Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Blueprint
"President Gu, I have a question I’d like to ask as well..."
On the other side, Wen Wan said softly and timidly.
Of the six people present, I was the least qualified to make demands. I only have 30,000 followers, and even so, the company offered me good contract terms. Although the signing fee isn’t high, the future revenue share is promising.
This was something Gu Bai had specifically instructed Yan Xiaobo about.
In his eyes, these people are bound to become famous one day. Since the company is just starting out, a lower signing fee is okay, but future revenue shares must be more flexible. After all, once they become famous, there’s no point in them jumping ship.
He has a clear vision for himself.
To be a future capital deity, not a vampire.
"Go ahead."
Not just Gu Bai; everyone turned to look.
"I have a friend on Douyin named Yang Kaili. She heard about my signing and asked if she could join our company.
Of course, she currently has more than a million followers on Douyin."
After speaking, Wen Wan looked up at Gu Bai.
There’s no denying that Wen Wan’s plastic surgeon did a good job. Without the system, Gu Bai wouldn’t have noticed any difference. She was the perfect mold of an online goddess.
Upon hearing his words, Gu Bai rejected it without thinking.
"Our recruitment target for the initial phase has already been met. We can discuss it later."
Currently, with more than a million followers, Yang Kaili stands alone; she’s destined to be the future top influencer on Douyin.
Gu Bai, like the general public, doesn’t have much fondness for online influencers, but neither does he have much dislike. Some exceptions apply, and this "Brother Li" falls into that small exception.
Although he’s not someone who constantly talks about patriotism like a young radical, he still has his bottom line.
Just like the much-ridiculed Luo Zixiang, a so-called "Master of Time Management" or "Philanderer Extraordinaire," who is mostly seen as a figure of public scorn due to his poor personal ethics—most people just enjoy the spectacle.
But Brother Li is different—a person who doesn’t even love their own country and mocks the national anthem. Signing them would invite trouble? Even though historically, signing them might profit him greatly, it doesn’t matter. Gu Bai isn’t short on money.
"If there are no other issues, let’s adjourn."
Seeing Gu Bai no longer engaging with her, Wen Wan didn’t dare insist and followed the others out of the conference room.
"Director Yan, next, prepare an assessment plan. The company will be expanding its impact, and we can’t rely on the old model anymore. For the next six months, dedicate 10 million each month to resource promotion, allocated based on contract level and assessment results."
"Understood."
The Little Sweet event was just to test the waters to see if the trend of influencer incubation would align with future directions.
Judging by the current response, it seems fine. Therefore, the previous strategy of throwing money won’t work anymore. Spending millions on one person would definitely raise concerns from Li Zhun and the others, despite their trust.
Gu Bai remembers clearly how they became famous. When the time comes, the planning department can come up with a few strategies. As long as the overall direction is right, a few wrong turns don’t matter.
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In the general manager’s office.
There were only Gu Bai, Li Zhun, and Zhao Weiwei; Qi Man had been sent to the lounge by Gu Bai.
What followed with Li Zhun involved business matters, and even if Gu Bai didn’t mind Qi Man’s presence, he couldn’t guarantee Li Zhun and Zhao Weiwei wouldn’t.
"Brother Zhun, you heard what Cai Lolita said earlier. What do you think?"
Gu Bai asked the two of them.
Zhao Weiwei remained silent, but Li Zhun understood his meaning.
"Are you planning to get involved in the live streaming industry?"
"I have that idea."
Zhao Weiwei spoke up at this point.
"I’m not interested; you two discuss it."
Zhao Weiwei’s disinterest was understandable to Gu Bai. Like himself, he didn’t expect to make money from Xingnai Media. It was more about cleaning up his image with the elders. Now that Gu Bai wants to make waves in the live streaming world, of course, he wouldn’t be interested.
Li Zhun, however, thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"I don’t understand the live streaming industry. To be honest, the playful nature of our company outweighs the practical. So, regarding the live streaming industry, I’m not inclined to get involved."
"No worries, I was just mentioning it. If neither of you is interested, that’s fine."
The following conversation didn’t touch on the topic again.
Can one make money from a live streaming guild?
Yes!
If it weren’t profitable, live streaming wouldn’t be ubiquitous in the future. Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo, even QQ and WeChat support live streaming; almost all notable social software is overtaken by it.
The reason Gu Bai invited Li Zhun and Zhao Weiwei was purely to express his attitude, to be open about it.
To avoid any small dispute potentially causing discord among the three of them.
Gu Bai had no interest in live streaming before, but now a new thought had emerged in his mind.
With cheats at his disposal, he shouldn’t merely consider himself a stinky, lazy bum who only spends money, right?
He plans to rely on the system and his memories from the coming years to build an entertainment empire of his own.
In this era where entertainment is king, he wants to become a major player in the entertainment world, someone who calls the shots. As for other industries... he can worry about those later. He’s not a superhero, just a good-looking guy with a system, after all. If he had to deal with those business tycoons every day, he wouldn’t be able to handle it.
As the three of them were chatting casually, Li Zhun asked Gu Bai, "It’s the weekend, why don’t we get together? Tian Shu mentioned the Shanghai Racing Festival to you, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I’ll give him a call and give him a good teasing. That guy spent a fortune to get Brother Qin to attend the racing festival, and we can’t be exceptions!"
It seems Tian Shu really put a lot of effort into this racing festival.
While Li Zhun was contacting Tian Shu, Gu Bai went to the lounge.
As soon as Qi Man, who was playing on her phone on the lounge sofa, saw Gu Bai, she quickly put on a smile, "Finished talking?"
Gu Bai replied faintly with a "hmm," then asked, "We have a gathering at noon, do you want to come along?"
"Can I?"
"Why not? If you want to go, then go."
Qi Man nodded excitedly, "Then I’ll go."
Just thinking with her toes, Qi Man could guess what kind of people would be at Gu Bai’s gathering. Wasn’t it the high society she’d always longed for? Now that Gu Bai can take her to such occasions, doesn’t that mean she’s been acknowledged by him?
If Gu Bai knew what she was thinking, he’d just say, "You’re overthinking it."
He was willing to take Qi Man along because her looks were impressive enough. If it were any girl scoring less than 80, Gu Bai would have told her to stay wherever she was cool.
Once Li Zhun made the arrangements, they all drove straight to their regular meeting spot, the "Peace Restaurant."
When Gu Bai and the others arrived, the manager of the Peace Restaurant was already waiting at the entrance.
Even without mentioning their identities, these people were already big clients of the hotel, so they were treated with utmost care.
Tian Shu hadn’t arrived yet, so Gu Bai and the others chatted in the private box while waiting.
Meanwhile, Qi Man quietly fulfilled her role as a flower vase, not joining in the conversation. Just being able to sit there already made her very satisfied.
After a while, footsteps were heard at the box’s entrance, indicating someone had arrived.
Sure enough, the door to the box opened, but to Gu Bai’s surprise, besides Tian Shu, there were two other men and a woman.
Among them, Gu Bai was familiar with Qin Fen from the last time they went to buy watches. As for the other man, he had the title of the entertainment industry’s Discipline Committee, Wang Siming.
Not just Gu Bai, but even Li Zhun was quite surprised, standing up with a smile, "Yo, Brother Qin, Principal, how come you both have the time to come over?"
Being top rich second-generation from Shanghai, and with families in the same real estate business as Wang Siming’s, it didn’t surprise Gu Bai at all that Li Zhun knew Principal Wang. Truth be told, the second-generation circles in Hua Country weren’t that big.
Principal Wang also smiled and said, "I happened to be with Qin Fen, and heard from Tian Shu that there was a dinner, so I came to crash it, hope you don’t mind?"
"Mind? Of course, we mind, if you ask me, you should be the one to treat us this time."
"Alright, then it’s on me!"
Saying this, he sat down with his girlfriend Dou De’Er, while Qin Fen and Tian Shu also took their seats one after the other.
Qi Man tried hard to conceal her excitement as she looked at these people at the table. She certainly recognized Qin Fen and Principal Wang, and though she wasn’t sure about the identities of the others, they must not be average, given how comfortably they were joking with each other. Her desire to latch onto Gu Bai was growing ever stronger.
"Gu Bai, this guy Tian Shu should have told you about the racing festival by now, right?"
After sitting down, Qin Fen started chatting with Gu Bai with a smile.
Gu Bai gave Tian Shu a glance, who was sitting to the side, and nodded.
"This guy went through a lot to promote the SSCC, even going to Kyoto personally to invite the Principal over, so his efforts have paid off.
By the way, Principal, you might not know Gu Bai, but this guy is a genuine high roller, spending tens of millions on cars and watches as if it were nothing."
He also took the opportunity to introduce Gu Bai to Principal Wang.
Wang Siming racked his brain but couldn’t recall someone like Gu Bai from his memory, yet he still smiled politely at him.
Gu Bai responded with a very calm demeanor.
Lick?
It’s impossible!
Even if he’s the top elite second-generation, with a family net worth of billions, Gu Bai has the system as his backup. In terms of money, Gu Bai will only have more in the future, never less.
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(After some hesitation, I decided to change the outline today. About the plot where Gu Bai partners with Zhao Weiwei and Li Zhun to start a company, initially, I considered Gu Bai as just an ordinary person who suddenly came into money, to make the plot more reasonable. But after writing these Chapters, I’ve realized something - the thrill points completely disappear after the partnership formation! To ensure reasonableness, I really threw away all the thrill points.
Though no one has yet criticized me because of this situation, I think I’ll be bashed if I continue writing like this. This is Xiaotan’s mistake. What’s already written can’t be changed, but I’ll make sure not to make such rookie mistakes in the future. From now on, all similar storyline depictions will focus solely on Gu Bai, so I can better highlight the thrill points. After all, if I really want to ensure complete reasonableness, I shouldn’t be writing a divine rich narrative, a reborn business narrative would fit better. Here, I apologize to everyone first.)