Chapter Thirteen: Scheming

"Certainly, yes, I do!" Yun Nan jumped out of bed to get her computer.

"Whoa, there!" Shi Nian stopped her.

"Shouldn't you ask your friend if she wants to live here and if she's okay with the thirty-thousand-dollar rent? Also, she should take a look at the house before making a decision!" Shi Nian reminded her.

Yun Nan thought he made sense and returned to bed. "I'll ask her tomorrow. I think she'll be fine with the location, though she'll find the rent expensive. I'll write up two contracts; one for you and her declaring the rent at ten thousand dollars, and the other will be between us, stating that I'll pay you twenty thousand dollars to make up for the rest of the rent," she decided.

It suddenly occurred to Yun Nan, and she asked, "How did you know that I'm inquiring for a friend?"

Shi Nian turned a page and said disdainfully, "It's not hard to guess. You ran out in a hurry for half a day and came back asking me about renting a house. Clearly, it's your friend who wants to rent and not you. We are a contractual couple; not only do we have to live in the same house, but we also have to sleep on the same bed."

"Speaking of which, if we want our marriage to be convincing, we have to buy our wedding rings and take wedding photos before our relatives return," he added.

Yun Nan quickly nodded. "Sure thing. I have to go to the studio tomorrow morning, but I'm free in the afternoon."

Shi Nian said calmly, "Send me the address. I'll pick you up at noon tomorrow."

"Alright," Yun Nan readily agreed.

Shi Nian turned off the lights and uttered softly, "Goodnight. See you tomorrow!"

'Tomorrow, wha— oh haha, very funny,' Yun Nan thought drily. 'Saying see you tomorrow when we're sleeping on the same bed. Is there no end to his silliness?'

That night, Yun Nan had a flurry of dreams. She was very worried about Fang Xi, and that was reflected in her sleep. In her dreams, she kept scolding a blurry-faced figure—her mind's interpretation of the man who broke Fang Xi's heart.

Fang Xi didn't come to the studio the next day. Fortunately, everyone in the studio knew what they were doing, and everything was carried out according to plan.

Yun Zhang finally managed to call her, and he furiously snarled, "Yun Nan, have you gone mad? Don't forget that you're a member of our family! We share the same blood! I can't believe you sent a lawyer after me!"

Yun Nan said blandly, "You were the one who threatened me with a breach of contract lawsuit, to begin with. Did our blood ties occur to you at the time?"

"You!" Yun Zhang gasped heavily as his temper rose.

He only brought in the attorney to intimidate her! He never planned to go through with the suit.

The d*mn brat had always been a pushover He had to admit that if it weren't for her unique documentaries, his company might not have survived. Back then, when things were difficult, she'd worked hard without complaint; she never mentioned anything about remuneration or splitting the profits.

Yun Nan didn't bring up payment even when the company had revived and recovered due to the box office sales of her two movies. Yun Zhang had thought that she'd thrown her lot in with the company and accepted her role as a member of the Yun family.

She was a workaholic. Yun Nan was impartial and impersonal when it came to work; she also had a hot temper. However, she achieved great results, and she didn't ask about any trivial matters outside of her work.

That was why he dared to threaten her with legal measures. Yun Nan didn't know anything! She had never been involved in such matters.

But Yun Zhang didn't expect her to be so ruthless.

When he modified her script and switched her actors, she went and married Shi Nian. When he brought in an attorney to browbeat her, she involved the Shi family's exclusive legal counselor!

The terms of the contract he'd signed with Yun Nan back then were loose. In order to coax Yun Nan into filming and working for him, Yun Zhang had written the conditions of copyright ownership according to her wishes. Now, it appeared he'd shot himself in the foot.

The lawyer who represented Yun Nan demanded a huge compensation which was more than 90 million dollars in total!

That was half of his net profit for the past two years. He was financially slaughtered!

"Yun Nan, let's sit down as siblings and talk things out, alright? Just us. Don't involve the Shi family's lawyer." Yun Zhang was a smart man and decided he could be flexible in the face of the large sum concerned.

Yun Nan laughed, "What's there to discuss? Do you want me to give up the script, or give up my share of the profits? Or, do you want me to give up on compensation?"

Yun Zhang's breath caught in his throat. He wanted her to give up all of it, of course.

"Yun Nan, you wrote that script while you were working in our company, didn't you? So it ought to belong to the company, don't you think? The company also invested in your previous movies. Thus, the box office earnings—no matter how high—should still be counted as our company's income!" Yun Zhang tried to rationalize it away.

"Tell that to the lawyer instead!" And with that, Yun Nan hung up the phone.

Yun Zhang had a knack for being unreasonable; when you try to reason with him, he takes the emotional route, and when you try to appeal to his affections, he acts like a hooligan instead.

Yun Nan didn't have the time or patience to waste her breath on him.

Yun Zhang was incensed at being hung up on.

"Yun Zhang, Yun Nan didn't agree, did she?" Yun Liu asked softly from beside him.