186: You don't even want a chance?

"You know our terms are good, don't you? Then sign it, and just support my work more in the future!" Xu Ruoying laughed.

Long Yuan shook his head and said, "I shouldn't receive rewards without merit. If we sign with these terms, it wouldn't be fair to others, would it? I wouldn't feel right about it myself. Such a partnership wouldn't be valid, nor would it last long!"

Xu Ruoying was slightly surprised upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "Is there some misunderstanding? This isn't unfair! You have the potential to become a big star, so we formulated this cooperation agreement based on the terms for big stars. In our company, several big stars have these same cooperation terms, and everyone else accepts it!"

"But I'm not a big star yet! Besides, that video was crudely made; it doesn't reach the performance standards of a big star at all! Also, how would an outsider know whether others truly accept it in their hearts? From my perspective, based solely on the level of performance shown in that video, it's impossible to get such generous terms..." Long Yuan said.

Xu Ruoying paused, momentarily speechless. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Then what terms do you think should be used?"

Long Yuan had actually already thought about this. He said, "We shouldn't sign based on an employer-employee relationship. We should just sign for each work or each activity as a collaboration! For example, this time it's just this song; we just need to agree on the profit-sharing ratio. As for company benefits, those aren't necessary. After all, I haven't gone to your company to clock in for work, so why should I take this money for nothing?"

He said this, of course, because he didn't want to be tied down by Shidai Tianyin Company. In the future, he could act or sing whenever he wanted and leave as soon as he was done—clean and simple. Why wouldn't he want that?

Money is important, but freedom is more important... Xu Ruoying suddenly understood. So this was Long Yuan's goal. She couldn't help but laugh, "It seems you still don't know enough about our entertainment industry!"

"Oh? Please, elaborate..."

"Let's put it this way: who do you think are the most important people in the entertainment industry?" Xu Ruoying asked.

"I really don't know much about the entertainment industry, but I think the most important... should be capital, meaning the bosses behind the scenes!" Long Yuan mused.

"And besides the bosses? I mean, among the people working inside the company, who is the most important?"

"Well, people like Ruo Ying are very important. Without someone to promote and plan, no matter how well one sings or how beautifully one dances, it wouldn't work..." Long Yuan teased.

Xu Ruoying gave him a sharp glare and huffed, "Think again. No matter how good we are at planning and promotion, if there are no good songs or dances, wouldn't it be like a tree without roots or a castle in the air?"

Long Yuan thought for a moment and realized, "What you're saying makes a lot of sense. If that's the case, then I think it's not just the singers and dancers who are important, but the creators behind them. It's because they create good works that the foundation of the entire entertainment industry is laid!"

Xu Ruoying finally smiled and said, "Exactly! Our Great Ming places immense importance on copyrights; those who infringe on them won't have a good time. This fact determines that the status of creators is the most important within a company. According to our classification, the levels of these creators can be divided into nine levels: Entry-Level, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Lower Profound, Middle Profound, Upper Xuan Level, and Extreme Profound. Besides requiring a certain number of high-quality works, these levels mainly depend on the market sales of those works. For example, reaching ten thousand downloads is Entry-Level, one hundred thousand is Bronze, one million is Silver, ten million is Gold, and so on. Your video's downloads are currently approaching one hundred million. If it breaks through, you'll have a Diamond-level high-quality hit song. If you can create two more such Diamond hits in the future, or if this song reaches one billion downloads, becoming a Lower Profound hit, then you can be certified as a Diamond-level creator! Such a level is already a middle-tier core position in our Shidai Tianyin Company! This is why we think so highly of you. After all, you are very young and have great potential; the possibility of you creating more miracles in the future is very high. So, now you should understand that the reason our company offered such top-tier terms to cooperate with you wasn't to give you a backdoor deal. There are so many wolves out there and so few good creators; we're just using generous terms to sign you first to prevent you from being snatched away by other companies!"

Long Yuan suddenly understood. At first, he thought the other party had offered such terms because of his identity, but now it seemed that this agreement was ultimately earned through his own strength rather than his special status. In that case, signing it shouldn't cause trouble for others at Shidai Tianyin Company. As long as he could release even better hit songs in the future, he could probably make them shut their mouths completely—and he certainly had absolute confidence in that... He heard Xu Ruoying continue, "Also, your purpose for saying all that earlier was probably because you want freedom. In fact, almost all entertainment companies have a very tolerant attitude towards creators. Everyone knows that to create good works, what's needed isn't clocking in for work every day, but traveling for inspiration, meditating, and seeking creativity. It's meaningless to trap people in the office every day. So, after you sign with our company, you don't have to go to work at all; you just need to bring us good works! But the reason we want to give you company benefits is just because we're afraid you'll go and serve other companies..."

Long Yuan nodded and said, "I understand. Then let's sign it!"

He picked up the pen Xu Ruoying handed him and directly signed his name. Seeing him finish, Xu Ruoying happily signed as well and stamped it with the seal of Market Department Three. Then she took back one copy and left one for Long Yuan, saying, "Alright, my task for this trip is temporarily complete. I also have to thank you for agreeing to join our Market Department Three; this is a huge support for my work. How about we take a photo together?"

"A photo? No problem..."

Xu Ruoying held up her phone and took a series of "ka-ka-ka" photos while leaning against Long Yuan. Finally, she smiled with satisfaction, "Alright, it's so late, don't go back. Maybe those cultist are still watching you from the shadows. Don't wake up only to find you've become their trophy!"

"I can't. County Magistrate Geng just sent me a message; it might be something urgent. See you later!" After speaking, Long Yuan left in a hurry... Xu Ruoying looked dazed. When she snapped out of it, she couldn't help but say in frustration, "Is this Princess really that lacking in charm? Giving you a chance and you don't even want it?!!!"

...