Back to the teenage years

Chapter 574 Why Me

Wang Jinghua entered the brokerage industry in the early 90s.

At that time, she was not doing very well. It was by chance that she joined an entertainment company through an acquaintance. She recruited a singing group called Brothers (Chu Tong and Chu Qi) under her. In order to find opportunities for them, Wang Jinghua spent all day hanging around various entertainment venues in BJ. Her income was meager, but she was considered to have entered the industry.

In 1993, Wang Jinghua became Chen Daoming's assistant.

According to rumors, after Chen Daoming won the Best Actor award in 1990, he became very famous and had a bad temper, and only Wang Jinghua could appease him. Later, Chen Daoming felt that she had outstanding abilities and could make great strides in the actor agency business. Since the entertainment agency field was relatively blank at that time, he suggested that Wang Jinghua start her own business and set up her own agency.

After listening to Chen Daoming, Wang Jinghua registered the Black Sea Red Sun Agency in 1997 and invited Chen Daoming to become her first signed artist. She was also the first to introduce Hong Kong's mature agency model into the mainland market, creating a precedent for China's artist signing system and successfully creating many film and television stars such as Li Bingbing.

In 2000, Wang Jinghua joined Huayi Brothers as the director of the agency and established a complete artist training system, promoting artists such as Shuang Bing, Ren Quan, and Tong Dawei to become first-line stars. Her team management and resource integration capabilities are still very impressive, and thus she is known in the industry as "the number one agent in the Chinese entertainment industry."

At the moment, Wang Jinghua can only be said to be doing okay.

An ordinary worker.

Wang Guibing took her into the magnificent lobby of Kempinski Hotel, took the elevator and entered the banquet hall.

As she danced to soothing jazz, she walked through the gorgeous and elegant halls, observing the people toasting each other. Amidst the voices of conversation and greeting, she heard the voices of certain officials from certain departments and bureaus, and certain expert deans.

This banquet was attended by many bigwigs.

Wang Jinghua's expression became a little restrained, but this also made her have some kind of faith in Zhang Yunqi, whom she was about to meet. At least there was one thing she was clear about, that since the other party was very rich and powerful, he would not have the time and energy to make fun of an ordinary person like her.

A few days ago, Wang Guibing gave Wang Jinghua a lot of relevant information. She already had some understanding of Zhang Yunqi's situation. He was a young entrepreneur from southern Hunan with a net worth of hundreds of millions. He was a top tycoon of this era. He owned dozens of companies. Now he wanted to set up an entertainment media company in the capital and invited her to be the general manager. This matter sounded like pie in the sky, but Wang Jinghua did get some verification in the information provided by Wang Guibing, otherwise she would not have come here so late at night.

Wang Jinghua was thinking about all this when she was soon led by Wang Guibing to a leather sofa by the window. She immediately noticed a young couple on the sofa, but the first person she saw was the girl. She was very beautiful and had a unique temperament, which even made her, a star assistant who had been in the entertainment industry for many years and was used to seeing beautiful women, stunned for a moment.

After a while, Wang Jinghua shifted her gaze to the boy next to her. Although the information mentioned that Zhang Yunqi was a young entrepreneur, he was too young. If it weren't for the lavish banquet and Wang Guibing next to her respectfully calling the boy "Mr. Zhang", she would have found it difficult to associate the words "top tycoon" with the young man in front of her.

Wang Jinghua calmed down and asked, "You are Mr. Zhang Yunqi?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled and nodded. He looked at the number one agent in the Chinese entertainment industry in the future. He was simple, with average looks, about 28 years old. He was dressed normally, wearing jeans and a gray T-shirt. He had short hair and looked very capable, with a bit of a strong woman vibe.

Zhang Yunqi also clearly noticed that Wang Jinghua had been looking at Li Yufei next to him for a long time, and said with a smile: "You haven't had dinner yet, right? Ms. Wang, let's eat and talk at the same time."

When Wang Guibing heard this, he immediately waved to a tall waitress in cheongsam to bring a very sumptuous meal, which included Matsutake beef, stewed sea cucumber with scallions, steamed grouper, Yanjing roast duck and stir-fried lotus beans with summer fruits, as well as a festive cake, a soup and a glass of juice.

Wang Jinghua had never eaten most of these dishes, but she didn't hesitate to be polite. She rushed over immediately after get off work, without even having dinner yet. She sat opposite and started eating directly. She seemed generous and capable. Although Wang Jinghua was a little restrained when she first came in, she was working next to a big star after all, so she had some experience. She quickly adjusted her mentality and was not stage-frightened.

Zhang Yunqi smiled, and when Wang Jinghua had almost finished eating, he said, "Ms. Wang, I believe my assistant has discussed some of my situation with you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Wang Jinghua filled her stomach and wiped her mouth with her hand. Seeing Zhang Yunqi's smiling eyes, she also showed a little embarrassment. She sat up straight and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Zhang. What is the banquet today?"

Zhang Yunqi explained, "One of my companies is cooperating with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University. I'd like to invite them to dinner. We will have many business contacts in the future." Wang Jinghua nodded. She had a better impression of this boy who spoke naturally and in a calm tone. "Mr. Wang told me that Mr. Zhang wants to start an entertainment agency?"

Zhang Yunqi nodded.

Wang Jinghua asked: "What are your considerations?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "How should I put it? I have several large group-type enterprises under me. After years of development, we have achieved some results. However, the bigger the enterprise, the more important and difficult it is to build its brand. We need to use the media to continuously deepen consumers' recognition and stickiness of our brand. Over the years, we have invested hundreds of millions in this area, especially Aiwa Electronics, which has invested a lot in market promotion. This year's marketing budget is 100 million. I think it would be better to start a cultural media company instead of spending so much money."

Wang Jinghua felt that this made some sense, but it also aroused her doubts. She asked, "Mr. Zhang, your focus on brand media seems to be somewhat different from the entertainment media industry."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "My company spends so much money every year hiring spokespersons, shooting commercials, and doing various advertising placements. This money should be more than enough to support an entertainment media company. In this case, wouldn't it be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone to open an entertainment media company?"

Wang Jinghua understood what Zhang Yunqi meant, nodded and said, "Then I would like to ask, what do you think of the positioning and strategic planning of this entertainment media company?"

Entertainment media is an extremely broad sector. What Zhang Yunqi wants to develop the most is of course the social media infrastructure channel, but that is for the future: "This is a new company. I won't draw a big blueprint for you. We will be down-to-earth. We will focus on artist management and gradually develop in the direction of film and television script procurement + music copyright procurement + music distribution + film and television investment and production."

Zhang Yunqi's idea was well thought out.

As a layman who wanted to enter the Chinese entertainment industry, the biggest advantage he could use, apart from capital, was knowing which movies and TV series would be hits, and which currently unknown stars would become famous in the future. Therefore, he could accurately identify popular artists, directors, and works. Following this path, it was most appropriate to start with artist management. This was also the reason why he found Wang Jinghua, China's number one ace agent in later generations, to helm his new company.

On the other hand, at that time, truly standardized artist management companies were very scarce. It was not until 2000 that Huayi Brothers Taihe Culture Management Co., Ltd. was established, which pioneered the domestic formal artist management business. This company once included China's top star resources such as Li Bingbing, Fan Bingbing, Zhou Xun, Huang Xiaoming, and Deng Chao. Now he started from the artist management field, and it was relatively simple to recruit artists.

When Zhang Yunqi said these words, he could clearly feel that Wang Jinghua was already very interested. After all, artist management was a field she was familiar with. Now a platform had fallen from the sky for her to show her talents, and the temptation was still quite strong.

Zhang Yunqi added, "You will be the general manager of this company and be fully responsible for the company's business operations. My people will only audit the finances and personnel. As for your salary, I don't understand the salary standards and structure of this industry. You can go back and think about it and then tell me. In addition, I will give you 5% equity options. In addition to the right to annual profit distribution, your exercise period is three years."

After listening to Zhang Yunqi's words, Wang Jinghua couldn't help but sigh twice before asking, "How much do you plan to invest in the new company?"

Zhang Yunqi asked, "Is 500 million enough for one period?"

Wang Jinghua was stunned for a moment and said, "A lot."

1996 million in 500 was definitely a huge sum of money. Big capitalists are different. They invested 500 million into a startup. Of course, sufficient capital can quickly promote the company's business development. She has even thought of using this capital to try some film and television investment business to quickly accumulate artist resources and channels.

At this point, Wang Jinghua's doubts seemed to have been resolved. She took two sips of the juice, calmed her rapidly beating heart, and said, "Mr. Zhang, I am a straightforward person. I say what I want to say. To be honest, the conditions you set are the highest standards in the industry. I have no reason to refuse. Even when I walked into the luxurious Kempinski Hotel and saw you, I reminded myself in my heart that I must seize this opportunity. This is a noble person's help."

Zhang Yunqi was a little moved by these words. He kept silent and listened to Wang Jinghua on the other side continue to say: "Yes, I don't know you. This is just our first meeting. These days I have been worried whether you are a liar. I have only heard of such things as pie in the sky. But now I don't have any doubts about this, because as long as you take out 500 million in real money, I, an ordinary citizen, can accompany you to try your luck in this industry."

Wang Jinghua seemed a little excited and down-to-earth. This was not the power of money, but the opportunity to change her destiny that she felt was right in front of her: "But I have to explain my concerns to Mr. Zhang. You can hire a senior professional manager in the industry with your conditions, but I am just an employee. I don't have any great ability and I have never run a company. What I can promise you now is that I will do my best, but I am not sure that I can run your company well. So, I have a biggest question, why did you choose me?"

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