Chapter 38

Even though Bai Siyi was very popular now, he was still just an ordinary person without a management company, so there was no one to help him review contracts.

But Huo Xingming reminded him—if they were signing a supplementary contract, maybe he could negotiate for a better payment?

Bai Siyi thought to himself, If only Director Liu could give me another 500,000 yuan.

But then, he reconsidered. He was already getting 500,000 for participating in the variety show, and now, they were just filming some bonus content.

Would asking for another 500,000 be too much?

Bai Siyi hesitated for a few seconds.

Then, he heard Huo Xingming say, “Director Liu, why didn’t you mention the bonus content when we signed the contract? Now you’re suddenly bringing it up… Let me think…”

Huo Xingming grinned and asked, “Could it be that Xiao Bai is really popular, and the audience loves him?”

Director Liu: “…”

Director Liu looked at Huo Xingming in surprise.

This guy always seemed silly, but who knew he was actually smart?

He had guessed the real reason so easily.

Director Liu chuckled and replied, “Well, the audience loving him is one thing, but maintaining the completeness of the show is another. You see, since you two are leaving midway, even though new guests will come in later, the way you two are sticking to each other makes it obvious that there’s more to the story. Our show has to give the audience a proper resolution.”

Huo Xingming thought, As if that “resolution” isn’t entirely up to you?

It was obvious that Bai Siyi’s popularity was soaring, and Director Liu wanted to keep viewers engaged. Otherwise, why would any director go out of their way to add extra costs and work for themselves?

While Bai Siyi was still hesitating, Huo Xingming spoke up again, “Filming bonus content isn’t a problem, of course. Director Liu, you already know I’m short on money right now. As long as you pay well, no worries. Besides, Jiang Fengjing has money.”

Director Liu: “…”

Originally, Director Liu had planned to offer 500,000 yuan to convince Bai Siyi to sign.

But before Bai Siyi could even say a word, it was Huo Xingming doing all the negotiating.

And by the time Bai Siyi received the contract, the payment had already increased to 2 million yuan.

To be honest, considering Bai Siyi’s current popularity, 2 million wasn’t even a high amount.

But since he was just an ordinary person, with no management team, no commercial branding, and no certainty about whether he could maintain his fame after the show ended, this was already a huge opportunity.

Director Liu also had to consider budget constraints, since all the funding had to come from sponsors.

But regardless—for Bai Siyi, 2 million was an astronomical sum.

He suddenly felt like meeting Director Liu was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to him!

He had never imagined he could get so much money so easily.

It felt like a dream.

Director Liu, along with the legal team and an assistant, placed two copies of the contract in front of Huo Xingming and Bai Siyi.

“We’ve been negotiating all morning. Take another look at the contract details. If everything’s fine, let’s sign it now. Tomorrow, when you leave the show, we’ll release the teaser for the bonus content and start preparing for filming.”

Huo Xingming’s company had professional legal advisors and lawyers. He sent the contract to his company’s lawyer for review, and once everything was confirmed to be in order, he brought Bai Siyi along to sign it.

“Don’t worry, just sign it. You’ll get a one-million-yuan advance payment right away.”

The 50% upfront payment was also something Huo Xingming had negotiated.

Director Liu couldn’t help but feel that Huo Xingming was not to be underestimated. He usually seemed carefree and foolish, but when it came to negotiations, he was truly impressive.

Bai Siyi hadn’t spoken a single word throughout the process. It wasn’t until after signing the contract that he finally reacted, turning to look at Huo Xingming in awe.

“Huo Xingming, you’re amazing!”

Huo Xingming smugly ran a hand through his hair and rested an arm on Bai Siyi’s shoulder.

“Of course! I am Huo Xingming, after all.”

His family owned a business. Even though he didn’t pursue the family trade, he had grown up surrounded by business discussions, and his education had always been in management.

For him, this was a piece of cake.

He had even founded his own company, personally negotiating all of its business deals.

Among his family elders, he was still considered a rookie in training, but in front of Bai Siyi, he was an unstoppable business genius!

Huo Xingming patted his chest confidently.

“Don’t worry. If you ever have business negotiations like this again, just come to me. I’ll make sure you never get the short end of the stick.”

Bai Siyi nodded excitedly. Even now, he still hadn’t fully processed the overwhelming luck that had just fallen into his lap.

He mentally calculated—previously, he was getting 500,000 yuan, but now it was 2 million, making it a total of 2.5 million.

Even with his debt and interest combined, he still owed less than 2 million.

That meant that once the bonus footage was filmed and everything was over, he wouldn’t just clear his debt—he’d even have tens of thousands left in savings!

He could use the money to buy medicine for his mother, and if he kept working hard, he could finally quit his dancing job at the bar and focus entirely on running his voice acting channel.

He could even use his free time to study for exams, enroll in a foreign language course, and maybe—just maybe—he could become a transfer student at a university.

And if things went well, he could pursue a master’s degree, a doctorate, or even study abroad someday.

In an instant, Bai Siyi had mapped out an entire future in his mind.

These were things he had only dreamed about before—never once believing they could come true.

But now, they were suddenly within reach, as if fate had handed him the perfect opportunity.

Sitting on the edge of the flowerbed outside the hospital, Bai Siyi sighed.

“I still feel like this isn’t real, like I’m dreaming.”

He turned his head to look at Huo Xingming.

“Huo Xingming, hit me.”

Huo Xingming frowned.

“Why would I hit you? That would hurt.”

Instead, he reached out and pinched Bai Siyi’s cheek.

Bai Siyi immediately pulled back, rubbing his now-reddened face.

“Ouch! That hurt. Guess it’s not a dream.”

He then quickly grabbed his contract again, reading through it line by line, worried that there might be some hidden trap.

After all, getting paid 2 million yuan just for filming four ten-minute clips of his daily life—

No matter how he thought about it, it just didn’t seem real.

Seeing Bai Siyi’s anxious expression, Huo Xingming glanced around, then leaned in and whispered,

“Xiao Bai, do you know how many followers you have on Weibo right now?”

Bai Siyi shook his head.

“No idea. I haven’t been online in a while.”

The staff had been holding onto their phones, and they probably wouldn’t get them back until the evening.

After all, they had already exchanged their thank-you letters, which, according to the show’s rules, meant they had eliminated each other.

Tomorrow, they would be leaving the show, and new guests would take their place.

Huo Xingming lowered his voice.

“I’m guessing you have at least a million followers by now.”

Bai Siyi was stunned.

“That many? No way.”

His Weibo account was brand new, and he hadn’t even posted anything.

Huo Xingming chuckled.

“Xiao Bai, stop underestimating yourself. If you weren’t popular, Director Liu wouldn’t have asked us to film the bonus footage. Just wait—you might even get some brand deals in a few days.”

First Heartbeat was going to be broadcast on a major TV network, with eight episodes in total, and plenty of sponsored commercials mixed in.

With so many sponsors backing the show, they were bound to collaborate with the most popular guests.

And because of the show’s existing relationships, the fees for these ads wouldn’t be too high, meaning Bai Siyi would definitely land at least one or two endorsement deals.

Huo Xingming didn’t know much about the entertainment industry, but Jiang Fengjing was in the business, so he had picked up a few things.

Bai Siyi could hardly believe it.

“Really? Oh my god, the entertainment industry makes so much money…”

So many talent scouts had approached him before, and he had turned them all down.

And yet, now—without even fully stepping into the industry—he had already made so much.

The debt that had once felt suffocating now seemed insignificant.

Bai Siyi was thrilled. He turned to Huo Xingming and said,

“Huo Xingming, let’s go! Dinner’s on me.”

Huo Xingming immediately protested.

“Nope, I’m paying. I got two million, too!”

They had signed the same contract, earned the same pay, and gotten rich together.

The smile never left Bai Siyi’s face.

Today, he truly felt like the luckiest person in the world.

Not only had he found out that Huo Xingming liked men, but he had also signed a two-million-yuan contract.

Once the bonus footage was filmed and his debt was cleared, he was definitely going back home to see his mother.

He hadn’t been back in over six months, and he had no idea how she was doing now.

Bai Siyi was excited.

“Alright, let’s go! I want to eat something ridiculously expensive!”

Huo Xingming, caught up in his energy, immediately suggested,

“Got it! There’s a private kitchen nearby. The food isn’t great, but it’s insanely expensive. Want to try it?”

Bai Siyi burst into laughter.

“Absolutely! The taste doesn’t matter—what matters is that it’s ridiculously expensive!”

The two looked at each other and laughed out loud on the street for a long time.

When they finally caught their breath, Bai Siyi took out his phone to scan for a shared bike.

Huo Xingming followed suit and started scanning for a bike as well.

Halfway through, Bai Siyi suddenly put his phone away and declared boldly,

“We just got rich—why are we still riding shared bikes?! I’m calling a BMW to pick us up!”

Huo Xingming immediately responded,

“Wait right there, I’ll go buy a BMW right now.”

Bai Siyi grabbed his hand and shot him a glare.

“What do you mean ‘buy’?! Don’t be ridiculous!”

Saying that, Bai Siyi pulled out his phone, opened a ride-hailing app, and booked the most expensive chauffeur service available.

Unfortunately, instead of a BMW, a Mercedes-Benz showed up.

Huo Xingming was unimpressed.

“Boss Bai asked for a BMW—why did they send a Benz? Do they even know how to do business?!”

Laughing, Bai Siyi dragged Huo Xingming into the car.

“No worries, we’ll give them another chance next time. For now, I hope President Huo can endure this minor grievance.”

Huo Xingming huffed.

“Fine, but next time, I want a Rolls-Royce.”

Bai Siyi waved his hand grandly.

“Since President Huo has made a request, consider it done!”

The driver: “……”

In the end, Bai Siyi and Huo Xingming didn’t go to that overpriced but mediocre private kitchen.

Bai Siyi had always been frugal, so they opted for a highly rated hotpot restaurant instead.

The place was incredibly popular, and they had to wait in line outside for half an hour.

During that time, a guy even came up to ask for Bai Siyi’s WeChat.

Bai Siyi had been approached before, so he smoothly turned him down.

It was Huo Xingming who felt incredibly sour after witnessing the scene.

He shifted his chair closer, sitting right next to Bai Siyi.

Tomorrow, they would officially leave the show, yet nothing had been settled between him and Bai Siyi.

Bai Siyi had never given him a clear answer, leaving Huo Xingming feeling restless.

He hesitated for a moment before lowering his voice.

“Xiao Bai, what’s your ideal type?”

Bai Siyi looked at Huo Xingming with a complicated expression.

At first, his ideal type had been someone gentle, scholarly, and academically brilliant.

Since he never went to college, he had always admired people who excelled at studying.

But after meeting Huo Xingming, he realized that… he actually liked someone like him too.

Of course, he would never admit it, or else that piupiu star would get even more cocky.

But looking at Huo Xingming’s eager expression, Bai Siyi hesitated for two seconds before saying,

“At the very least, someone who isn’t too different from me. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have anything in common to talk about.”

As soon as he said that, Huo Xingming’s heart sank.

He might be a bit of a fool sometimes, but he wasn’t stupid.

He knew there were differences between him and Bai Siyi.

For example, he was a foreigner. Even though he was living here now, his life was still centered overseas—that distance alone was a huge gap.

Then there was family background.

He had only told Bai Siyi that his family was “doing okay,” but he hadn’t explained just how well off they actually were.

His family owned a corporate group, and in his home country, they were fairly well-known.

His father even regularly appeared in financial news.

If Bai Siyi knew the truth, would he think their gap was too big and reject him?

Huo Xingming felt a bit conflicted. He tentatively asked, “Xiao Bai, what exactly do you mean by ‘gap’? If the other person were a billionaire, would you still be with them?”

Bai Siyi shook his head without even thinking. “Of course not! A billionaire can have any stunning beauty they want—why would they even look at me?”

He found Huo Xingming’s question a little strange and looked at him. “Why are you asking these hypothetical questions? I never…”

His face turned slightly red as he lowered his voice. “I never said I dislike you.”

Even though he hadn’t fully accepted Huo Xingming yet, he hadn’t rejected him either. After they got to know each other better, things would naturally fall into place.

Bai Siyi never considered the possibility that someone who ate fast food with him, rode shared bikes, and worked manual labor on an assembly line could actually be the youngest son of a billionaire.

Even novels wouldn’t dare to write something this unrealistic!

Bai Siyi continued, “If the other person had a really high level of education, I’d also feel pressured.”

Although he definitely planned to continue his studies, right now, he only had a high school diploma. Huo Xingming’s level—a bachelor’s degree—was still attainable if Bai Siyi worked hard.

But if it were something like an Ivy League degree, or if the person were a master’s or PhD graduate, then they would be from completely different worlds. Even if Bai Siyi studied his hardest, he still wouldn’t reach that level.

Bai Siyi talked to Huo Xingming about a lot of things, then smiled and said, “But fortunately, I met you. You’re really great.”

Everything about Huo Xingming fit perfectly within Bai Siyi’s comfort zone—his education level, personality, physique—and they could talk and have fun together.

Even though Bai Siyi didn’t show it on the surface, he was actually very happy inside.

However, what he didn’t know was that after this entire conversation, Huo Xingming was already drenched in cold sweat.

A soon-to-be Ivy League master’s graduate, the youngest son of a billionaire, and someone who planned to settle abroad—Huo Xingming’s inner self had already fainted from despair.

What should he do? What should he do?

If he didn’t tell the truth, his future wife would be angry.

But if he told the truth, his future wife would be gone.

Huo Xingming clutched his chest, feeling like he had just hit the biggest roadblock of his life.