Chapter 39 Business Dinner
The first party in this performance contract is a shell company, while the list of singer-songwriters on the second party is star-studded, including not only several first- and second-tier singers, but also many bands with hit original songs.
According to the contract, this shell company signed contracts directly with the artists' management companies under the guise of a large-scale commercial gala sponsored by the Charent brand.
That's true. Charent had confirmed his sponsorship of their meet-and-greet a long time ago, and Gongzhou's sub-brand also planned to use the live-stream event to promote his ready-to-wear collection that he had just released at Fashion Week.
If you invite Ruan Zihan under the guise of this dinner party, and then show him the list of invited singers, he might actually take the bait.
But Jiang Yu still didn't quite understand.
The attendees at this offline meet-and-greet were quite a mixed bag – there were lucky viewers of the short drama, lucky users who had previously tipped during the group broadcast, and big spenders who had tipped a lot of money. Tickets also had to be reserved for the fan clubs of various streamers. Mr. Fang also planned to invite representatives from major talent agencies and brands.
The stage that day not only needed to be large enough to accommodate the hosts' handshake segment, but also needed to make room for the singers.
The event's zoning design had to ensure that the invited fans' interactions were not affected on the day, while also taking into account the privacy of the brand and agency executives, requiring a very high level of streamlined design.
Suitable venues are extremely scarce, making the preparation process incredibly difficult.
Fang Zhuo did not answer Jiang Yu's question immediately, but instead quietly looked at the entry above the other person's head.
[Name: Jiang Yu]
[Intelligence: 70][Stamina: 83][Appearance: 35][Emotional Intelligence: 79][Loyalty: 95]
[Recommended Careers: Secretarial positions such as communication and coordination]
[Skill Talents: 76]
According to the system's prompt, the increase in these attribute values does not represent an improvement in ability, but rather a change in the measurement method from a ten-point system to a hundred-point system. In other words, he can more accurately distinguish the level of other people's ability attributes.
Fang Zhuo remembered that she had gotten a +10 attribute point from opening a blind box before, and now it could come in handy.
He clicked into the system interface and looked through the panels of so many passersby; this was the first time he had ever checked his own entry.
[System Operator No. 000: Fang Zhuo]
[Intelligence: 98][Stamina: 53][Appearance: 90][Emotional Intelligence: 98][Loyalty: 100]
[Recommended careers: Corporate management, venture capital, and other financial fields]
[Skill Talents: 99]
Aside from physical strength, I've never seen a panel with such outstandingly high stats across all attributes in the Star Federation.
Thinking of the [Stamina: 10] displayed above the bodyguard's head, Fang Zhu guessed that this stamina was a comprehensive score after the system took into account sub-attributes such as strength, agility, and combat power. There was no harm in increasing this attribute.
He first tried to max out his intelligence and emotional intelligence, but found that these ten points could only be used once, so he put them all into his physical strength.
The moment his stamina reached 63, he felt a strange power surge through his limbs and bones.
It started deep within the heart, then the current traveled through the upper arm and thigh, rapidly spreading to the ends of the capillaries.
This improvement wasn't just limited to simple strength; he seemed to have an indescribable lightness throughout his body, as if he had more precise control over every movement of his limbs.
Fang Zhu blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, she found that the scenery in the distance was clearer.
The improvement of the system's physical strength is more like a complete transformation of the basic physique from head to toe.
In his previous life, Fang Zhuo had a congenital heart disease. Many activities that normal people take for granted required extreme caution for him. Wherever he went, he was always accompanied by a large medical team. The dull pain was a constant companion, and a healthy body was a luxury.
Although these ten points of physical strength may not seem like a significant improvement on the overall stat panel, they represent a substantial boost for him personally.
Given the company's current growth rate, there will be many more opportunities to draw stat-boosting items from blind boxes.
He was looking forward to the day when he could max out his stamina.
Yi Dian Dian noticed the subtle pause he made when he first checked the panel, patiently waited for the host to finish adding attributes, and then immediately jumped out confidently to claim credit:
[Host, you've finally discovered your attribute values are quite high!]
You were handpicked from hundreds of millions of people by this system. There aren't many people who have both high scores and meet the criteria for premature death. This system scanned databases across dozens of dimensions for a very long time back then!
Fang Zhuo: [Do I need to thank you for reminding me? I almost forgot about my untimely death.]
Yi Dian Dian sensed the threat in the host's tone and skillfully projected a kneeling expression into the host's mind:
[Your subordinate was wrong, I'm taking my leave. This departure will last for most of the day.]
Fang Zhuo: [...How corny. Don't spend your free time looking at things you shouldn't be looking at in the database.]
His fingertips tapped idly on the armrest of the seat as he asked Jiang Yu:
"Did you write all the scripts for Xinghan?"
Jiang Yu had watched a lot of parodies of "This Young Master is a Professional" on short video apps these past two days, so he had a general understanding of the plot and quickly waved his hand, saying:
"Ruan Zihan added a lot of things, all those romantic storylines were added by himself, saying he wanted to promote those female supporting characters."
Fang Zhuo raised an eyebrow slightly and pointed out the key question: "What about the quotes?"
Jiang Yu scratched his head, looking rather embarrassed: "I only wrote two inspirational quotes, which Ruan Zihan seemed to particularly like. The rest were his own additions."
“When I’m resting, I like to read some quotes to motivate myself. I feel more energetic when I listen to them, and maybe Ruan Zihan thinks the same way…”
"That line, 'A bottomless abyss, relying on yourself is worse than relying on anyone else,' was written by me. Oh right, and there was also that victory settlement before Zeng Han's ascension in the drama—"
"A person should not forget their roots, just as a tree should not forget its origins. Remember what I said: the most important thing in life is to be earnest."
Fang Zhuo made a shushing gesture: "Alright, just torture the audience of Xinghan Short Drama, don't torture our own people."
The two were chatting when Deng Jiaqiang drove up slowly in a covered sightseeing vehicle and waved to them from downstairs.
Even after Jiang Yu boarded the sightseeing bus with Boss Fang, she still didn't know where they were going.
Judging from Deng Jiaqiang's words, it seemed that the third-party organizer of the meeting venue was waiting for the meeting, but Jiang Yu waited for a long time and the spaceship still hadn't come to pick them up.
The sightseeing bus drove along the mountain road towards the sea. Mr. Fang leaned back in the passenger seat, his expression still indifferent, showing no sign of tension or worry.
After finishing their business, Deng Jiaqiang gradually steered the conversation toward the scenery along the coastline of Star 399. The two big shots in the front row seemed to be on vacation, and Jiang Yu felt that he was the only one in the car who was worried about the venue for tomorrow's meeting.
The sightseeing bus wound its way down the mountain road. To Jiangyu's left were lush green hillsides, and to his right was the sea shimmering with golden light.
It was a little past nine in the morning, and the slanting sunlight illuminated the entire sea area, making it appear as if it were sparkling with shattered diamonds.
As the sightseeing bus rounded the last bend, a luxurious giant ship, dozens of stories high, suddenly appeared in front of Jiang Yu.
Like the spaceship that Boss Fang drove, this giant ship is also pure white. However, the exterior of the giant ship has many open-plan guest rooms. The white color does not appear rough under the complex details. Instead, it gives people a sense of holiness and high-class.
More than a dozen staff members were already waiting for them at the boarding gate. Although he had seen a lot of the world with President Fang, this was Jiang Yu's first time boarding a giant cruise ship, and for a moment he didn't know where to look.
Is this where the streamers' offline meet-and-greet is going to be held?
This giant ship is so big that it can easily accommodate hundreds of people, and the streamlined design that separates the flow of people into several waves can also be easily achieved.
Let alone one stage, with such a high floor here, setting up three or four stages would be a piece of cake.
No wonder Mr. Fang wasn't worried about the venue; there's no better venue for a meet-and-greet than a giant ship.
If I remember correctly, this ship was moored at sea from the very first day of filming, but it was so far from the coastline that everyone thought it was just an ordinary work vessel.
If anyone else had a cruise ship like this, they would definitely want to take a hundred photos and announce it to the entire internet as soon as possible, and then sell a ticket for tens of thousands of yuan after it officially opens.
It seems that only Mr. Fang treats buying such a giant ship as routinely as eating and drinking, and he even invites everyone aboard for a free fan meeting.
Following behind President Fang, Jiang Yu examined every space on the giant ship.
This building is twenty stories high. Excluding the floors where staff rest, there are seventeen floors available for tourists. There are more than ten elevators, as well as nearly two thousand guest rooms of varying sizes.
The only downside is that all the interior spaces are empty; there are no beds or chairs in the guest rooms, and no soft furnishings in the public areas.
The place that should have been a restaurant or kitchen only had basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and a fresh air system, but no basic furniture such as dining tables and kitchen counters.
The basic paving of the floor, walls and deck was already done, making it look like a newly delivered, fully furnished house where all the furniture had been temporarily removed.
Throughout the cruise ship, employees in different uniforms could be seen taking measurements. As Mr. Fang leisurely inspected the interior of the giant ship, a large number of business people in formal suits followed behind him.
The business people were clearly not from the same company; they were spaced far apart and seemed to dislike each other.
Perhaps this is the extraordinary bond between competitors.
The room was completely bare, lacking even a place to discuss cooperation. Having finished inspecting the lower floors, Fang Zhuo took the elevator directly to the upper terraces, leaned against the railing, and addressed the business representatives from several cruise ship operators:
"Everyone has been looking at this for a while now, let's just give an offer."
The business people exchanged glances—was this huge deal really going to be offered so casually on an outdoor terrace?
Shouldn't it be a matter of sitting in the office, haggling over prices for several rounds, and going back and forth for days before finally closing a deal?
Seeing that the other two companies had not yet responded, the representative from Royal Caribbean spoke first:
"Hello Mr. Fang, this is Royal Cruises Ltd. Our company has experience operating more than ten different routes."
"Based on the cruise ship's design, we can plan eleven different themed restaurants and install unique sports and entertainment modules on the deck. All the furnishings have unique installation modules, and the staff can complete the entire installation within four hours."
"The estimated cost of the furniture and event planning is around 85 million yuan. The labor costs for the service personnel will be settled separately later."
He was confident that his price would absolutely crush his competitors.
This cruise ship has nearly two thousand cabins, plus the interior decoration of various restaurants and public areas, so over eighty million is definitely the bottom price.
The company's extensive experience is the reason they can offer such competitive prices. All public areas use modular installation, and there are ready-made templates for the use of each space, which greatly reduces design costs.
Sure enough, after he made such a competitive offer, the manager of the other Aegean cruise line remained silent for a while, and after thinking for a long time, he said haltingly:
"Mr. Fang, I am the operations manager of the Aegean Sea series. The specifications of the Giant Entertainment ship are very similar to those of our company's Aegean Sea logo ship."
"Our strength lies in our expertise in operating restaurants that showcase the unique cuisine of each star in the Star Federation. A major attraction of the Aegean Landmark is its diverse range of regional restaurants, which will surely make the trip worthwhile for attendees of the offline meet-and-greet."
"My offer is 120.3 million."
After speaking, the person in charge of the Aegean cruise ship took a deep breath.
The representative from Royal Caribbean Cruises, who had submitted the initial quote, chuckled inwardly—they must have been shorting prices for interior design and event planning to secure the big order, and they must be bleeding money inside. Aegean Cruises was probably trying to recoup their losses through subsequent service labor costs.
However, he laughed for a long time but never received a reply from the boss of Giant Entertainment.
The other party's expression remained indifferent, and he would occasionally glance down at the obviously expensive vintage watch on his wrist, seemingly not taking their quotes to heart.
The Royal Cruises representative wasn't discouraged; even the richest boss doesn't earn money from thin air.
Such a large sum of money will require a lot of back-and-forth bargaining.
He was already certain he was about to land the deal.
Their offer completely overwhelmed the Aegean side, and the person in charge of the last cruise ship was an unfamiliar face, probably from a small, unknown company.
It's only a matter of time before the deal is signed. He straightened his back confidently, coughed twice, and reached out to loosen his tie.
Fang Zhuo, having not heard what he most wanted to hear, gestured with his chin toward the last silent business representative: "And you?"
In addition to these business personnel, all three companies sent a lot of employees to measure the site. The uniforms of each company were different, and the last company had the most comfortable and close-fitting uniform.
This shows that even the uniforms for their lower-level employees are not purchased uniformly, but are custom-made.
It is often these small details that reveal a company's character.
The company's sales representative first stepped forward, gave Fang Zhuo a brief handshake, and then bowed his head, saying:
"Hello Mr. Fang, I am the head of operations for the Free Whale Sea. Our company mainly operates and plans private yachts, and currently only the Free Whale Sea is open to the public."
"Before making a quote, I'd like to ask Mr. Fang, is the Giant Entertainment Cruise ship positioned as a for-profit vessel? Will it continue to operate for the general public in the future?"
Upon hearing this, the remaining two company representatives exchanged a glance.
Before submitting the quote, their focus was always on how to operate the cruise ship on the lowest possible budget; buying such a large cruise ship certainly wasn't just for show.
Even if the first invitation is free, they will definitely make a lot of money from ticket sales later, and they will make money even better, faster and stronger by leveraging the promotional platform of entertainment companies.
They never considered another possibility.
Fang Zhuo finally looked away from his watch and replied, "Part of the time will be open to tourists, and the rest of the time will be free for staff to use. Occasionally, we will hold some invitation-only business dinners."
"Yes, sir. Considering the nature of your company's operations and usage, we recommend planning three large indoor stages and one outdoor stage on the deck."
"In addition to the most basic entertainment projects and fitness areas such as sunbathing, rock climbing, deck surfing, wind tunnel experience, etc., we have also planned a whole artist display corridor in the entrance hall."
"Based on this area, a total of fifteen themed restaurants can be planned, with staff allocated at a ratio of two employees to one tourist during opening hours."
"During free time inside the restaurant, more than half of the restaurants will be closed, and the number of service staff will be reduced accordingly."
"You don't need to worry about the bedding and furniture in the room. We will purchase handcrafted furniture from 15-star hotels."
"The total quote for the soft furnishings, open space design, and event planning is 206 million yuan. We expect all the soft furnishings to be delivered by 11:00 a.m. tomorrow."
As the head of operations for the Free Whale Ocean continued to recount the various ingenious ideas behind the stage design for this offline meet-and-greet, the other two companies were completely dumbfounded.
They finally understood: this company specializes in high-end customization for users.
They didn't care about costs or price advantages at all.
This place focuses on luxury quality, and they never considered making the client recoup their investment when planning the space.
However, it also depends on whether the customer is willing to accept it...
The representative from Royal Cruises scoffed, about to press his fist against his chin and cough suggestively to interrupt the man's long-winded speech, when he saw that the boss of Giant Entertainment had already turned on his personal terminal and was signing some documents.
See? The boss is getting impatient. He should have checked his watch while they were talking; now he's just turned on his personal computer and started working.
"The contract is signed. Please check if there are any problems."
Royal Caribbean's representative: ? ? ?
What contract? Is it the contract he wanted?
The deal was closed so quickly?
Is a deal worth over 200 million not worth a round of back-and-forth negotiation?
Is this how you spend money? You must have a huge fortune to casually throw away 200 million. You must earn 1 billion a day to dare to spend so boldly.
Is the money of the owner of Juyu Entertainment really falling from the sky? So many people on the internet can't find out his true identity and background, his power is like a bottomless pit.
The Royal Caribbean representative stood frozen in place, seeing the same astonishment on the face of the Aegean Cruises executive standing beside him.
After a long while, he reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He didn't expect that rich people really didn't care about profits. They could buy cruise ships that cost nearly 10 billion yuan to build and spend hundreds of millions of yuan on renovations as they pleased. They could sell tickets to the public whenever they were interested, and otherwise just let their own employees use them.
Is this the channel for the rich? I'd like to request a transfer.
This was the first time he had experienced such a reverse bidding process. It turned out that the real big bosses didn't care about the advantage of low prices at all; what they wanted was customized space and a sense of luxury.
Aren't the various rumors circulating online about the owner of Giant Interactive a bit too conservative? How rich must someone be to afford to treat a giant cruise ship like a toy?
Putting everything else aside, that so-called 1 billion yuan trust is definitely fake; a mere 1 billion yuan couldn't possibly withstand such a fabrication.
He suddenly felt a little envious of the lucky audience members who had the opportunity to attend the meet-and-greet. He wondered if it would be too late to go back and download the Juyu Short Drama App to draw cards.
Even as he and his staff disembarked, he could still hear a series of questions coming from behind him:
"Why did Juyu ultimately choose that unfamiliar third-party operator? Was your quote too high, and it upset their boss?"
Before he could answer, someone in the crowd chimed in:
"Of course... Let me negotiate next time. Our company has an 8% initial price adjustment range by default. In a three-way competition like this, it will definitely be more competitive to quote a lower price the first time."
He glanced at the sun hanging diagonally above him. Even the sunlight on a star privately owned by a wealthy person was so gentle, and the temperature was as constant as if he were indoors.
After a long while, he shook his head and sighed sadly, "No, it's because my offer was too cheap."
...A price list lay quietly on the table, detailing the performance times and corresponding prices, while next to it lay an opened syringe kit.
"Why is the price so low? It's less than two-thirds of my usual performance fee. How did this kind of offer even get to me? Don't you even review it?! What's that sandwiched between your shoulders, a pig's brain?"
Ruan Zihan slammed a handful of documents toward the window, crumpled the quotation in his palm, and threw it heavily onto the plush carpet.
His assistant, who was standing opposite him, took a half step back.
"Mr. Ruan, that was a business dinner sponsored by Charent. The vice president of Deshen Film and Entertainment also sent a schedule saying he would be attending."
Ruan Zihan was silent for a moment, then walked to the sofa, silently picked up the paper, unfolded it and read it once: "Next time, say these things in advance."
The assistant remained silent.
She's become increasingly afraid of her boss lately. While Mr. Ruan's temper wasn't exactly great before, the number of times he's gone crazy in the past month has been astonishing.
Especially after the short drama went online yesterday, President Ruan seemed to have not slept all night. When he came to the company this morning, he had two big dark circles under his eyes that looked like they were about to fall down to the tip of his nose. No one dared to take the initiative to talk to him.
Ruan Zihan spread the price list on his face, leaned back in his office chair, and slowly slid down.
No one understands despair better than he does now.
His despair was gradual—starting from receiving the sample photos from Lao Hou at 11 a.m. yesterday, he uploaded all the sample photos without having time to review them.
After "This Young Master is a Professional" was launched, it first experienced a system crash in the mini-program, which was brought to a standstill by just a few hundred people flooding into the mini-program.
He continuously subsidized the third party that developed the program, and finally rented several more servers to increase the program's capacity.
Once they were finally able to watch it, the relevant personnel discovered a fatal problem—the sample footage sent by Lao Hou was utterly worthless. The special effects were even more perfunctory than expected, full of rough and rushed work. Most of the special effects were simply copied from a public library, and the level was even worse than that of a college student.
Within just a few hours, public opinion surrounding Xinghan Short Drama faced a complete backlash.
Ruan Zihan had finally managed to calm Yao Mengran's fans down, but now the other party's popularity had instantly turned into a knife stabbing him in the heart.
Of course, what's most upsetting is that his favorite quotes were maliciously extracted and posted on various short video platforms to be ridiculed.
Those words were originally the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist Zeng Han after he reached a certain level, but they were maliciously misinterpreted by these people who took them out of context. Coupled with disgusting music and mocking cat memes, the comment section was almost entirely filled with ridicule.
Ruan Zihan didn't understand what was wrong with this world.
The only thing he could think of was that Fang Zhuo must have fueled these negative reviews and bought a lot of traffic to create the current public opinion environment that is ridiculing Xinghan short dramas.
He had certainly watched clips of the Giant Entertainment short drama, but that drama was all about cloying romance and had less than half the intellectual depth of "This Young Master is a Professional".
It's said that in the finale of the card-making drama, the female lead actually dared to choose between two men; this kind of show should be banned.
Within 24 hours of its release, "This Young Master" had only generated less than 500,000 RMB in sales, failing to even recoup one percent of its costs. It was a complete financial disaster.
However, he doesn't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with "This Young Master". As long as the market is willing to give this kind of high-quality drama a chance and is willing to see the male lead's pure and positive striving spirit under the rough special effects, this kind of good drama will definitely be able to start low and finish high. The popularity trend of many niche crime dramas in the past has just confirmed this point.
He just finished communicating with the third-party company that developed the mini-program today, and the UI for the collection will be launched tomorrow morning; in the afternoon, Lao Hou will also urgently change the filter and refine the special effects that reveal the flaws...
Ruan Zihan cleared his mind, obtained the official contract for the business dinner from his assistant, and carefully reviewed it.
The payment from this commercial performance contract was a timely help, just enough to cover the labor costs for some of the special effects work on the remake of the short drama.
Charent is a very high-end brand. The dinners they sponsor are either extremely large in scale or attended by extremely wealthy and influential guests. The list of other invited singers is also predictably luxurious.
Since Juyu is holding an offline meet-and-greet tomorrow, why shouldn't he attend this even more prestigious banquet? It's a win for him.
If he promotes his new short drama at the right time tomorrow night, gets on the trending topics and plays the victim, and generates some buzz, "This Young Master" might still have a chance to turn things around.
Ruan Zihan chuckled and, with a flourish of his pen, signed his name on the contract.
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