How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 370 Re-signing the Contract of Indenture?
"Teacher Zhang, do you want to help those five people pay the penalty for breach of contract?"

Liu Haiyang thought for a long time before finally asking the question that had been bothering him. He couldn't think of any other reason.

"No, I didn't mean that at all." Zhang Wen immediately denied it after hearing this. "Those five are just trainees, not big stars. Whether they will become famous in the future is still unknown. Why would I pay for their breach of contract fees? Even if you have money, you can't waste it like that, right?"

Liu Haiyang nodded in agreement.

"Then why are you asking this?"

As soon as he said it, Liu Haiyang seemed to suddenly realize something. He squinted and looked at the young man opposite him, thinking: Could it be that he has taken a fancy to those five trainees?
What about Bailu?
Has the other party already broken up with Bai Lu?

"Mr. Liu, please answer my question first," Zhang Wen said.

Liu Haiyang was really curious about what the other party wanted to do, so he replied: "According to the contract, if a trainee terminates the contract during the training period, he needs to pay a penalty of three million. After debuting, he needs to pay a minimum of six million in compensation based on the artist's commercial value assessment."

"So little?" Zhang Wen was somewhat surprised. He used to see news reports about how difficult it was for artists to terminate their contracts, and he thought it would require tens of millions in compensation. He didn't expect it to be only a few million.

"..."

Upon hearing the reply from the person opposite him, Liu Haiyang's lips twitched involuntarily.

If you're going to talk about breach of contract penalties, then talk about breach of contract penalties. Why are you showing off your wealth?

Three million is not enough?
How many trainees have been embroiled in lawsuits because of this three million?
How many trainees have to obey the company's arrangements to accompany clients for drinks because they can't afford to pay the three million?
It's often said that entertainment companies' contracts with trainees are like indentured servitude, and that entertainment companies are all capitalists. But compared to this young man, even capitalists seem exceptionally kind.

Seeing Liu Haiyang's speechless expression, Zhang Wen instantly realized that he had been showing off a bit.

For him now, three million is not much; a bottle of life essence is worth more than three million. But for ordinary people, they may not earn three million in their entire lives.

Ugh!
Having done so many deals worth hundreds of millions, hearing about three million feels a bit strange.

Zhang Wen composed himself and continued, "Mr. Liu, according to what you just said, if Zhao Tong and the other four want to terminate their contracts, each of them needs to pay three million as compensation, is that right?"

"Ah."

Liu Haiyang responded irritably, feeling his sense of superiority as the vice president of an entertainment company had been severely undermined. After all, it was quite a difficult task for him to come up with three million at once.

“Mr. Liu, I have a bold idea: to renegotiate artist contracts with them,” Zhang Wen said.

"Re-sign? What do you mean?" Liu Haiyang asked, puzzled.

“The company will sign a new three-year contract with them. Each person will need to pay two million to the company every year, which will be six million in three years. We will cancel the profit sharing. In this way, the company can get a stable income of ten million from the five of them every year. What do you think?” Zhang Wen said, expressing his idea.

"Oh?"

Liu Haiyang's eyes lit up, his first thought was: Is there really such a good thing?
This is equivalent to terminating the contracts of these five trainees three years later, and the penalty for breach of contract has increased from three million to six million.

Simply put, it means giving these five trainees three years to earn the penalty for breach of contract.

From the perspective of the company's interests, he thought the proposal was excellent, even better than profit sharing.

If we calculate based on the company taking 20% ​​of the revenue, this combination would need to generate 50 million in revenue annually for the company to receive 10 million in share.

Annual income of 50 million?
How could this happen?

Let alone an unknown new group, even established A-list stars wouldn't earn that much in a year.

Therefore, this contract is definitely beneficial to the company.

and many more.

Something is wrong!
"Teacher Zhang, you're saying we have to hand over six million in three years? What if they don't earn that much money by then?" Liu Haiyang asked.

The new contract is contingent on the five trainees being able to come up with the money, but the problem is that the chances of the group becoming popular are much lower than those of it flopping.

“I can vouch for them,” Zhang Wen said. “I’ll make up whatever they’re short. You don’t have to believe they can earn that much money, but you have to believe I have the money.”

"You're going to vouch for me?" Liu Haiyang's eyes widened in surprise, not understanding why the young man opposite him would do such a thing.

If the other party has money, they can pay the penalty now, which would be half the amount they would have to pay three years later.

Could it be that the other party is betting that this group will become a huge success and make a lot of money in the next three years?
Why?
Is it just because the other party taught those five trainees?
This is far too hasty.

"Yes." Zhang Wen nodded, his serious expression suggesting that he was not joking.

He actually wanted to help Zhao Tong and the others pay the breach of contract penalty and then sign these five people, but he had neither a company nor equipment, so even if he signed them, he couldn't do anything for these five people.

Instead of buying out the five people outright, it would be better to keep them here first. This way, we can use Tianxi Media's name to negotiate collaborations, and we can also utilize the company's resources to support the group.

"Teacher Zhang, will those five trainees agree?" Liu Haiyang raised another crucial question.

No matter how well they plan things out here, it's useless if the parties involved don't agree.

"President Liu, please rest assured, I will persuade them," Zhang Wen said confidently.

Liu Haiyang thought about it and felt that it wouldn't be difficult to persuade them, since someone would act as a guarantor and there would be no pressure to repay the loan.

“I agree with your proposed plan,” Liu Haiyang said.

Instead of sending five disobedient trainees to clean toilets, it would be better to exchange them for 30 million.

This money is practically free; I can't think of a reason to refuse.

“Okay, it’s a deal.” Zhang Wen said, extending his hand.

"It's a deal." Liu Haiyang grasped the other person's hand, afraid that the other person would go back on their word.

In his eyes, the other party was a foolish and rich scoundrel who absolutely could not be let go.

The two discussed the contract details again, and after confirming a few important points, Liu Haiyang hurriedly left the cafeteria and went to the legal department to prepare the contract.

"Teacher Zhang, what did General Manager Liu say to you?"

As soon as Liu Haiyang left, Zhao Tong and the others who were sitting in the distance came over, their eyes filled with curiosity and worry, afraid that Vice President Liu would bring up the matter of accompanying the person in charge of the "Super Trainee" program again.

Zhang Wen swallowed the last bite of rice, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and then said, "I've secured an opportunity for you to renegotiate the contract."

Then, he recounted in detail what he had just discussed with Vice President Liu.

The five trainees were filled with surprise, especially when they heard that each of them needed to pay two million to the company every year, which made them feel immense pressure.

If they had the ability to earn two million a year, would they need to participate in "Super Trainee"?
Although the remaining eight-year contract was shortened to three years, the penalty for breach of contract doubled.

Is five years of youth worth three million?
This is really hard to say.

"Teacher Zhang, six million is too much, we can't afford to pay it back," Zhang Jiajia said with a bitter face. She felt pitiful to be burdened with a debt of six million before even making her debut.

“Yes, Teacher Zhang, how about four million? Five million is fine too,” Cheng Sisi said. Every million less was better than nothing. She was from Hangzhou, and although her family’s house wasn’t big, it should be worth four or five million.

Zhang Wen rolled his eyes at the five worried trainees, pointed at them, and scolded, "Look at your pathetic self! Six million is making you constipated? Haven't you thought about how much more money you can earn after you become famous?" "..."

Upon hearing this, all five of them wore bitter expressions.

Whether or not one can become famous is still unknown, but the debt is known. Who wouldn't be angry? Who wouldn't be constipated?

"Bang bang bang!"

Zhang Wen slammed his hand on the table and said to the five women, "You're all about to debut, can't you be a little more confident? Didn't I tell you, even if you don't believe in yourselves, you have to believe in me? Besides, with me vouching for you, what do you have to worry about?"

"Teacher, we're worried because you're the guarantor," Zhao Tong said softly.

“Yes, Teacher Zhang, we already owe you so much, we can’t cause you any more trouble. Even if we can’t earn six million, we will find a way to pay it back ourselves,” Chen Silu said earnestly.

“Yes, we’ll pay it back ourselves,” Su Jin agreed.

"Alright, shut up, all of you. It's not like I sold you out." Zhang Wen glared at the group, then patiently said, "Your thinking is wrong. You shouldn't be upset that you've signed another contract to sell yourself into servitude. You should be happy that you won't have to share your earnings with the company. You only need to pay the company two million a year."

"???"

Chen Silu and the others were dumbfounded.

only need to?
That's two million, not two hundred dollars. And they're a group now, so the five of them together make ten million.

Seeing that the five trainees still didn't understand, Zhang Wen didn't bother to explain further and said indifferently, "Many things have a time lag. You don't understand now, but you will in the future."

Remembering how Teacher Zhang had saved them from dire straits, Zhao Tong sat up straight and said, "Teacher, I'll listen to you. You can decide on the group."

“Ignoring me won’t help; you still owe me forty million,” Zhang Wen said jokingly.

"..."

The women fell silent upon hearing this.

He owes the company 30 million and Teacher Zhang 40 million, which adds up to 70 million.

Before their group even debuted, they were already heavily in debt, so they might as well call themselves "Debt-ridden Girls".

This morning, after seeing their debut song, everyone was full of hope for the future. However, now, it feels like the sky, which had just begun to brighten, has darkened again.

This is probably life.

No one's world is always daytime; it's always a cycle of light and dark.

Ignoring the trainees' reactions, Zhang Wen continued, "Your group needs to pay the company ten million every year. We'll split the remaining income 80/20, I'll get 80% and you get 20%. After we pay back the forty million, we'll split it 50/50, how about that?"

"Teacher, we're not going to split it into two, so how about we go with 91?" Zhao Tong said.

The other trainees also seemed indifferent.

After all, in their view, whether they could earn the ten million from the payment company was an unknown, let alone how much money they would have left.

“Fine, 91% it is.” Zhang Wen didn’t stand on ceremony; after all, nobody turns down money.

……

Liu Haiyang went to the legal department and, as requested by Teacher Zhang, revised five artist contracts.

He was about to take the contract to the training department when he saw his boss, Li Lehua, as soon as he stepped out of the legal department.

"Mr. Li, weren't you going to Shanghai? Why are you back?" Liu Haiyang asked in surprise. If it weren't for the shadow on the ground, he would have thought he had seen a ghost.

"The event was canceled at the last minute due to the weather." After saying that, Li Lehua looked Liu Haiyang up and down and asked curiously, "What's making you so happy? Did you win five million?"

"Mr. Li, this time it's more than five million." Liu Haiyang waved the contract in his hand and then explained the decision he had made with Teacher Zhang.

He sounded rather proud when he spoke of it, after all, it had brought in 30 million in revenue for the company.

When Li Lehua saw that it was related to Zhang Wen, he immediately listened attentively. But when he heard that it was Zhang Wen's idea, he immediately became wary.

This Zhang Wen is not only a company employee, but also her business rival. They have clashed several times before, and each time the other side emerged victorious.

It was precisely because of these events that she came to understand this young man very well; he was definitely not one to suffer losses.

If the other party suddenly proposed this kind of contract, she would never believe it if she were killed, even if she were beaten to death.

That young man is already doing quite well by not taking advantage of the company.

"Could there be some kind of conspiracy involved?" Li Lehua frowned, her voice filled with suspicion.

"A conspiracy? No way?" Liu Haiyang looked at the contract in his hand, thought for a moment and said, "The contract was drafted by the legal department, there is absolutely no problem with it."

"But what was his intention in doing this?" Li Lehua asked, puzzled.

"Uh……"

Liu Haiyang got stuck.

I was so focused on whether or not to sign the contract that I didn't even think about this issue.

He thought for a while before saying, "Maybe it's because they're going all in to form a group."

"burn one's boats?"

Li Lehua repeated it, then shook his head, denying the statement.

Given the other party's cunning nature, why would they do something as desperate as burning their boats?

"How strong are those five trainees?" Li Lehua suddenly asked.

"Among all the trainees in the training department, he is above average, but not amazing. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to form a group," Liu Haiyang said.

If a trainee is very talented, the company will definitely arrange for them to go solo, just like Tang Yi.

In China's music scene, the commercial value of an individual far exceeds that of a group.

"That's strange." Li Lehua frowned in thought.
Liu Haiyang didn't understand why the boss found this strange. Isn't it normal for a trainee to plan to earn money while paying the breach of contract penalty?
Does that mean it's normal for trainees not to make money for the company?
"Mr. Li, Teacher Zhang is still waiting for me. Should we sign the contract?" Liu Haiyang asked. Since his boss already knew, he definitely needed to get his opinion.

Li Lehua thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution. However, she had no reason to refuse the money that was offered to her, so she finally nodded in agreement.

But the problem still lingered in my mind.

Zhang, what exactly are you planning to do this time?

……

(End of this chapter)