Lin Feng lay on his back, staring at the system notification floating before him.
[Personal account has been credited with ¥1,900.00 from account ending in...]
He smiled in satisfaction and pulled up his full system screen.
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥13,233.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥13,233.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥6,857.00]
He looked at the balance.
Nowadays he was always so broke.
It was mostly because they were sponsoring Su Yue every day. He had to withdraw money to put into the Tianji Capital pool for the sponsorship.
But instead of taking out just the ¥2,500 he needed, he was taking out ¥10,000 instead.
From this, ¥2,500 would go to the sponsorship deal. The remaining ¥7,500 would go into his share of the pool.
This would contribute to increasing his ceiling for what he could gain from trading each day.
Though looking at it...
He sighed.
Today, he had only gained ¥51 from trading.
This thing was really volatile.
Well, it should be fine.
There was no issue with increasing his money pool. The increase could allow them to set something aside for their long-term investment plans.
As for the daily gain, this was just a bad day. As long as he kept increasing the money, his ceiling would keep rising. When he finally struck a good day, he'd reap the maximum benefits.
His phone buzzed.
He picked it up.
It was a message from Yu Shen.
He opened the message. It was the report on yesterday's metrics.
From Wednesday's stream, they had received 22 new investors, bringing a total of ¥61,600 in new capital.
It was almost half of the first day.
It seemed the heat was dying down a little.
Well, this was still fine too. The sponsorship was still worth it for the ¥5,000 it cost to sponsor a stream.
He wondered if he should look into sponsoring other streamers and not just Su Yue.
He exhaled.
He decided to think about that later and discuss it with Yu Shen.
He was already spending so much money on just sponsoring Su Yue. While Lin Feng himself could afford it, he didn't know if Yu Shen could.
He quickly transferred the available system balance into his personal account before putting his phone down and closing his eyes.
Allowing himself to slowly drift into sleep.
…
Lin Feng sat in his office chair.
Mengqi stood opposite him.
She placed a stack of documents on the table.
"It's done."
A smug look crossed her face.
She watched him, waiting.
She had gone all out to make contracts that were most beneficial to the talent. She couldn't wait to see his reaction.
Lin Feng picked up the documents and began reading.
Now what? she wondered.
Would he back down now? After all his talk about building an agency that didn't exploit talents?
After he saw what it cost, what would he do?
Lin Feng scanned through the pages.
His expression shifted.
Shock.
He reached for a pen.
Mengqi felt a pang of disappointment.
As expected.
He was no different.
What was the point of asking her to make the contract if he was just going to change it anyway?
"Revenue split," Lin Feng murmured. "70% to talent, 30% to agency."
He crossed something out.
"Let's make it 80-20."
Mengqi blinked.
"Contract duration, 3 years..." He tapped the pen against his chin. "Let's do 2 years instead. With mutual renewal options."
He continued reading.
"Talent retains ownership of personal brand and image... good. Social media accounts remain the talent's property... yes, that's okay too."
He nodded.
"Monthly detailed earnings reports, no hidden fees, no training debt system..."
He looked up at her.
"This is good. The agency covers training as an investment, not a loan. I like that."
He flipped to the next page.
"Working conditions. Reasonable scheduling with mandatory rest days, mental health support provisions, no controlling personal life..."
He paused.
"Let's add that the talent has full veto power on any project that makes them uncomfortable. Not just 'input.'"
He made the note.
"Termination clause. 90 days notice..."
He crossed it out.
"60 days is enough. And let's remove this penalty clause entirely. If they want to leave, they leave."
Mengqi stood frozen.
What... what is happening?
Lin Feng set down Su Yue's contract and picked up the next one.
"Now, for yours."
He scanned through it.
"Base salary, compensation, authority over training curriculum, veto power on talent treatment decisions..."
He nodded slowly.
"This is all fine."
He looked up at her.
"But I want to add something."
Mengqi couldn't speak.
"You're building this from the ground up," he said. "So I want to offer you a 20% equity stake in Xingyao Entertainment."
Her eyes went wide.
"You'll have to earn it over four years though."
He glanced back at the document.
"As for salary... since we're just starting, I can only offer you ¥10,000 a month for now."
He met her gaze.
"I know you're worth much more than that. So we can renegotiate all of this at any time after the agency begins earning money."
He pushed both contracts back across the table toward her.
"Apart from those few changes I suggested, everything was pretty much fine."
He scratched his cheek.
"We might need more staff as time goes on, so if you could help me with that... of course, it's not instant. Maybe when we start earning."
Silence.
"Mengqi?"
She didn't respond.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Her mind was spinning.
She had given him this contract believing there was no way he would accept it.
Did she also, deep down, not believe it was possible to build an agency that didn't exploit its talents?
Dammit.
She was also part of the problem.
She didn't have faith in her own beliefs at all.
What had she been doing all these years?
And yet she thought she could make a change.
Her legs gave out.
She collapsed to her knees.
"Mengqi? Mengqi!"
Lin Feng rushed around the desk toward her, concern filling his voice.