Huayu: Starting by piggybacking on the fame of "Fairy Mom"

Chapter 64 Adding More

After the initial surprise, the meeting continued.

A look of doubt crossed Chen Minghua's face. He glanced subconsciously at Liu Qianqian beside him: "Is it appropriate to directly invite Teacher Liu?"

When the record contract was signed, it was Wang Shuzhen who signed it on his behalf.

Chen Minghua roughly understood the reason behind it—it was simply that the two children wanted to make a name for themselves without their families knowing, according to Zhou Xiaobai's explanation.

Everyone present was a shrewd person who had signed a confidentiality agreement. During Liu Qianqian's recording, Chen Minghua had already instructed her: ask fewer questions and do more.

At that moment, everyone's eyes fell on Zhou Xiaobai and Liu Qianqian as soon as he asked the question.

"That's easy," Zhou Xiaobai said, sharing the ideas he had discussed with Liu Qianqian, highlighting the parts he could say. "We won't get involved; you can handle the negotiations. Invite them under the guise of a company collaboration, treating it as a custom-made choreography and performance."

He emphasized, "But it must be kept secret."

"Can it work?" Chen Minghua voiced his biggest concern, and everyone else in the conference room was also watching Zhou Xiaobai closely.

When they invited such a top-notch folk dance artist to dance pop dance, their concern wasn't that she wouldn't dance well, but that Liu Xiaoli might not accept the offer at all.

We're all people who work in public. Even though we're from different industries, if we know there's a tiger in the mountain, why would we still insist on going in? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

"How much are you planning to offer?"

Liu Qianqian suddenly interjected, feeling that she should speak up.

My mother is mine, and the money she earns in the future will also be mine. This is a matter of vital interest, so I must ask clearly.

"this……"

Chen Minghua turned his gaze to Li Jun beside him.

The two then doodled on the paper and discussed it in hushed tones.

Although Chen Minghua was the head of the branch office and he negotiated the contract, Liu Qianqian's album was the company's key project this year, and Li Jun, as the head of distribution, had considerable decision-making power over such extra expenditures.

The key issue is how to set the price, as there is no precedent to follow.

These days, there's an invisible hierarchy of contempt in the entertainment industry—actors look down on singers, while singers think dancers aren't high-class enough.

The strange thing is that, in terms of income, the entire film and television company combined might not earn as much as a popular singer.

Hiring a somewhat famous actor to shoot a music video would cost around ten or twenty thousand dollars—of course, real big stars would never take on such a job.

For an average dancer, a choreography job might only earn a thousand or two at most.

But Liu Xiaoli is different; she is a dancer who has won numerous awards, and also the mother of the singer on this album.

If they give too much, it will be difficult to explain to the head office finance department. If they give too little, they definitely won't be able to get past Zhou Xiaobai.

Moreover, getting Liu Xiaoli involved isn't just about money—it means the songs on the charts have an extra hot topic, which can help the album's promotion avoid detours and even lead to instant fame.

After discussing it, Li Jun raised his head and looked directly at Liu Qianqian: "Twenty thousand, how about it?" He could also tell that Liu Qianqian was the one who made the decision, and was probably easier to negotiate with than Zhou Xiaobai.

"Twenty thousand? Are you kidding me!" Liu Qianqian's eyes widened.

Now that she's seen a lot of money, she's too embarrassed to even ask her mother to join the scheme with such a small amount.

"That's just how the market is," Li Jun said without changing his expression. They had agreed on 50,000, but they wanted to save money wherever possible.

Zhou Xiaobai remained silent, secretly chuckling to himself: How can you possibly negotiate money with this little money-grubber without slashing your wits? Let them ramble on for a bit, and in the end, I, the BOSS, will have to clean up the mess.

"Then go find someone else. They paid my mother 300,000 yuan to go dancing in Beijing, and your company is so stingy?"

Liu Qianqian shook her head and brought up the old debt of 300,000 yuan owed to the man surnamed Chen—anyway, outsiders wouldn't know the troubles involved.

"Three hundred thousand?!" Li Jun and Chen Minghua exchanged a stunned glance. Could dancing really fetch that much?

"Of course, my mother is worth this price." Liu Qianqian raised her price on the spot.

"Thirty thousand?" Li Jun held up three fingers.

"Then I'll give you 50,000 yuan. Find someone with the same fame as my mother to dance for you." Liu Qianqian held up five fingers.

Zhou Xiaobai smirked to himself.

These words hit the nail on the head. The people present looked at each other, thinking to themselves: If someone of this caliber were willing to dance like this, would we still need to talk here?

Before Li Jun could speak, Liu Qianqian added insult to injury:

"I'm the one who sings the song, so you'd better find someone I'm satisfied with to dance it."

"Xiaobai said you don't need to worry about the dance. He'll draw the storyboard and let my mom choreograph it directly."

"If you won't let my mother jump, then you can find someone to draw it yourselves."

Just now in the small conference room, she discussed with Zhou Xiaobai: Now that we don't need my mother, Xiaobai won't draw for you.

This is no longer about money or popularity; it's about my reputation, Liu Qianqian's reputation. No one can change that.

Popularity points can be accumulated slowly. I'm still young, and the road to immortality is still long.

Besides, the record contract has already been signed, so I won't lose a single penny of what I'm owed.

If things don't work out with the music video, we can wait a year or two; then we can ask for even more.

She learned a lot from Zhou Xiaobai.

Although we don't usually make decisions on important matters, Xiao Bai once said that we'll be leading the army of immortals in the future, so how can we not understand it?

"Three hundred thousand is far too high. It's completely beyond the market price and will disrupt market order." Li Jun looked troubled as he interrupted Liu Qianqian's daydream.

However, Zhou Xiaobai's talent is evident from this album.

Many big names in the company have already offered him sky-high contracts to sing songs. He came here with similar intentions, originally planning to have a more in-depth talk with Zhou Xiaobai later.

"Little White, look at this?"

Chen Minghua then realized they had approached the wrong person to negotiate with. This young girl was too ruthless; they couldn't negotiate with her at all. He could only turn to Zhou Xiaobai.

Zhou Xiaobai grinned slyly—"I'll make sure you can't tell the difference between the king and the queen."

He composed himself and said, "According to what Qianqian just said, others charge 300,000 yuan to invite my sister Li to Beijing, so you can't charge less than that. However—"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Jun interrupted, "This price is too high; the head office will never agree to it." Chen Minghua nodded in agreement.

"I haven't finished speaking, what's the rush?" Zhou Xiaobai glanced at Chen Minghua, then suddenly added, "How about this, buy one get one free, and my sister will jump too, how about it?"

"Your sister? Who?" Li Jun was taken aback.

"You know Teacher Liu's cousin, Zhou Wenqiong from Zhuying Film Studio," Chen Minghua explained from the side.

"what!"

Li Jun was shocked.

How could he not know Zhou Wenqiong?

Pearl River Film Studio and Times Records both belong to the Guangdong Provincial Cultural System, so they see each other all the time.

Zhou Wenqiong is a film actress with many works. She is beautiful and was once the most beautiful actress at the Pearl River Film Studio. She just retired from the industry this year.

Li Jun was one of her suitors back then.

His heart was burning with excitement, and he immediately pulled Chen Minghua out, saying as they left, "Let's go outside and discuss this."

Not for any other reason than for that past beauty.

Besides, he's a second-generation rich kid, so he has his own ways of getting the head office to agree.