How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 46 So you're going to eat and take, huh?! [Please continue reading!]

"Let's discuss this matter in the long run. Right now, the promotion and distribution of 'Confucius' is more important." Wang Yao politely declined the offers from the two actors who were obsessed with becoming capitalists.

Currently, the most professional ticketing company in China is Damai.com, but they only focus on offline concerts, sports events, dramas, stage plays, and the like. They now dominate almost 80% of the offline ticketing market in China.

They've been deeply involved in this industry for so many years, yet they never considered entering the movie ticket industry. This suggests that there must be some unresolved core issues, or that they simply don't make money from it.

Wang Yao knew that people could not earn money outside of their understanding.

However, online movie tickets are closely related to group buying, so if there is a suitable opportunity in the future, it is worth participating. Anyway, it seems that Ren Quan and Huang Shengyi are chosen angel investors, who are foolish and rich.

Just as the two were about to try to persuade Wang Yao again, Hu Mei and Chen Lingjuan returned with Li Chao.

"I'm taking a conservative view on this publicity plan for now, because frankly, it's too sensitive. But the main thing is to see how public opinion develops regarding Qu Shou's case."

"If, as you say, it can be linked to positive propaganda about women's safety, then we'll get involved. But if it escalates into something like the previous nude photo scandal, then good luck to you." Hu Mei's words were straightforward and clear.

Offering help when someone is in dire need is impossible; adding to someone's success is the best approach.

"As for Wang Jing and the Le family, we won't interfere too much. It still depends on how well you can handle this matter."

"But I can give you a guarantee. Even if the final result isn't good, I'll help you negotiate the breach of contract penalty for Qu Shou. However, the condition is that you'll need to assist with the publicity and distribution of 'Hot Summer Days' and 'Ip Man 2'." Chen Lingjuan played the good cop, offering a sweet treat.

"Thank you both for your trust." Wang Yao smiled warmly, neither humble nor arrogant.

This response was expected, since before the matter involving Qu Shou could be discussed, no one could predict the direction of public opinion.

Hu Mei isn't stupid; she wouldn't engage in such a high-risk gamble.

"It's getting late. Xiao Huang and Xiao Zhang, could you see Xiao Yao and Nazha off for me?" Hu Mei said, seemingly expressing her dissatisfaction with Wang Yao's second refusal to join the group.

I organized such a big event today just to show off my strength, but the other party is still unmoved. They are indeed young and arrogant, lacking the harsh realities of life.

Wang Yao bid farewell to Nazha and the others, and led by Huang Shengyi and Zhang Meng, went to the door to wait for the waiter to bring the car.

Zhang Meng and Nazha seemed to be having a good chat, and the two, one big and one small, were reluctant to part.

Wang Yao seemed somewhat distracted.

"Um, Mr. Wang, may I ask why you declined Mr. Chen and Director Hu's invitations?" Huang Shengyi hesitated for a moment before asking.

I don't know if it was out of my own curiosity or if someone else asked me to.

“I’ve heard a saying that all the difficulties a person encounters are tailor-made by fate according to their personality and weaknesses. If you choose to escape, you will still fall into the same predicament in the future.” Wang Yao came back to his senses and said with a soft smile.

"Huh?" Huang Shengyi was taken aback upon hearing this, somewhat confused.

Why are we talking about fate again?

"So, Mr. Wang is someone who doesn't like to run away and is keen to bravely face the challenges of fate?" Zhang Meng's voice had a strong mature and sophisticated tone, and seemed to be teasing.

"There's no escaping it; fate will keep throwing challenges at you until you come up with a new answer."

Wang Yao spoke in a flippant tone, his deep eyes reflecting an unusual gleam in the moonlight.

Zhang Meng and Huang Shengyi were stunned for a moment.

By the time they came to their senses, Wang Yao had already driven away with Nazha.

"He's a very interesting little boy," Zhang Meng chuckled.

Huang Shengyi remained silent, Wang Yao's words echoing in his mind.

For some reason, those words stung her.

Is fate inescapable?
Naza had a blast tonight.

Not only did he meet so many big names and celebrities in the industry, he even exchanged contact information with Zhang Meng.

More importantly, not only was the food delicious, but there were also many interesting inside stories and gossips that completely overturned her understanding of the entertainment industry.

After Wang Yao took her back, he talked to Nazha's mother about how the entrance exam for Beijing Film Academy was basically settled. Nazha's mother was extremely grateful and now she trusted Wang Yao almost completely.

Wang Yao's care for Nazha was evident to her; to go to such lengths without a contract speaks volumes about his character.

If Nazha can stay with Wang Yao, then she will be truly at ease.

Seeing her daughter gossiping with her best friend on her phone after coming home, Nazha's mother couldn't help but sigh.

"That brat has such a lucky life."

Wang Yao didn't go straight home, but instead went to see Chi Xin.

Chi Xin reeked of alcohol, but didn't seem drunk, so she probably didn't drink it herself.

Wang Yao tugged at Hu Mei's tiger skin and briefly explained the upcoming arrangements, mentioning that they would need to use Qu Shou's connections, and that he would be meeting Li Ying tomorrow.

The sudden turn of events was hard for Chi Xin to accept, but faced with such a huge profit from "Confucius," she could only temporarily put aside her plan to deal with He Ming. "Since it's Director Hu's request, we will naturally do our best. But are you confident in this matter?"

"The arrow is already on the string and has to be released; we can only rely on the conscience of the netizens," Wang Yao said with a light laugh.

“You’re quite carefree. If it fails, so be it. He Ming will be responsible. Alright, but I’ll be here tomorrow, so I’m afraid I can’t go with you,” Chi Xin said, frowning.

“It’s alright, Director Hu said we just need to give them a heads-up, but the details of the collaboration will need to be handled by President Chi,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Don't worry." Chi Xin said with a smile.

Originally, I just wanted to get some scraps of Confucius, but I never expected that I would become the main force. If I do a good job, it will definitely be a considerable achievement.

Simply a surprise.

Wang Yao went home and explained things to Zhou Cong and Ni Ni again. The next day, he took Qu Shou to Xianghu.

The first thing I did after getting off the plane was to go directly to the bank I had booked in advance and withdraw 50 yuan in cash.

Despite the large amount, it actually weighs less than twenty kilograms.

Li Ying was stunned when she saw Wang Yao place 50 yuan in cash on his desk.

"What do you mean? Mr. Wang rushed to see me just to show off his wealth?" Li Ying frowned and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Director Li, I didn't bring you any gifts for our second meeting, but I did bring a little something. I apologize for the trouble."

Wang Yao sighed softly and took out another copy of the case closure document stamped with the official seal.

Li Ying took the document with a puzzled look, her expression gradually becoming serious.

Looking up at Wang Yao, then at Qu Shou behind him with his head down, he moved his lips several times, wanting to say something but stopping himself. Finally, he sighed, stood up, hugged Qu Shou, and said softly, "You've suffered."

Qu Shou, who was initially a little nervous, burst into tears upon hearing this. She knew it wasn't her fault, but it had indeed caused trouble for many people.

"So, this money is a penalty for breach of contract?" Li Ying comforted Qu Shou for a moment, then turned and asked.

“That’s right.” Wang Yao nodded.

"I've been in this industry for almost 20 years. I don't know about other things, but I understand very well the principle that it's easy to pay but hard to get paid. Hunan TV has been involved in many disputes, and no one has ever taken the initiative to come to pay the penalty for breach of contract."

Li Ying chuckled and shook her head. "Mr. Wang, I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to accept this money."

If something is abnormal, it must be something wrong.

Li Ying dares not speak for other industries, but in the entertainment industry, there is no such thing as a contractual spirit.

The proper response to a breach of contract should be to prepare for litigation, not to pay compensation.

"Have you heard about the recent news about the BMW woman?" Wang Yao asked with a smile.

"Of course, not only did they steal my number one spot in ratings last week, but they're also very likely to do so this week... um? What do you mean?" Li Ying was about to complain when she suddenly realized something and looked Wang Yao up and down.
"Mr. Wang, isn't Ma Ruo also from your Meishe Photography team?"

"Coincidentally, they are also one of my artists." Wang Yao smiled reservedly.

"What about yesterday's promotion of 'Confucius'?" Li Ying's eyes lit up. As someone in the industry, she could naturally see the significance of Ma Ruo's Weibo post.

"I'm now in charge of the publicity and distribution for the new media section of 'Confucius'," Wang Yao nodded.

"Great, great, it seems Mr. Wang really is here to give me money," Li Ying said with a smile as she sat back down.

Wang Yao gave Li Ying a brief overview of the subsequent publicity and promotion strategy.

Li Ying frowned as she listened, her fingers stroking her notebook. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Women's safety is a good direction, but the Qu Shou incident has already gone beyond the realm of entertainment, which is a great uncertainty."

“Moral judgments are often easier to spread than constructive ideas, so I want to use the help of multiple parties to first define the nature of this matter,” Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"You want to use Teacher He's influence to sway public sentiment?" Li Ying frowned.

Teacher He has an excellent reputation in the public media and is basically a representative of a positive image. She even has a large number of truly mindless fans, who happen to be the most active group on the Internet at present.

Junior high school, high school, and university students.

Even if Teacher He said the earth is flat, these people would only hesitate for a moment, then think that there was some truth to it, and start arguing with people everywhere.

In communication studies, there is a bullet theory that suggests that effective communication media possess an irresistible power, like a bullet. The information transmitted by the media is like being hit by a bullet in the recipient, directly triggering a reaction and influencing people's opinions, attitudes, and even behaviors.

This theory was ultimately demonstrated to its fullest extent by KOLs in the influencer era.

Teacher He is one of the strongest KOLs of this era.

Therefore, as long as he sides with Qu Shou, everyone will only focus on Qu Shou's victimhood and downplay the negative aspects such as the nude photos.

“Yes, Qu Shou’s case has basically been classified as a criminal case. The final sentence will depend on the outcome, but to avoid any unforeseen complications, I want to proactively ignite this potential risk and seize the initiative first,” Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"Personally, I absolutely support Qu Shou's rights protection, but this is not something I can decide on my own. Please wait a moment, I'll call Teacher He." Li Ying weighed the pros and cons but didn't have any ideas.

A short while later, He Jiong, who seemed to have just finished recording a program, arrived at the office. After seeing the case file, he comforted Qu Shou with concern. After listening to Li Ying's account, he pondered for a moment.

“If it were just me personally, I would absolutely feel obligated to take a stand. But if I express my opinion, what about my friends? They will also be swayed by public opinion. What will happen to Nana and Xinxin? So it is difficult for me to take a stand.”

He Jiong is a highly sensitive person. For a while, netizens even created an "angelic" personality for him. This is because He Jiong is highly sensitive and intelligent, so his perspective on things is different from that of ordinary people.

He was unwilling to get involved, not because he was unwilling to help, but because he knew the risks of blindly getting involved. He could bear the risks, but the children he was protecting probably couldn't.

He Jiong's voice was even a little hoarse as he looked at Qu Shou with eyes full of guilt.

Li Ying scratched her head. To be honest, she realized that Qu Shou's matter might generate a lot of traffic, but she knew that she couldn't influence He Jiong's choice.

“We understand Ms. He’s concerns, and I also think that taking the initiative to step in is an unwise choice, but we can step in passively,” Wang Yao said calmly.

"Did President Wang have a contingency plan?" He Jiong narrowed his eyes and looked at him with a smile.

"Does Teacher He have a new variety show coming up soon?" Wang Yao asked.

"I also produced 'I Am a Big Beauty,' which will be released the day after tomorrow. Wait, you're not planning to use this new program for publicity, are you?" Li Ying became wary.

The show "I Am a Big Beauty" is different from other shows because it is a pilot program designed to innovate the profit model of variety shows.

With the booming e-commerce economy in the past two years, TV stations, which rely on advertising for their livelihood, naturally paid close attention to it. After repeated communication and discussion, they finally decided to produce a variety shopping program with clear product placement.

TV shopping programs have a long history, but due to past issues with logistics and consumer habits, most shopping programs focused on high-profit, fraudulent products, aiming to fleece as many people as possible. As a result, this category has always had a poor reputation.

With the development of e-commerce and logistics, Hunan TV realized that it might be possible to create a real e-commerce program to see if a stable way to generate revenue could be achieved besides advertising sponsorship.

Then they chose the beauty category, which has high gross profit, a precise consumer group, and the brand owners have money. They even set up a joint venture and brought in the team of the most famous female fashion program godfathers in Taiwan.

This program is arguably the one that Hunan TV values ​​most this year.

When Wang Yao mentioned it, Li Ying naturally became very sensitive to it.

“It’s probably too late this week. If the guest for the second episode next week is changed to Qu Shou, and a statement is released before the show airs, the ratings for ‘I Am a Big Beauty’ will definitely reach their peak,” Wang Yao said in a deep voice.

"In this way, under the guidance of public opinion, I also have to speak out for the guests on the show. This is entirely on behalf of the show's position, not my personal position." He Jiong clapped his hands and exclaimed, "President Wang really came prepared."

"I told you, collecting money is the hardest thing." Li Ying looked at the 50 yuan in cash on the table; it was like a hot potato.

However, faced with the enormous temptation of high viewership ratings, she had no choice but to accept.

Because it not only carries the traffic from the Qu Shou incident, but also the indirect traffic from the subsequent publicity by the "Confucius" team, which is equivalent to saving a lot of publicity costs.

Moreover, since it's a new show, the audience isn't stable yet, so there's no need to worry about it going wrong. At worst, we can just delete Qu Shou's segments, so there's a lot of room for trial and error.

However, if handled well, inviting Qu Shou as a regular guest is not a bad idea, because Qu Shou will become a new symbol of 'special woman', and this symbol may bring different opportunities to the show.

For those in the media, the most important thing is their public persona.

"Mango TV's courageous speech and contributions to women's health will be remembered by all women in China. I'm sure your station wouldn't make things difficult for a little girl who is suffering."

Wang Yao smiled and put the money back in his backpack, then took out another contract and said, "Just give Qu Shou a token amount for his fee."

"You!" Li Ying was speechless.

Not only are you not going to pay the breach of contract fee, but you're even dragging Hunan TV into promoting and endorsing you, and you still want a fee?
So you're going to eat and take things, huh!

　感谢无聊滴滴、符号为甲、夜空之泪、不起名字也没关系的啦、Reve、忍耐力、perer0328、w虎虎生威w、看小说暴富、LXWhesital、雍始帝、疾走的小羊、笨拙的智慧、长春好人多、加勒比~海哥、薄暮之景、日月星幸运星、兔长老、赵健_bd、张磊168、baosha、水粉誓言、清风明月FANG、中年少女、金&乾、hurry、低调进行曲、秋意随风起佳人入梦来、长安小私塾、ljh1973、书友20221026203352330、书友20190523235618825、书友20180907221527640、书友202108141994940141、读者15055176886602346496、书友20210310071317084、书友20180916231703436、书友20220121094950911、书友2022095172857825、书友20250208234729489、书友20230213825_Cb、书友20190522091626772的推荐票支持~
　　I'm begging for all kinds of support!
　　

(End of this chapter)