Chapter 008 You're quite wicked
Liu Shiqing waved his hand, "This is also a lesson for us. Trustworthy people are those whom we know best. Even if strangers are extremely close to us, they end up being empty in the end. Okay, let's not discuss this issue. The most important thing now is to figure out how to reassure them."
Li Ziran said, "If it were before today, I could have guaranteed that Tingting and Fujia would never do such harm to others. However, their behavior today disappointed me. Liu Shiqing, since they are asking for signature rights, let's differentiate the primary and secondary roles when signing. You are the creator, and they can be given the title of assistants."
"This is not enough. They should also promise that no matter what economic benefits this song gets, they cannot enjoy any material or monetary rewards. They must give them to you without touching them. Moreover, we can't let them sign without earning anything. If this song is selected as the theme song for the Fog City Olympics, they should each pay 100,000 yuan as a signature fee. Also, they must assure us that they will respect the reality whenever they talk about this song and honestly admit that you are the creator, and they are only assistants; they can't overshadow the host... " Zhang Songsheng secretly swears, saying a big list of conditions in an uninterrupted flow.
Liu Shiqing found it somewhat amusing, "Songsheng, with so many conditions, how can you expect me to ask outrightly?"
Zhang Songsheng bluntly said, "You don't have the guts, but isn't that why I'm here? I am bold enough to tell them. If they disagree, we will simply drop it. We won't publish the song in Fog City. Instead, we will post it online for people to download freely. At that point, their opportunistic scheme will fail entirely, which will frustrate these two ambiguous women."
Li Ziran resentfully said, "Zhang Songsheng, why are you talking like this? Tingting and Fujia have only been slightly too demanding. How did they become indecent?"
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Liu Shiqing quickly played the peacemaker, "Okay, let's settle it this way. Let's just follow what Songsheng says. But 100,000 per person is too cheap for them, it should at least be 500,000, right?"
Liu Shiqing was not just throwing out a high price. He distinctly remembered watching a Southern Satellite TV variety show in his previous life, which invited people from various music companies or people from the entertainment industry to be guests. They auctioned off some original songs on the spot, and the auction results determined the ownership of the original songs. Liu Shiqing very clearly remembered that for most of the songs, it was very hard to be auctioned off at 2 or 3 hundred thousand, which was extremely rare. The highest record was just over 500,000. In other words, as the original creator of the songs, one could only get just over 500,000. The other profits were not related to him at all.
Fully aware of the future influence of "Beautiful Galaxy," Liu Shiqing simply doubled the highest transaction price and shared the signature rights with Wang Fujia and Gao Tingting. By doing so, not only can he get a million funds in advance, but it also won't affect the future economic benefits generated because of this song. After all, even if "Beautiful Galaxy" is successfully selected as the opening theme song for the Fog City Olympics, the Olympic Organizing Committee will only give Liu Shiqing 20,000 pounds as a reward. Compared with 1 million Huaxia Currency, it's quite less, and it won't affect that 20,000 pounds reward. Such a deal, with profits and no loss, would be strange if he didn't take it.
Zhang Songsheng stared at Liu Shiqing in astonishment, "Damn, I thought I was bad enough, but there's someone worse than me here. Shiqing, hitting such girls with such a heavy hand, be careful you won't find a wife in the future."
Liu Shiqing laughed, "Go away and stop acting like you're superior to me. Songsheng, you do it. Speak to them, the conditions are just what you said, a hundred thousand Huaxia Currency signature fee per person, plus a number of clauses. Oh, make it clear to them that not only do we have to add their names when we sign, but we also have to add yours and the class leader's names. Your names should be in front of theirs. Aren't they seeking signature rights? I have to annoy them to death."
Although that's what he said, Liu Shiqing still built a defense in his heart against Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia's demands. Everything about the Signal Receiver should never be revealed to anyone. This time it's just about a song, and people are already scrambling to divide the profits. If more was leaked, wouldn't he be devoured until there's nothing left of him?
Of course, if the conditions are suitable, Liu Shiqing wouldn't mind doing deeper work on the Signal Receiver. However, the core benefits of this kind of work must be firmly controlled within his hands. Only in this way can the secret of the Signal Receiver be best kept.
Zhang Songsheng chuckled, "You're a wicked one. I like it."
Li Ziran hurriedly said, "Liu Shiqing, is this appropriate? Zhang Songsheng and I didn't contribute anything, did we?"
Liu Shiqing smiled and said, "Isn't it just a song? If it really becomes the theme song of the Fog City Olympics, we will have to go to Fog City to watch the opening ceremony. How lonely it would be for me to go alone. It's a good opportunity to invite you two to accompany me."
Li Ziran tried to decline, but Zhang Songsheng bluntly said, "Mr. Class Leader, don't be shy with Shiqing, take advantage of his generosity. I'm going to negotiate with those two women, you wait for my good news."
Zhang Songsheng opened the balcony door and excitedly rushed into the living room.
Li Ziran looked at Liu Shiqing with some embarrassment, "I messed up today, Shiqing, don't resent me."
Liu Shiqing laughed, "Mr. Class leader, don't worry. If I hold a grudge against you for such a small thing, Songsheng would go to war with me. But remember, if I need your help in the future, you better keep your eyes open and help me out, rather than leading the wolves into the house and leaving me empty-handed."
Li Ziran smiled and spat, "If the old class leader knew you were misusing idioms like this, he would pull you by your ear into his office and teach you a good lesson."
After Liu Shiqing and Li Ziran chatted for a while, Zhang Songsheng came over, "Mr. Class Leader, your two friends are really rich. I suggested that they each pay five hundred thousand as signature fees, and they agreed without even blinking. Damn, there're so many rich people in the world."
Liu Shiqing laughed, "Your family is not bad either, your dad runs a food factory, you are part of the wealthy young generation. Unlike me, a worker's son, poor as dirt!"
"I despise you twelve times over." Zhang Songsheng held up his middle finger at Liu Shiqing, "Keep playing the victim here. If the song you dreamed of gets selected, you'll become instantly a millionaire. Then dare to call me a nouveau riche, you'd be the real nouveau riche."
Liu Shiqing, Zhang Songsheng, and Li Ziran returned to the living room. Liu Shiqing, Gao Tingting, and Wang Fujia signed an agreement, detailing the agreed upon terms. Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia, on the one hand, were from very well-off families and, on the other, were unwilling to miss this opportunity. Therefore, they readily signed their names on the agreement and even stamped their handprints.
Afterward, things became simple. Liu Shiqing hummed "Beautiful Galaxy" a few times, and Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia devoted themselves to recording and organizing the music score.
Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia worked until 9 p.m., interpreted and arranged "Beautiful Galaxy". They each played it on a violin and an Erhu. These two high school girls showed some talent, capturing and expressing the essence of "Beautiful Galaxy", their version was much more pleasant than Liu Shiqing's humming anyway. However, it was considerably inferior to the original. Listening to the original was like wandering in the Milky Way, while listening to the interpreted version was like doggy-paddling in a shallow ditch.
The five of them, found an internet cafe and in front of Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia, Liu Shiqing uploaded the music score signed by the two girls to the Fog City Olympic Organizing Committee's mailbox.
As they were leaving the internet cafe, Gao Tingting and Wang Fujia reached out their hands towards Liu Shiqing, "Shiqing, if there's another opportunity to collaborate in the future, please call us."
Liu Shiqing shook each girl's hand, laughing, "Sure, if I dream up another great song, I'll definitely call you."
Gao Tingting, Wang Fujia, and Li Ziran got into a taxi and disappeared. Zhang Songsheng spat furiously at the tail lights of the taxi, "Bleh! What's this all about!"
Liu Shiqing threw his arm around Zhang Songsheng's shoulder, "Alright, I, as the Emperor, am not in a rush, what's the rush for you, a loyal eunuch? Let's go, I'll cook some noodles for you at my place."