Chapter 105: Chapter 104: Pillow Talk
"Long live the boss!"
"Cheers!"
The four of them clinked their glasses together hard. The private room, filled with the spicy aroma of hot pot, was overflowing with joy.
Before they started eating, Jiang Xia tied an apron on his girlfriend. It would be a shame if her beautiful dress got stained.
Wang Ming watched the loving couple, feeling a pang of envy.
He glanced at Shen Ying beside him, wanting to muster the courage to tie an apron for her too, but he didn’t have the nerve.
He picked up a slice of beef tripe, swished it in the hot pot, and silently counted to ten. Then he fished it out and mixed it into his dipping sauce.
"Old Jiang, you’re saying we’ll start work again on July 1st, right?"
"That’s right."
Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Once it airs on TV, the hype for *Cat and Mouse* will explode. Shen Ying, you’ll need to be on the lookout. We might have a lot of companies trying to contact us soon."
’He was completely confident in this classic masterpiece from his past life. After all, who could turn down an episode of *Cat and Mouse*?’
"They already have." Shen Ying wiped her mouth with a tissue and proceeded to report the latest figures.
"For the last two weeks, the kids’ channel has been promoting *Cat and Mouse* every day before 7 PM. It’s safe to say they’ve really whetted the audience’s appetite. The online buzz is growing, and right now, we have four regional TV stations and one online video platform that want to acquire the broadcasting rights."
"Don’t rush to turn them down. Let’s stay in touch for now and see how serious they are."
Jiang Xia chuckled and clinked glasses with Wang Ming again. "The first-run broadcasting rights are exclusive to Yu Du TV Station. That’s written in black and white in the contract. We can’t sell *Cat and Mouse* to other platforms during the broadcast period. But there’s a lot more room to maneuver with the second and third runs."
He ate a strip of duck intestine and said, "We can negotiate with any company. As long as their offer is generous enough, we can sell the broadcasting rights for the entire first season of *Cat and Mouse*!"
"So how much money could we make?" Wang Ming asked naively.
"We sold the 12-episode package of *Cat and Mouse* to Yu Du TV Station for an average of 4,000 per episode, totaling 48,000," Jiang Xia said casually.
Normally, this would be confidential company information that he wouldn’t share with an employee, but Wang Ming’s mother had been with them throughout the contract negotiations.
Even if Aunt Li was professional enough not to tell her son, Jiang Xia planned to groom Wang Ming to be his right-hand man, so there was no need to keep it from him. There would be plenty of opportunities for him to handle negotiations in the future.
As for Shen Ying, she was one of the company’s founding members, in charge of general affairs and operations. All related contracts and documents would be entrusted to her eventually, so there was no reason to hide it from her either.
"Only 48,000? That’s it?" Wang Ming was crestfallen. He’d thought making one cartoon could quickly earn them hundreds of thousands.
"Not a lot?"
Shen Ying shot him a scornful look. "We made 48,000 from *one* TV station. But let me tell you, there are thousands of TV stations in this country. If we only count the provincial and municipal stations with the widest reach, that’s still several hundred. Even if we only sign with a fraction of them, Wang Ming, you do the math. How much money is that?"
"Holy shit! We could easily rake in millions?" Wang Ming’s eyes widened, and his breathing grew heavy.
’Who would have thought their little four-person, ramshackle operation could actually make this much money?’
"And that’s not all. There are the popular online platforms. If we can sign a revenue-sharing deal based on traffic, with how developed the internet is becoming, the future profits will be a continuous stream. On top of that, there’s IP adaptation, rights for derivative works, merchandise production, and so on. That’s all money. Tell me, if a kid sees a *Cat and Mouse* toy in a store, are they going to want to buy it or not?"
Jiang Xia just watched with a grin as Shen Ying counted on her fingers, explaining the situation to Wang Ming. ’She’s really starting to grow into her role as Director of Operations.’
As she continued speaking, Shen Ying gradually realized something.
’So this little, broke company that didn’t even have an office actually had so much hidden potential? Should I still be planning my escape route?’
’Since I’ll just be working for someone else after graduation no matter where I go, why not settle down and work at a future corporate giant until I retire?’
"Boss, your hiring standards aren’t going to get really high in the future, are they?" Shen Ying asked suddenly, looking miserable.
"What do you mean?" Jiang Xia was taken aback.
Shen Ying sighed, her entire demeanor deflating. Staring at the bubbling red chili oil in the hot pot, she suddenly lost her appetite.
"I didn’t do well on my exams. If I’m unlucky, I might not even get into a second-tier college. If you make the hiring requirements too high, won’t I not even be qualified to get a permanent position?"
Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan exchanged a knowing glance. ’What was it he said before?’
"Yanwan! Lady Boss! How about you whisper some sweet nothings to the boss? Get him to make a little exception and hire me on permanently. Then I’ll work my butt off and I promise I’ll never leave!"
Shen Ying scurried over to Lin Yanwan and started massaging her legs and feet, a picture of pure sycophancy.
’After all, if she officially joined the company now, what would it matter if she went to a second-tier, first-tier, third-tier, or vocational college? In the future, even top graduates from Ivy League-level universities would have to work under her!’
Lin Yanwan blushed slightly. ’What does she mean, sweet nothings? That was in our past life. We haven’t even slept together in this one.’
Still, she turned to Jiang Xia with a questioning look, making sure to give him plenty of face in front of the others.
Jiang Xia felt a wave of satisfaction. ’If every employee were this good at being a wingman, I’d fast-forward to the second half of the year and start having kids with my wife.’
He smiled faintly. "Your probationary period will automatically transition to a permanent position. As long as you don’t decide to leave, you can stay with the company for as long as you want."
"Really?"
"Do I have any reason to lie to you about something like this?" he said, exasperated.
"That’s great!"
Shen Ying immediately jumped for joy and broke into some sort of bizarre, unidentifiable dance right in front of everyone. It was so wild you couldn’t help but laugh.
Watching how happy she was, Wang Ming felt a complicated mix of emotions. ’I spent all that time trying to comfort her and got nowhere, but this guy wins her over with just a few words?’
’Is this... the power of money?’
"But let’s get one thing straight," Jiang Xia added. "Qitian Animation Company is going to get bigger and stronger. Your professional skills have to keep pace. If you don’t know something, you learn. If you don’t understand something, you ask. Got it?"
"No problem! I’m a fast learner when it comes to anything but studying!"
The feast was winding down.
They had all eaten their fill. Unlike last time, however, Jiang Xia hadn’t gone drink for drink with Wang Ming. He was only slightly tipsy, not drunk.
After paying the bill, the four of them stood on the neon-lit sidewalk, reeking of hot pot. Across the street, the caterwauling strains of someone screeching the lyrics to "Love You Even if I Die" drifted out of a KTV.
An idea struck Jiang Xia, and he looked at the others.
"Hey, how about we go sing?"
...
(Stayed up all night and all morning to write just this little bit. This kid can’t take it anymore. I’ll write more this afternoon, just gonna write as much as I can today!)
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