45: Chapter 45: Isolated? That's interesting.

"Cooperation?"

Lu Li raised an eyebrow and didn't answer.

Director Zhou nodded, organized his thoughts for a moment, and continued speaking.

"Right, I can help you clarify the black materials online and try my best to smooth things over for you."

"In exchange..."

He paused and looked straight at Lu Li.

"You need to cooperate with the Program Team, continue to fake a CP with Shen Qingxue, and boost the popularity."

"Moreover, the copyright of the song 'little dimples' you wrote needs to be licensed to the Program Team for use, and I want ten years of usage rights."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Lu Li leaned against the back of his chair, looked at Director Zhou's leak-proof face, and suddenly smiled.

"Director Zhou, you are asking for the moon right off the bat. Your abacus calculations were so loud that I could hear them from the other end of the corridor."

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Director Zhou leaned back in his chair, his tone unhurried.

"Lu Li, you need to figure out one thing. Helping you clarify the black materials is not without risks for the Program Team."

"What if these black materials are true? What if you really did those things and I just don't know about it?"

"If I stand up for you and end up getting hammered to death by others in return, won't my show go down with you?"

As Director Zhou spoke, he picked up his thermos cup and took another sip of water, his tone still calm.

"So, I am helping you not because I believe in you, but because I feel you have a bit of potential and value."

"But value is value, and risk is risk. I have to bear huge risks on my end, along with myself personally."

He put the thermos cup on the table, and his tone suddenly became meaningful.

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Lu Li leaned against the chair, the corners of his mouth curving into a slight smile.

Of course he understood. To put it bluntly, isn't it just a gamble? If he wins the bet, he can multiply it tenfold, and if he loses, he loses his capital.

Lu Li smiled.

"Director Zhou, I understand everything you said, but I also have a question I want to ask you."

Director Zhou raised an eyebrow.

"What question?"

Lu Li crossed his arms and slowly said, "Do you think... if I were someone without trump cards, you would still be sitting here negotiating conditions with me?"

Director Zhou didn't answer, and Lu Li didn't press further. It was enough to hint at the point; too much would make it boring.

An old fox like Director Zhou knew better than anyone else in his heart.

A singer who wrote a song with such huge potential as 'little dimples' had a value far beyond what the black materials in front of him could erase, not to mention whether it was even black material in the first place.

Precisely because of this, Director Zhou was sitting here negotiating conditions with himself.

Otherwise, given the nature of capitalists, they would have kicked him away long ago.

Cooperation? Cooperation my foot.

"Alright, let's talk about business. I can accept the conditions, but I have two requests," Lu Li said with a serious expression.

Director Zhou put down the thermos cup, made a gesture of invitation, and motioned for him to continue.

Lu Li raised one finger.

"First, you go help me smooth things over with the online stuff, but as for the clarification part, I want to do it myself."

"You just need to give me a chance to showcase it in the show then. We can discuss the specific operation in detail later."

Director Zhou was stunned, obviously not expecting Lu Li to make this request.

"You do it yourself?" He frowned slightly, "Are you sure? If this kind of thing is handled poorly, it's very easy to blow up in your face."

"Sure."

Lu Li nodded, his tone firm.

"Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."

Director Zhou stared at him for two seconds, seeming to want to read something from his face, but Lu Li's expression didn't fluctuate much.

"Fine."

Director Zhou finally nodded, "Anyway, just keep your own sense of proportion and don't throw the blame on the Program Team."

Lu Li nodded and then raised his second finger.

"Second, for the usage rights of 'little dimples', I can only license it to you for a maximum of three years."

He paused and looked at Director Zhou's expression.

"Director Zhou, you should be very clear about the popularity of this song. Ten years is too exaggerated, and three years is already the maximum sincerity I can give."

Director Zhou held the thermos cup, seemingly weighing something.

"Three years..."

Director Zhou finally spoke, his tone unhurried.

"Three years is indeed a bit short, but it doesn't matter, it's acceptable."

Lu Li nodded; all of this was within his expectations, and then he continued to speak.

"Third, it's not really a requirement. It's just about the CP between Shen Qingxue and me. Just let it flow naturally in the show; don't forcefully stuff a script down my throat."

Director Zhou picked up the thermos cup and was just about to bring it to his mouth when his hand paused upon hearing this, and his expression changed immediately.

"No, other things can be agreed upon, but this matter is non-negotiable. You must understand that there are no such four words as 'let nature take its course' in the entertainment industry."

Director Zhou's tone was much more serious than before, and his gaze stared straight at Lu Li.

Lu Li didn't speak because he knew very well in his heart that hyping up a CP was a routine operation in variety shows.

Any show, as long as there are male and female guests, couldn't do without this routine.

What's more, Heartbeat 72 Hours was a romance reality show to begin with. If they didn't hype a CP, what would they hype? Egg fried rice?

However, he really didn't like the feeling of being manipulated.

Before time-traveling, he was always having this and that arranged by his company, flying around the country every day, which had given him psychological trauma.

"Director Zhou, you understand everything you said, but as you can see, I am naturally not cut out for acting."

Lu Li finally spoke, his tone unhurried.

"If you force me to follow the script, I won't be able to act well instead. By then, the effect will be counterproductive, and you wouldn't want to see that, right?"

Director Zhou didn't answer, and no particular emotion could be seen on his face.

Lu Li continued.

"How about this, I will try my best to cooperate, but don't arrange things like holding hands, hugging, or staring into each other's eyes for three seconds for me. I can't accept that."

"But if it's normal interaction, I won't deliberately avoid it, nor will I deliberately show off. Just let it take its course naturally, what do you think?"

After Lu Li finished speaking, he looked at Director Zhou.

Director Zhou was silent for two seconds and didn't answer immediately, seemingly making a final trade-off.

"Okay."

The Deputy Director next to them finally breathed a sigh of relief. The negotiation was finally settled; otherwise, he always had the feeling of falling into a fox den.

One old, and one young.

...

Lu Li quickly walked out of the room, closed the door, stood at the doorway and stretched, then walked downstairs unhurriedly.

Calculating the time, it was almost time.

In the room after Lu Li left.

"Director Zhou, without Lu Li and Shen Qingxue hyping a CP, the popularity will definitely decrease. Are you really going to agree to him?" the Deputy Director leaned over and asked.

Director Zhou glanced at him unhurriedly and replied faintly.

"Still follow the previous plan, hype his CP with Shen Qingxue to death. Anyway, he said he would cooperate, and how to cooperate is still up to us to decide."

Hearing this, the Deputy Director couldn't help giving Director Zhou a thumbs-up.

"Brilliant, it has to be you."

...

First-floor living room.

The live broadcast hadn't started yet, and the staff were doing final debugging work.

But at this time, several guests were already sitting scattered on the sofa.

They were precisely the two groups of Xu Hao and Lin Mo.

When Lu Li walked down from the stairs, the atmosphere in the living room suddenly became subtle.

Lin Yu raised her head, her gaze falling on Lu Li, and subconsciously squeezed towards Lin Mo's side.

The other few people did the same, moving their positions slightly without leaving a trace.

Lu Li's footsteps paused for a moment, and then he calmly found the most edge position and sat right down.

Before long, all the remaining guests also came to the living room, waiting for the Program Team to announce the start of the broadcast.

Only the current atmosphere seemed very subtle.

Except for Shen Qingxue who sat near Lu Li, everyone else kept some distance from Lu Li, fearing that they would be associated with him.