Chapter 0154: Spokesperson

Some people look harmless, as pure as a little white flower, but anyone who takes them for a naive good child is truly an idiot.

Take Zhao Fusheng, for instance, or the Han Bin before him.

Han Bin’s words just now seemed casual, but they clearly told Zhao Fusheng that this ad was given to Future Advertising out of Zhu Yushi’s concern. Zhao Fusheng could have all the power, but correspondingly, he had to bear all the responsibility.

In short, they didn’t care about money. If Zhao Fusheng had the skill to make the ad brilliant, they wouldn’t shortchange him a cent. But if he tried any tricks, they wouldn’t be polite either.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. He rather liked Han Bin’s style—first a villain, then a gentleman. That was far better than those who smiled to your face while stabbing you in the back.

“In that case, I’ll be straightforward. If you want me to take this on, the price won’t be cheap.” Zhao Fusheng looked at Han Bin and said calmly, “I’ve only planned two ad campaigns, but you should know they’re no small cases.”

Han Bin nodded. Since he was inviting Future Advertising to do the job, he naturally had to do some research. Though Future Advertising was just a small company, its track record since establishment was impressive. The Rungshengyuan Qingzui lozenges were a huge hit, and the ad campaign he’d done for Zhu Yushi had earned praise from the notoriously picky Zhu Yushi.

Otherwise, given Zhu Yushi’s temperament, he wouldn’t have casually recommended Future Advertising to Han Bin’s father.

And according to Zhu Yushi, Future Advertising’s success to date was all because of this Zhao Fusheng.

“Don’t worry. As long as your work satisfies me, the compensation will satisfy you too,” Han Bin said seriously.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Alright, then let’s first consider the issue of the spokesperson.”

“Spokesperson?”

Han Bin was taken aback. “Isn’t it just finding a few celebrities? What’s the big deal? Just tell me which one you want, and I’ll send someone to negotiate.”

In his eyes, celebrities weren’t really big shots. After all, to the wealthy, so-called stars were just entertainers.

In the old society, they’d be considered low-class.

Zhao Fusheng wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, no matter how glamorous and dazzling celebrities appeared on the surface, they really had little status, just as Han Bin had said.

The most obvious example was that most celebrities, especially female ones, had priced dinner parties.

A priced dinner party meant a set fee for the celebrity to dine with someone; what happened after the meal depended on individual abilities.

In the entertainment industry, this was an open secret, but hardly news.

“Second- or third-tier won’t do. If we’re hiring, it has to be first-tier, and top-tier superstars at that.” Zhao Fusheng thought for a moment and said to Han Bin, “Do you have any connections in Hong Kong?”

Hearing his question, Han Bin paused and finally shook his head. “We can get some, but they’re all second-tier. The first-tier ones all have backers and can’t be easily moved.”

Zhao Fusheng nodded. It seemed the rumor he’d heard in his past life wasn’t made up. Back then, most Hong Kong stars had gang affiliations, and even after the handover, they weren’t clean.

With that in mind, he said, “In that case, I’ll figure it out myself. I’ll see if I can contact a few well-known artists.”

Han Bin was startled, then a glimmer of enthusiasm flashed in his eyes. “Uh, you know people in the entertainment industry?”

Huh?

This time it was Zhao Fusheng’s turn to be dumbfounded. The chubby guy who’d just been acting like a big shot now looked like a lovesick fool.

“Ahem, well, my old man’s strict…” The chubby Han Bin rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled. Another rich second generation under tight parental control.

“I do know a few. But are you a fan, or are you trying to pick up girls?” Zhao Fusheng asked with a smile.

If it was the former, he didn’t mind playing matchmaker; if the latter, he had no interest in being a pimp.

“What are you thinking?” The chubby guy looked up, surprised. “I’m just curious…”

Zhao Fusheng couldn’t be bothered to call him out. He waved his hand. “Alright, I’ll head back then. But first, tell me: for this ad campaign, how much are you planning to offer for the endorsement fee?”

That was the key. In celebrity endorsements, the most important thing was the product’s endorsement fee.

Han Bin thought for a moment. “Starting at ten million. If the celebrity’s level is high enough, we’ll negotiate further.”

In 1999 China, a ten-million endorsement fee was already astronomical.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Got it. I’ll be in touch.”

Han Bin saw him to the door and handed Zhao Fusheng a business card. “If you have news, call me at this number. I’ll be staying in Beijing for a while.”

His father had sent him to Beijing this time to expand the northern market.

Zhao Fusheng nodded, put away the card, and got into a taxi. In his mind, he thought maybe he should get a cell phone too.

Back at the hotel, Zhao Fusheng checked his pager. Several people had messaged him: Li Jian, Mu Qingqing, Wang Jinghua, and even Fan Baobao had sent a message asking how things were going.

After a moment’s thought, Zhao Fusheng ignored Mu Qingqing’s message and called Fan Baobao back, telling her everything was fine. They chatted about a few other things before hanging up.

Then Zhao Fusheng called Li Jian.

“Brother Li, what are you up to?” Zhao Fusheng asked with a smile.

Li Jian replied bitterly, “Packing up. I’ve already terminated my contract with Qingcheng Culture, so I have to move out of the studio here.”

Zhao Fusheng was startled. He hadn’t expected He Yunzhi to act so quickly, kicking Li Jian out in less than a day.

“What’s this? Are you planning to comfort me?” Li Jian’s voice continued, but it lacked the dejection Zhao Fusheng had imagined.

Zhao Fusheng laughed. “I was going to comfort you, but from the sound of your voice, it seems you don’t need it.”

Li Jian sighed. “If comfort were any use, there wouldn’t be so many difficult things in this world.”

Hearing that, Zhao Fusheng fell silent.

What Li Jian said was absolutely true. Complaining was pointless: twenty percent of people couldn’t care less, seventy percent would secretly gloat, nine percent would be annoyed, and only one percent would comfort you.

But no matter how much comfort you got, it wouldn’t solve the problem.

Any hardship, in the end, had to be endured alone.

This side of Li Jian surprised Zhao Fusheng and also raised his opinion of him.