Peninsula: The Deepest Affection in Jiangnan

Chapter 150 Running Man

Would you like to view the K-1 table?

"What is this now?" Xia Sha's most affectionate man understands women very well and has some knowledge of business, but when it comes to high-end business warfare, he only knows how to pour hot water on someone else's money tree and seize the company seal. He really doesn't understand anything else.

"I'll introduce the fund's historical income and related matters to you later. By the way, is it Mr. Russell's turn?"

"That's right. Hello Mr. Shen Yu, my identity is GP, and I will now give you my report—"

"Wait a minute, I can understand English, but your abbreviations are just—" Shen Yu was a little helpless. Why was he being tested on proper nouns?

Attorney Hong, standing beside the "General Partner," explained, "Just think of him as someone who manages that private equity fund. He's responsible for reporting to you, and you'll need to sign the 'Continuation Authorization and Investment Decision Letter for the GP' later. Of course, you can replace him if you want, but my personal suggestion is—"

'

'

Shen Yu had no suggestions; he chose to listen to this person unconditionally.

Although he came from an MCN background, when he encountered someone even more ruthless in finance, he could only listen attentively.

Because it was a necessary procedure, Mr. Davis, who was standing nearby, also demonstrated his identity as a lawyer from a US law firm, as he was required to witness the proceedings.

After listening to Mr. Russell's speech, Shen Yu obediently signed the agreement with its long name, and at the same time, Mr. Davis handed him two black bank cards.

"This is your card. There's basically no spending limit, but of course, investments like private jets still require—"

Shen Yu nodded. It wasn't that it was impossible, but it required approval. Didn't that mean that private jets could also be considered?

Shen Yu became even more curious about what the original owner's father did for a living.

"What kind of bank card is this?"

"One is a Swiss bank card, and the other is an American Express premium black card. All your spending can be reimbursed through these two cards from the operating costs of your overseas partnerships."

Shen Yu silently accepted it, leaving the rest to Attorney Hong.

*

The next day.

Whether money corrupted Shen Yu or not, Shen Yu felt it did not.

After inheriting a large sum of money that would continue to grow in the future, Shen Yu's daily routine remained largely unchanged.

Thinking about it this way, it might be due to the characteristics of people from Xiasha. After all, people from this place will almost always say something like, "I've never touched money. I have no interest in money because the happiest time for me was when I received a monthly salary of 2000 yuan."

He even felt it wasn't real; no matter how much he inherited, it wouldn't help him quickly organize the music videos that Liu Zhimin had filmed.

He also needs to do this work himself, and he'll be doing it all day long.

"Noona, could you send the finished music video to SM Entertainment for review? If there are no problems, can you ask them to schedule a release?"

Shen Yu fully respected that Liu Zhimin was an artist under SM Entertainment, and even when it came to collaborative songs, he didn't make any excessive demands.

I sent Xu Youqing a message, and sure enough, she knocked on the door and appeared shortly after.

"Any other requirements? Just send it over?"

"Yeah." Shen Yu didn't have any particular thoughts. If the song "Thank You" were released directly, its popularity would probably be just so-so.

He has experience with this song, although that experience comes from a past life.

"Whatever makes you happy." Xu Youqing now felt that all the artist management and publicity she learned at National Central University was completely useless when applied to Shen Yu.

So, after all the hard work of completing my master's degree at National Central University, I still have to rely on my life experience to deal with someone like Shen Yu?

Then I might as well write Shen Yu's story as my doctoral dissertation.

Shen Yu originally thought that SM would choose an auspicious day or time to release the song.

Unexpectedly, after I sent the music video for "Thank You" in the afternoon, the song was released on aespa's YouTube channel at 18:00 PM that evening without any warning.

At the same time, the audio source was also updated to platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Melon.

After that, Shen Yu never expected that this relatively niche ballad would successfully break into the Melon Top 100 chart.

According to Shen Yu's thinking, since it is a song entirely in English, there shouldn't be many listeners in Seoul.

Seoul netizens even post online to promote K-pop fundamentalism because the singers are locals and use too much English.

However, he overlooked the fervor of Karina's solo fans for Yoo Ji-min's performance, and the added boost from Shen Yu's role as producer.

Shen Yu, completely oblivious to his recent popularity on X Trends and Naver searches, had no idea that his songs, especially the recent double release of "SOME," had generated a lot of news, not to mention the Grammys.

According to an unsubstantiated report, the release of these two songs caused a record number of couples in Seoul to rise.

Well, I don't know how they compiled the statistics, but Shen Yu doesn't believe it at all.

With PD Shen Yu's involvement and Liu Zhimin's current popularity, it's no problem for this song to achieve good results.

Moreover, the music video was directed by Shen Yu, and Li Zhixiong was the first to spend an hour in a live broadcast analyzing the hidden meanings in the "Thank You" music video, making him seem like an expert on interpreting Shen Yu's work.

Koreans have also developed reading comprehension skills.

Although Yoo Ji-min is an artist from SM Entertainment, Shen Yu never even considered working on any profound concepts.

He had no intention of planting trees around the equator, nor did he join the wilderness.

The song "Thank You" was originally intended by Shen Yu to be used primarily for overseas distribution channels. He didn't care about its popularity in Seoul at all. He also mentioned this to Yoo Ji-min when they were recording the song. At that time, Yoo Ji-min just looked at Shen Yu and said that she didn't care about the results at all.

But the end result was that this refreshing single became a hit, starting in Seoul and quickly climbing to the inner ring on Melon.

Normally, when it comes to the sudden surge in individual popularity of artists within a group, SM Entertainment also plays a balancing act, just like with Red Velvet and Irene. They could have made her a top artist, but their contracts were tightened one after another, and the psychological pressure they put on her was more and more intense. Irene did have a real chance to become the most popular IdoI and artist among the fourth generation, but instead, she is quietly consuming her career until she slowly fades into obscurity.

However, Yoo Ji-min caught a good time. At this time, most people within SM Entertainment were confused about who should be in charge at work, and were even less interested in balancing aespa's popularity.

"Are you planning to leave a week early?"

Xu Youqing came to find Shen Yu with the report because Shen Yu had asked her that morning to help book a plane ticket for next Monday.

"Yes, let's get there as soon as possible. I plan to communicate with Kanye's team in advance."

Xu Youqing, as Shen Yu's manager, will also be going on this trip. YG has specially approved a sum of money for security and team travel expenses, but Shen Yu feels it is too much trouble.

After the will incident a few nights ago, Shen Yu discovered that if he needed to, a special convoy would be waiting for him when he landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

After reviewing the fund's detailed revenue and equity information, Shen Yu didn't remember much, but when needed, he could recall that a security company in California was one of the investees, and that the company also had a branch in Los Angeles. Shen Yu could directly utilize this professional team.

But Shen Yu felt that he was not a big star, and this trip to Los Angeles was not for his own concert. When BlackPink toured the United States, the core team that accompanied them was close to 200 people, including tour management and administration, production and technology, exclusive managers and stylists, etc. All of these people together could be chartered on a plane.

Xu Youqing looked at Shen Yu helplessly, "The ESTA website review that I asked you to fill out before is not over yet, and I haven't applied for ESTA for the team or myself."

Xu Youqing hadn't gone on vacation to the US in the past two years, and the salary from 143 Entertainment was already quite good enough to support her continued doctoral studies, so she had to reapply to ESTA.

"Then, shall I go there by myself first?" Shen Yu thought that since it was just going to sing a song and then taking a flight back, it didn't need to make such a fuss.

Perhaps if there were fewer people, and he and Xu Youqing were alone, no one would pay any attention to them after they got off the plane.

"Hmm?" Xu Youqing touched Shen Yu's forehead, her hand was icy cold.

Was she holding the iced Americano with this hand just now?

"You don't have a fever. How did you get there by yourself? Did you smuggle yourself in? Don't worry, ESTA's review process is very fast. Yours might be approved today. Including ours, it will only take about a day or two."

"Actually, there was no need to bring so many people. I'm just going to sing a song."

"I think so too. It's harder to run around with so many people." Xu Youqing nodded in agreement. "How about we don't stay at the same hotel? You can come here to get your makeup done, and then you and the security guard can go ahead first once you're ready?"

After saying this, Xu Youqing sighed, "I'm still quite disappointed that I can't watch you receive the award or perform, but I'll watch it on the TV in my hotel room! Don't worry!"

"————" No, Nuna, do you have so little confidence in me? I'm such a low-key person!

"Perfect timing! Don't leave first after get off work tonight. I'll introduce you to a friend, so you won't have nowhere to run. I'm really worried you'll get killed as soon as you get off the plane back in China. Even in Los Angeles, the chances of being killed decrease significantly if there's more than one person!"

Do you mean I just need to run faster than everyone else?

This isn't some kind of bear sighting!

Looking at Xu Youqing's serious face, Shen Yu could only nod in agreement.

*

"Minji! Over here!"

Shen Yu, who originally wanted to ride a motorcycle, eventually chose to obediently take a taxi with Xu Youqing, using Xu Youqing's request to drink beer that night as an excuse.

Okay then, consider it a contribution to Seoul's traffic.

"That's why I told you to buy a car! Sigh, mine's the same, it only has two seats, it's a real hassle when there are a few more people." Waving to the people across the street, Xu Youqing complained, "Should I get a new car too?"

"A minivan can seat more people, I'm thinking of just buying one." Shen Yu increasingly felt that the company's Mercedes-Benz van was perfect for travel, able to carry a group of girls and fit a lot of luggage.

"————" Xu Youqing rolled her eyes at Shen Yu, "You might as well take the company's van home. Don't worry, no one will come looking for you."

Nowadays, YG Entertainment doesn't really need many vans. They only have one boy group currently active, and they're often on overseas tours and not in China. To be honest, nobody really cares if Shen Yu drives the car away.

"Please come in, oh, is this PD Shen Yu? Hello!"

The girl was wearing a baseball cap, leggings, and a loose T-shirt.

"Hello, I am Shen Yu."

"Hehe! Our track and field Karina! Tsk tsk tsk, someone so beautiful, why does she always wear a hat and a mask!"

"Ah!" Kim Minji immediately shook her head, "I really feel guilty saying this name in the real entertainment industry! Unnie, don't joke with me."

Shen Yu then saw the face under the baseball cap.

Kim Minji is much taller than Heo Yoojung, and given that Heo Yoojung has a somewhat baby-faced look, Kim Minji actually looks more like the older sister.

Well, perhaps it's because the girl has very fair skin, while Minji, as an athlete, has a healthy tan.

"PD Shen Yu, I'm a fan of yours! If possible, could you sign my baseball cap?"

Kim Minji took off his baseball cap and pulled a gold marker from his pocket, which looked like he had just bought it from a stationery store nearby.

"Let's go quickly. Don't worry, I'll have Shen Yu sign as many copies as you want in a bit. He can sign anywhere on your body!"

"————" Nuna, what you said is too misleading, isn't it?

Shen Yu was unaware of this, only knowing that Jin Minzhi's face was already flushed, but because of the sky and the color of his skin, his shyness was not so obvious.

*

On the way to the beer house, Xu Youqing also explained to Shen Yu why she called Jin Minzhi "Karina on the track". The two of them actually met at that time.

During an open track and field competition in July 2022, Kim Min-ji, who usually wore goggles while running and competing, happened to be without them. She was spotted by sports reporters and spectators filming outside the track, and they took a lot of direct shots and photos. She became an internet celebrity for a while because of this.

Because of her small face and eyes that resemble Yoo Ji-min's, many people compared her photos with Yoo Ji-min's, and eventually the nickname "Karina from the track and field" began to circulate online.

However, Shen Yu, who had had in-depth contact with Liu Zhimin—a fairly familiar contact—felt that the two were still somewhat different.

Just like Irene and Kwon Eunbi at first glance, or Jeon Gook and Shim Shin-guk, they look very similar at first glance, but after getting to know them and looking at their faces more often, you will find that they are completely different.

Yes, Shen Yu felt he had a lot to say on this matter.

"Although it's a burden, I feel both ashamed and happy to be called Karina on the track and field."

""

Contrary to the typical impression of sports students, this person was very polite and seemed somewhat introverted.

"Minji is a very rational and intelligent person. I met her because she had a lot of ideas about her future plans at that time. Someone introduced her to me, so I introduced her to an entertainment and sports agency!"

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