Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

The next morning at nine o'clock, Su Yu met Huo Xiaolan downstairs at the company.

Huo Xiaolan wore a black suit jacket today, and she looked very neat and tidy.

Standing next to her was a man in his thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a briefcase. He was Chen, a legal representative from Noon Sunshine.

Huo Xiaolan gave the two a brief introduction, and Chen, the legal counsel, nodded to Su Yu: "Teacher Su, don't worry about the contract, I will go through it carefully."

Su Yu shook hands with him: "Thank you for your help, Brother Chen."

The three of them got into the car and drove to the place they had agreed upon.

After the three arrived, they were led to the conference room by the staff.

At this moment, Dai Lu was sitting on the other side of the table in the conference room, next to director Yang Long and a middle-aged man whom Su Yu did not recognize, who should be from Huace's business department.

Seeing Su Yu and the other two enter, Dai Lu stood up, smiled, and extended her hand, saying, "Su Yu is here. Please have a seat."

He then glanced at Huo Xiaolan and asked, "And who is this?"

"Hello, Mr. Dai, I am Huo Xiaolan, Su Yu's agent."

"Ms. Huo, it's an honor to meet you."

Huo Xiaolan shook hands with her, a professional smile on her face: "President Dai, you're too kind. My daughter, Xiao Su, will be relying on your care for the next few days."

The people on both sides took their seats in turn. Chen, the legal counsel, took the contract, turned to the first page, and read it line by line from beginning to end.

Su Yu sat next to him, his eyes following the pages of the contract, but to be honest, he didn't quite understand those densely packed clauses.

After Chen, the legal counsel, finished reading the entire contract, closed the folder, nodded to Huo Xiaolan, indicating that there were no hidden pitfalls in the terms.

Huo Xiaolan then put down the mineral water bottle and spoke.

"Mr. Dai, there's nothing wrong with the contract itself; the terms are all standard."

She paused, then pointed to the salary section of the contract, "Isn't Su Yu's salary a bit low?"

Dai Lu's smile remained unchanged, but she didn't respond.

"Since entering the industry, Su Yu has played the second male lead, Lin Tao in 'Medical Examiner Qin Ming' and Hu Qing in 'General and I'. After acting in these two dramas, he has more than three million followers on Weibo and is now considered to have a certain degree of fame."

"One million for the male lead role, Mr. Dai, isn't that a bit too much?"

Dai Lu leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers lightly twice on the table.

"I am aware of Su Yu's situation."

She began, speaking slowly, "She's good-looking, talented, and her audition performance really satisfied me, but—"

She glanced at Su Yu and said, "A Love So Beautiful is a custom-made drama by Huace Media. The investment scale is there. It's not a big production with hundreds of millions of yuan. The figure of one million is a comprehensive assessment based on the size of the project and Su Yu's current status."

"I understand the scale of the project."

Huo Xiaolan nodded, "But the male lead is the face of a drama; ratings and buzz all depend on him."

"Although Su Yu isn't a top-tier actor, Mr. Dai should have already seen the data for 'Forensic Qin Ming.' It has over 1.2 billion views and a 7.4 rating on Douban. The discussion surrounding the character Lin Tao is among the highest for web dramas released around the same time. These are not just empty words."

Dai Lu didn't reply, but picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

Huo Xiaolan didn't urge him, she just waited.

After a few seconds, Dai Lu put down her teacup: "What does Ms. Huo mean?"

Two million.

Dai Lu smiled and shook her head: "Ms. Huo, this number does exceed our budget. For a youth campus drama, the male lead's salary accounts for two million, so the funds for other aspects will have to be cut, the production quality will be affected, and it's not good for Su Yu himself either."

The two sides exchanged words for several rounds.

Huo Xiaolan talked about data, Dai Lu talked about budget; Huo Xiaolan talked about Su Yu's rising momentum, Dai Lu said that Huace's platform resources are a kind of return in themselves.

No one was in a hurry, and no one got angry, but every word they said was a battle of wits.

Su Yu sat to the side, watching the two women go back and forth. He suddenly realized that Sister Huo's usual "I can't be bothered with you" attitude in the office was completely different from the unyielding Sister Huo he was now.

In the end, Dai Lu was the first to relent. She put the contract on the table and sighed, "One million one hundred thousand, Ms. Huo. This is the highest I can offer. Any higher, and I really won't be able to explain it to the company."

Huo Xiaolan was silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at Su Yu. Su Yu didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

His first role in the industry, "Medical Examiner Qin Ming," earned him a total salary of only 300,000 yuan. After taxes and the company's cut, he received less than 100,000 yuan.

"Oh My General" is slightly higher, but not by much.

Now that the number has jumped directly to over a million, he can feel his heart racing wildly.

But Huo Xiaolan clearly wasn't going to give up so easily: "President Dai, 1.2 million is a more auspicious number, don't you think?"

Dai Lu stared at her for two seconds, then laughed, pointed at her with her pen, and said, "Ms. Huo, you really are..."

She paused, pulled the contract over, flipped to the page about payment, picked up a pen and changed a number on it, "Okay, 1.2 million, it's settled."

The salary is 1.2 million!

Su Yu suddenly remembered his time in the lab in his previous life. Back then, his monthly salary was a little over 10,000 yuan, with an extra two months' bonus at the end of the year, which meant he earned less than 150,000 yuan a year.

One million two hundred thousand—it would have taken him eight years of not eating or drinking to save that much in his previous life.

And now, with just a drama that hasn't even started filming yet, he can easily secure this huge sum of money.

"It's true that money is easier to make in the entertainment industry!" he thought to himself.

Although it was far less than the tens of millions of yuan that Ma Sichun and Sheng Yilun earned, he had heard from people in the crew that Sheng Yilun's salary for "General and I" was over 20 million yuan, and Ma Sichun's was about the same.

Compared to them, his 1.2 million is nothing.

But for a newcomer who has been in the industry for less than a year, jumping from 300,000 to the million level is a huge leap.

In the years before the salary cap was introduced, money in the entertainment industry was practically handed to you.

Some celebrities earn hundreds of millions in salary for a single film, but once on set they just gesture a few times in front of a green screen and recite numbers from their lines, with the rest relying entirely on dubbing and green screen effects in post-production.

Even so, the money was still deposited into the account in full.

Many people's annual salary is less than what others earn in a day by standing in front of a green screen and reciting a few "one, two, three, four, five".

Indeed, deciding to enter the entertainment industry was the right decision.

The fee was agreed upon, and the payment method was also settled.

Pay 30% upon signing the contract, 40% upon starting filming, 20% after filming is halfway done, and the remaining 10% upon completion.

Su Yu had no objection to the installment plan, since he wasn't in a hurry to use the money anyway.

Besides, the production team wouldn't renege on their debt. Huace is a listed company after all; they wouldn't ruin their reputation for such a small amount of money.

Su Yu was lost in thought when Huo Xiaolan, who was next to him, suddenly turned the contract to the next page and pointed to a certain spot.

"Mr. Dai, what does 'pingfan' mean?"

Dai Lu paused for a moment, and the meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

She put down her pen. "The fact that Su Yu was able to get the role of Jiang Chen is the result of repeated discussions by our entire team. You should also know that Hu Yitian is an artist of Huace Media. This role was originally prepared for him."

She paused, glanced at Su Yu, and said, "There are differing opinions within the company about casting Su Yu as the male lead. Securing equal billing for Hu Yitian is also to make things easier for the company to explain. To put it bluntly, it's about saving face so that everyone can accept it."

Huo Xiaolan frowned slightly, about to speak, when Su Yu spoke first.

"It's alright, Sister Huo."

Huo Xiaolan turned to look at him; Su Yu's expression was calm.

As for Su Yu, the order of billing in the credits is both important and unimportant.

He felt that the audience was watching the play, not whose name was listed first in the cast list.

Getting the role of Jiang Chen is already a pleasant surprise; there's no need to fight for everything.

"Let's have equal representation then, I have no objection."

After hearing Su Yu's words, Dai Lu couldn't help but take another look at him.

After the contract was signed, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Dai Lu asked the staff to collect the signed contract for filing, then stood up and shook hands with Su Yu.

Su Yu nodded in agreement and was preparing to pack his things and leave.

"By the way, Xiao Su," Dai Lu called out to him, "come here again next week. We're auditioning for the female lead, and we need you to act alongside her."