Huayu: A master director who debuted as a singer

The Jinbei Haishi van drove into the courtyard of the Swan Publishing House and parked down in front of the office building.

Zheng Hui opened the car door, and Lin Dashan and Chen Jianguo got out of the car. Each of them carried a canvas bag and followed Zheng Hui into the building.

Zheng Hui walked towards the president's office on the third floor. The office door was ajar, and President Wang's hearty laughter could be heard from inside.

Zheng Hui knocked on the door.

"Please come in!"

Zheng Hui pushed open the door and went in. President Wang was standing by the window making a phone call. When he saw Zheng Hui, his eyes lit up, and he quickly said a few words into the receiver before hanging up.

"Xiao Zheng! You've finally arrived!" President Wang strode over, grabbed Zheng Hui's hands, and shook them vigorously.

He looked Zheng Hui up and down, unable to hide the smile on his face.

"Come on, come on, sit down and let's talk. I happen to have some new data that just arrived."

President Wang pressed Zheng Hui down onto the sofa, then returned to his desk, picked up a fax paper, and excitedly pointed at it.

"Look at this, the Guangdong Xinhua Bookstore system stocked the goods last Friday, and after three days, two days over the weekend, and one day today, the reported sales figures are 38,000 boxes."

"There are also several large chain audio-visual stores in the city, such as Tianlai and Dieku. They have promotions on weekends, and your posters are plastered all over the walls. They sold nearly 50,000 boxes in just two days."

President Wang put down the fax paper, walked up to Zheng Hui, and held up two fingers.

"Two hundred thousand boxes, that's an estimate I had someone make. This month alone, just using the channels our publishing house controls, selling two hundred thousand boxes is definitely not a problem."

"The publisher took a total of 320,000 from you. I estimate that this batch of goods will be sold out by the end of October at the latest."

President Wang looked very excited; the publishing house hadn't won such a lucrative battle in recent years.

"With sales so good, getting payment will be easy. Next time Xinhua Bookstore asks me for more tapes, I'll tell them to expedite the payment. If all goes well, the first payment should be received in November."

Zheng Hui smiled and said, "Thank you so much, President. You've gone to so much trouble."

I was happy, but not much, and not in a hurry.

He now has over two million yuan in cash in his pocket, which he received from the four stall owners, and his financial chain has entered a virtuous cycle.

Every penny earned from the tapes sold afterward was pure profit.

Besides, once the album becomes a hit, commercial performances can be arranged. A single performance can earn tens of thousands of yuan, and adding a Hong Kong or Macau artist title can bring in tens of thousands more. After performing at a few venues, hundreds of thousands of yuan can be earned, much faster than waiting for payment.

Of course, he wouldn't say these things aloud; getting the money sooner was naturally a good thing.

He put down his teacup and tilted his head slightly towards Chen Jianguo and Lin Dashan at the door.

Chen Jianguo and Lin Dashan understood each other, bent down and carried the two canvas bags to the coffee table, unzipping them.

Two piles of banknotes appeared directly in front of President Wang. President Wang's breath hitched for a moment. He looked at the pile of money and then looked up at Zheng Hui.

He had seen plenty of money in his life, and his publishing house had a considerable turnover, but the visual impact of such a large pile of cash, suddenly appearing in front of him without warning, still made his heart skip a beat.

"President Wang, I need to order another two million cassette tapes."

"Two million boxes?"

President Wang thought he had misheard.

"Yes, two million boxes." Zheng Hui confirmed again.

President Wang took a few seconds to process the information, then he suddenly realized something and a look of realization appeared on his face.

"Are they the stall owners?"

Zheng Hui nodded.

President Wang was somewhat surprised by the stall owners' quick thinking and ability to act, but upon further reflection, he felt it made perfect sense.

In Guangzhou, there are many stationery stores, convenience stores, and even newsstands scattered throughout the streets and alleys, which also sell cassette tapes.

These small shops are not up to the publishing house's standards for cooperation, and the publishing house doesn't care about their orders of a few dozen boxes at a time, so they don't bother to deal with them.

As a result, the supply channels for these small shops naturally fell into the hands of the big wholesalers in the audio-visual market.

They go to the wholesale market to buy dozens of boxes, paying cash on delivery, which is convenient and quick.

These stall owners must have felt the album's terrifying sales speed immediately from these very downstream retailers.

After school, students flooded into the small shop and emptied the shelves in minutes, prompting the shop owners to call in a hurry to restock.

This scene is more direct and more shocking than any sales report.

Although the center of the mainland music scene has shifted from Guangzhou to Beijing in recent years, the Guangzhou market remains the most important barometer of popular music in the country.

A song that becomes popular here will definitely sell well in other parts of mainland China.

Those stall owners were all seasoned businessmen who had been navigating the treacherous waters of commerce for decades. They couldn't possibly be unaware of such a lucrative opportunity.

Having figured this out, President Wang's face broke into a smile again, a smile much more genuine than before. He looked at Zheng Hui and said, "Two million boxes, right? Okay! I'll get it done for you right now!"

President Wang picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number he knew by heart.

"Hello, is this Lao Zhou? This is Lao Wang from the White Swan Hotel."

A cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hey, President Wang, what brings you to call me? Is there something good you need to submit for review again?"

President Wang leaned back in his chair, his tone relaxed: "Old Zhou, your news isn't very good. I've come up with a blockbuster product, haven't you heard?"

"I've heard about it, I've heard about it. Zheng Hui, you know, 'Stubborn,' you know? My daughter's been home for two days already, I'm so tired of hearing about it. What, you're just here to show off?"

President Wang laughed heartily: "Showing off is one thing, but the main thing is I wanted to ask you for a favor and give me a quota. Look, the first batch of one million boxes sold out, and Boss Zheng wants to place an additional order."

"How much more?"

"Not much, two million boxes," President Wang said casually.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then an exclamation came through: "How much? Two million? Old Wang, are you drunk?"

"Do I look like someone who's had too much to drink? The money's all piled up on my table." President Wang glanced at the two mountains of money, brimming with confidence.

"Could you please open a fast track for me? This is urgent; the market won't wait. I'll send you the application materials first thing tomorrow morning. Could you please sign them and get it approved as soon as possible?"

Old Zhou on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then laughed and said, "You're quite the expert, Old Wang. You've been keeping a low profile for years. Everyone's been saying your White Swan Hotel isn't doing well anymore, but you've been holding back to launch a big surprise."

Okay, no problem. Bring it over tomorrow, and I'll make an exception for you. It seems the Swan Hotel is in your hands; it's going to turn things around and regain its former glory!

President Wang was in high spirits: "Thank you for your kind words. Once this matter is settled, I'll treat you to a meal, and we'll go eat some wild game."

"It's a deal!"