How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 129 You're treating me like a driver, aren't you?

"Mr. Wang, this is Hao Ru. She left Huayi last year and is now preparing to join Hairun to handle artist management," Dongfang Xin introduced to Wang Yao.

Dongfang Xin organized a gathering, bringing along Zhu Yilong, Zhao Liying, and her agent.

"I've heard so much about you, Mr. Wang." Hao Ru said with a warm smile. She was about the same age as Wang Jinhua, and her demeanor and attire were also similar.

This might be considered a popular trend among agents in the industry.

They were all soldiers trained by Sister Hua.

"Hello, Mr. Hao." Wang Yao smiled and shook hands, looking at Zhu Yilong and Zhao Liying. At this time, the two were still very young and inexperienced, especially Zhao Liying, whose petite figure and round face made her look like a high school student.

"Hello, Mr. Wang, I'm Zhu Yilong from Dongfei Pictures." Zhu Yilong was now completely in the manner of a pretty boy, with a shy smile.

"Hello, Mr. Wang, I am Zhao Liying." Zhao Liying was very open and generous, and her eyes even carried a hint of presumptuous inquiry.

"Hello, both of you." Wang Yao smiled and nodded, then exchanged a few pleasantries after taking his seat.

"Speaking of which, I have a rather special connection with President Wang," Hao Ru said.

"Oh? Our company has cooperated with President Hao before?" Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

"No, that's not it. I heard that Tang Yan's public relations were handled by President Wang, and I was just unlucky; I just signed Gao Yunxiang." Hao Ru said with a smile.

Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly, remembering why the name sounded familiar. This Hao Ru seemed to have done quite well in the agent circle in her early years, single-handedly bringing Zhao Liying into the spotlight, and then taking over the business of Sun Li and Li Xiaolu, successfully entering the core circle of Hairun Pictures' listing.

Logically, Hao Ru should have become a successful investor like Yang Tianzhen and Du Hua, but because of Gao Yunxiang and Li Xiaolu's two scandals, the two companies, Tangde and Hairun, suffered losses, which subsequently triggered a series of financial scandals.

There are many twists and turns in this, but what is certain is that Hao Ru was unlucky, and it seems that she was the one who exposed Zhao Liying's early incident involving offline fruit platters on Meishe.com.

Such people are unlucky; you should stay away from them.

"Oh? I didn't expect President Hao to have signed Gao Yunxiang. That does seem to be related. I heard the two of them are already getting married?" Wang Yao replied with a smile.

"Originally, yes, but now that such a huge mess has happened, the idea of ​​getting married is gone. But none of that matters, because they brought it on themselves. Even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow."
"I originally wanted to find an opportunity to get to know you, Mr. Wang. After all, you are truly an expert in the field of new media. So after Ms. Xin recommended Xiaoying to you, I feel that we are indeed destined to meet. To celebrate this connection, I would like to propose a toast to you." Hao Ru raised her glass and smiled.

Her words implied a hope that Wang Yao would not be caught in the crossfire.

"I don't drink alcohol, so I'll use tea instead," Wang Yao said, raising his glass.

"It's okay. People who love alcohol really love it, and people who can't drink it just can't. I hate that kind of pressure to drink at the dinner table the most." Hao Ru smiled, but nudged Zhao Liying next to her with her elbow.

Zhao Liying, who was staring wide-eyed at the gossip, subconsciously replied, "Sister Ru, why did you push me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he attracted everyone's attention.

Why did I push you?

Of course, we should all toast Mr. Wang together!

What do you think they want from calling your name?

Hao Ru's face stiffened as she suppressed her anger, glancing at Zhao Liying. "We bumped into each other by accident. Xiao Zhao, why don't you also toast President Wang?"

"Oh, okay, Mr. Wang, I'd like to toast you. It's a pleasure to meet you." Zhao Liying was just slow to react, but not stupid. She quickly raised her glass.

"Nice to meet you." Wang Yao tapped his teacup on the table to indicate a toast.

"Besides, President Hao is about to join Hairun to take charge of Sun Li's business. It just so happens that President Wang is also involved in the filming of 'Empresses in the Palace' this year, right? It's quite a coincidence," Dongfang Xin said, trying to smooth things over.

"Although it's a business of Meishe, I might get involved in it later," Wang Yao said with a smile.

“That’s quite a coincidence. I’ve been working with Mr. Xu from Meishe for many years. This girl was someone I signed from under Mr. Xu back then. I think He Ming was in charge of her at the time. How is he doing lately?” Hao Ru’s eyes lit up as she started to get closer to him.

“That’s quite a coincidence. Mr. He is my mentor. A few months ago, he was transferred back by Mr. Xu to take charge of more important business.” Wang Yao smiled and looked at Zhao Liying, who was grinning foolishly.

This girl doesn't seem to realize how her early experiences will affect her later life.

“Really? Then Mr. Wang and I are from the same school, right? Mr. He is a nice person; he took good care of me back then,” Zhao Liying replied.

Hao Ru's expression changed upon hearing this, and she wished she could cover Zhao Liying's mouth.

Is this how you use the phrase "from the same school"?
“Indeed, Mr. He has always had a keen eye for people and has taught me a lot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have felt there was hope for cooperation after looking at Ms. Zhao’s information.” Wang Yao nodded in agreement.

Hao Ru's expression changed slightly. She glanced at Dongfang Xin, then smiled and said, "Xiao Zhao has been with me since Huayi University. It's been almost three years in the blink of an eye. Although he hasn't played any major roles, he has great potential. President Xin knows that."
"After I left Huayi, she was willing to follow me. We were practically like mother and daughter. I originally thought I could try to get her more opportunities at the new company, but if President Wang values ​​her, perhaps she'll have better prospects following him."

Hao Ru's words were indeed quite tactful.

But if they really valued Zhao Liying, they wouldn't have neglected to provide her with any decent resources for three years, instead handing her over to Dongfangxin Company to be used like a beast of burden. It's clear that Zhao Liying has potential but no real value.

In this industry, new actors, regardless of gender, initially only have 'social value'. Only by exchanging social value for resources can they generate commercial value.

Wang Yao could tell just by looking at Zhao Liying's moved expression after hearing Hao Ru's words.

Hao Ru must be quite helpless. She originally thought Zhao Liying was a high-quality 'social currency', but she ended up with nothing. She probably wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible and sell her for a good price.

But other companies and agents aren't stupid either. Having a meal with Zhao Liying is usually enough for them to see through her. Unless she encounters a truly exceptional person who appreciates her talent, or one day she realizes the importance of her social standing, she'll likely have a very difficult time making it big in her life.

"If Mr. Hao is willing to do this for us, and Ms. Zhao is also willing to come to our company, I would naturally welcome her," Wang Yao nodded and smiled.

He wanted to see what price Hao Ru was going to ask for.

“President Hao, I’m still willing to follow you.” Zhao Liying suddenly interrupted Hao Ru’s swaying speech, seemingly oblivious to his own thoughts.

Hao Ru paused, then turned and patted Zhao Liying's head with a forced smile. "Little Zhao, I'll definitely be busier at the new company, managing over a dozen female artists. I might not be able to keep track of you then."

You're talented, hardworking, and ambitious. Now that Mr. Wang has recognized your potential, all you need to do is be a good horse. As for our relationship, we have a long road ahead.

After hearing this, Zhao Liying was so moved that she almost cried.

Wang Yao frowned slightly. Why did Hao Ru's words remind him of an old friend?

"Mr. Wang, when I brought Xiao Zhao out, I paid a considerable price for Huayi. It would be vulgar to talk about money, but I just wanted to make you my friend. I hope you can help me out in future business collaborations." Hao Ru raised her glass again.

In China, human relationships have always been the most valuable thing.

Moreover, what Wang Yao dislikes most is using personal relationships as a unit of measurement, because it can easily become a weakness.

"President Hao is kind and benevolent, but I always keep things separate." Wang Yao smiled. "Besides, Miss Zhao may not agree to our company's contract terms."

As Wang Yao spoke, he handed over a book of artist templates.

Hao Ru was somewhat surprised by Wang Yao's decisive refusal. After taking the template book and glancing at it, she frowned and handed it to Zhao Liying.

After reading it, Zhao Liying rubbed her eyes and looked at it again, puzzled, and asked, "President Wang, I don't quite understand this contract. It seems like after I sign with your company, I'll have to take out a loan to buy resources?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yilong, who had been quiet and seemingly invisible, became curious, took the contract and looked at it with a somewhat subtle expression.

"This is for the sake of balancing company resources. Our company is different from ordinary talent agencies; all resources are public. For example, if you are interested in a role and think you can play it well and become popular, then you can try to get it. The highest bidder wins."

However, since each artist has a different budget, it's determined based on the 'investment ratio'. As long as you're committed to this one role, even if someone offers a higher price, your investment ratio remains 100%.

"As long as no one else reaches 100%, the role is yours. At the same time, you lose the cost of competing for other resources this year, or you can pay a deposit to recharge yourself," Wang Yao explained with a smile.

After hearing Wang Yao's explanation, Zhao Liying was still confused.

Others, however, were somewhat surprised. This blurred the lines between celebrities' star power, making resource selection based on who was most confident in their commitment to the role. This essentially left celebrities with no way out but to fully immerse themselves in the character portrayal. While this method could indirectly ensure project quality, it sounded somewhat idealistic. What if the wrong celebrity was chosen? Wouldn't they just be wasting their year?
Oh, you can recharge yourself? Tsk, are young people these days so blatant in their attempts to make money?

"President Wang's model is fair, but it's too risky," Hao Ru said, carefully choosing her words.

“This way we can reduce our reliance on agents and the decision-making costs. For a small company like ours, quality is more important than quantity,” Wang Yao said meaningfully.

Hao Ru's smile froze upon hearing this. This was clearly a sign of reducing the role of agents in the company, which was not a good sign.

“But having the basic resources of two TV series or two movies as a third-billed supporting actor every year is indeed a very preferential treatment,” Zhu Yilong suddenly said.

"What are basic resources?" Zhao Liying asked, puzzled.

"It's written in the contract. If it's not completed, you can sue the company," Wang Yao explained.

"Base salary resources?" Zhao Liying exclaimed softly.

For someone with her honest, working-class mindset, the base salary is indeed more important than commission.

Basically, artist management contracts don't include such resource arrangements in the contract, because it makes it inconvenient to control the artist, let alone to sideline them.

Management contracts are basically typical unfair contracts that only guarantee the company's rights and not the artist's rights.

After all, the value assessment of resource input is very vague.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Liying was indeed somewhat tempted and cautiously looked at Hao Ru.

On the one hand, I thought it was a good job, but on the other hand, I felt that switching jobs like this would be letting down Sister Haoru after so many years of training.

“If Miss Zhao is interested, the company can pay the transfer fee for you in advance. You can pay the company back later when you make money,” Wang Yao said.

Transfer fee is another way of saying breach of contract penalty. It is generally used in the sports industry, but it is also commonly used in the entertainment industry, since sports and entertainment are not separated.

"Mr. Wang, you're too kind." Hao Ru maintained her smile, but she was somewhat displeased inside.

If it really is a transfer, then there will be no way to use public opinion to control Zhao Liying anymore, after all, what if this girl really becomes famous?

Now that she's received the transfer fee, it's only a little over 100,000 yuan. Since she already paid Huayi that much, she doesn't dare to raise the price for Wang Yao right away.

“That’s a good idea, Mr. Hao, what do you think?” Dongfang Xin asked.

"Of course I have no problem with it. I would be happy to facilitate this 'marriage'," Hao Ru said with a smile.

When Dongfang Xin speaks, she is essentially making decisions for her.

Because Dongfang Xin's company has an extraordinary relationship with Hai Run, she is in charge of 40% of the TV series production business every year, and she is also a senior executive of Bona Business. She cannot be offended easily, otherwise the artists she promotes in the future will not be able to get roles in movies and TV series.

“Coincidentally, I’m currently preparing for a new drama series, and I think Zhu Yilong is very suitable to be the male lead.” Wang Yao turned to Dongfang Xin and introduced the “Palace” project.

Zhu Yilong was eager to try it out and looked at Dongfang Xin with hopeful eyes.

Dongfang Xin pondered for a moment and nodded. "Then I'll thank President Wang on behalf of Xiaolong. Let us know when the audition is, and I'll definitely be there."

“Hey, what a coincidence! I often work with Yu Zheng, and our Xiaoying even acted in one of his shows last year. If there are any suitable roles, Mr. Wang, please think of Xiaoying.” Hao Ru said with a smile, casually asking for a favor for Zhao Liying.

“Okay, the filming period for this drama is not long, at most two months.” Wang Yao said that it would not delay Zhu Yilong’s other projects.

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Wang." Zhu Yilong, who was clearly more adept at social etiquette, raised his glass in a toast.

"I also thank President Wang for his guidance." Zhao Liying followed suit.

"If Mr. Wang has any future collaborations on TV dramas, he might consider Hai Run," Hao Rushun said.

As the largest private TV drama company in China, Hairun holds a position comparable to Huayi Brothers in the film industry. It not only produces hundreds of episodes every year, but also has classic IPs such as "Bright Sword", "Gazi" and "Never Close Your Eyes".

The company's success mainly relied on the abilities of its founder, Haiyan. However, since Haiyan gradually withdrew from the company's management, the company has been in decline. Especially after 2010, it basically had no blockbuster hits and relied entirely on artists like Sun Li to keep it afloat. Later, it also encountered setbacks in its capitalization efforts and eventually went public through a reverse merger but was delisted. It was a complete mess.

The situation does look very favorable right now, and Hao Ru considers it an important bargaining chip.

But in Wang Yao's eyes, it was not of much value, and he just gave a perfunctory answer.

Hao Ru is also very efficient. She sends the contract to her team while eating to handle Zhao Liying's contract transfer.

At the end of the dinner, the transfer contract was sent to Wang Yao's email, with a transfer fee of 18 yuan. Attached was a detailed breakdown of the termination fee paid to Huayi at the time, proving that he had not increased the price.

In the time it takes to eat a meal, she became an artist with a completely different company and even owed the company 18 yuan. This experience was still quite strange for Zhao Liying.

"Sister, should I go back with you later?" Zhao Liying asked somewhat anxiously.

"Now that you're an artist under President Wang, you'll naturally follow his arrangements. Of course, you can contact me anytime if anything happens in the future; our sisterly bond won't be broken." Hao Ru was quite relieved to have gotten rid of Zhao Liying, this little burden.

"Sister, I'll definitely repay you when I become famous." Zhao Liying hugged Hao Ru with tears in her eyes.

"Work hard, you'll be famous." Hao Ru patted Zhao Liying on the back, praying that she wouldn't anger Wang Yao.

I don't expect anything in return, just don't cause me any trouble.

After chatting with Dongfang Xin in the parking lot, Wang Yao learned that Lu Chuan was about to officially launch the casting process for "The King's Feast".

This project is very interesting. It is led by Xingmei Company, which claims to have invested over 100 million yuan. The goal is to use the revenue from this film to help its parent company, Xingmei Cultural Tourism, to raise funds and go public. Therefore, this film has a high demand for box office revenue. If Wang Yao is interested, he can participate.

However, there's no need to send someone to compete for the female lead role, because a newcomer named He Dujuan has already been chosen. She was recommended by the male lead, Liu Ye, and both of them are signed artists under Xingmei Entertainment.

This is genuine inside information, indicating that Dongfang Xin and Xingmei have a very close collaboration.

Wang Yao said he would keep an eye on it, then said goodbye to everyone. As he walked to the car door, he suddenly noticed someone next to him.

"Miss Zhao, is something the matter?" Wang Yao asked, looking at Zhao Liying, who was still crying.

Why are you crying?
"Oh, Sister Ru said I'm now with General Manager Wang's company, and that I should follow your arrangements." Zhao Liying was still immersed in the memory of parting.

"Oh, the contract is going through the process. As for your follow-up arrangements, I'll have the person in charge contact you later. Do you live in Beijing or Shanghai? The company provides dormitories," Wang Yao said with a smile.

Hao Ru is really eager to get rid of it.

"Oh? You're even providing dormitories?" Zhao Liying was overjoyed upon hearing this. "When I don't have work scheduled, I usually go back to Hengdian to stay, so it's convenient for me to work."

"Where are you staying now? I'll take you there?" Wang Yao frowned.

In fact, Zhao Liying has been in the industry for three years, and she had pretty good resources when she first debuted. She signed with Huayi Brothers and filmed an advertisement with Zhou Xun. Although she played maid roles later on, she should have saved up some money. She shouldn't still be waiting for work in Hengdian.

"I don't have anywhere to stay, and I'm planning to go back to Hengdian. Would you like to take me to the station?" Zhao Liying grinned, looking a little naive.

"Get in the car, I'll arrange a dormitory for you first." Wang Yao thought for a moment and decided not to let her run wild. Rather than sending her to Hengdian to look for work, it would be better for her to help out at the company.

"Okay." Zhao Liying raised her big little face, turned around and sat down in the back row.

Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

?

If your boss is driving you home, shouldn't you sit in the passenger seat with him?

You think I'm your driver?

(End of this chapter)