Chapter 20

Out of professionalism, Chen Rong listened to Song Jixing's requests with a smile.

Chen Rong did not agree with Song Jixing's desire for two days off per week!

One should know that going half a year without breaks is commonplace in the entertainment industry. When shooting outdoor locations or shuffling between commercial engagements, artists can spend months in the mountains or working nonstop. Most entertainers implicitly accept this.

More booked jobs means more money. Fame is not lasting, earning more money is the truth.

Competition in the entertainment industry is intense, and there are many rising stars that can eclipse you at any moment, causing you to suddenly lose popularity. Those artists who suddenly catch fire will seize opportunities to increase their exposure and earn more money.

Previously, because Song Jixing was studying at a top institution, her worth was considered higher than actors without a high school diploma. Plus, she had classes and could only take more jobs during winter and summer breaks, so the company let her be. But now things are different.

Song Jixing will graduate soon and have fewer classes! Moreover, she is red hot again!

Chen Rong felt that the young girl was naive for asking for weekends off after just entering society, but it was understandable. However, it is not very suitable. Let alone entertainers, many other industries don't have weekends off either.

While it can be postponed, it is completely different work concept.

Even more outrageous than asking for weekends off is wanting yearlong contracts! Signing these contracts is like letting a cooked duck fly away!

There are many people who can sing and dance, and many who are good looking, but few who can break world marathon records.

The reason Chen Rong can sit here and discuss with Song Jixing is because of Song Jixing's unique value. Song Jixing has something that others cannot replace!

Chen Rong is a businesswoman and will naturally not miss out on a valuable commodity.

"Little Song, I can't disagree to what you proposed, but you have to consider the company's operating costs. Every resource the company has pushed to you requires a lot of manpower and resources. During an artist's rising period, asking for a lot of time off is not reasonable, and yearlong contracts are even more unreasonable..." Chen Rong patiently explained, hoping Song Jixing understands how difficult it is to obtain resources from the company.

Although Song Jixing is still a young girl in college, she is no novice in the workplace. She will not shrink back when rejected by others.

Running a company is not charity work. Although Song Jixing did not contribute much in the past, she still earned the company a lot of money. She only got a small cut while the company got the lion's share.

When proposing a cooperation, you need to demonstrate your own capabilities and worth. It is a two-way process. Exploitation is commonplace in this industry. Many companies try to tie artists down for ten years if they could.

While Song Jixing feels she did not contribute much and had a lot of free time, in her memory of attending college these past years, apart from staying at school from Monday to Friday for classes, she rushed to commercial engagements almost every weekend and even worked nonstop through the holidays.

Compared to others' packed schedules, hers looked very empty and lame.

If not for this accident, she would not have considered renewing her contract and continuing as an artist.

Her senior brothers and sisters are all adults now and do not need her to take care of them anymore. She still wants to be her own person.

Song Jixing does not want a 5-year contract. With the unexpired contract, that would be over 6 years. She knows the company wants to make use of this opportunity to tie her down for as long as possible, likely 5 years or more.

To handle this cooperation properly, she has to break through their ceiling first before they will agree to open a window for her.

Song Jixing politely said, "President Chen, the two-day weekend is a provision in our country's labor laws. I said the vacation days can be postponed. I feel this request is not excessive. As for yearlong contracts, it is not that I want to jump ship, but that someday in the future when I want to retire from the industry, I can do so at any time without worrying about contractual obligations. President Chen, if you do not believe me, I can sign another contract promising that after retirement, I will not make a comeback or jump ship. Cooperation with the company these past years has been very pleasant. If you can agree to these requests of mine, we can continue cooperating. If President Chen insists on this, then I can only express regret."

Whether it was the dozens-years-old Song Jixing or the now two hundred-years old Song Jixing, she really enjoyed this line of work. There was a lot of slack time and no need to clock in and out every day. The base pay was high too. Even if she switched careers, with the skills learned over these two hundred years and her spirit energy, she can do other things too.

She was lazy and had the personality to lie flat.

Changing jobs is troublesome, but not changing is fine too.

Chen Rong had assumed Song Jixing would leverage her current popularity to negotiate for more pay and resource share, not bring up labor laws with her.

She wants weekends off and work 9 to 5? Like a real job?

To tell the truth, artists who get vacations and time off are commonplace in the industry. Plus, Song Jixing said the vacation days can be postponed when there is work. The request was really not excessive.

But the only thing Chen Rong cared about was the contract duration issue!

Entertainers with yearlong contracts are unheard of. The risk of artists jumping ship is too big for companies!

No one would let a money tree they cultivated go so easily!

She wanted to sign 6 years this time. The longer the better.

The two continued bargaining over the contract duration issue again.

In the end, they came to an agreement where Song Jixing will first sign a 3-year contract to commit to normal cooperation with Lan Ying for 3 years. After that, it will change to yearlong contracts. Additionally, Song Jixing must sign another contract promising that in the 3 years after and for 6 years she will only retire from the industry and not jump ship to another company, otherwise she will owe Lan Ying a penalty around 80 million RMB. Chen Rong raised Song Jixing's base pay to 30k RMB and they will split revenue 55% for the company, 45% for Song Jixing. Additionally, to prevent Song Jixing from slacking too much in picking jobs, Chen Rong made Song Jixing sign an agreement outlining cooperation on a yearly basis - Song Jixing must make at least 10 million RMB a year for the company from jobs. If Song Jixing does not meet this amount in a year she will still have to pay a proportional penalty.

Song Jixing signed very happily! She did not care about the penalty fees. She will not consider jumping ship since Lan Ying treats her well.

Also, earning 10 million a year will not be an issue for her. If she really cannot hit the target, she will consider participating in more competitions to attract endorsements from brands. This is a very common tactic in the industry! Brands will find champion athletes to endorse sports brands!

If she cannot hit 10 million from a marathon, Song Jixing can participate in more events domestically and overseas as an amateur all-rounder. Brands will definitely come looking for her.

After signing the contracts, Chen Rong and Song Jixing shook hands happily.

Chen Rong now sees Song Jixing as the future face of her company. She is very satisfied with Song Jixing however she looks at her!

Song Jixing is also very satisfied with her new 30k base pay!

Salaries will be paid soon! She will have money to buy things for her senior brothers and sisters!

Chen Rong: "Little Song, want to eat a meal together? Tell me what you like to eat and I'll make reservations!"

Faced with Chen Rong's enthusiastic invitation, Song Jixing politely declined: "No need, I plan to go home and cook. I still have things to do in the afternoon."

Chen Rong nods. Talented people have their own hobbies, she understands things like preferring to go home and cook your own meals.

"Alright, then next time I'll treat you to a meal! For subsequent jobs, continue working with Xu Kai. If anything comes up during work trips that troubles you, feel free to come to me anytime, even if just to chat. This is my personal number." Chen Rong personally took a name card out from the card holder behind her desk.

Xu Kai, who had been like a background prop the entire time, twitched his eyelids and finally reacted.

Song Jixing took the card with both hands and glanced at it before putting it in her pocket. Right as she put the card into her pocket, Song Jixing suddenly felt a burning sensation in her palm.

Hotter than before!

Luckily the contract discussion had concluded and she could slip away now.

Under Chen Rong's reluctant gaze, Song Jixing swiftly left the office.

Xu Kai, having stuck by her side for so long, finally found an opportunity to speak up. "Sister Song, help cooperate for the company's promotions, how about it!"

Given Song Jixing's elevation in status now, Xu Kai swiftly changed how he addressed her. Although Song Jixing is younger than him, it is very common in entertainment circles to address artists as sister or teacher.

Xu Kai felt addressing her as teacher seemed too old-fashioned, so he directly called Song Jixing sister, despite being over a dozen years older than her.

Song Jixing did not feel Xu Kai's form of address was wrong. He turned his head and asked, "Cooperate with what?"

"It's like this - you first cooperate on Weibo! Log into your own Weibo account and indicate your identity. Your popularity is so high right now that the company will arrange for some artists to help retweet you later..."