Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

The next day, Zhang Lei from Tencent brought three people to the entrance of Fanyin Studio.

Two legal counsel and one assistant.

Four people, dressed in suits, stood at the entrance of Fanyin Studio, falling into a collective silence.

The studio is a 60-square-meter simply furnished single room in an old office building in Shanghai, where the paint on the walls in the corridor has peeled off in many places.

Zhang Lei glanced back at the three people behind him.

The corner of Legal Representative B's mouth twitched.

Li Cheng came out from inside and shook hands with Zhang Lei.

"Mr. Zhang, I'm sorry to have to put up with this. The place is small, please don't mind."

Zhang Lei glanced around and said, "Indeed... there's a strong entrepreneurial atmosphere."

Legal representative A opened his briefcase and placed the contract on the table.

Three copies were made, a thick stack of A4 paper.

"80/20 revenue split, copyright belongs to Fanyin, exclusive distribution rights for three years, and an advance payment of 15 million. The terms are consistent with what was previously verbally agreed upon." Zhang Lei sat down and got straight to the point.

The chair creaked, and he stiffened, too afraid to move.

Li Cheng took the contract and flipped through it page by page for ten minutes.

The terms are clear and there are no problems.

Jiang Fan picked up a pen, turned to the signature page, and wrote his name.

Zhang Lei took the contract, confirmed it was correct, stamped it with Tencent Music's official seal, and handed Fan Yin's copy back.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Zhang Lei extended his hand.

Jiang Fan shook hands with him.

Zhang Lei wasn't in a hurry to leave.

He glanced around the studio, his gaze lingering for two seconds on the box of bottled water in the corner.

"General Jiang—"

Just call me Jiang Fan.

"Jiang Fan," Zhang Lei addressed him differently, "to be honest, given your current popularity, this office... isn't quite suitable. Tencent Music has a vacant office space in Jing'an, fully equipped, including a recording studio. If you need it, I can offer it to you at cost price—"

"No need, we've already found one ourselves," Jiang Fan added. "But thanks anyway."

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Okay. Contact me anytime if you need anything."

He put away the contract and left with the three people.

The door closed.

A low voice came from the corridor: "A 15 million contract signed in a place like this, it just doesn't feel real to me."

Li Cheng rested his hands on the edge of the table, looking down at the number stamped with a red seal on the contract.

He took the check out of the envelope and looked at it three times in the light from the window.

"Fifteen million." His voice trembled.

Shen Nian sat on a plastic stool in the corner, holding a small cloth bag filled with snacks, her eyes wide open.

"I plan to divide the money like this," Jiang Fan said, pulling over a piece of paper. "First, rent a proper office and renovate two recording studios. Two million will be used for legal expenses related to Shen Nian's lawsuit. The rest will be used to run the studio."

Li Cheng pinched his thigh hard: "Are you sure you don't want to keep some for yourself?"

"Why would I, a former security guard, need to spend money?"

Li Cheng glanced at him and added.

"There are still people. I can't handle it alone. We need to hire at least three or four more people for administration, publicity, and legal. Shen Nian still has a lawsuit to deal with, and she'll need a dedicated assistant for her future appearances."

"Also, we need to buy a commercial vehicle."

Jiang Fan smiled and nodded.

"You decide what to do."

Without saying a word, Li Cheng took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey? Manager Wang? This is Li Cheng. Help me keep an eye out for office buildings, over 500 square meters. Yes, preferably an entire floor."

After saying something on the other end, Li Cheng hung up and immediately dialed another number.

"Old Zhao, do you still take on acoustic renovation jobs? It's urgent, seven-day delivery, budget under two million. Okay, I'll send you the contract in the next couple of days."

"Seven days?" Shen Nian, who had been silent in the corner, finally spoke.

"You don't believe me?" Li Cheng glared at her. "Sister, you've never seen how I, your brother Li, push you to finish a project."

Shen Nian shrank back and continued to deal with the snacks in her pocket.

Li Cheng has a unique characteristic—once he has a budget in hand, his execution ability is terrifying.

Within three days, he visited seven different places.

I finally got the keys to the new office.

It's 680 square meters, with a reception area, meeting rooms, private offices, and a recording studio, all laid out in a square layout.

On the fourth day, three new employees joined the company.

The administrative girl's name is Zhou Yutong, she is 24 years old, and she previously worked for two years at a bankrupt record company. Her biggest advantage is that she is willing to do any kind of work, and her biggest disadvantage is that she is a fan of celebrities.

On his first day at the company, he asked Li Cheng if he could get Jiang Fan's autograph, but Li Cheng glared at him and shut him down.

The publicity officer is a bespectacled young man surnamed Wei. He doesn't talk much, but he can create proposals very quickly.

The last one is a legal assistant, whom Li Cheng got from a friend at a law firm. He specializes in handling contracts and copyright disputes.

Fanyin Culture Studio is finally starting to look like a proper company.

-

Shanghai, Sheng Hai Entertainment.

Cao Qiming sat behind his mahogany desk in his office, with three documents spread out in front of him.

One is Sheng Hai Entertainment's quarterly financial report, showing a cash flow shortfall of 100 million yuan.

The second document was a termination letter from Huaxingyu.

The total amount of liquidated damages from all the brands involved has reached nearly 200 million yuan.

The third document is a court summons for the Shen Nian case.

The court hearing is scheduled for one week from now.

Cao Qiming picked up the phone on the table.

The call came from an unmarked number.

"Found it?" he answered.

"Found it." A calm, middle-aged male voice answered from the other end.

"Fanyin Culture Studio, legal representative Jiang Fan. Currently, only one artist is signed, Shen Nian. The business registration information is clean and there is no institutional investment."

What about his songs?

"We consulted three veteran producers for analysis. The melody structure, harmonic progression, arrangement logic… the conclusion was that it's highly likely to be original. It's a self-contained system, neither bought nor copied."

Cao Qiming remained silent for a while.

"In other words, there's really no way to take him down directly."

"A direct confrontation won't work. But—" the voice on the other end lowered, "we could try Shen Nian's side."

Cao Qiming tapped his index finger twice on the table.

"Go on."

"I checked Shen Nian and Fan Yin's contract records. The contract was only for two years. And there was no penalty for breach of contract."

"What? No penalty for breach of contract?"

"Yeah, not a single one was written. Not even a non-compete clause. To put it bluntly, Shen Nian can leave anytime without having to pay a single penny."

"you mean--"

"Poach her directly. Offer Shen Nian a price she can't refuse: a signing bonus of three million, a compensation of five million, totaling eight million. Add one more condition—withdraw the lawsuit."

"Shen Nian is the plaintiff. If she withdraws the lawsuit, Hua Xingyu's plagiarism case will have no substantive plaintiff. No matter how much public opinion stirs up, without a plaintiff, the court will not accept the case."

"Eight million," Cao Qiming repeated the number.

For Shen Nian, this was more money than she could ever earn in her entire life.

A person who has been banned across the entire internet, a girl driven to severe depression, and an ordinary person whose account balance may be less than five figures.

If eight million were placed in front of her, how many people could refuse?

"There's one more thing," the person on the other end added, "Shen Nian doesn't have an agent at Fanyin, and no one is specifically watching over her. In other words—"

"We can bypass Jiang Fan and approach her directly."

"right."

Cao Qiming picked up the court summons from the table, folded it twice, and stuffed it into the shredder.

"Do it. Send someone smart. Don't use Sheng Hai's name, find a clean middleman."

"clear."

The phone hangs up.

Cao Qiming turned his chair around to face the floor-to-ceiling window.

He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

Jiang Fan, the kindness you showed her is your biggest weakness.