HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 72 [072] Damn! Little Ma is asking Qi Yuan to endorse his software?

In fact, Qi Yuan really admires Fan Xiaopang.

She ventured out into society at the age of fifteen or sixteen, with no background or connections. Her later success was entirely due to her beautiful face and her willingness to work hard.

As for the incident that later caused her downfall, Qi Yuan believes there's no way to deny it.

However, to be objective, almost everyone in the entertainment industry did this at that time; she was just one of them.

"An autograph, right? I'll sign one for you." Qi Yuan treated the youth version of Fan Xiaopang as an ordinary fan; she was only sixteen years old.

Fan Xiaopang carefully took out the cassette tape.

Qi Yuan laughed when he saw it: "You've got some nerve, asking me for an autograph with a box of pirated magnets."

"Huh? Is this a pirated copy? The shopkeeper told me it was genuine and even sold it to me at the price of a genuine copy." Fan Xiaopang's expression seemed to freeze for a moment, his eyes wide open.

What a damn profiteer! Selling pirated tapes at the price of genuine ones.

Fan Xiaopang thought he had messed up, but to his surprise, Qi Yuan still signed his name on the cassette tape.

"Next time you buy cassette tapes or records, remember to look for official audio-visual publishers from your province or city, such as the Shanghai Audio-Visual Publishing House. It's okay to buy pirated copies, but it's shameful to pay the price of a legitimate copy for a pirated one," Qi Yuan kindly reminded him.

When he was promoting his work in mainland China, quite a few fans would bring him pirated DVDs and ask him to sign them.

Unfortunately, there's not much awareness of copyright protection in mainland China.

When I told them it was a pirated copy, they looked completely bewildered and asked, "I bought it from a record store or a big bookstore, how could it be pirated?"

Qi Yuan returned the cassette tape to Fan Xiaopang and then left.

Zhang Hao found it outrageous: "We hid our whereabouts so well this time that even the paparazzi in Hong Kong only found out we were going back to the mainland after we arrived at the airport. Where did your fans get this information?"

Zhang Hao added, "She is indeed very beautiful and has the potential to be an actress."

Qi Yuan: "..."

Isn't she just an actress?

Fan Xiaopang turned around and watched Qi Yuan get into a black Toyota.

She knew Qi Yuan's whereabouts because she met a member of the Hong Kong film crew during the filming of "My Fair Princess 1".

She deliberately went to the airport to make herself known to Qi Yuan.

Her skill level wasn't as high as it became later, but she was quite smart, had a good sense of propriety, and knew when to stop.

What she just did was normal fan behavior; it was enough for Qi Yuan to have some impression of her face.

"Princess Pearl" will premiere in Taiwan at the end of April. Zhao Yanzi, Zhou Jie, and she will all be going to Taiwan to promote it, and she may stay in Taiwan for a while.

Zhao Yanzi and Qi Yuan are classmates.

Therefore, she may very well meet Qi Yuan again in Taiwan in the future.

This is just a small episode.

Qi Yuan went back to Beijing Film Academy, but Huang Xiaoming and Yan Danchen were not at the school.

Huang Xiaoming is quite lucky.

Last year, an advertising director came to the Beijing Film Academy to scout for students. With Qi Yuan running away ahead of time, the advertising director immediately took a liking to Huang Xiaoming on the basketball court.

After that advertisement aired, Huang Xiaoming was spotted by a TV series director and got the opportunity to star in the series.

The drama is called "Love Is Not a Game," and it was produced by CCTV.

Those who can get into the Beijing Film Academy just by showing their faces are awesome; they start as the male lead, enough to make countless people envious. Yan Danchen landed a role in a low-budget film, which is quite good for a student.

Qi Yuan went back to school and gave his teachers and classmates some small gifts he had bought in Hong Kong. He also attended classes at school for an afternoon, and then he stopped going to school.

For him now, attending classes has become a pointless activity.

Anyway, the teachers at school won't care about him, as long as he passes the final exam.

Even if he fails the final exam, as long as the score isn't too far off, the teacher will try to help him get extra points to the passing grade.

A top star from Beijing Film Academy, a leader in R&B in the Chinese music scene, and a face of mainland pop music, failed his final exam? You think you kicked Qi Yuan's butt? You slapped Beijing Film Academy in the face.

However, this situation will not occur.

Qi Yuan had actually attended classes for a whole year, and if he failed the final exam, he might as well buy a block of tofu and kill himself.

Zhang Hao wanted Qi Yuan to revisit Warner Wheatfield, but Qi Yuan refused.

He used to use wheat fields as a springboard, but he couldn't avoid coming into contact with Gao Xiaosong.

Now that he's famous, he's too lazy to see Gao Xiaosong anymore. Wouldn't it be better to use that time to exchange acting tips with Zhang Tong and shoot music videos?
Seeing that Qi Yuan didn't want to go to Wheat Field, Zhang Hao didn't try to persuade her anymore: "I'll talk to Wheat Field and have them find someone to help you shoot the music video. You can rest for a day or two first."

The purified water commercial you filmed for Wahaha was incredibly effective; it doubled the sales of purified water and even boosted sales of other Wahaha products.

Many manufacturers from mainland China have contacted me, all wanting you to be their spokesperson.

"So, we're going to get a smaller endorsement fee from Wahaha." Qi Yuan suddenly felt like she was missing out on a lot of money.

Zhang Hao shook his head: "You can't say that. Wahaha's advertising channels are very strong in mainland China. You can see your ads on TV stations all over the country, and they've even been broadcast on satellite TV in some provinces."

Their bottled water can be sold in rural areas. The children in those rural areas may not have heard your songs, but they'll see your picture on the mineral water bottles.

Why did Wang Lihong endorse Wahaha for twenty years in his previous life without raising the price?

According to Zong Zong himself, when they asked Wang Lihong to be their spokesperson, Wang Lihong was not well-known in mainland China.

They complemented Wang Lihong; their promotional channels helped Wang Lihong gain recognition in mainland China, and later, Wang Lihong's success boosted Wahaha's sales.

That's why Wahaha hasn't changed its spokesperson for twenty years, and Wang Lihong's fee increases by one cent every time he renews his contract, even though his endorsement fees for other brands are already very high.

If Qi Yuan had endorsed another brand instead of Wahaha, the results might not have been as good.

"Wahaha's advertisements have shown mainland manufacturers your commercial value. As long as we carefully choose the products we endorse and our music career continues to grow, our endorsement fees will continue to rise."

There are already mainland manufacturers offering you a two-year endorsement fee of five million, but it's for health supplements and drinks.

We should be cautious about such endorsements. This year, there was a news story about an elderly man in Hunan province who died after drinking a certain brand of oral liquid, which caused a huge legal uproar.

Zhang Hao said with a serious expression.

In the 1990s, health supplement oral liquids were extremely profitable. The manufacturers of health supplements were very rich and spent money everywhere to hire celebrities to endorse them.

"Never touch health supplements," Qi Yuan said, frowning.

In his memory, there were no reliable health products from the 1990s and around 2000.

Endorsing such an unreliable product for short-term gains is tantamount to ruining one's future.

“There’s a small tech studio in Shenzhen that’s the most unique among the companies that contacted us. I think their manager is named Pony. They want you to endorse a computer software that their team is developing,” Zhang Hao continued, looking at Qi Yuan.

"???"

Qi Yuan was stunned.

Hey!
Pengcheng, Pony, could it be Pony Ma? Does Tencent already exist?
(End of this chapter)