72: Chapter 72 MCN is here!

Chen Sheng took the T-shirt, which still had a bit of warmth on its surface. He first unfolded it to check, ensuring the finished heat-pressed product matched the design.

Then, he discreetly picked at the pattern with his fingers to make sure the heat-pressed design wouldn't just peel off.

Finally, he put the T-shirt on and had an employee help him take a full-body photo with a phone to ensure the look met his expectations.

After completing these three steps, Chen Sheng took off the T-shirt and handed it back to Boss Liang. "No problem. Print them according to this."

After waiting about fifteen minutes, the employee who went to fetch the stock returned to the studio with a stack of T-shirts. After Chen Sheng performed a spot check, the heat-pressing officially began.

The employee laid each T-shirt flat on the heat-press machine, then used tension bars to secure both ends, ensuring no wrinkles would appear during the process. They then moved it into the designated position inside the machine. Once the T-shirt was in place, the employee operated the lever, and the press plate came down. When the plate rose again, the pattern had been branded onto the T-shirt.

The whole principle was like using a stamp. However, because the studio's space was limited, only small machines were kept there. Small machines almost always had one thing in common: they were semi-automatic and required a person to control the speed.

Chen Sheng and Boss Liang stood in front of the machine and watched the first finished product come out. Confirming it matched the trial print, Boss Liang immediately invited him, "Mr. Chen, the heat-pressing will take some time. Why don't we go to the office for a cup of tea?"

Just as Chen Sheng was about to nod, his phone suddenly rang.

He pulled out his phone and saw it was an unknown number. He gestured toward the phone to Boss Liang and walked out of the studio while answering.

"Hello! Who is this?"

"Hello! Is this Mr. Chen Sheng?"

"I am Chen Sheng. Who are you?"

"Hello, Mr. Chen. I am the Business Director of XX Culture Co., Ltd. Our company focuses on self-media. We've recently noticed that your TikTok account's follower growth is quite good, but since you lack effective planning and a team, the development rate of your account and market is extremely low."

Chen Sheng: "So you're the one called XX Culture Co., Ltd.!"

He remembered the second piece of intel the system provided today; it explicitly stated that he would receive a cooperation offer from an MCN company today. The company was involved in things like dual contracts and tax evasion, so he was warned to choose carefully.

This was probably the one.

However, he didn't plan to hang up immediately. Instead, he found the edge of a flower bed to sit on, lit a cigarette, and listened with interest as the other party continued to sell him a pipe dream.

"We're calling because we want to cooperate with you, Mr. Chen. Our company has professional teams in all aspects of self-media. We can provide you with specific, feasible long-term planning, as well as professional filming and management teams."

"Mr. Chen, you should know that self-media has high requirements for public relations. Our company invests heavily in online PR. If we cooperate, the company can definitely safeguard your growth."

Seeing the other party pause, Chen Sheng asked a serious and mood-killing question, "How did your company get my phone number?"

"That..." Perhaps the other party hadn't expected Chen Sheng to ask this. Their smooth voice hit a snag for a moment, but they quickly adjusted and said calmly, "Mr. Chen, that's a trade secret. I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Heh~" Chen Sheng rolled his eyes at the sky.

Trade secret, my foot. It was either bought from some internal employee or directly from some company.

In today's age of self-media, these things were no longer secrets.

The other party immediately steered the conversation back to the cooperation. "Mr. Chen, we've come with sincerity."

"Oh? Then tell me about the plan you can offer," Chen Sheng said, following their lead.

"Mr. Chen, we've prepared a flexible contract with a lot of autonomy. First, we'll offer you a C-level contract for accounts with 100,000+ followers, with a basic monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. Gifts, advertisements, and such will be split 60/40, while endorsements and live-stream sales will be split 80/20."

"When your follower count exceeds 500,000, the contract will automatically upgrade to a B-level contract. The monthly base pay will be 5,000 yuan, with gifts and ads split 50/50, and endorsements and sales split 70/30."

Hearing this, Chen Sheng couldn't help but roll his eyes again. So a 60/40 split meant they took 60% and he took 40%.

"When your follower count exceeds 1 million, the contract will automatically upgrade to an A-level contract. The monthly base pay will be 10,000 yuan, with gifts and ads split 40/60, and endorsements and sales split 60/40."

"When your follower count exceeds 5 million, the contract will automatically upgrade to an S-level contract. The monthly base pay will be 20,000 yuan, with gifts and ads split 30/70, and endorsements and sales split 50/50."

"When your follower count exceeds 10 million, the contract will automatically upgrade to an SS-level contract. The monthly base pay will be 50,000 yuan, with gifts and ads split 20/80, and endorsements and sales split 40/60."

"When your follower count exceeds 50 million, the contract will automatically upgrade to an SSS-level contract. The monthly base pay will be 100,000 yuan, with gifts and ads split 10/90, and endorsements and sales split 30/70."

Fine! Chen Sheng couldn't help but roll his eyes yet again.

If he had a million followers, why the hell would he join a company? He could start his own damn company and keep everything without any commission.

Also, they only mentioned the benefits and compensation and hadn't said a single word about responsibilities or breach of contract. They were clearly afraid he'd find out.

But the more they didn't want him to know, the more he wanted to find out. After the other party finished, Chen Sheng asked directly, "A few questions. First, does your company have requirements for streaming hours?"

"Second, is your company's so-called split before or after taxes?"

"Third, if the company provides a team, is the team's salary paid by the company or by me?"

"Fourth, are there any mandatory rules that I must follow all of the company's arrangements after signing?"

"Fifth, if I cooperate with the company, will the account ownership belong to the company or the individual?"

"Sixth, if I cooperate with the company, how long is the contract duration?"

Chen Sheng took a deep breath and asked the final question, "Seventh, how much is the penalty for breach of contract?"

Once these seven questions were out, both sides fell into silence—so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing through the receiver.

After a long while, the other party asked thoughtfully, "Mr. Chen, I wonder if you've cooperated with a company before? Or has another company approached you for cooperation?"

Chen Sheng didn't take the bait and said ambiguously, "In this era of self-media, it should be normal to have a few friends who do self-media, right?"

"That is normal. From our conversation just now, it seems you've done your homework, Mr. Chen. Our company does indeed have certain requirements for streaming hours. A professional team handles the video clips; Mr. Chen would only need to maintain over 180 hours of live-streaming per month."

Thirty days a month, 180 hours divided by 30 equals 6. After reaching this number, Chen Sheng almost cursed. This meant he had to broadcast for more than 6 hours a day. They started him with a C-level contract and a base salary of 3,000 yuan. With those 6 hours, in a place like Shu City, if he went to deliver takeout, he'd make more than 3,000 yuan a month, wouldn't he?

No, even driving for a ride-hailing service, he'd earn more than 3,000 yuan a month on his own.

...