Chapter 25 (Offline Live Stream)
Fang Zhuo pushed the door open and gently beckoned to the two bewildered people outside.
There were two rows of sofas in the office, but Zhou Zongyun and Yu Yu refused to sit down after they came in. They nudged each other's elbows and looked like they were embarrassed to borrow money.
Fang Zhuo sat back down at his desk and introduced them to Deng Jiaqiang: "I mentioned to you before, they were sent over from Xinghan."
Upon hearing this, their eyes widened immediately, and Zhou Zongyun exclaimed in shock, "Ah!"
How did President Fang know they were undercover agents? When did he find out?
A hundred questions flooded Zhou Zongyun's mind. Had he really been so obviously guilty before...?
Yu Yu quickly explained, "President Fang, we've never provided Ruan Zihan with any information since we joined Juyu. He even asked us to send him photos of the stylist, but we didn't take any."
Fang Zhuo nodded: "I know."
Zhou Zongyun was completely shocked. The anxiety and hesitation he felt before entering the room had now turned into admiration for the other party.
If I had known, he would have come and confessed sooner, instead of wasting so much time on internal strife.
"How much did Ruan Zihan give you?"
Zhou Zongyun honestly replied, "He gave each of us a deposit of 600,000 yuan, and if we get any useful information, he will pay the remaining 1 million yuan."
He earned back the deposit in just the first few days of the live stream on Juyu, and he couldn't understand why he needed to sell Juyu's information.
Upon hearing this amount, even Deng Jiaqiang couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "Didn't he agree to any other benefits, like TV drama resources or something?"
The two of them shook their heads in confusion.
Seeing this, Deng Jiaqiang smiled and sighed, "Silly child..."
According to the laws of the Star Federation, if these anchors leak key company information after joining the company, the company can file a lawsuit in accordance with the law. At the very least, Juyu can activate non-compete agreements to keep them out of work for three whole years.
Making someone risk their career at any moment, only to receive a deposit of 600,000, seems a bit too stingy.
Fang Zhuo took two brand-new bank cards from a folder on his desk and handed them to the two men. He then sent the supplementary contract to their personal computers.
“Each card contains a deposit of five million. After you complete the terms of the supplementary agreement, Juyu will give you a small role in a short drama. The resources will be delivered by the end of the next quarter.”
"Don't worry, the terms of the agreement are very simple and there is no danger involved. You just need to talk to each other."
Zhou Zongyun's fingertips were trembling when he took the card.
He didn't expect that not only did President Fang not care about their undercover identities, but he also secretly gave them such a huge sum of money, making them tainted spies.
That's five million... I'd accept it even if the terms meant he had to beat up Ruan Zihan.
He thought that Yu Yu, being cautious, would hesitate a bit, but to his surprise, Yu Yu signed even faster than him. After signing, Yu Yu even obsequiously tidied up the scattered folders on President Fang's desk.
Fang Zhuo pointed at Zhou Zongyun: "I'll send you the photos and the script later. You can tell Ruan Zihan two things."
"First, we'll inform him of the qualifying cutoff score for the blindfold competition tomorrow afternoon. Second, we'll tell him tonight that the second round of the competition will be held offline at the Ice Sail Gymnasium in the main city of the secondary city."
"You also need to subtly tell Ruan Zihan that Yu Yu has been bribed by me, which is why Yu Yu has been preventing you from providing information lately."
Zhou Zongyun craned his neck in surprise; the operation was a bit too dazzling.
He could only wish Ruan Zihan good luck.
The fact that the later rounds of the competition would be held offline was within his expectations. After all, the streamers signed by Juyu are all incredibly good-looking offline and are not afraid of looking bad in person. Holding the competition offline can also help boost their influence.
However, apart from its relatively large capacity, the ice sailing stadium that Mr. Fang mentioned has almost no other highlights.
The entire venue was old and outdated; even the lighting equipment wasn't as sophisticated as Giant Entertainment's own live-streaming studio.
Two years ago, the Ice Sail Stadium experienced a toilet explosion during a concert, which drew a lot of negative comments on the StarNet.
Although Zhou Zongyun didn't quite understand why President Fang wanted to leak this information, he still obediently did as he was told.
The Star Federation has countless venues of all sizes that can host offline concerts. Based on the completeness and quality of their facilities, the Federation's Entertainment and Sports Industry Association strictly classifies these venues into five levels, while the Ice Sail Stadium is only the most inconspicuous two-star venue.
The main planet has only a handful of five-star venues: the Federal Center Stadium and the Giant Nest Stadium in the main urban area, and the Red Light Citizen Stadium in the secondary urban area.
Although the Federal Center Stadium has the smallest floor area among these five-star stadiums, with a capacity of only over 4,000 people, it is a fully enclosed venue with the most advanced technology and equipment.
It only opens reservations to brokerage firms and official sports events at extremely high prices from April to July each year, and claims to be undergoing internal maintenance the rest of the time.
In fact, many entertainment companies questioned whether the operators were trying to use the extremely short opening period to create scarcity and raise daily rental prices. However, they couldn't resist the fact that its various supporting services and stage equipment were indeed top-notch in the entire Star Federation. Everyone could only grit their teeth and endure this capricious opening time.
Gradually, this scarcity has become increasingly exaggerated, with many top singers considering holding a concert at the Federal Center Stadium as the ultimate dream of their careers.
It's early August now, and the Federal Center Stadium just announced its closure for rest and recuperation two weeks ago.
When the curator received a business meeting request from Giant Entertainment, he sent three emails expressing his firm refusal.
But when the curator arrived at work at nine o'clock the next morning as usual, he still saw a distinctive pure white private spaceship at the entrance of the stadium.
The spaceship hatch slowly opened, and a man in a light gray casual suit shook hands with him in a very familiar manner.
"Director Wang, I've long admired your name."
Both were seasoned businessmen; the curator immediately understood the other party's intentions and let out a long sigh.
"Mr. Fang, it's not that I'm unwilling to rent, but the venue is currently undergoing maintenance, and our equipment needs to be inspected every six months."
It's only been less than five months from April to early August. Fang Zhuo sensed the exaggeration in the other person's words and laughed:
“Our venue is indeed packed every day. I heard that the highest daily rental during the opening period this year was auctioned for 1.1 million.”
The curator observed Fang Zhuo's expression for a moment, then led him to his office as they walked: "Isn't that right..."
Once in a private office, the curator revealed his true concerns:
"The main problem is that we just closed down, and re-renting it out would affect its commercial value. Other brokerage firms that participated in the auction this year will definitely have objections."
Although he knew that Giants Entertainment was not short of money, the Federal Center Stadium only had a little over four thousand seats.
Even if you raise the ticket price to the sky, you can only cover this small area. The daily rental price of 1.1 million is already on the verge of the organizer losing money.
If the venue costs go up further, it's just a pure loss for publicity. He doesn't think the boss of Giant Entertainment is really doing charity work in the entertainment industry.
They're all seasoned foxes; a single glance reveals they're all profit-driven merchants.
He couldn't possibly break the rules that the Federal Center Stadium had established over the years for a mere million dollars, and he believed that the owner of Giant Entertainment was also aware of this.
After saying that, the curator gestured for the guests to leave.
Fang Zhuo nodded knowingly.
If the goal is simply to sell tickets, a daily rental fee of over one million is indeed the limit.
However, he rented the physical venue to expand the influence of the live stream, hoping to generate buzz for the competition through word-of-mouth from fans and media.
Compared to the more than 1 billion yuan in rebates he earns every day, this amount of money is as insignificant to him as marketing expenses.
Fang Zhuo politely quoted a price that the other party would absolutely not refuse:
"Is a price of 20 million for two days acceptable to you?"
The curator first showed a shocked expression, then quickly modified the amount on the personal computer and sent the contract to Fang Zhuo in just five seconds.
"Of course, in fact, there were two special dates in this year's auction that were not announced to the public. Only VIP customers could participate in the auction process on the unannounced dates. Congratulations to Giant Entertainment for winning the bid."
Upon receiving notification of the successful contract signing, the curator proactively shook hands with Fang Zhuo.
It was a little past 1 p.m., more than three hours before the live broadcast time announced by Juyu Group Broadcast.
More than 40 media outlets are already stationed at the entrance of the Ice Sail Stadium, all waiting for Giant Entertainment's official website to release the stadium information.
The Star Federation has an extremely developed transportation system. Long-distance spaceships between different planets only take a little over an hour, and the transportation network within the main planet is even more extensive.
Public transportation runs all night, and audience members don't need to worry about accommodation after the concert, as they can make a round trip in one day.
Small concerts usually only announce the date and time, and it is standard practice to notify the specific venue one or two days in advance. Some less standardized fan meetings or shopping mall performances even only give out the address seven or eight hours before the start.
However, it is rare for a company like Giant Entertainment to not release any information about the venue three hours before the start of the event. As the media began to doubt the accuracy of the information, they also subtly turned their attention to the paparazzi from the Xinghan Group.
The news that the second round of competition would be held at the Ice Sail Stadium was first leaked last night by paparazzi from Xinghan Group.
Having learned from the previous incident where paparazzi from the Starry Sky Group photographed the wrong film set, and the mystery surrounding the fake film set of 45 Star, all media professionals are now highly sensitive to any gossip related to Giant Entertainment, and each wants to get their hands on the first-hand information.
Several photographers carrying cameras had already put their equipment on the ground and were whispering among themselves:
"Fish Swim, are your sources of information reliable?"
"Hilarious! Wasn't it you who filmed 'Grandma' last time? Your post was so funny."
"Don't laugh, everyone. This news came from inside. If it's not true, I'll eat it. My boss has already bought trending topics, so just wait and see."
"I've been waiting since 9 a.m. and I haven't seen a single person. Doesn't Giant Entertainment come for the rehearsal? There's definitely something fishy about this."
"I think Juyu might actually choose Bingfan. It's cheap and the venue is big. They can make a lot of money just from ticket sales. Wasn't Chi Yingying's concert held here the year before last?"
"Look at the personal terminal. The trending topics are quite detailed and convincing. I think these passersby's analysis makes a lot of sense. Why don't we wait a little longer at the entrance?"
[A simple analysis: Did Giant Entertainment's funding stop after the short drama aired? A scary guess, though it might not be correct—]
First of all, the Great-Grandmother's income and expenses were not proportional at all, and it should have created a huge hole that could not be filled.
Secondly, the group broadcast room is still the same as before, and there have been almost no major expenses during this period except for costumes and stage design costs.
Juyu Group should have made a small fortune these past few days, but rumors suggest that they're still choosing old venues like Bingfan for their offline live streams.
This shows that online revenue can no longer alleviate Juyu's financial crisis, and they are eager to focus on selling offline tickets in large quantities.
[Don't scare me, things have only just gotten better for my family.]
[What is "Aibo"? Can someone explain it to me?]
[Aibo = Favorite streamers. Sister, do you not usually watch live streams? Tuganjuyu has really been effective in attracting a lot of casual viewers recently~~]
[The fact that the venue was chosen at Ice Sail is quite obvious. If they weren't trying to squeeze out other companies, what decent company would choose that location?]
[Uh... Didn't Goddess Yingying have a stop at Bingfan during her tour two years ago? Why didn't anyone analyze Xinghan's financial situation back then?]
[Could it be said that it's because of Giant Entertainment's marketing tactics that everyone has been bitten once and is now wary of everything else? There's still no concrete explanation for the fake film set incident.]
[Juyu's financial foundation has always been weak; from beginning to end, there haven't been any major investments, mostly small projects like short drama series broadcasts.]
[+1, established entertainment agencies of Xinghan's size simply disdain lowering their standards to compete with them.]
[I accept that the venue is Ice Sail, but can Juyu Entertainment officially open the ticket pre-sale channel soon? I'm so afraid to even switch out of their official account's main interface right now.]
[There really are some suckers. The Ice Sail Stadium, which seats 120,000 people, has a total of 30 toilets for men and women combined. The fact that they chose to do a live broadcast in this kind of garbage stadium that's just a money-grabbing scheme has people who love it. I laughed so hard I peed myself.]
[Could Fang Gege please be a little nicer to Ju Chui? I feel so sorry for him.]
Around 2 p.m., more than 50 media outlets, including photographers and reporters, had gathered at the main entrance of the Ice and Sailing Stadium, totaling about 300 people.
Just as they were growing increasingly impatient, a private cloud suddenly descended from the horizon—
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