For the next ten days, Sui Si failed to contact Ke Ming.
Ke Ming's agent told him that he had accepted a variety show and had to hand in his cell phone for a completely closed and confidential recording. The artist was strictly prohibited from having any contact with the outside world during the recording period.
Ke Ming could not be contacted, so no decision could be made on the team's matters for the time being.
His agent came to Sui Si's studio in person, apologized to Sui Si repeatedly, and said that he did not communicate with Sui Si when he accepted the variety show, and did not know that such a big thing had happened to Sui Si.
"The penalty for breach of contract is too high. Teacher Ke didn't want to go in the first place, but there was really nothing we could do."
Ke Ming's agent was dejected: "It's my fault. I didn't think carefully when I accepted the offer. Mr. Ke scolded me severely. He wanted to contact you, but the production team collected the phone calls and urged us to contact him..."
The agent assured: "Teacher Ke said that if the studio is short of funds, we can always transfer as much as you want."
"There's a bottomless pit around me." Sui Si asked, "What if I can't pay it back?"
The agent was stunned: "What?"
"The studio's funding gap is too big, so we have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul, and we have to pay some compensation to the employees who left."
Sui Si crushed the cigarette in his hand and said, "If it doesn't work, Mr. Ke's cash flow may be a little tight, do you have any countermeasures?"
The agent was stumped by his question and was speechless for a long time before forcing a smile: "How could it be..."
The agent looked at Sui Si's expression carefully, cleared his throat, and dared not say anything more.
Sui Si put away the blank check brought by his agent and had someone escort him out the door.
There were actually quite a few rumors circulating in the studio these days.
Many people do not believe what Ke Ming’s agent said, and think that Ke Ming did not want to return the person, so he deliberately took on the variety show in an emergency.
The half of the people who were originally assigned to that group are now in Ke Ming's team. They are trapped at the recording site of the variety show together with , and cannot be contacted even if they want to. It is obvious that they are deliberately delaying time.
They all thought so in their hearts, but did not dare to say it in front of Sui Si, and could only discuss it secretly.
But Nie Chi followed Sui Si's instructions and, while keeping a close eye on various signs emerging in the studio, he also compiled these remarks in detail and sent them all to Sui Si's office.
…
Under normal circumstances, Sui Si would inevitably be furious if he saw some remarks. He would find out who were gossiping behind people's backs and punish them severely one by one.
But this time, seeing those rumors flying around with unknown origins, Sui Si no longer had the energy to do so.
After going through the initial chaotic period and paying all the liquidated damages, the studio has stopped being busy as before.
… It’s not just over.
In the past, the studio's practice was for Special Assistant Yu to contact for cooperation and integrate resources, so that the entire studio was in a virtuous cycle.
After the old work is finished, a new one will start at the right time. Yu Tang will personally screen the scripts and ensure one or two high-quality works every year, interspersed with appropriate variety shows, interviews and endorsements, always maintaining a stable exposure, not being too busy, and not having long gaps.
But this time, until now, no new script or collaboration has been filled in.
Not to mention new collaborations, even the variety shows in which he used to be a flying guest on regular and long-term collaborations have been shelved with various excuses after the program crew discovered that the counterparty had been replaced, and their attitude has always been ambiguous.
Sui Si's company was half-true and half-false, and the resources it sent were all small-scale production crews and third-level endorsements that Sui Si usually looked down upon.
The entire studio had no income at all, and everyone was at a loss and had nothing to do. Some even missed the chaotic days before.
Sui Si spent more and more time in the studio.
He also had nowhere to go, no programs for him to record, and the scripts that were originally in contact with him had no news recently. A few days ago, there was a rumor that someone had secretly contacted Qi Xingwen's studio behind his back.
He smoked all the time, and his throat became hoarse due to inflammation. Although he was still trying his best to maintain his appearance, his sleep quality was too poor under the pressure, and the bloodshot under his eyes would not go away, and his eyes were also showing the dark and miserable look that could not be hidden.
Sui Si wiped his face vigorously and asked Nie Chi in a hoarse voice: "Is there any company that has not been archived yet that I can contact?"
Nie Chi asked: "Does this include those who haven't paid their compensation yet?"
Sui Si: “…”
"There is nothing else." Nie Chi said, "but there is one item about cooperation in the evaluation process."
Sui Si stood up suddenly: "What?"
"Why didn't you remind me earlier?" Sui Si asked anxiously. He knew that he was not in good condition recently and was worried that it would affect the evaluation results. He tried to sit up and said, "Which company is it? I'll go there in person to see if I can speed up the process..."
"W&P." Nie Chi said, "Although we have blocked all contact information from the studio, they have not yet notified us or contacted us to formally withdraw their letter of intent."
Sui Si suddenly fell silent.
His body was a little stiff, and he opened his mouth several times but couldn't utter a word.
"Why did they block us?" Nie Chi asked, "Have you contacted them?"
Sui Si's throat moved and he frowned.
He couldn't help wanting to smoke again, so he touched the cigarette box, only to find it was empty.
…
A few days ago, Sui Si tried to contact Yu Tang.
He knew that Yu Tang must be in a bad condition now. He didn't think of asking Yu Tang to come back to help. He just wanted to ask how Yu Tang was doing and whether he was better than when he was sent to the hospital.
But he couldn't find Yu Tang.
Yu Tang changed his number. The phone that used to always be picked up after one ring now only has the repetitive sound of an unavailable number.
Sui Si couldn't contact Yu Tang, so he called the hospital and heard that Yu Tang had been discharged from the hospital by W&P for recuperation. He finally couldn't help but contact W&P.
Sui Si closed his eyes, regained his concentration, and his voice became even hoarser: "Don't worry about it... Don't worry about it for now."
He also found out recently that it was easy to get into W&P, but he didn't know how many artists and studio employees had failed inside and came out in a humiliating state.
Unable to bear the arrogant attitude of those business elites, many people in the circle would rather give up some resources than visit W&P.
If it were in the past... Under such circumstances, Sui Si would never have gone.
Sui Si lowered his head, clenched his teeth tightly, and clenched his hands at his sides anxiously.
There is really no other way.
The studio's cash flow has run out, and there are still several compensation payments that have not been made. If they are delayed for too long, they may be enforced. Even if this is ignored, he may not be able to properly pay the salaries of the studio employees next month.
If this kind of thing gets out, people will laugh their heads off.
Although he was unclear about W&P's current attitude, if there was hope for a cooperation, he would have to grit his teeth and accept it even if he had to beg for a contract.
"I'm going to W&P's headquarters." Sui Si said, "Help me prepare."
Nie Chi never asked any questions. He nodded, replaced a whole pack of cigarettes for Sui Si, and went to get the car keys.
Sui Si had become accustomed to the inhumanity of a professional manager. He sat at the table for a while, grabbed the pack of cigarettes and stuffed it into his pocket, then stood up and went to the bathroom attached to the office to wash his face.
w&p headquarters.
Today is Yu Tang’s third day at work.
Darren personally came to pick up Yu Tang and reminded him half-jokingly that he should not bring his workaholic habits with him. W&P is a formal company that fully guarantees employee benefits, and there is absolutely no tradition of exploiting its own employees.
In order to help Yu Tang understand and adapt to the work at w&p, they specially assigned two senior employees to help him familiarize himself with the entire work process.
When Jie Yutang arrived, he realized that it was totally unnecessary.
Just by looking at the partial information left by Darren before he left, Yu Tang already had a comprehensive overview of W&P's business in all directions.
He had helped out at W&P for more than half a year. In order to help Yu Tang integrate into the new environment as quickly as possible, the psychological counselor did not completely erase the previous incident when conducting suggestive therapy on him.
Yu Tang attended the company's first regular meeting of senior executives and listened quietly to everyone's speeches. He didn't have the habit of taking notes while listening, so he sorted out all the information during the break and asked Darren some targeted and concise questions about a few details that were still vague.
Darren, sitting next to him, could feel that Yu Tang was absorbing all the information he could hear at an incredible speed.
"The publicity is not fully matched." Yu Tang marked the key points in the record. "The current marketing plan, the vertical impact group, and the group that can afford to buy don't overlap enough. I roughly made a draft plan... Mr. Darren?"
"Feel sorry."
Darren laughed and said, "I was just thinking how lucky we are."
Yu Tang didn't understand what he meant immediately, so he raised his eyes and looked at him quietly.
Yu Tang didn't talk much to begin with, but after a week's rest, he spoke much more fluently than before. Especially when he talked about work, his tone was gentle and steady, his pure black eyes were warm and calm, and there was almost no abnormality in his voice.
But when it comes to normal communication, especially small talk and greetings that have little to do with work, there is still a subtle lag.
The psychological counselor specifically told Yu Tang that he could not understand complex emotions and could not give a clear enough response. The counselor believed that since this incident would not affect Yu Tang's normal work and life, there was no need for him to contact it immediately.
For Yu Tang, a pure working state where he can concentrate on his work is actually the most suitable.
"I mean, we are so lucky to have the opportunity to invite Mr. Yu to become one of us."
Darren knew this, so he patiently and slowly explained to Yu Tang: "You can work without worry and bring up any thoughts and ideas at any time. With the lessons we learned from the past, we all want to hear your opinions."
The lower-level employees in the company, the more they understand how much overall perspective and coordination ability were needed when Yu Tang easily solved the public relations crisis for W&P.
At that time, Yu Tang was only the contact person of the studio, so it was difficult for his ideas to be taken seriously immediately. The marketing department of W&P has always regretted that if they had followed Yu Tang's advice earlier, or had been bolder and directly assigned the work to Yu Tang, the company would have turned losses into profits faster, and the net profit for that year would have increased by another percentage point.
At the w&p level, there are many people with business talent. However, only under the pressure of a large amount of intensive related work, and with a long-term overview of the overall situation and central scheduling, can such talent be truly honed.
The incredibly large workload of informal studios has, by chance, given them rare talents.
Yu Tang was not used to being praised so directly. He lowered his eyes, a faint red color appeared behind his fair ears, and the corners of his lips were slightly pursed.
"Okay." Darren stopped making things difficult for him and smiled. "Mr. Yu, do you want to go to the staff cafeteria? The food today is very good. If I wasn't afraid that you wouldn't be able to adapt, I would actually give you a welcome party."
Yu Tang said softly, "No need."
When he came out of his work state, he became taciturn again.
But Yu Tang had gradually become familiar with this state. He adapted quickly and was no longer nervous. His delicate eyebrows and eyes gradually relaxed and he slowly organized his words: "Don't bother, it's fine this way... Thank you very much."
Darren nodded, took Yu Tang's computer and opened the document.
Yu Tang bent his shoulders with him, put on his coat, and walked out of the meeting room.
The few employees who had been responsible for taking care of Yu Tang in the hospital had been peeking around, and as soon as they saw him go out, they immediately surrounded him excitedly, talking to Yu Tang one after another, and took the initiative to take him to the employee cafeteria upstairs.
They all liked Yu Tang very much. If Darren had not repeatedly told them that Mr. Yu was in the recovery period and that Yu Tang should not be dragged around to join in the fun, they would have invited Yu Tang to participate in their department's social gathering a long time ago.
Yu Tang had never had such an experience before. It was very novel. He was surrounded by several people, talking nonsense, and walking towards the elevator together.
He didn't say a word, but just listened quietly to others chatting and joking, with a bright and relaxed smile gradually revealing in his eyes.
As he passed the stairs, someone suddenly spoke from behind him: "Yu Tang?!"
He was not familiar with the voice, it was very hoarse, and the surprise in it was so obvious that even he could vaguely hear it.
Yu Tang was a little curious, so he stopped and turned around to follow the sound.
…
Sui Si's chest heaved and his eyes widened in disbelief.
Sui Si's clothes were a little messy, and W&P was reminded by him and clearly withdrew the letter of intent for cooperation. He had just been turned away downstairs, and because he was unwilling to give up, he wanted to try again, but was rudely pushed out of the office.
Sui Si had never been so embarrassed before. He couldn't get into the elevator reserved for employees. He stood on the lower floor of the stairs, his eyes fixed on Yu Tang.
It is indeed Yu Tang.
It was during his treatment in the hospital that Yu Tang had the opportunity to formally test his eyesight and got a pair of gold-rimmed glasses with a decent degree.
Yu Tang was wearing a light brown collared sweater. It was a bit cold in the corridor, so he put on a crisp windbreaker to completely cover up the overly thin lines of his shoulders and back.
When he was in the studio, Yu Tang had never worn business-style clothes. Now, wearing them like this, it almost gave people the illusion that the person standing in front of him was a taciturn and cold business elite.
He had a calm expression on his face, and was surrounded by a few people. He looked particularly gentle and comfortable, and his complexion was much better than before.
Yu Tang stood on the staircase platform and looked down at Sui Si.
His expression was unfamiliar, and there was a warm sense of confusion in his eyes.