My Peninsula 2007

Chapter 440 Painting Cake
"puff!"

Spitting out the water that had gotten into his mouth, and wiping the water off his face, An Rusong took a deep breath and turned off the shower.

"Didi"

From the master bedroom outside the bathroom, a crisp and pleasant cell phone ringtone came from inside. Then the ringtone stopped, and someone answered the phone. Although the voice was very soft, An Rusong could still recognize that it was Min Xiujin's voice.

He stopped what he was doing and strained his ears to listen, trying to make out what the woman was saying. But the woman spoke very cautiously, like a frightened quail. Through the door, An Rusong couldn't hear what she was saying at all.

Grabbing a bath blanket hanging to the side, An Rusong dried his wet hair as he walked towards the bathroom door. When he pushed the door open and entered the master bedroom, he saw Min Xiujin wearing a pink nightgown, who had just hung up the phone and was placing it on the bedside table.

Beside her, Lee Se-young, wearing a white nightgown, sat against the headboard, browsing something on a laptop.

Completely naked, An Rusong walked to the bedside, took the bath blanket off his head, and casually asked, "Whose call was that?"

"Sister Ruiying," Min Xiujin answered instinctively at first, before explaining, "Ah, she's my manager."

"An agent?" An Rusong laughed. "The fraudulent company you signed with even assigned you an agent?"

Min Soo-jin's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but then she gave up.

No matter how unwilling she was to admit it, Min Soo-jin had to face the reality that the nightmare she had endured over the past few months was entirely caused by her agency, "Vivid MGMT." An Ru-song was right; it was a fraudulent company that preyed on young girls like her.

"Vivid MGMT" first tricks these contracted girls into taking out high-interest loans under the guise of training. Then, they use various means to make them sink deeper and deeper into the mire of debt. When they are so deeply mired in debt that they cannot extricate themselves, they will be completely exploited by these people, leaving not even a trace of their bones.

Over the past two days, Min Xiujin has figured everything out. Overall, she's considered lucky, as she's now free from the clutches of loan sharks and has woken up from that unbearable dream. If she hadn't sought help from Li Shiying and received assistance from An Rusong, she would have either been driven to death by those loan sharks or forced to sell herself, becoming a "toy" for the company to use to make money.

Well, although she is now also a "toy" in An Rusong's hands, at least in terms of overall conditions, this master is not so unacceptable. Most importantly, he is not as perverted as some people.

Seeing that the woman remained silent, An Rusong smiled, tossed the bath blanket in front of her, pointed to himself, and then asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Min Soo-jin understood what the man in front of her meant. She grabbed the bath blanket, got out of bed, walked over to him, and while wiping the water off his body, she murmured, "I want to terminate my contract with 'Vivid MGMT' first."

An Rusong stretched out his arms and then asked, "And then?"

“Then,” Min Soo-jin paused, and said, “Just now, Sister Rui-ying, who was my former manager, called me and said that she has resigned from 'Vivid MGMT' and is preparing to join 'Star-Empire'. She said that they are recruiting models like me and are preparing to launch a group next year or the year after.”

Upon hearing the name "Star-Empire," An Rusong raised an eyebrow. He knew "Star Empire," he knew of that company from his past life; the nine-member model group was launched by this company. And according to Min Xiujin, "Star-Empire" was clearly preparing to launch this group.

The chairman of this company seems to be named Shen Zhouhe. In An Rusong's previous life, this guy had a lot of bad reputations. He was known for exploiting and abusing the artists under his company. Of course, in South Korea, a place full of dregs, not all brokerage and entertainment companies, but at least most of them, have the problem of exploiting and abusing artists. Shen Zhouhe is not an exception, and it is not surprising.

According to An Rusong's understanding, the treatment of boy groups and girl groups launched by major South Korean entertainment companies is simply outrageous. Under normal circumstances, these boy groups and girl groups will sign a 30/70 income split agreement with the company when they debut.

The so-called 30/70 split here refers to the company taking 70% and the artists taking 30%, and specifically, the artists' groups taking 30%.

Just like the nine-member model girl group that An Rusong had in his previous life, their contracts with the company were split 30/70, with the nine members taking 30% of the income. The average share per person was slightly higher than 0.03%, which was even worse than working illegally.

The worst part is that these contracts are often long-term, usually ten years or more. How many decades does a person have in a lifetime, especially the best ten years of their youth? And they're just going to work illegally in the mines like that.

"Are you sure?" An Rusong was well aware of the realities of the Korean entertainment industry, and he certainly didn't think highly of Min Soo-jin's plan. Therefore, he asked calmly. Min Soo-jin paused in her actions, then said, "I...I don't know either."

"Do you know 'Zenith Playhouse'?" An Rusong turned to look at the other person and asked.

“Yes,” Min Soo-jin nodded and said, “It’s the company that Se-young just joined.”

"Zenith Playhouse" is the entertainment company run by Choi Si-jung's beloved grandson, which is also the company currently preparing to film the drama "The Ministers of Namsan". As the leader of the company, Choi Myung-deok holds 56% of the shares in the company as the director and investor.

Prior to this, An Rusong injected 12 billion won into the company in exchange for 40% of its shares. The remaining 4% of the shares were held by a person named Zhang Xiayun, who was a screenwriter and also the company's nominal legal representative.

As the company's leader, Choi Myung-deok had ambitions, but limited by financial resources and his own abilities, the prospects of "Zenith Playhouse" were actually quite limited. However, with his grandfather Choi Shi-jung taking up the position of chairman of the Broadcasting and Communications Commission, the fate of both him and "Zenith Playhouse" was changed.

However, even with Cui Shizhong's support, the scale of "Zenith Playhouse" cannot expand all at once. It must develop step by step. Most importantly, the company needs to produce a masterpiece to prove its capabilities.

Because of its small size, Zenith Playhouse does not have its own artist management department. In fact, apart from Lee Se-young, who has not yet officially debuted, the company has no other signed artists.

As Lee Se-young's best friend, Min Soo-jin was naturally aware of these circumstances, and therefore, she hesitated about whether to join "Zenith Playhouse".

Her situation is not quite the same as Lee Se-young's. At least the latter already has plans to debut and is playing an important role in a big production. But Min Soo-jin, even now that she has joined "Zenith Playhouse," still can't get a chance to debut.

"Are you interested in joining 'Zenith Playhouse'?" Although he didn't have mind-reading abilities, An Rusong could still somewhat guess what the woman in front of him was thinking. He turned around to face her and asked, "I am a major shareholder of this company. By signing up with 'Zenith Playhouse', you won't have to worry about being scammed."

Min Xiujin pursed her lips, squatted down, and while wiping An Rusong's legs, she whispered, "Then can I get acting roles too?"

An Rusong looked down at her and said, "That depends on the company's subsequent arrangements."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "What's the name of that agent you mentioned earlier?"

“Yin Ruiying,” Min Xiujin replied.

"Do you have a good relationship with her?" An Rusong asked.

“Sister Ruiying took good care of me,” Min Xiujin nodded and said, “She also had a lot of grievances about the company in the past.”

“Then you can contact her and ask if she’s interested in joining ‘Zenith Playhouse’,” An Rusong interrupted before she could finish speaking. “Isn’t ‘Star-Empire’ thinking of creating a girl group made up of models? I think that’s a good idea, ‘Zenith Playhouse’ could do that too.”

An Rusong reached out and patted Min Soo-jin on the head, then moved aside and walked to the bedside. He bent down and sat on the edge of the bed, reached for a pack of cigarettes on the bedside table, took one out, and said, "Zenith Playhouse may not have much experience in creating idol artists, but our advantage lies in our abundant funds and resources."

He wasn't exaggerating. Star-Empire is considered a mid-sized entertainment company in the South Korean entertainment industry, and its girl group Jewelry has earned Shinju Hak a lot of money over the years. However, in terms of financial strength and resource abundance, it really can't compare to the fledgling Zenith Playhouse.

It is foreseeable that, with Choi Si-jung's support, "Zenith Playhouse" should be able to secure top-tier resources from South Korea's three major television networks for at least the next three to four years. On the other hand, if Ahn Yeo-song is willing to invest, the company will not lack financial support.

In a place like South Korea, how could a company with both money and manpower, plus An Rusong occasionally stealing "resources" from his past life's memories, possibly fail to develop?
In reality, it's just that An Rusong wasn't interested in working in the Korean entertainment industry; otherwise, it wouldn't be impossible for him to have risen to the position of a bigwig in the Korean entertainment world.

"As for the recent period," An Rusong said, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff, "NGN has a user promotion plan that requires the production of a series of short advertising videos. If you are interested, you can come and give it a try."

(End of this chapter)