Tianle Media Agency was just a mid-scale company of the industry. Its boss, Jin Datang, was in his early fifties, retaining the long hair and beard that gave him the bearing of an artistic person somewhat. He could be considered a slick, efficient person of the industry. He usually showed his face and stirred things up more than did the artistes under his wing.
As for his reputation, it was the same as nearly everyone in this industry, being hard to arrive at a verdict on. Only his skill at 'spending small money to do big things' and 'hoodwinking' people were hailed by those in the industry as daos of their own. Still, in private, he was usually dubbed 'Three-Faced Jin'.
The reason for calling him Three-Faced Jin was generally his high adaptability. He could display three completely different attitudes regarding the same person and the same matter at different times. He could switch from sincere and earnest to utterly shameless to ruthless and unfeeling.
When Apple had expressed that she was willing to enter showbiz previously, this Boss Jin had personally led his team to express his sincerity in a number of visits to her place. It was such an incomparably earnest love of talent which had 'hoodwinked' the inexperienced little Miss Apple under his wing, signing a five year contract in a single go.
What had happened afterwards seemed to have perfectly corroborated the evaluation of him that the industry had. Now, he had already revealed his second side to Apple without trying to hide it in the slightest-that utterly shameless side.
Watching Apple silently leave his office, just having been earnestly trying to appeal to her emotions by throwing out empty promises, a hint of ruthlessness flashed through Jin Datang's slightly narrowed eyes.
After Apple and her chubby female assistant had left the building, Jin Datang called in the agent the agency had placed in charge of Apple as well as a few of his most trusted subordinates for a meeting.
"How many commercial performances does she still have left now?" Jin Datang asked the agent.
"Seventeen. They're scheduled for the rest of this month as well as the next. Also, there're still a few television and radio stations whose programmes we're preparing to put her on. I'm currently in negotiations on this," The agent who was wearing a leopard print shirt replied.
"Stop everything regarding the programmes. Then, after those commercial performances we've agreed to are over, stop accepting any new ones for the time being," Jin Datang made a slashing downward motion with his hand before continuing, "Crush her a little. Young girls who get too popular too quickly won't know what's good for them if they aren't crushed a little."
When Apple had previously refused to stir up the rumours, clearing the air on her own accord, she had already caused Jin Datang to feel vexed. Still, considering her profitability, he had not been too calculating about that.
This time, everyone was rather taken aback by Jin Datang's very determined attitude.
"But, Boss, she's actually still able to earn the company lots now. Especially riding on this recent wave of popularity, where invitations have virtually been coming in non-stop for her…because of that, don't you think you should consider again, or ease things first?" The agent hesitated for a while before tentatively giving his opinion.
"I'm clearer on this than you are. It's precisely because of this that I'm going to exert pressure on her immediately. She could actually be even more popular, even more valuable, even without us having to spend too much on promoting her."
At this point, Jin Datang's gaze swept somewhat triumphantly across the room before he said, "Wanting us Tianle to promote her, with what she has, perhaps we could indeed succeed. Still, however much money and effort we put in, it still might not be equivalent to half of if we crush her a little now. Do you guys understand?"
"She just needs that little boy of Rebirth behind her, not requiring too much from us. This is precisely why I regarded her so highly at the start. So long as Apple signed the contract, the profits that would come would then be limitless with minimal investment."
Everyone here was certainly clear on what Jin Datang meant. The current Apple had actually already reached that state of limitless profits with minimal investment that he spoke of. It could virtually be said that she was just earning money for the agency based on her relationship with Rebirth. Meanwhile, the agency had spent extremely little on her, basically having consisted just of the production fees for a few songs as well as opening the way for her with their connections.
Now, Jin Datang felt that temporarily exerting some pressure on Apple and crushing her a little, whilst leading to some short term loss in profits, would only mean greater profit in the long term.
"It won't be long. Just see for yourselves," A highly confident Jin Datang said.
"Boss, you…you're so certain? How is that so? I'm afraid, what if…."
After all, their decision would stifle a free income source of the agency. Also, Apple was currently surging in popularity due to Rebirth. If this damaged their foundations, if Apple stubbornly refused to cooperate, if that little boy Jin Datang spoke of changed his mind…
Having considered all these, the agency's rather more experienced Deputy CEO voiced his doubts.
Squinting, Jin Datang was not angered as he instead triumphantly asked, "Have you all watched the recording of Rebirth's life performance?"
Everyone said that they had.
One who believed that he understood Jin Datang's meaning said, "I saw someone saying on the internet that the final two sentences by Rebirth's lead singer were likely meant for Apple, who is the female lead of that story."
"So, I understand what Boss means. Since he likes Apple so much, if Apple's development isn't smooth, he'll definitely help her without question. At that time, let alone two songs, even getting them to produce a whole, complete album would probably also be possible. "
It was Fu Cheng whom he was speaking of.
"It's not Apple. It's not Apple that kid likes. This is very easy to tell. The one whose words really count in that band actually isn't that main singer," Jin Datang denied before saying definitively, "Still, the second part of what you said is basically right. Are you people really unable to tell?"
Jin Datang's inscrutable words left everyone present shaking their heads.
As if his exceptional intelligence had once again been proven, Jin Datang laughed a few times before saying, "It's the one behind him, the one who stayed behind on stage to sing the birthday song. Couldn't you tell? When he was together with the other four, he had the feeling of an adult leading along four kids. So, he is Rebirth's real mainstay, his words holding all the weight there."
"Also, Apple's birthday is just around the corner, right?"
"Yes, at the end of June," The agent replied.
"I can't be sure whether this little boy likes Apple. Still, I can say for sure that he is the one truly standing behind Apple, the one in Rebirth who is closest to her, her foundation in the band," Jin Datang said.
"It seems like it's Apple who likes him. She mentioned it in that statement of hers, and I also privately came to understand it before," The agent continued supporting Jin Datang's words.
"That's possible. Anyway, one thing's for sure, which is that that little boy dotes on Apple a lot," Jin Datang smiled, "Back then, for Apple, he could give all Rebirth's five songs in a single go without asking for any money at all. Now, he definitely won't hesitate just for the copyrights of these two songs. In the future, there's also no way he'll be petty on how many songs he takes out, how much support he gives. Understand?"
"Little artistic youths like these with a little bit of talent who like acting high and above-it-all-I've seen far too many of them. While they appear had to deal with, in truth, so long as you capture their weak points, you'll be able to manipulate them however you want. Apple is that little boy's weak point," Jin Datang finally explained.
"So, all we've got to do is grasp Apple and convince her," The agent substantiated.
"If we can't convince her, we can just crush her. Crushing Apple is actually basically for that little boy of Rebirth to see. When he himself feels crushed and can't take it any longer, that's when we'd be able to manipulate him however we want," The Deputy CEO excitedly continued.
"That's how it is! So, that's what we're doing," Jin Datang ended the discussion here.
Uncle Xu currently still didn't know that he was being viewed as a 'little artistic youth with a little bit of talent who likes acting high and above-it-all', one who could be easily be manipulated as others liked. He also didn't know that those people were preparing to use Apple to make him docile.
Manipulating him just like that? Uncle wasn't made of rubber.
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