How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 113 Cause and Effect
History is made up of chance, but it also has inevitable causes.

Cause and effect are not empty.

The past is the cause of the present, and the future is the effect of the present, so the past, the future, and the present all happen simultaneously.

Everything that happened to Hejiang Group and its Hong Kong-listed shares may have been accidental or predictable, but it cannot change the objective reality of the crackdown on it.

Wang Yao couldn't understand anything about the stock market.

However, some information released by authoritative media outlets reveals a lot: at least the Li family's plan to cash out and mortgage assets in both locations seems to have been temporarily disrupted.

Even the privatization of the Li family's second son's electronics company, which was just settled a few months ago, has been brought up again for discussion and consideration.

"There's no need to turn off the heat; it's already rotten in the pot anyway."

When Wang Yao heard Luo Hongming and the others discussing whether to turn down the induction cooker's flame, he laughed.

Today is the day of Naza's exam at Beijing Dianzi University, and it's also the day for filming for "School Beauty is Here". Because there are so many people, Wang Yao borrowed a minibus converted into a van from Ren Quan. Since they couldn't enter the school for the time being, the group of them started having hot pot in the van.

"Beijing Electric Power University is definitely stricter than other schools, even our President Yao was turned away at the door," Luo Hongming joked.

"What? Brother Luo has a problem with my alma mater?" Xiao Yang asked with a smile.

“I don’t feel comfortable hearing that either. It makes us Peking Opera dancers seem very casual.” Miao Miao raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Watch your words when you're out and about, don't bring shame to our school," Ni Ni teased.

"Good, good, good. You've offended three forces with just one sentence. Bai Ke, your ability to launch a wide-ranging attack is quite impressive now," Yi Xiaoxing said gleefully.

"Hey, you're saying I shouldn't talk? I eat meat," Luo Hongming said with a smirk.

"But here's the topic, isn't there? We can do a poll on the show later and see which university is the easiest to sneak into," Wang Dali said with a smile, trying to defuse the situation.

"We could also take stock of which region and which school has the highest proportion of school beauties, then create a ranking of school beauties from the same period and let everyone vote."
"When you're thinking about topics, don't just stick to interviews. As long as there's a topic that's interesting, you can start a new program." Wang Yao finished his work and joined the hotpot team.

"Hmm? You seem to be in a good mood today?" Ni Ni whispered as she leaned closer.

She had noticed Wang Yao's irritability and anxiety in the past few days, but he seemed to be much better today.

"It's alright." Wang Yao smiled. "You seem to be in a good mood too."

“The Taobao staff member you asked me to work with last time recommended several brands to me, and some of them have already expressed their intention to cooperate. One of them is a boutique store that wants to sign an annual guarantee agreement, a 400 million guarantee for 500 million in sales!” Ni Ni’s voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Oh? A big client? What brand?" Wang Yao asked, somewhat surprised.

“Mofasi Jia, a new domestic facial mask brand,” Ni Ni replied.

“I know this brand; it’s an e-commerce brand. Let’s talk about a 1:3 guarantee ratio. I’ll guarantee 400 million in sales for the whole year with 1200 million, but I’ll take a 50% commission,” Wang Yao said after a moment’s thought.

The four companies, namely Magic World, Han Du Yi She, Yuni Fang, and Afu, were among the earliest e-commerce brands. They all accumulated their initial capital by taking advantage of the e-commerce boom. Unfortunately, when they later shifted to physical stores, they were targeted by L'Oréal and Korean cosmetic brands because they were used to the e-commerce model. In the end, they failed to ride the wave of the "national pride" era.

Regarding the collaboration with this brand, Wang Yao felt there was an opportunity to explore it further. The skincare industry is one of the most profitable sectors in the next decade, with an average gross profit margin of over 80% in the early stages, and a very high repurchase rate.

It was fate that Mofashijia took the initiative to approach him, and Wang Yao plans to turn it into a case study of brand operation outsourcing.

"1:3? Isn't that too high? What if it doesn't reach that? Wouldn't that be a huge loss? No, if we add a 50% commission, and it sells for 1200 million, the other party would have to give me a total of 1000 million including upfront costs and commission?"
That's equivalent to about 16% profit. Unless their gross profit margin is over 85%, they'll be losing money. Do you think they're stupid? Ni Ni was shocked to hear this.

“The gross profit margin of skincare products is definitely over 80%.” Wang Yao smiled. “Moreover, you can’t calculate it like that. Their average order value is 60 yuan. If the sales volume is 1200 million yuan, it is equivalent to bringing 20 consumers to the brand. Even if they lose money, it is still a huge profit as customer acquisition cost.”

Moreover, the more we sell, the greater the other party's production capacity and the lower their costs. As long as they have any sense of business acumen, they won't refuse this kind of cooperation." Wang Yao smiled.

"Won't we face a lot of sales pressure?" Ni Ni did the math and realized that even if they lost two million, they could gain 20 customers, which would indeed be worthwhile.

"A 50% commission is equivalent to selling goods at half price. Whether relying on direct traffic or traffic effects, it's easy to achieve this commission rate. The commission is where we make our money," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll go talk to them.” Ni Ni made a mental note of it.

Wang Yao then inquired about the progress of the "Old Boys" script and Yi Xiaoxing's ideas for her new program. The group chatted while eating hot pot, and soon there was a knock on the car door. A gentle and charming face appeared before them.

"Hello everyone, I'm Jiang Yan. I'll be leading you all inside today." Jiang Yan's voice had a unique, sweet quality typical of girls from northern China.

She has a classic oval face with a delicately defined jawline, unlike the sharp lines of a V-shaped face. Her almond-shaped eyes are soft and lively, like an apricot bathed in spring sunshine, making her easy to feel friendly.

Everyone quickly stood up to greet them. After Jiang Yan showed her ID to the gatekeeper, the minibus drove smoothly into the Jingdian compound. After arriving at the parking lot, everyone got off the bus with their filming equipment to take pictures.

Early March is the time of the late spring cold snap, and much of the snow that fell on campus a couple of days ago has not yet melted.

Apart from Xiao Yang and Wang Dali, everyone else was visiting Beijing Film Academy for the first time. They were all very interested in this oldest cradle for training actors in China and chatted amongst themselves about the gossip along the way.

Jiang Yan answered patiently, but her gaze remained fixed on Wang Yao.

Yesterday, her godmother, Song Dandan, specifically instructed her to build a good relationship with Mr. Wang this time, try her best to meet his demands, and do a good job as a tour guide. At first, she thought he was a middle-aged man and felt a bit of pressure, but she didn't expect him to be a boy who looked even younger than her.

The motto of Beijing Dianzi University was written by Ji Xianlin: "Respect teachers and value the way, pass on the torch." "It's too cold outside, let's film indoors instead," Wang Yao suggested after looking around and visiting several main buildings without finding a suitable filming location.

“The main building is hosting the college entrance exams today, and the other buildings are too crowded and inconvenient. How about I take you to the screening room? It’s a good spot for filming.” Jiang Yan quickly suggested.

“Okay.” Wang Yao nodded.

Jingdian has eight screening rooms, which are usually used for student study. They found the one with the fewest people. After everyone had set up the equipment, Jiang Yan also called the guest performers they had prepared.

Wang Yao glanced at them and saw that there were at least thirteen people. After all, Beijing University of Electronic Science and Technology only admits 200 students per year. If you remove the male students and those from other majors, there are only about three hundred female students on campus. The fact that Jiang Yan could call out so many people at once shows that she really put in a lot of effort.

I glanced at them and only recognized a few familiar faces.

Cai Wenjing, Kan Qingzi, Wu Jinyan.

"I saw on the school's online forum that Jing Tian is currently the school beauty, but I haven't seen her there," Wang Yao asked Jiang Yan with a smile.

"Ah, Jing Tian is working outside and isn't at school," Jiang Yan quickly explained.

"Miss Jiang was a campus beauty back in school, wasn't she?" Wang Yao said with a smile.

"How could that be? There are Liu Yifei, Huang Shengyi, Wang Luodan, Jiang Yiyan, Yao Di ahead of me, Zhang Jiani and Mu Tingting in the same period, and Yang Mi behind me, all such great beauties. I can't even be ranked." Jiang Yan quickly waved her hand.

Moreover, Jiang Yan is a vocational college student, which is somewhat different from undergraduate students. In addition, there are continuing education classes, which only provide a certificate of completion without a degree. This is also a popular choice for many people to enhance their resumes. For example, Zhang Tianai is a representative of the continuing education classes.

Hearing her say that, Wang Yao felt that the number of students at Beijing Dianzi University had indeed decreased significantly.

"Actually, besides Jing Tian, ​​the school beauty should be A Shuang, but we can't get in touch with her anymore, she's too busy," Jiang Yan said with a soft laugh.

"Ah Shuang? She doesn't need to be so ambitious." Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Mr. Wang, my godmother is Song Dandan. She was entrusted by Director Hu to arrange things for you. If you need anything, just let me know. If it's convenient, my godmother would like to invite you to have dinner together later," Jiang Yan formally introduced.

Upon hearing the name, Wang Yao smiled and said, "Okay, let's see if we have time later. I'll treat you."

Filming is underway. Although they are all students, they are all performing arts majors, so they can quickly complete the filming according to the script requirements, which is extremely efficient.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ni Ni left her contact information with Cai Wenjing and others.

But they didn't seem very interested. After all, they had already been admitted to Beijing Film Academy, and they could basically rely on the school's resources to establish themselves in the entertainment industry in the future, unlike girls from other schools who had to start from outside the industry.

This is the power of connections and platforms.

However, they did value Jiang Yan, their senior, and even took the initiative to say goodbye after the filming was over.

"These campus beauties from Beijing University of Electronic Science and Technology are really something else," Ni Ni remarked.

Although they were all very polite, their arrogance was still quite obvious.

“This batch of students are mostly from wealthy families and have connections within the school. They’ve already been spotted by major talent agencies or investors before they even left campus, so it’s normal that they’re not interested in us,” Wang Yao chuckled.

"Actually, it's not that. The main issue is that in the past two years, the school has been controlling the part-time work of students, especially first- and second-year students. Unless the school gives special permission, they are likely to be disciplined," Jiang Yan explained.

"Why? Wouldn't it be better to accumulate more experience later?" Ni Ni asked curiously.

"Well, maybe the school still prioritizes academics," Jiang Yan said with an awkward smile.

After the footage shooting was finished, Wang Yao sent everyone off to hunt in the wild, hoping to find some hidden gems.

After Naza finished her exams, she brought back several young faces, who were clearly more efficient at jungling.

She always kept in mind the task of recruiting people that Wang Yao had given her.

Upon seeing Jiang Yan and Zhang Yishan, Yang Zi greeted them familiarly, and Wang Yao roughly understood why Director Hu had arranged for Song Dandan to be in charge of the reception.

"Brother, I didn't expect Liu Xing and Xia Xue to be in the same cohort. I managed to bring them both back for you. Aren't you amazing?" Naza said proudly, taking credit for the achievement.

"Impressive." Wang Yao didn't point it out.

Zhang Yishan was somewhat reserved, but his attitude was acceptable, probably because Song Dandan had given him instructions beforehand.

Yang Zi is truly innocent and carefree, even a little too enthusiastic.

"Mr. Wang, my godmother's things are all ready. Shall we go over now?" Jiang Yan came over to greet him.

"Okay." Wang Yao nodded.

　Thanks to the following: No Field Cow, God, MVP Lover's Lover, Dorothy, wison11, Lost Little Scholar in the Mortal World, Wandering Scholar, Master Liu, Linjiangchuan, Half-Dreaming Half-Awake Half-Crazy, Wei Yiye, Law Without Law, hurry~, joy_an, This Killer Isn't Cold

　　书友20210301106602458490、书友2021031106475386284、书友20171030085824139、书友20170503175430405、书友2021113004925124的月票支持~万分感谢！

　　
　
(End of this chapter)