155: Chapter 155 The Unexpected Money-Making King

Manager Cai was surprised; this was the conclusion he had reached after studying the company in depth.

He hadn't expected the company to have a side he didn't fully understand.

Wang Xinning stood up, her voice sweet.

"CEO Li, let me analyze this. You just said it was 'not entirely correct'."

"Since the two points Manager Cai mentioned aren't entirely correct, Sister Ying's album must be right, so the error can only be the prize money from 'the singer & songwriter'."

"So, the other major source of income must be from us singers!"

"I guess it's Wang Bo."

Li Qian just smiled and didn't answer her, instead turning her gaze toward Chen Shaoping and Zhang Ying.

She teased, "You two bosses, why don't you try to guess?"

Zhang Ying made a face; she couldn't guess it at all, so she directly threw the question to Chen Shaoping.

"Da Ping, you guess."

"As you command, Darling," Chen Shaoping responded instinctively.

It was essentially a formal announcement of his relationship with Zhang Ying.

Zhang Ying's face quickly turned red, and she shot him a sharp glare.

But in her heart, she was delighted.

Wang Xinning immediately protested, "President Chen, public displays of affection are prohibited in the company from now on."

"Otherwise, you'll be fined."

"Agreed."

"Seconded."

The others immediately echoed with laughter.

...

"You've got some nerve, trying to stage a rebellion? You dare to fine the boss?" Chen Shaoping roared loudly in mock dissatisfaction.

Wang Xinning and the others weren't about to be intimidated by Chen Shaoping and began to gang up on him.

The office suddenly became lively.

Zhang Ying smiled; at this moment, she didn't dare help Chen Shaoping, fearing she would draw fire to herself.

Although Manager Cai didn't join in, he was also laughing happily.

Li Qian frowned and barked, "Alright, everyone sit down."

The office instantly became quiet; her authority was greater than Chen Shaoping's.

"President Chen, you haven't guessed yet," she continued to ask.

Chen Shaoping looked confident. "This won't stump me, especially since they helped eliminate two wrong answers."

His words caught everyone's attention, all wanting to know what it was.

"Sister Ying's album is one."

Li Qian smiled and nodded.

"The other is Zhuque Legend, or rather, their songs paired with square dance DVDs."

Hua Lin immediately retorted, "It's not us. How could it be us? We hardly have any fans."

Everyone turned to look at Li Qian.

Having been guessed correctly by Chen Shaoping, Li Qian felt it was within expectations; after all, this was the business he had insisted on doing.

"Not bad. You, the boss, still have some insight; it's not like you know nothing about the company's situation."

It was clearly a compliment, but why did it sound so unpleasant to Chen Shaoping?

"CEO Li, you're joking, right? It's really us?"

Hua Lin still had a look of disbelief, as did Zheng Yi.

Li Qian smiled and said, "That's right, it's you."

"Your songs have been hailed as divine tracks by the square dance aunties. The fitness instructional DVDs and online dance videos we authorized for production have already earned more than this much in copyright royalties and merchandise revenue alone during this period."

She held up a hand and shook it.

Mentioning square dancing and DVDs, Chen Shaoping suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, Sister Qian, this reminded me. For the square dance DVDs, hurry and send a set to my mom too. I'll send you the address of my hometown."

"Sure."

Chen Shaoping continued, "I just got a call. For this year's National Day Gala, besides Sister Ying, Zhou Bule and Wang Bo will also be participating."

"By the way, why haven't I seen Zhou Bule today?"

Wang Xinning and the other singers immediately erupted in excitement.

They were even more restless than when they found out Zhang Ying could participate.

A hint of jealousy flashed in their eyes toward Wang Bo and Zhou Bule, but it was mostly envy.

"I know. Some of the contestants he participated with in the singing competition invited him to a gathering last night, and he went."

"He hasn't come in today yet; he probably drank too much last night."

Zhan Tingting finally chimed in.

Hearing this, Chen Shaoping immediately sent a message to Zhou Bule, telling him to come to the company as soon as he woke up.

"By the way, Sister Qian, why haven't I seen Director Lin? Where is he?"

"The company doesn't have an editing suite, so we rented one outside. He's basically living in there."

After Li Qian finished, her expression suddenly darkened. "Da Ping, you said you'd give me the score yesterday, but I still haven't received it."

"Is it not finished yet?"

Chen Shaoping slapped his forehead; he had completely forgotten what he promised Li Qian.

"Sister Qian, I forgot. Wait a moment, I'll send it to you right away."

"System, exchange for the entire score of the movie 'crazy stone'."

"Congratulations to the Host for spending 1 paparazzi point to exchange for the entire score of the movie 'crazy stone'."

"Host has 84 paparazzi points."

Chen Shaoping frowned and asked silently in his mind, "System, why is the score more expensive than the script?"

"The score is calculated as a package for a whole movie."

"Scripts are different. Depending on the complexity, the paparazzi points required for different movie scripts can vary significantly."

After hearing the system's explanation, Chen Shaoping understood what was going on.

He sent the score to Li Qian and conveniently sent the song, which had been renamed 'Ode to the Youth of Long Nation', to Zhang Quanzhi.

However, he changed the song title to 'Ode to the Youth of Long Nation' and changed 'China' in the lyrics to 'Long Nation'.

After sending the song to Li Qian, Chen Shaoping turned to Manager Cai.

"Manager Cai, you've been in this industry for a long time and have a wide network."

"I have scripts for TV series and movies here, and the company has money. If you know any directors who want to collaborate or come to develop their careers at the company, you can introduce them."

Manager Cai nodded and then said, "I see that many positions in the company, such as agents and promotion, are short-staffed. I will keep an eye out for those as well."

"Yes, yes. Manager Cai, please put some extra effort into the personnel side; it's really giving me a headache." Li Qian was delighted and quickly handed over the task of recruitment to Manager Cai.

"Next is discussing who should release an album next," Chen Shaoping suggested.

The singers immediately got excited, their eyes constantly darting between the faces of the executives.

They were all eagerly hoping they would be chosen.

"The best choice would definitely be Wang Bo, but he's about to join a production crew soon, and we don't know how long filming will take, so let's exclude him first."

Zhang Ying rarely spoke up, usually just listening. "I suggest launching a male singer, either Zhou Bule or Xiao Qi."

"Da Ping, I think what's more important is seeing who you can write suitable songs for."

Li Qian looked at it from another angle. "The company's Composition Department only has a few newcomers right now, and they basically can't produce any decent songs, so the songs still depend on you."

Chen Shaoping didn't think much of it; he wasn't worried about the songs at all.

"Sister Qian, don't worry about the songs. I can definitely have them ready."

"Then I think Xiao Qi," Li Qian replied.

Zhang Ying nodded; in her heart, either of them would work.

"Manager Cai, what do you think?" Chen Shaoping asked for Manager Cai's opinion.

Manager Cai thought seriously for a moment before saying cautiously, "I think since Zhuque Legend is one of the company's biggest earners, why not strike while the iron is hot to maximize the profits?"

"To be honest, all of them have some popularity right now."

"But Zhuque Legend's songs have unique transmissibility and a mass base. Releasing an album now would most quickly convert that popularity into tangible revenue and maximize profits."