Chapter 6: It isn’t easy to refuse a beauty
After driving away Xiao Gao, Chen Jianhao turned his attention to Fatty.
As he gazed at Fatty with eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, Fatty trembled like a quail, his forehead oozing with cold sweat.
Even though Fatty Yin Guan claimed to be the master of the electronics room, he still knew who the real boss was. When the boss came laden with anger, his entire body trembled, the fear made him want to search for a hole in the ground to hide in.
But since he couldn’t hide, he could only squeeze out an ugly smile as though he were crying, “Boss, I know my mistakes, it was Xiao Gao…”
“I know that this only happened because Xiao Gao tempted you…”
Chen Jianhao interrupted his excuses and said, “So this time I’m only going to deduct your bonus for this month, but if there’s still a next time…”
Since he was capable of running a medium sized bar in Houhai, Chen Jianhao was naturally not an ordinary person. His sharp and experienced eyes saw through every lie. Therefore, even though he didn’t ask, he still accurately grasped the truth.
Since Xiao Gao was the instigator, Chen Jianhao definitely couldn’t show him any mercy, but he couldn’t throw out Yinguan.
But of course, the corresponding warnings and penalties were necessary.
“There won’t be a next time.”
As soon as Fatty received amnesty, he promptly said, “I’ll definitely behave, I’ll tune Little Lu’s voice right away.”
He rushed, in a fluster to turn on the mixer.
Not expecting that, Chen Jianhao pondered for a moment before saying, “Little Lu doesn’t need to be tuned, but you still need to tune the others as usual.”
Originally, only two people in the bar didn’t need to have their voices tuned. They were the contract singer Zhang Nana and the band leader of Torn, Qin Hanyang, both of them were pillars of the bar.
But now it included Lu Chen!
Chen Jianhao was feeling conflicted, he feared Lu Chen flying away after the evening, his stage in the bar was truly too small.
After nodding at Fatty, he left the electronics room.
At this time, Lu Chen had just finished singing 《You Who Sat Next to Me》 for the second time, earning the warm applause of the audience once again.
Furthermore, he was rewarded with another dozen rounds of beer!
“Little Lu, sing a few more songs!” someone cried out.
Faced with so many rewards, Lu Chen also wanted to sing a few more songs, but since this bar was like a small river, then there were also rules in that river. Since he was only a small fry, he didn’t have the qualifications to break the rules.
As a stage warmer, singing two songs was the routine. If the customers asked him to sing again, it was still acceptable, but if he continued to occupy the stage like a tyrant, he would provoke many people.
Therefore he saw himself out. Lu Chen immediately stood up and bowed, “Thank you everyone, Thank you!”
At this time, he saw Chen Jianhao waving at him from the counter, so he immediately seized this chance to give the stage to Sister Hong.
Lu Chen quickly packed his guitar in the room backstage, and then he rushed to the counter.
“Boss!”
“Sit down…”
Chen Jianhao nodded his head, signaling him to sit down. Then he said, “Your singing is pretty good tonight, that song 《You Who Sat Next to Me》 is quite amazing as well. To think that you would have this kind of talent, it has truly slipped through my eyes.”
Lu Chen scratched his head in embarrassment, not knowing how to explain.
To tell the truth, even Lu Chen himself felt like he was dreaming, though it was a bit unrealistic.
Fortunately, Chen Jianhao didn’t seem like he was going to dig deeper. He pointed his finger to tell him to sit beside the charming woman and said, “This is my younger cousin Su Qingmei. She’s working with others to start a home media company. If you’re interested, you guys can discuss the details of your contract.”
“Me?”
Lu Chen was a bit afraid to believe his ears, “Work for a media company?”
It was something he had never dreamt of before. Everything was happening too fast. Good things were coming one after another.
Su Qingmei laughed, “That’s right, it’s really you. Let me introduce myself, I am the director of Qingyu media company, Su Qingmei, and I really like your song.”
She extended her hand towards Lu Chen, “You can call me Sister Mei.”
“Hello Director Su…”
Lu Chen shook her hand. The soft and tender feeling of her hands made his heart pound.
Su Qingmei smiled sweetly, but she didn’t correct the way Lu Chen addressed her. Then she said, “We at Qingyu media company mainly work on managing artists, films and drama production, large-scale activities, news media, and other businesses, and we are currently hiring talented artists. If you agree, then we can immediately sign a formal contract tomorrow.”
After the initial excitement, Lu Chen gradually calmed down. He asked, “Director Su, if it’s alright, may I look at the contents of the contract?”
If the Lu Chen from yesterday had obtained the opportunity to sign a contract, then he wouldn’t have had any hesitation, but Lu Chen now had enormous resources from another world. Furthermore, he had just obtained proof a while ago.
So, even though working for a media company was extremely tempting, it wasn’t enough to make him lose his mind.
Su Qingmei was a little surprised. She smiled and said, “Of course it’s not a problem, there’s a contract for new artists saved in my phone. I’ll open it for you, ask any questions that you want.”
Lu Chen promptly said, “Then I’ll trouble Director Su and borrow your phone, so quickly…”
Inside his pocket was his lousy phone, he couldn’t take it out without disgracing himself.
Su Qingmei took out her phone from her bag, which was branded with a “CHANEL” logo, then she used her fingerprint to unlock the phone and handed it Lu Chen.
The 5.5 inches of ultra-high definition screen clearly showed the text of the terms.
The contract for new artists was quite long, if he wanted to read it completely, it would take a long time, but after Lu Chen skimmed through a few terms, he became more and more fearful.
This contract was far harsher than he imagined!
In the past, whenever Lu Chen browsed news sites online, he would often see disputes over breach of contract between actors or singers and their managing company. Those celebrities always accused their employers, but in reality, both sides signed the contract.
Harshness, inhumanity, restraint, exploitation, in short, all kinds of cruelty.
At that time, Lu Chen was also unconvinced thinking that the celebrities were only acting and that it was a trick to garner sympathy.
But now that he had also touched this field, he discovered that not everything was false.
In the contract for new artists, the first term stated that he had to be contracted to them for 10 years, therefore Lu Chen would not be allowed to leave Qingyu media company for 10 years.
Furthermore, the breach of contract fee could reach up to 10 million.
If he signed, it meant that the most beautiful time of his youth would be completely sold to the company.
Even just this clause filled Lu Chen’s heart with resentment.
The second term stated that, new artists in training would only receive minimum wages, without benefits and bonuses, and also prohibited them from working privately to earn extra income.
Lu Chen thought that he might as well kill himself.
Moreover, after signing the contract, his image rights, his works rights, and most of his other rights will all be owned by the company, the profits will be divided according to qualifications and efficiency but his share unexpectedly only started at 10%!
Lu Chen had just started reading and he already couldn’t stand it, even though there were still much more complicated clauses.
He returned the phone back to Su Qingmei and said, “Director Su, I’m really sorry but I don’t want to sign this contract.”
“Why?”
Su Qingmei frowned and asked, “You haven’t read everything before you decided, aren’t you being too anxious?”
Lu Chen tactfully replied, “The few preceding clauses aren’t suitable for my circumstances, so I am really sorry.”
His family owed a huge amount of debt, and even though they had to work hard to earn their living, at least their income was pretty good, and while he had to work for his living expenses, he had to send a lot of money back home every month at the same time.
If he signed this contract, forget about the future, he wouldn’t even survive the present.
The most important thing were the clauses regarding his rights. According to the demands of the contract, the copyrights of his songs would all be taken away by the company, and at most they would throw him some scraps!
If it was the previous Lu Chen, perhaps he wouldn’t have paid attention to this, but since he now had an enormous treasure, how could he possibly hand it to others?
Not to mention that there were still clauses restricting his freedom.
However, Su Qingmei couldn’t understand Lu Chen’s thoughts and thought that he was trying to bargain, she became very unhappy.
She pondered for a moment and said, “If you have a problem with the clauses, then you should know that the majority of entertainment, media, and managing companies use the same contract for new artists, as long as you sign this contract, the company will utilize a large amount of resources to cultivate, package, and promote you, don’t just look at the small profits!”
“You should decide carefully, don’t be impulsive and miss this opportunity!”
Su Qingmei strongly wanted to tell this despicable fellow how many people wanted this contract but couldn’t get it!
However, Lu Chen didn’t like her aggressive tone and immediately countered, “I am really sorry Director Su, perhaps I am being short-sighted at the present, but we might find an opportunity to cooperate in the future.”
You’re very beautiful, You’re extremely rich, You’re the director of a media company, but so what?
I don’t need anything from you, so why should I listen to you?
Lu Chen straightened his back and used his eyes to tell Su Qingmei his rejection and persistence!
Even though refusing this beautiful director wasn’t easy.
“Cooperate?”
Su Qingmei was so annoyed that she almost laughed—— how audacious!
So what if he was handsome, so what if he can perform, did writing an original song made him think that he was amazing?
How naïve!
If there was a cup of water in front of her, Su Qingmei would definitely pour it over Lu Chen’s head to wake him up.
“ké ké” (TL Note, Coughing onomatopoeia)
As the two sides started to dispute, the mood became hostile. Chen Jianhao who sat beside them coughed twice and said, “Little Lu, it would be better to go back and think about it carefully later, tomorrow…”
“There’s no need for tomorrow!”
Su Qingmei scowled and stood up, she neatly returned her phone inside her bag, as her beautiful and charming face showed a proud expression, “Qingyu media is a small temple, since you cannot afford any respect for a god, this lady is leaving!”
As her voice faded, she quickly turned away and left the bar.
However, her posture from behind implied that she was quite angry.
Chen Jianhao and Lu Chen stared at each other, the former sighed and said, “She didn’t pay for the wine…”
Lu Chen couldn’t help but laugh, he had never seen this humorous side of his boss.