Elder brother's garrison

Page 1827

“I have to pay…” Lu Ming murmured.

"Money is a small matter!!!" The agent's voice rose eight octaves. "After you breached the contract, you can't participate in any related artist activities for at least ten years! Do you know what that means?! Every star's peak period is only a few years! You were at your peak before! You've ruined your future as a star, do you know that?! It's because the company hasn't treated you well enough! What are you trying to achieve by doing this?!"

Chapter 2521 The Retired Star

This was the first time Xiao Bai had ever seen Lu Ming's manager so emotional.

The news of Lu Ming's sudden resignation must have had a huge impact on this agent.

"Lu Ming, you should know that the company has never shortchanged you in terms of compensation." Under everyone's gaze, the manager spoke to Lu Ming in a heavy voice, his expression serious. "Whether it's the share of performance income or the rights you have as an artist, the company has always treated you according to the highest industry standards. If you're resigning because you're dissatisfied with your compensation, I hope you'll seriously consider it! This is about taking responsibility for your own future!"

"Yes, yes..."

"Little Deer, are you unhappy about something?"

"If you have any complaints about the company, you can say so..."

"..."

As the agent finished speaking, the female makeup artists who had been waiting nearby gathered around Lu Ming with worried expressions, whispering words of advice to her.

Lu Ming sat in the chair with her head down, making it difficult for anyone to see her expression.

However, despite his agent's words and the other makeup artists' well-intentioned advice, Lu Ming simply shook his head.

"It's not... about the money," Lu Ming said softly.

"If it's not a matter of money, then it must be a matter of opportunity? Do you feel that our company can no longer accommodate you?" the agent asked.

“…” Lu Ming shook his head.

"So you feel that our company isn't paying enough attention to you?" the agent asked again.

"..." Lu Ming shook her head again. She finally raised her head and looked at her agent with a pair of apologetic blue eyes. "This company... is very good... and everyone is very kind. I... have no complaints about the company."

"I really don't understand." The agent leaned over and patted the resignation letter on the table. "If you have no complaints about the company, why are you resigning? Are you really going to ruin your own career?"

"The agent is right, Xiao Luming, maybe we shouldn't resign..."

"Yeah yeah……"

"If you have any difficulties talking about, we can try to come up with some ideas for you..."

The makeup artists around Lu Ming quickly and cautiously offered their advice.

The scene where everyone was trying to persuade Lu Ming to stay had a distinct flavor of using both soft and hard tactics.

Even so, Lu Ming still shook his head slightly.

"I...don't want to be an actress anymore."

Lu Ming spoke softly.

As soon as Lu Ming said this, the makeup artists, agents, and even Xiao Bai were all stunned and stared at Lu Ming in shock.

"Wait, wait a minute? Lu Ming, what did you say?" The manager stammered, as if he doubted his ears, and quickly asked.

"I don't want to be an actor anymore," Lu Ming repeated once again.

"You...you mean...you want to change careers? Become a singer?" the manager asked tentatively.

“No.” Lu Ming shook her head, looking at her agent with soft, bright eyes. “I don’t want to be an actress, nor do I want to be a singer… I mean, I don’t want to be a star anymore.”

After Lu Ming finished speaking.

The dressing room was unusually quiet.

The agent's eyes widened in disbelief, and the makeup artists around him stared at Lu Ming with their mouths agape.

"Little Deer Cry...you're retiring??" A makeup artist finally realized what was happening.

"Mm." Lu Ming turned his head and nodded to the makeup artist who was speaking.

"Retire...retire?? Now??" Another makeup artist covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes, and she cried out uncontrollably, "No, no! No! How can you retire!"

"Tell us you're joking! You're just trying to make us laugh, right?" Another makeup artist grabbed Lu Ming's shoulders tightly and shook him.

"I'm not joking." Lu Ming lowered his head, somewhat reluctant to look at the makeup artists, but still spoke with unusual firmness.

"Oh my god..." The makeup artists were suddenly dizzy and slumped to the ground, staring blankly at Lu Ming on the chair.

Suddenly, someone started crying.

Like a domino effect, after the first cry, the second, the third, the fourth... the cries echoed throughout the entire dressing room.

"Little Deer, how could you retire? If you retire, it means we'll never see you again..."

"We don't want to be separated from you... Waaah—"

"I can't imagine the entertainment industry without you. This place can't do without you! Even if you just tell us you want to switch to another big company, it's better than retiring on the spot, sob sob..."

"We...we're your fans too...how could you say something so cruel to your fans..."

"Woooooooo..."

"Today was supposed to be a day where I could see Xiao Luming and celebrate his discharge from the hospital together. How did these two happy moments turn out like this? Waaaaah..."

　"..."

The makeup artists covered their faces and cried quite a lot.

Hearing the crying beside him, Lu Ming lowered his head once again.

Compared to the increasingly loud sobs of the makeup artists, Lu Ming's manager became strangely quiet after hearing the news of her retirement.

The manager frowned as he looked at Lu Ming, then turned his head slightly and looked at Xiao Bai with an interrogative gaze.

Although the agent didn't say a word, his gaze clearly conveyed the implication that "Admiral Lu Lin, did you do something to Lu Ming?"

Xiao Bai quickly raised his hand and waved his head at his agent.

"..."

Lu Ming's agent looked away, frowned, and closed his eyes.

After a short while, the agent seemed to have made up his mind and opened his eyes again.

The manager, who had just opened his eyes again, didn't say anything to Lu Ming and Xiao Bai. He simply bent down and helped the crying female makeup artists up one by one, then carefully escorted them to the door of the dressing room.

"Go find somewhere to get some fresh air and calm down. I'll take care of things here," the agent said to the makeup artists.

"Waaaaah, manager..."

"Manager, you really have to persuade Luming, waaaaah..."

The makeup artists looked at Lu Ming with reluctance, and one by one they ran out of the dressing room crying.

As soon as the door to the dressing room opened, the female makeup artist, dressed in a pear blossom rain, ran out one after another, and the staff who were waiting outside the dressing room crowded around her.

"What happened inside?"

"The deer's cry, where is the deer's cry?"

"Agent! We..."

"boom!!!"

Before the employees outside could get closer, a pair of heavy hands slammed down on the door of the dressing room, making a loud, booming sound.

A faint vibration of air emanated from the dressing room door, and the entire door seemed to tremble for a moment, as if it were about to fall off the frame.

The agent's massive, mountain-like figure emerged from the crack in the door, one eye radiating a menacing aura as he looked down at the crowd outside.

The people outside the door were stunned and stood frozen in place.

"We're talking, don't argue."

After speaking coldly to the employee outside the door, the agent quietly closed the door.

Outside the dressing room, the employees looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

……

inside the house.

The agent closed the door, took a deep breath in front of it, and then let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, Admiral Lu Lin." The agent turned around and said apologetically to Xiao Bai not far away, "Those makeup artists, although they spend almost every day with Lu Ming, are in a sense Lu Ming's loyal fans. Hearing the news that Lu Ming is going to retire suddenly may be a big blow to them."

"I understand, I understand..." Xiaobai nodded with a wry smile.

It's not uncommon for fans to have emotional breakdowns because their favorite idols are retiring.

It's more accurate to say that the reactions of these dozen or so makeup artists were relatively restrained. If they had encountered Lu Ming's more emotional fans, they might have done something even more outrageous after hearing this news.

The agent looked at Xiaobai's wry smile and remained silent for a while.

"Anyway, let's put those innocent girls aside for now." The agent came up to Lu Ming and asked, "Now it's just me and Admiral Lu Lin in this room. Lu Ming, if you have anything to say, you can tell me."

“…What did you say?” Lu Ming looked up at his manager.

“For example, the reason for your retirement.” The manager found a chair and sat down, then looked directly at Lu Ming. “As your manager, I should at least hear your reason for retiring, right? You are now a world-class superstar. Whether it’s fame, money, or the adoration of the masses, there are few in the world who can rival you. These three things are what 99% of people in the world pursue in their lifetime. Ordinary people can’t just give them up. I really want to know what you encountered that made you willing to give up all of these things?”

Xiao Bai nodded upon hearing her manager's words, then looked at Lu Ming.

The agent's words hit Xiaobai right where it hurts; Xiaobai also wanted to know why Luming chose to retire.

As Lu Ming listened to her manager's words, she secretly glanced at Xiao Bai, her gaze lightly skimming across Xiao Bai's face.

“…Manager.” Lu Ming called out to his manager.

"what's up?"

“Look.” Lu Ming was silent for a moment, then slowly stretched out his hand and placed his snow-white fingers on the table in front of him.

"What's wrong?" the agent was about to ask, but the next second, his gaze froze.

Because the agent saw that Lu Ming, as if piercing through a window, easily inserted his slender, snow-white fingers into the metal table in front of him.

Chapter 2522 A Place with Abundant Assets

crunch————

crunch--

The sound of metal deforming and rubbing propagated through the air.

Lu Ming gently withdrew his hands and placed them back on his thighs.

On the metal table in front of her, there were ten dents and holes of different sizes.

After doing all that, Lu Ming looked at his agent with a gentle gaze.

"Agent, look."

"You...you are..."

The agent instantly stood up from his chair. Shocked, he quickly walked to Lu Ming, placed a large hand on Lu Ming's desk, and tried to tap it a few times.

The agent pressed and tapped on the table, then vigorously drilled into the ten holes that Lu Ming had made, as if searching for some kind of mechanism.

But the metal tabletop, which was as fragile as tofu in Lu Ming's hands, was incredibly hard and unmoved under the agent's palm, which can be said to have regained the dignity of being made of metal.

"How could this be..." After checking the state of the table, the manager looked at Lu Ming in shock, "You... how could you..."

"I have restored the power of the ship girls." Lu Ming bowed to his manager and said apologetically.

"...Yes, it's Admiral Lu Lin?" The agent stared wide-eyed at Xiaobai.

"Uh... um..." Xiao Bai scratched his cheek and grinned at his manager, "It's a last resort..."

"So it's possible to give retired ship girls their ship equipment again?" the manager muttered to himself.

“It’s difficult,” Xiaobai said.

“…Ha…” Hearing Xiaobai’s words, the manager’s serious face suddenly showed a wry smile. “As expected of Admiral Lu Lin…she can even do something like this…So, Lu Ming, is it because you’ve regained the power of the ship girls that you’re thinking of retiring?”

As the agent spoke, his gaze returned to Lu Ming.

"Mm." Lu Ming nodded.

"Reverting back to a ship girl shouldn't affect your acting career, right?" the agent asked, raising her hand. "In fact, it seems that reverting back to a ship girl might have a more positive effect on your acting career. I've seen the ship girls under Admiral Lu Lin's command, such as the ship girl named Loki. She's agile and nimble. Many of the high-difficulty scenes that cost a lot of money to film in movies are just warm-up exercises for her, like doing a few somersaults."

“It will definitely help.” Lu Ming nodded.

"And Lu Ming, as you know, thanks to the influence of Admiral Lu Lin's ship girl group, the public's positive feelings towards ship girls have reached an extreme!" The manager continued to Lu Ming, "Now that you've successfully transformed back into a ship girl, our company can also help promote you based on your new identity. You were already one of the world's most popular actresses, and if you add the identity of a ship girl to that, no one knows how enthusiastic the fans will be!"

“…Mm.” Lu Ming nodded again.