Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

"Here, here." Wang Jianjun hurriedly took the contract out of his bag and handed it to Zhao Huaiyuan with both hands.

Zhao Huaiyuan carefully examined the contract.

Wang Jianjun observed his expression from the side.

He expected to see the young man either overjoyed or lose his composure, but to his surprise, the other person remained calm and collected, almost like an old fox.

Few people can maintain such composure when faced with a real financial shock.

After all, he had seen the other party's conditions.

He remained silent upon seeing Zhao Huaiyuan.

Wang Jianjun handed over the pen, saying, "You've seen our sincerity. One million to buy out the audio-visual copyright is already quite a lot. Shall we sign it?"

"Six million," Zhao Huaiyuan said calmly, putting down the contract.

"How many?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jianjun thought he had misheard and asked again. After receiving an affirmative answer, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"Brother Zhao, that's a bit of an exorbitant price. One million is already astronomical. After all, your film doesn't have any big stars, so we're taking a risk. Six million is just too outrageous!"

"Mr. Wang, the audio-visual rights to 'Hero' sold for 1780 million. My film doesn't dare to compare with 'Hero,' and it really doesn't have a star-studded cast. But the landscape of the Spring Festival film season is clear now. I think you should be aware of the potential of 'The Great Britain.' It's not unreasonable for the heroes to get the meat and me to have a sip of soup, is it? I only need a small fraction of the profits, which is very reasonable."

Zhao Huaiyuan smiled and said.

"That's not how you calculate it..."

"Six million for the exclusive rights to the biggest dark horse of the Spring Festival film season. You're guaranteed to make a profit."

Wang Jianjun gritted his teeth, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

He admitted that the film had great potential and was prepared to negotiate the price, but six million was far beyond his expectations.

While "The Great Britain" has potential, it hasn't materialized yet. If Zhongkai were to spend six million to buy it out all at once, and if piracy spreads too quickly and the official discs don't sell, Zhongkai would suffer a huge loss.

"Director Zhao, I really can't afford this price. Two million is the limit I can get. Any higher and we'll have to hold a board meeting, which will delay it until after the new year."

"Then it's fine to wait. I'm not in a hurry. But since you've come all this way, Mr. Wang, I'll let you know that, as far as I know, Ms. Liu from Qiaojiaren and the boss of Feishi are probably on their way here. Especially Qiaojiaren, I heard they just raised some money and are worried about not having good projects to invest in. I don't mind waiting a bit longer. We can all sit down together and hold an auction, and the highest bidder wins, haha."

Wang Jianjun's expression changed.

This is a damn open conspiracy.

The other party is not old, but seems quite shrewd!

I thought they were easy to fool, so I rushed to their hometown hoping to get them for 100 million while the experts weren't around.

It's important to understand that this is a seller's market. Whoever acquires the copyright to "The Great Britain" will be able to seize a significant share of the audio-visual market at the start of the year.

If a beautiful woman snatches her away...

But he really didn't dare to finalize the six million directly, as it was still a considerable sum.

Mr. Wang was in a dilemma and couldn't make a decision for a while.

"I understand your concerns, Mr. Wang. After all, I'm a newcomer, and you're worried about losing money. Since you think six million is too risky, I have an idea."

"What are you thinking?" Wang Jianjun was taken aback.

"Guaranteed commission, a base salary of three million, plus a 15% sales commission, how about it?"

Seeing Wang Jianjun's surprised look, Zhao Huaiyuan explained,

"This is fair to everyone; we share the risks and the benefits, how about it?"

Wang Jianjun remained hesitant.

The buyout model has been in operation for many years, and everyone is used to one-off transactions. It's really rare to see a model like this that guarantees a minimum profit share.

To be honest, the fact that he drove all that way here shows he had prepared for every possible scenario.

Regardless of whether the other party, a young student director, could be secured with 1 million, that would be ideal, but even if not, he was prepared with a budget of 2 million.

To his surprise, the other party immediately asked for six million. Even with such a bold guaranteed profit-sharing arrangement, he still had to pay three million upfront.

"This is my bottom line. All I can say is that if you sign this agreement, Zhongkai Culture will have the right of first refusal to negotiate the audio-visual rights of my next film," Zhao Huaiyuan said firmly.

Wang Jianjun's mind raced.

The guaranteed minimum of three million exceeded his expectations, but it was still within his acceptable range.

Although the addition of a profit-sharing mechanism means that a portion of the subsequent profits will be taken away, as the other party said, the risk has indeed been reduced.

Furthermore, it can be tied to this genius director's next film, making its long-term value immeasurable.

"A minimum guarantee of three million, plus a 15% cut... If we can sell hundreds of thousands of genuine discs, that's a huge profit..."

After much deliberation, Wang Jianjun realized that the most crucial point was that he couldn't afford to wait any longer. The faster he bought, the more market share he could seize. If he delayed any longer, things would get complicated once the Qiaojiaren group arrived.

He had seen the film "The Great Britain" and, as a veteran in the industry for many years, he knew how much potential the film had.

"Okay, I'll take this offer. A minimum of three million, plus a 15% cut. Sign now, but you must ensure it's exclusive; you can't give it to a second company." Wang Jianjun was a decisive person. After thinking it over, he didn't hesitate and made the decision immediately.

"Mr. Wang is straightforward, that's for sure. Exclusive is exclusive."

"Okay." Wang Jianjun acted swiftly, taking out his checkbook from his bag and quickly writing down a check for 2.7 million yuan, which he then pushed over along with the 300,000 yuan in cash.

"Let's sign the contract."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Zhao Huaiyuan took the pen and signed his name on the authorization letter.

After receiving the contract, Wang Jianjun immediately got up to leave. "Director Zhao is truly young and promising. I won't bother you any longer. I need to hurry back; the market changes every day."

"Okay, Mr. Wang, take care."

Zhao Huaiyuan escorted Wang Jianjun to the door and watched him leave in his Mercedes.

Close the door.

Looking at the banknotes and checks laid out on the coffee table, he let out a long sigh.

今儿

Three million.

This was the first pot of gold he earned.

"Corporateization must be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

Zhao Huaiyuan knew very well that today was just the beginning. As word-of-mouth for "The Great Britain" spread, it would surely bring in tens of millions of yuan in box office revenue in the coming months.

If all these huge sums of money were deposited into personal accounts, not only would there be enormous financial risks, but it would also be a major tax problem.

He took out his phone and found Gu Man's number.

"Gu Man, this is Zhao Huaiyuan. When would be a convenient time to meet? We need to discuss our cooperation as soon as possible and start a business together."

Two minutes later, Gu Man replied:

"Boss, I want to come work for you right now, but I can't help it. My mom has gone crazy. She mistook me for someone else the other day and gave me a good scolding. That PE teacher relationship also fell through. And now, she's arranged eighteen blind dates for me during the New Year. I'm stuck at home now, and I have to visit relatives every day. My schedule is completely full, and I can't go out at all."

Actually, blind dates were one aspect, but the main problem was that Gu Man wasn't home on the first day of the Lunar New Year, which angered her mother, who then ordered her not to run around anymore.

Isn't it dangerous for a young girl to run around like that?

Before Zhao Huaiyuan could reply, Gu Man sent another message.

"Let's do it on the fifteenth of the first lunar month. I'll be able to get out that day. We can meet at a certain place then, and I'll sign this indenture for you while I'm at it. From now on, I'll work for you, haha!"

Upon seeing the words on the text message, Zhao Huaiyuan couldn't help but laugh.

In fact, he highly values ​​Gu Man's potential, believing that she will be of great help to him in the future.

"Okay, then let's set it for the fifteenth of the first lunar month. I wish you a pleasant blind date."

After replying to the text message, Zhao Huaiyuan put his phone on the coffee table. He then found a plastic bag, put 300,000 yuan in cash inside, and planned to lock it in the wardrobe in his bedroom until the bank opened the next day to deposit it.

Just as he was about to put the money into his bag.

Suddenly, a noise came from the courtyard.

Creak...creak...

That was the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow in the yard. Someone had quietly entered the yard and was sneaking towards the living room door.

As Zhao Huaiyuan arrived at the living room door, before he could even open it, he saw a face reflected in the glass, with someone staring intently into the room.

Zhao Huaiyuan quietly walked over and pulled open the door.

"Oh my goodness."

The person at the door was so startled that they almost fell to the ground.

The visitor was none other than Aunt Li, who lived next door.

This woman was known throughout the village as a gossipmonger. She loved to whisper rumors and spread gossip, even telling three different versions of a story about whose chickens hadn't laid eggs.

"Xiao Yuan, you silly child... why didn't you make a sound when you opened the door? You scared your sister-in-law to death."

Aunt Li patted her chest, showing no embarrassment at being caught peeping. Instead, she used the opening of the door to keep glancing into the house with her beady eyes.

Zhao Huaiyuan reacted quickly, stepping across the doorway to block her view, but he was too slow; the bright red banknotes on the coffee table were still seen by Aunt Li.

"Sister Li, is something the matter?" Zhao Huaiyuan asked.

"Oh, well, we're making dumplings at home and we're out of garlic. I thought your mom was home, so I was thinking of borrowing a couple of cloves."

Zhao Huaiyuan was amused.

That's a terrible reason!

"Sister Li, those strings of garlic hanging under your eaves are enough to feed the whole village for one meal," Zhao Huaiyuan said irritably.

"It's frozen solid, so it's hard to peel..." Aunt Li didn't even blush, craning her neck as if she wanted to bury her head inside the house.

"Xiao Yuan, I saw a big black car parked at the gate just now. Was that a Mercedes? I also saw two big bosses in trench coats carrying suitcases come into the yard. Who are they? They look so impressive."

"It's a business meeting, I need to talk to you. I'm still busy, so I won't keep you any longer."

Zhao Huaiyuan handed her two cloves of garlic, then coaxed and shooed her to the gate, where he even locked the door from the inside.

Outside.

Aunt Li, clutching a clove of garlic in her hand, muttered, "The Zhao family has really struck it rich this time. That table was covered in cash, at least several hundred thousand, right? Is raising pigs really that profitable now?"

soon.

Thanks to Li Sao's persuasive words, in less than half a day, the news that Old Zhao's family had made a fortune raising pigs and that someone had delivered a box of money to their door spread throughout the neighborhood.

Fortunately, Zhao Huaiyuan's parents are not home these past two days. They are currently taking care of his grandmother, who has fallen and injured herself, in a remote mountain valley dozens of kilometers away. The signal there is poor, so they haven't heard about these rumors yet.

Otherwise, given my mother's personality, she would probably have come back long ago to ask where that box of money came from.

..

The rumor about Old Zhao's family getting rich overnight by raising pigs circulated in the village for two days.

until..

The seventh day of the new year.

Suddenly, a scene like this appeared on the televisions of every household.