star of the peninsula

After chatting with Li Chengzhu, Chen Chen went straight home. The news he received today forced him to adjust his subsequent plans.

As for the cooperation with SM C&C, doesn't we have Director Kang in C headquarters? Just let him do it.

At worst, there is still Director Choi, and dealing with Lee Sung-soo is giving him face.

"Since Kakao entered the market earlier than me, the subsequent rebellion would have definitely happened even if I hadn't pushed for it. My actions actually got me into trouble."

"But it's not a loss. If C Headquarters replaces Hybe, it will be convenient for us to establish cooperation and good relations with SMART now so that we can appear on the battlefield as reinforcements later."

"Oh, it's not easy to be a reinforcement."

As reinforcements, Headquarters C certainly cannot get too many benefits in the end, otherwise it will be regarded as taking advantage of the situation and will be scolded by everyone.

But Chen Chen himself was unhappy because he got less benefits, because he came here for the benefits in the first place.
Step by step?
It seemed like this was the only thing left to do, and things were back to square one.

……

"How was your conversation with Representative Li today?"

During dinner time, Bae Joo-hyun chatted casually with her boyfriend.

"It's OK. At least the cooperation is settled." Chen Chen replied: "Netflix provides the money and the broadcasting platform, C headquarters provides the script and the production team including the shooting location, and SM Entertainment provides the people. The structure is quite stable."

"It sounds like SM Entertainment is the most comfortable." Bae Joo Hyun pursed her lips, "Artists are supposed to go out and take jobs to make money. You have everything here, which makes it easier for them."

"What, you're not satisfied?"

Chen Chen wanted to laugh. He hadn't seen her with such a cute attitude for a long time.

"I feel like you didn't get the upper hand." Pei Zhuxuan snorted, "Based on my understanding of you, there is definitely something wrong here!"

"I can't just do some charity?" Chen Chen said arrogantly, "During this pandemic, we should help each other."

"Ugh~!" Pei Zhuxuan spat at him, "Don't say such disgusting things while eating!"

"By the way, where did you go today? Did you have work?" Chen Chen asked curiously, "You were not there when I got home."

"I went to Branch I to take a look and wanted to ask if there was anything I could do," Bae Joo-hyun replied.

"Oh?" Chen Chen's eyes lit up, "What's the result?!"

"As a result, I was confined to the office and couldn't move at all." Bae Joo Hyun smiled awkwardly, "Sunny senior said that if I went now, I would just cause trouble. Later I thought about it and it was indeed true."

Irene showed up at the I Division of C Headquarters. Just a few words could give reporters at least five or six news stories. It was really dangerous!
"Tell me what you saw today." Chen Chen gave her room to express herself. "Even in the office, you can see a lot of things."

"I saw a lot of trainees, and among these trainees." Pei Zhuxuan paused here, her tone also carrying seven points of frustration, "many, many people are impulsive."

How could Bae Joo-hyun, who had been a trainee for many years, not see those "seedlings"? She had seen too many people who knew nothing and just joined the registration team with full of longing. But when she looked around as a successful Irene, such people almost all disappeared.

This cannot be said to be inevitable, but it is at least a high probability of more than 95%.

"I met a lot of people today, but 90% of them will disappear in a month because they can't make it through the first interview."

"Three months later, half of the people who remained disappeared, and people were being killed on all sides."

"What I will face next is the company's most rigorous screening and training, as well as the biggest enemy of the trainee stage, a time when there is no hope."

"The trainees who can fight against the enemy of time can definitely be called excellent. However, such excellent people are leaving one by one until only a few are left."

"However, these last few people may not be able to guarantee their debut. It only takes a moment to miss an opportunity, and no one can be blamed."

This may be Bae Joo-hyun's experience, or it may be Kang Seul-gi's experience, or it may be the experience of countless other trainees.

Being a trainee is never easy.

"Are there more boys or girls who sign up?"

Chen Chen did not respond to Pei Zhuxuan's previous sentence and continued to ask.

"There must be more boys!" Bae Joo Hyun rolled her eyes at him, "Your C headquarters has launched two girl groups in a row, how could the next idol group to debut be a girl group? Anyone with a little bit of common sense should be able to figure out that C headquarters should launch a boy group!"

"Well, from a probability perspective, that's true, and it's also true from a market perspective." Chen Chen smacked his lips, "But from my personal preference, well, that's definitely not the case."

"You still want to start a girl group?"

Even Bae Joo-hyun was surprised by this.

"I don't know how to form a boy band. If I form a boy band now, won't I be beaten by BTS and SEVENTEEN? It's too bad!" Chen explained: "What's more, the earning ability of girl groups has long been improved. It's not the time when the revenue gap with boy bands was ten or even dozens of times."

"Then there is the two-year military service for adult males." Chen Chen added: "Is it possible for idol groups, which are fast-moving consumer goods, to waste two years?! There are only a few years left to make a lot of money!"

Being able to make big money is something that only comes after an idol group matures, but it takes three years or even more for an idol group to mature. Under normal circumstances, the true peak period will never exceed five years. Two years is a very luxurious thing!
"You won't wait until things get bad before sending him to military service?"

Bae Joo-hyun asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

"The peak period of the group is over and it's time to consider the individual development of the members. It's still a waste of time." Chen Chen had a new reason, "Besides, it's not like we'll suddenly fall from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain. Going down the mountain is also a process. Missing two years of relatively high time during the process of going down the mountain is also very annoying."

"I think you just don't like boy bands."

Pei Zhuxuan's final words silenced Chen Chen.

I can't really refute this. As a man, am I supposed to like a boy band? Man, I'm really not that kind of person.

You can use it as a money-making tool, or you can like it, but you can’t!

It’s just that using boy bands as a tool to make money doesn’t seem to be a good idea. The subsequent boy bands haven’t produced any hits in several years, and they don’t seem to be good enough.

In addition, there were so many incidents, so many, that you couldn’t even keep up with the hot searches, which made Chen Chen lose all confidence in being in a boy band.

"Let it be." Chen Chen shook his head. "If they really put together a boy band lineup that looks amazing, how could I not let them debut?"

"Oh, speaking of boy bands, I have something I want to talk to you about." Chen Chen suddenly remembered what happened a few months ago, "It has something to do with you."

"What's the matter?" Bae Joo-hyun sat up straight nervously.

"The C main unit of the program "Sowing Beans, Reaping Beans" stopped producing it in June, and sold the program and the members to M-net." Chen Chen said, "I didn't like the program and thought they turned it into a talent show. M-net happened to like it very much, so I sold it to them."

"Well, it can be considered as finding a good company for the members." Bae Joo Hyun tilted her head, "But what does this have to do with me?"

"The land used for the show doesn't belong to your relatives. Maybe it won't be used after M-net takes over. I'm letting you know in advance."

Chen Chen is mainly worried about her family's relatives. The closer the relationship, the easier it is to cause trouble. This understanding applies everywhere in the world.

"It is indeed a problem." Pei Zhuxuan smiled bitterly: "Although I really want to pat my chest and assure you that my relatives will not have any problems after the lease ends, I really don't have that confidence."

"On the one hand, people's hearts are separated from their stomachs. On the other hand, their psychology changes after lying down and collecting money for a long time. In addition, the inconvenience brought to everyone by the current epidemic situation will make those relatives attach great importance to the income from renting out the land, and they will be dissatisfied after losing it."

"But it's not unsolvable." Pei Zhuxuan rolled her eyes and put the solution on the table, "You spend a little money and send some gifts to my family, and let my parents go to each family to talk and give gifts. With your benefits and the face of the family, there will be almost no problems."

"Of course, this is something that will happen after we decide to change the leased land." Bae Joo Hyun added: "If we continue to rent, there will be no trouble."

"Wow, that coincides with my idea. You've really made progress!" Chen Chen smiled and pinched his girlfriend's pretty face. "It seems that I can rest assured that you will be in charge of Division I in the future!"

"We'll talk about that later." Pei Zhuxuan smiled and asked, "You kept the land lease contract, right?"

"Yes, they are all in the archives." Chen Chen nodded and teased, "Are you afraid of something happening? Afraid someone will come and cause trouble?"

"It's better to be prepared." Bae Joo Hyun blushed a little, "If someone shameless comes to Seoul to cause trouble with you, the image of C headquarters may be affected, and the loss will be too great."

There is no doubt that if there is a problem with C headquarters, it must be a carnival among colleagues, and then attacks from all angles will come together.

"You have considered it very carefully. It can be said to be perfect!" Chen Chen nodded in appreciation. "Let's do it according to your wishes. You will be in charge of the whole process."

"It's just a small matter, not difficult. You seem too selfish to praise me so much." Pei Zhuxuan frowned, "I now suspect that you have bad intentions towards me, but I have no evidence!"

"Evidence? Ha." Chen Chen chuckled, "Wait a little later and go to the bedroom to get it yourself."

……

……

IU released a song, and after everyone listened to it, they suddenly realized that it was produced by Chen Chen. The already heated discussion suddenly became even more lively.

"'Celebrity' is so good! Why are you still hiding something so good?!"

Sulli is also quite excited. BTS's "Butter" has been putting a lot of pressure on her recently, but now it has finally surpassed it on the South Korean music chart.

"Celebrity would sound good only if sung by IU. Jieun has been busy for a while." Chen Chen spread his hands. "She was only a little free recently, and I used her immediately."

"What do you think Hybe is feeling now?" Sulli asked excitedly, "Will the new girl group's operations team be upset?"

"No, this is what people expected." Chen Chen poured a basin of water on him. "IU's songs swept the music charts. Isn't this what happens every time?"

“That’s right.” Sulli was a little disappointed, “Then why don’t you let Jieun release a song in early July?!”

"That means they're just getting in close and tearing each other's skin apart. That's too ugly." Chen Chen waved his hands repeatedly. "The key is that they're using Ji Eun's skin to fight. I feel a little sorry for her."

"Well, we can only hope that the source of Celebrity's music can be stronger and beat up the new Hybe girl group before leaving."

Sulli was not polite at all when she made a wish to Hybe.

To be honest, the probability of this wish coming true is quite high.

After all, this is "Celebrity", a super sound source monster, and it is also ranked among the top few among all IU's works.

"I've transferred a document to you." Shirley started working immediately after making a wish. "Netflix has already entered into the cooperation with SM C&C. Please confirm it."

"Okay." Chen Chen took a look and operated it twice, "Approval completed."

"I think your idea is wrong." Shirley confirmed it herself before complaining to Chen Chen, "Since we can provide the venue, production team, and script, why don't we do it alone?"

"Working alone is inefficient and risky." Chen Chen's answer was very simple. "There are many PDs and variety show production teams that have good relationships with C headquarters. In addition, others are willing to give priority to C headquarters when they have good variety show scripts, so we have confirmed that we will not run out of scripts."

"Since you've confirmed that you can't use it all, then don't be so stingy and keep it all to yourself. The right thing to do is to share it and turn it into something profitable quickly."

"We are running so many projects at the same time, which is too bloated and affects the efficiency of C headquarters."

"The timeliness of the book is very important. If you miss the hot spots due to inefficiency, then everything will be ruined, which is even more of a loss!"

"Right?" Chen Chen looked at Shirley, "This is my understanding."

"..."

Shirley didn't answer, but made an OK gesture.

"By the way, do you know about Lee Soo Man and Kakao?" Chen Chen thought of the internal affairs of SM Entertainment from the cooperation with SM C&C. "Do you have any connections there, the former little princess of SM Entertainment?"

"There is no confirmed inside information, only rumors." Shirley opened her mouth and spit out some information, "It seems that Chairman Lee Soo Man started selling shares of SM Entertainment a few months ago."

"I know this." Chen Chen asked quietly, "Are there any wilder rumors?!"

"Yes, Mr. President, we do." Sulli pouted and responded, "I heard that Hybe rejected it, and I heard that Kakao is interested but not firm enough."

Wow, as soon as these words came out, Chen Chen could basically conclude that this was not a rumor, but a real reality.

What if Kakao is not firm enough in its intention? It seems to be out of Chen Chen's profile again.

However, it did explain to Chen Chen why there has been no relevant news.

If Kakao's intention is not firm, SMT will not be able to release news to raise its stock price. If it fails in the end, the drop will be huge.

Finally, there is Hybe. Hybe entered the market much earlier than Chen Chen expected, and the situation is different.

...(End of chapter)