Sunday, Yao An once again skipped her morning exercise.
Jiang Jingya's body was simply too soft, like hugging a large plush toy, making her incredibly reluctant to get out of bed.
Every day's awakening was a chaotic scene.
Last night, after passing the supermarket, she bought Jiang Jingya a toothbrush. The two girls, with messy hair, brushed their teeth side-by-side in front of the mirror.
When squeezing toothpaste, Jiang Jingya would mischievously smear it on Yao An's face, followed by another round of noisy antics.
Washing their faces, putting on makeup, choosing clothes, and of course, changing their soiled underwear.
After all this, the two went to the cafeteria for breakfast, then took the subway to Xingyue Company.
Along the way, Jiang Jingya couldn't stop complaining.
She complained that Yao An was restless in her sleep, kneading and pinching, and always liked to drape her long leg over her.
Yao An also criticized her transgressions.
She had a tooth mark on her arm, which woke her up in pain in the middle of the night.
She guessed the little glutton had dreamt of eating and mistaken her arm for food.
With a score of 1-1, both sides consciously moved past the topic.
Xingyue Company is located on Pudong South Road, adjacent to Oriental Hospital, surrounded by financial buildings, a luxurious area.
After meeting Tang Qiang, he led the two to the office building where Xingyue Company is located.
Tang Qiang, in his 40s, had his hair neatly combed back, a small mustache on either side of his mouth, and despite the hot weather, he wore a formal suit without a single wrinkle.
He seemed to be a very meticulous manager.
He felt like the kind of person who always had "elegance" on his lips.
Upon seeing the two women, Tang Qiang first praised their beauty; even though he had seen many internet celebrities and stars, he was still greatly impressed by these two.
He then briefly introduced the company's situation.
Xingyue is considered a medium-to-large media company, with businesses covering internet celebrity incubation, celebrity management, IP creation, film and television live streaming, and more.
The media company is just one of its main entities; there are also entertainment companies, film and television companies... Upon reaching the 13th floor where the company is located, Tang Qiang brought two cups of coffee for them, then asked Yao An to review the contract.
After a brief look, Yao An couldn't help but frown.
"Didn't we agree I'd be an online singer? Why is this a streamer contract?"
Tang Qiang took a sip of coffee before explaining:
"It's like this, Ms. Yao An... there are two contracts. One is for a female streamer, and one is for an online singer. Nowadays, the barrier to becoming an online singer is very low, and many people are also starting to use AI for composition."
"So, if you only do covers and don't create your own IP, you basically won't earn much money."
"I originally intended to give you the online singer contract, but after seeing you just now, I changed my mind."
"Honestly, with your face, as long as you're willing to be a female streamer, and the company operates it a little, you don't have to do anything. Just sitting in the live stream room will bring in large sums of cash, faster than robbing a bank."
Yao An expressionlessly threw the contract on the table, picked up her bag, and was about to leave.
Tang Qiang quickly stopped her.
"Don't be angry, let's sit down and talk it over properly."
Yao An didn't speak, just looked at him coldly, her face clearly showing the words "You lied to me."
She was dressed in black today, and coupled with the aggressive look in her foxy eyes when she frowned, Tang Qiang quickly couldn't bear it.
"Alright, alright, please wait a moment, I'll go get the other contract."
After he left, Jiang Jingya quietly muttered.
"Actually, I think you're quite suited to be a female streamer, especially with that foxy face; you could probably charm the soul out of the top supporter."
"Pfft, I'm just a student, and I don't plan to earn money with my looks. Why would I be a female streamer?"
"Is this what they call being able to rely on looks for a living but insisting on relying on skill?"
Two minutes later, Tang Qiang returned with another contract.
Yao An carefully checked every word in the clauses, and Jiang Jingya also leaned in to help her best friend review it.
There was no basic salary, money was earned entirely through song royalties, they could use the company's public facilities, and enjoy certain resource support.
"What's this about a four-six split in revenue? Can An'an only get 60%?"
Tang Qiang looked embarrassed.
"That 40% is Yao An's."
Jiang Jingya was displeased.
"An'an sang the song, but she only gets 40%? You guys are too greedy!"
Tang Qiang explained with some helplessness:
"In business, it's not about who puts in more effort gets more money; everything depends on commercial value. The song copyright was bought by the company, and the company also has to provide operations and recording equipment."
"Yao An getting 40% is already very good, considering the company sees her as having great potential."
"If Yao An is willing to..."
Seeing her look at him and about to bring up being a streamer again, Yao An quickly stopped him.
"There's no problem with the contract, but the contract term needs to be modified."
The current contract term was five years, during which Yao An could not transfer to another company.
She couldn't freely release singles, which meant being tied to the company for five years, with a sky-high penalty for breach of contract.
"What do you want to change it to?"
Tang Qiang frowned; he was clearly a seasoned manager, but he felt like he had been led by the nose all day today.
"Just remove it."
"That's not possible. If that's the case, if you transfer to another company, the resources the company invested in you would be wasted, and this contract wouldn't have any binding force."
"Is that so?"
That rhetorical question stumped Tang Qiang.
"Actually, your original intention was just to make a quick buck from me covering the song "bishangguan." Let's not talk about investment. Honestly, for an unknown person like me, how many resources is the company willing to allocate?"
"Most likely, it's based on the revenue brought by the song. If the revenue is high, you might invest a small amount of resources. If the song's traffic is bad, you'll probably just let me fend for myself, right?"
Tang Qiang started frowning again.
"So, everyone gets what they need. I need the company's copyright to make money, and you also need my current traffic to make money. I don't want to be tied down by a contract, nor will I have any so-called loyalty to any company."
After speaking a string of words, Yao An felt a bit thirsty and took a sip of coffee.
It was so bitter.
Shanghai locals seem to prefer this kind of freshly ground coffee, but she couldn't quite accept it.
She still preferred sweeter drinks like lattes or cappuccinos.
Tang Qiang thought for a moment, then nodded helplessly.
"Alright, then I'll go negotiate with the legal department to modify it."
About twenty minutes later, he returned with another contract.
This time, the contract term was removed, but there was an additional condition: within two years, she must record at least ten cover songs for the company each year.
Before Yao An could speak, Tang Qiang quickly expressed his resolve.
"This is already the bottom line; it can't be modified, otherwise the legal department won't approve it."
Yao An said no more and directly signed her name.
Afterward, Tang Qiang gave them a brief tour of the company's facilities.
Such as the office area, live streaming rooms, lounge, cafeteria, gym, and so on.
Finally, they arrived at the recording studio to record a song.
The recording studio was occupied by a red-haired older sister, who was very beautiful and especially curvaceous.
Yao An felt that the other person looked familiar, but couldn't recall where she had seen her.
Perhaps an internet celebrity or a star? She wasn't too sure.
The person had been recording the same song for about half an hour.
Tang Qiang grew a bit impatient and said to a colleague beside him:
"Why don't we discuss with Ruoxi and let her call it a day? I have someone else waiting to record a song."
The male colleague glanced at the two beautiful girls sitting in the lounge, eating snacks and whispering, and said helplessly:
"No way, Ruoxi is just that strong-willed. She won't come out until it's perfect. Just wait."
Tang Qiang almost couldn't hold back from cursing.
Perfect? You're talking about perfection for a song that needs several days of tuning by a sound engineer before it can be released.
Today, I've really had the worst luck, running into these two difficult women.