedule quite tight.

She wants to get a good night’s sleep rather than waking up with a hoarse throat and aching back to shoot the next day, but if she were to be carried off by Jing Jihan in the middle of the night while asleep...

"You wouldn’t actually go in the middle of the night, right?"

"No, Mianmian said that."

"..." That little brat! Selling out her own mother!

Though Jing Jihan is quite busy with company matters near the end of the year, juggling various year-end business meetings and social events, if he were genuinely coming back to Kaixing Mansion late at night and attempted to open the door on the thirty-first floor, that scene... just imagining it... doesn’t quite suit his image.

But who can guarantee he won’t come one day, two days, three days... suddenly overcome with a wolf’s instinct and show up one day...

After all, it’s too close, too convenient, just upstairs and downstairs.

She worries every night about being seized and taken to the wolf’s den in her sleep.

Shi Su composed herself, "By the way, there’s something I want to discuss with you. My contract with Yijia Entertainment was originally signed for five years, with about two years left until it expires. I won’t go into detail about the unequal terms and recent developments between the company and me, but I’m considering terminating the contract."

"Sure, the lawyers in the Yu Jing Group’s legal department have quite a bit of experience. You can pick one you like to help resolve the contract issues." The man replied in a low, indifferent tone, "It’s quite a step forward, knowing to come to me for help as soon as you need it."

Shi Su stayed silent for a while before saying, "I looked over the documents I signed before. Since it was a five-year contract, it didn’t seem very long, so I didn’t pay much attention to the penalty terms. Yijia Entertainment’s contract terms have always been harsh for newcomers like me without backgrounds, and the penalty clauses are extreme. If I want to terminate, the penalty amount is quite large..."

Jing Jihan chuckled lightly, "Never mind that my future Mrs. Jing’s freedom is priceless. Any amount seems trivial in comparison. With your ability, even if this penalty isn’t covered by me, I believe you can earn it back in no time. If you weren’t confident in your future being worthy of my intervention, you wouldn’t be calling me first thing."

He spoke nonchalantly.

Yet Shi Su’s heart shook intensely.

How could this man see through everything so clearly...

She merely initiated a call seeking his help, yet he effortlessly saw through her intentions.

If she could just break away from Yijia Entertainment’s blood-sucking grip, she truly believed she could earn back the eight-figure penalty.

If she didn’t terminate now, with her current popularity and earning power, what Yijia Entertainment would continue to take away wouldn’t just be eight figures, but likely more.

No matter how much traffic or how popular an artist is, the peak time doesn’t last more than a few years. Wasting her best two years being bled dry by Yijia Entertainment would truly be a loss.

Jing Jihan indeed knows her well, not emphasizing the small eight-figure penalty as trivial, nor offering to handle everything for her in this matter.

He understands her ambition and capabilities and respects all of it. Regardless of her frequent teasing by calling him "sugar daddy," he never approached her from a benefactor’s standpoint.

She is Shi Su, not a cheap, weak star reliant on him to survive.

If she had to depend on him, she’d probably run away instead.

She has her way of handling things and her attitude, and he gives her the respect and leeway she deserves.

Shi Su smiled as she said, "Sugar daddy, I need twenty million. I’ll pay you back in a year, but for Mianmian’s sake, let’s waive the interest. The interest on twenty million is quite hefty..."

The man on the other side seemed to ponder seriously for a moment before saying, "For Mianmian’s sake?"

"What else? What other bribe would you accept?"

"That depends on how you plan to bribe me."

Shi Su pretended not to understand, glancing outside the car, "The director is calling me to get ready for filming. Anyway, I’ll pawn off Mianmian with you first, and as for the rest, I’ll discuss it when I return to Jiang City!"

With that, she hung up the call swiftly before Jing Jihan could respond.

...

In the evening, Lu Zhao went to the kindergarten to pick up Mianmian, only to encounter a big problem.

Seeing the little girl standing there with red eyes, not saying a word or making a fuss, while the kindergarten teacher recounted the events of the day, Lu Zhao furrowed his brows and quickly called Jing Jihan. He also reached out to pull Mianmian into the protective circle around him, not allowing the teacher to touch her any longer.

When Jing Jihan arrived at the kindergarten entrance, Mianmian obediently stood beside Lu Zhao, her eyes swollen but no tears fell. When she saw Jing Jihan, she merely looked at him, red-eyed, not saying a word.

"What’s going on?" Jing Jihan approached, glanced at Mianmian, noticing her demeanor as if she’d suffered a great injustice but was also raging. His gaze then landed on the faint red mark on her cheek, his expression immediately turning cold as he looked at the kindergarten teacher standing at the door.

The kindergarten teacher had thought Mr. Lu, who had temporarily been picking up and dropping off Mianmian these days, was already a hard and distant person to approach. To her surprise, yet another gentleman appeared, who seemed to be yet another ranking above Mr. Lu, causing her to stare in shocked awe at this striking man, impressive in every way.

But now was not the time to be starstruck, and with some apprehension, the teacher said, "Mianmian has always been well-behaved, but today she suddenly got into a fight with another child in the class..."