Li Qian casually found a decent-looking teahouse on the street and walked in, wearing earphones to listen to music while occasionally turning his head to pay attention to the movements at the entrance.
About half an hour later, Li Jinlong pushed open the door and walked in.
Li Qian took off his headphones and stood up with a smile, waving at him.
Li Jinlong walked over with big strides, saw Li Qian stretch out his hand, he quickly stretched out both hands, grasped Li Qian's hand and shook it firmly, saying directly: "Qian Shao, long time no see, I've come to join you."
Li Qian smiled and shook hands with him, saying: "Let's sit down and talk."
The two sat down separately, and the waiter came over. Li Qian asked about Li Jindong's taste, then ordered a pot of boiled Pu'er tea. Only then did he smile at Li Jindong and ask: "Isn't it a bit too impulsive? Huage is after all a big company, and you're a producer with a bright future ahead of you. My studio is just being set up, to be honest, if you came here, it would just be to help me supervise the decoration, which would be a waste of your talent."
Li Jinlong smiled and said frankly, "Huage just adjusted my salary not long ago, and now I can also get a share of the album's profits. Although it's just a small amount, it's still a share, right? So, to be honest, being able to make it this far in Huage with my own abilities, I should be content and not think about jumping ship or quitting. But..."
Just then the waiter came to serve tea, and he paused until the waiter had poured a cup for each of them and walked away before continuing: "But I know myself, when I was young I didn't understand things, I thought I was very talented, but after being in the circle for so many years, especially after seeing your humble talent, I thoroughly understood that my musical attainments are not high at all. Even if I continue to be a producer, it's just going through the motions, can't achieve anything, on the contrary...I think I'm still capable of handling some daily chores."
"You let me take charge, make decisions, and set directions, I'm not good at it, at least I'm mediocre, can't do anything outstanding. But whether it's handling daily chores or doing albums, running errands and other trivial tasks, I have some skills in all of them, and also have some connections in the industry. So I think, the most suitable job for me is to find a genius like you, Jian Shao, to be your assistant. To put it bluntly, I now think my position should be as someone's deputy. Hehe, coincidentally, your studio is about to open, and I'm thinking of coming over to be your assistant or something."
"With you here, the future of the studio is bound to be bright and prosperous. My little thoughts can't escape your notice either. My advantage over others is that I got to know you relatively early on, so I'm taking the liberty of coming over to reserve a spot for myself. Hopefully, in the future, I'll get to follow in your footsteps and enjoy the benefits. We've known each other for quite some time now, and we've had several dealings with each other. While I don't dare make any guarantees about other things, I do guarantee that as long as it's a task you entrust me with, I'll put my heart into it 100%!"
He didn't drink tea either, just staring at Li Qian.
Li Qian put down his teacup, smiled and said: "My studio hasn't even opened yet, but I've already poached Huage's top general... won't that seem a bit too aggressive?"
As soon as he said this, a hint of disappointment flashed across Li Jinlong's face. However, he quickly put on a smile and self-deprecatingly said: "Qian Shao is joking, I've been in the industry for over a decade and only just became a second-tier producer, still relying on Qian Shao's luck, taking advantage of the huge sales of 'Sisters Stand Up' to get ahead... really, it's laughable."
Li Qian smiled and his hand unconsciously swirled the tea cup, just as Li Jindong's heart was sinking, he suddenly asked: "Resigned?"
Li Jinlong was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded, "I've already resigned."
Li Qian nodded, swirled his tea cup for a moment, then said: "Alright, let's get started!"
Li Jinlong was stunned again upon hearing this, and then a look of surprise flashed across his face as he stared at Li Qian in astonishment.
But then, Li Qian thought for a moment and said: "As for my studio, although the place has been bought and is not small, it was not originally intended to be so large. In that case, administrative matters will be handled by my agent Qi Jie, and music-related matters will be led by you. What do you think?"
Li Jinlong nodded immediately, with an excited look on his face. "Thank you for your trust, Xian Shao. Don't worry, I'll put aside my pride and use 100% of my strength. If I have 10 points of energy, I won't give you 9!"
Li Qian smiled and nodded, saying "okay", then asked: "You have a non-compete agreement with Huage, right?"
Li Jinlong nodded upon hearing this and said helplessly: "One year! Within one year, you are not allowed to engage in any work related to music."
Li Qian nodded.
Non-compete agreements are not unique to the music industry, they exist in many industries, especially those with strong technical and professional aspects. Generally speaking, a non-compete agreement stipulates that if you leave your job before fulfilling your contractual obligations, you will not be allowed to work for a competitor or engage in similar business activities within a certain period of time after leaving the company, in order to prevent you from revealing trade secrets and competing against your former employer.
After some thought, Li Qian said: "Well, since you just quit your job, take a break at home first and make some connections in the circle. Help me find a few people with good qualifications, such as singers or musicians with high standards, especially composers. I know there are many underground composers in this circle who haven't signed with any company and can't get big projects, so they usually do some secondary work from record companies. To be honest, they do a lot but don't earn much money. Help me pay attention to this and contact a few people with good levels, especially those who are good at film and television soundtracks."
Upon hearing the first part, Li Jinlong merely nodded with sparkling eyes, but upon hearing the last part, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in an instant, "Film and television music? Does our studio have connections? Will we be able to get jobs in this field in the future?"
Li Qian smiled and said lightly: "I don't dare to be sure, let's take it as we go, there should be some hope, let's make some preparations in advance."
Li Jinlong nodded upon hearing this and his heart suddenly became agitated.
Although they didn't have much contact, Li Qian still had some understanding of him. He knew that although Li Qian was young, he did things with a plan. If he wasn't very sure, he probably wouldn't mention it. Since he mentioned it, it basically meant that he already had at least 80-90% confidence.
Then he said with some excitement, "Qian Shao, don't worry. I've been in this circle for so many years, and although there are other things that aren't great, I know a lot of musicians and composers who can definitely pick out a few people whose level will meet your expectations!"
Li Qian nodded and then deliberately reminded: "Although there is a non-compete agreement, you shouldn't be too relaxed, you won't be idle for long. After a while, I will consider producing the next album of Wu Suo's fifth line, as the opening work of the studio, at that time, your thing will probably be just a mention."
"After a pause, he said firmly: 'At most one month, or two months at best.'"
This is equivalent to giving a definite answer, within two months, Li Jinlong can officially go to work at Li Qian's studio. Of course, before that, he needs to settle several singers, musicians and arrangers first.
But for Li Jinlong, this is already the best result.
Just thinking about the dazzling achievements Li Qian has made in the past year, Li Jindong is full of confidence in his prospects after joining Li Qian's studio.
He didn't even care that his tea had gone cold, and after drinking a few mouthfuls, he chatted with Li Qian for a few more sentences. When he stood up to leave, even his walk seemed to have a bit of a swagger to it.
But when he left, Li Qian sat in the teahouse for a while and felt awkward. He had spent a lot of money to buy such a large place and decorate it just to open his own studio. Before doing so, he knew that he would soon leave his single-practice days behind and become his own boss. He thought he was mentally prepared, but Li Jinlong's sudden appearance woke him up.
The sparrow is small, yet it must have all its vital organs.
With all five organs complete, it's obviously impossible to continue being as casual as before. Everything will have to be established with rules and regulations from now on.
To be honest, in both his past and present lives, Li Qian disliked rules and regulations the most.
What time does the work start? What time does the work end? How many administrative staff are needed to be recruited in the workshop? What do they do respectively? How much should their salary be set at? What about bonuses and incentive systems, how should they be established? Normally, how should this company be managed? Moreover, after the studio is established, it will definitely have to take on external projects. What kind of projects should it take on? How can a rough pricing range be given externally? After musicians, singers, and composers are signed in, how should they be managed?
And so on and so forth.
All sorts of things are mixed together, and Li Qian originally thought it was still far away. He could wait until the decoration was completed, a temporary team was set up in the studio, and then slowly start doing and accumulating bit by bit. But now, he suddenly realized that it wasn't right. Administrative personnel can be hired after the business is opened, and musicians can be contacted later. At present, with fewer businesses to handle, simply selling songs and making music like before, one person can still manage. However, some things must be done in advance, or they will be abandoned. No matter how much he dislikes it, he must start considering and doing them now.
But unexpectedly, Li Qian from his previous life was always working alone from start to finish, whether it was when he first started as an underground singer and musician, or later on when he began taking on film and television soundtracks, and even later when he started filming TV dramas. He was always in a solo mode, and didn't have his own agent until after he had filmed several TV dramas. So at this time, letting him handle these things himself really left him feeling somewhat at a loss.
Well, basically speaking, once he leaves the music itself, or the production of movies and TV dramas, he becomes an outsider, a complete novice.
He sat in the teahouse for another half day, thinking back and forth for half a day. In the end, he could only sigh, okay, let's go find Qijie.
It's better to let Qijie worry about these things.
Although she is an amateur in music, after all, she has formally worked in a unit and has read many professional-level large-scale works in the past six months. In this kind of thing, she must be more experienced than herself and also have more speaking rights.
He paid the bill and drove straight to Liao's home.
Ziqing currently has no residence in Shuntian Prefecture and is temporarily staying at Liao's house.
When Li Qian arrived, Liao Liao and Huang Wenjuan were just about to take Qi Jie out. Seeing Li Qian frowning, looking worried, Qi Jie asked what was wrong. But Liao Liao casually said: "What else can he do? He must be worried that school is about to start and military training is coming. He's thinking of finding an excuse to skip military training!"
Li Qian was originally looking for Qi Jie to discuss something serious, but after being persuaded by Liao Liao, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Upon careful consideration, it really is the case. Military training, what a troublesome thing! Especially since he had already gone through it in his previous life, and this time around, he was truly unwilling to suffer that fate again.
But at this time, he smiled and asked Liao Liao, "When did you come back? What are you going to do?"
Liao Liao said, "I just got back yesterday. The commercial performances aren't tiring, it's the back-and-forth flights that are exhausting. I've been running around for two days and when I got back, I slept for over ten hours and still didn't want to move. I heard He Runqing has at least twenty or thirty commercial performances a year. I really don't know how she manages to keep going!" As they spoke, she grabbed Li Qian's arm and said, "Come on, you come too! Let's go take a look at my new place!"
Li Qian was taken aback, "A house? You bought a house?"
Liao Liao smiled and said: "Not yet bought, but I heard that house is good, I want to take a look, buy it immediately!"
To put it simply, the two albums sold well one after another. Changsheng Records made a fortune, but as a singer, Liao Liao's share of the profits was also considerable. Her first album "Liao Liao" has already sold nearly five million copies so far. It is estimated that by the end of the year, it will exceed five million copies without any problem. The 10% share Liao Liao got from this album alone amounts to five million!
And this album "Tao Sheng Yi Jiou" has reportedly sold over 40 million copies, and it's expected to exceed 60 million by the end of the year. This is obviously a huge sum of money. And she doesn't have any extra expenses or major spending items for the year. She just spent less than 200,000 yuan on a Mercedes-Benz business car, so all this money has been saved up.
In today's Shuntian Prefecture, although the commodity economy has been around for many years and house prices have been rising rapidly in recent years, a single-family villa with two to three floors, 500-800 square meters, within the Fourth Ring Road, and with a good location, can be bought for around 5 million yuan. If the location is slightly off or the area is smaller, a villa can cost between 2-3 million yuan. Even if you go to the suburbs, a villa can cost less than 1 million yuan. For Liao Liao's current net worth, buying such a house would be no pressure at all, so it's only natural that he speaks with confidence.
Li Qian was helpless, and before he could say a few words, let alone bring up the things he had been considering, Liao Liao pulled him onto her business car to accompany her to look at houses.
"Anyway, I've been saving money but it's useless. I wanted to invest or buy some stocks, but people kept rejecting me! Forget it, I'll just buy a big villa and enjoy life! I want to spend my money wildly!"
A few people got into her Mercedes-Benz business car, Huang Wenjuan drove the car, Li Qian sat in the co-pilot seat, Liao Liao was a bit arrogant and shouted: "Wenjuan, let's go back to eat donkey meat fire and we'll have one serving with one serving!" He also patted Qi Jie and said: "You're going too, I'm treating you!"
As she spoke, she couldn't help but keep glancing sideways at Li Qian.
Li Qian raised an eyebrow and turned his head back to look at him, their eyes met, Li Qian smiled and asked: "Have you been listening to crosstalk recently?"
Liao Liao was stunned and suddenly kicked a foot at the back of Li Qian's chair, saying nothing.
…………
The house is really good.
Inside the East Fourth Ring, slightly north, it's very convenient to go northeast to the airport, and going south onto the Fourth Ring to the studio is even closer. Although this area isn't a commercial district, and it's still some distance from the Fourth Ring, before entering the compound, Huang Wenjuan drove around the perimeter of the compound for about one lap, discovering that the surroundings are both convenient for living and not noisy at all.
This corner, this environment, can't be picked.
The residential area has been built for over a year, and the houses are still being sold continuously. Many people have already moved in, and the surrounding construction is also well done. The villas are independent, European-style, with two and a half floors. On the third floor, you can build your own greenhouse to grow flowers or an outdoor swimming pool. If you're really rich, you can even build a helipad for your private helicopter, and no one will bother you.
Next to the villa, two large independent garages were extended, and there are also four exclusive parking spaces outside. The total building area of the house, not including the garage, is nearly 700 square meters. The asking price was only 55.8 million yuan. When the sales manager saw that the person viewing the house was the famous singer Liu Liao, he immediately said that he could consult with his boss and offer a 10% discount. If Liu Liao can move in within a year, it would be discounted to 20%. The condition is that the other party needs to mention Liu Liao's move-in during the promotion.
Of course, without authorization, others will not publicly proclaim and promote it.
Four people looked around and were all very satisfied. Just by looking at the materials, they could tell that it was very solidly built. The walls, windows, and stairs were all made with great care. What's more, Liao Liao took a liking to it at first sight.
Then, Qijie stepped forward again to take charge of haggling over prices.
But her bargaining was too ruthless, and the sales manager couldn't make a decision. In the end, the sales manager reported to his superior, who upon hearing that it was indeed Liao Liao buying the house, rushed over immediately. This time, there was no need for Qijie to haggle over prices; the other side directly gave out a shocking quote: 60% off!
A set of four-ring inner seven hundred flats villa, garage is given away, the final price is: 3.3 million!
The price has already dropped to the point where even Qi Jie feels embarrassed to haggle further!
But Liao's eyes blinked, and suddenly said to take a look at others, then let the sales manager lead, a group of people swaying and went to see two other villas for sale.
The other general manager didn't know if he was afraid that Liao Liao wouldn't buy it or what, but at the time, he made a promise on the spot. No matter which building Liao Liao chose, they would all be 60% off! If you bought two buildings, the second one could also be sold at 80% off!
This obviously hit Liao's sweet spot, but she blinked a few times, and in front of the general manager who was full of expectation, she didn't nod on the spot, only said to consider it, then pulled over Qi Jie and whispered something in her ear.
Then Liao Liao pulled Li Qian and Huang Wenjuan into the villa again, looking around east and west, leaving only Qi Jie outside.
It wasn't until the four of them finally ended their house-hunting trip and got into the business car to head back that Li Qian found out that Qi Jie had just represented Liao Liao in buying three villas in one breath!
Hearing this news, Li Qian was startled and quickly asked: "Why did you buy so many houses? Where did you get so much money?"
"Mind your own business! I'm happy to!"
***
Monday, ask for some recommendation votes! (.)