Tuesday, August 24th, morning.

  Changsheng Record Company, General Manager's Office.

  After arriving at the company, Zheng Changsheng spent over ten minutes processing all the documents that needed to be signed, then picked up the phone and dialed the number of Deputy Manager Ma Xiang of the Production Department.

  After a moment, the other end picked up, and Zheng Changsheng said: "Old Ma, I'm Zheng Changsheng. How's it going over there? ...Oh, they've all been taken away? No more trouble? ...Uh-huh, good! You keep an eye on things over there. For the past two weeks, we've only had these three households with three lines, and production still can't be increased. So, I estimate that in the future, we'll still have to wait in line. The Jiaxing Nanxiong side is all southern provinces' distributors, every year they take away a large quantity, they're anxious, saying some unpleasant things, don't get angry, just coax and persuade them to apologize, what's the point of being stubborn? When you come back, I'll celebrate with you! ...Uh-huh, good!"

  He hung up the phone and let out a long sigh, unable to help but clench his fists.

  Although it was a bit of an adventure, things have been taken care of after all.

  After the announcement of a sell-out in just ten days after listing, not only was Changsheng Records anxious, but also distributors from all over the country. Later, they didn't know where they got the news from, anyway, they knew that even if subsequent supplies could be restored, it would not be possible to meet demand. So, within a day, distributors from all over the country rushed to Beijing.

  It turns out that these distributors, although not from the music industry, have been selling records for many years and have a very deep network of connections in the industry. So, it was easy for them to find out that Changsheng Records had obtained three production lines from Sony Records, Huagang Records, and Nanxing Company under Southern China's Jiaxing Group to produce cassettes for "Liao Liao". Calculating this way, the daily output is less than 30,000 copies. So... whoever grabs it is who gets it!

  After all, they are the ones who directly face the market. They can clearly perceive the purchasing impulse of fans hidden behind the shortage of goods. And they also know very well that, without going further, at least in recent weeks, every CD of "Liao Liao" and every cassette tape of "Liao Liao" represents a profit.

  But until the past few weeks, as supplies gradually became sufficient, would this buying spree caused by insufficient supply be a flash in the pan? Would it lead to a sharp decline in sales of this record... This is something that no one dares to predict.

  Besides, although piracy has been cracked down on in recent years, just wait another ten or so days. Generally, it's around twenty days after the official version is released that various pirated versions start to appear, and by then, selling pirated copies will actually be more profitable.

  Only by getting a sufficient amount of goods as soon as possible represents real profits!

  Then, unexpectedly, these distributors somehow made an appointment and directly rushed into the production workshop on Friday morning last week!

  Half went to Sony and half went to Huawei!

  After receiving the news, Manager Liu from the production department of Changsheng Records was shocked and immediately rushed to both sides with Zheng Changsheng to patiently explain, after great efforts, they finally persuaded those people.

  Then there's only one way, no need to rush, everyone just put out last year's sales volume, calculate the total output for the past week, and divide it according to the proportion... Those who are far away will be shipped first!

  So, starting from Saturday, distributors in various provinces began to receive and ship goods one after another. By today, even the batch of southern province distributors who rushed to Jiaxing Nanxun have started receiving goods. Although it is impossible for the production lines currently producing "Liao Liao" to fill the market gap, all major distributors are eager to get more supplies. Fortunately, by yesterday, more than half of the provinces had resumed supply in their markets.

  It's just... this feeling of being controlled by others is really unbearable!

  In the past, for a small to medium-sized record company like Chang Sheng Records, annual sales were only in the millions of tapes. As long as they contacted Sony in advance to arrange production, there was business to be done and Sony would happily take on the work. Before officially launching the promotion and distribution of an album, the warehouse would already have enough stock to meet market demand for two or three months. So even though the company didn't have its own production line, it never felt uncomfortable about production.

  But this time, with the explosion of "Liao Liao", Zheng Changsheng suddenly felt the pain of walking on one leg: whether intentionally or unintentionally, the three major record companies with complete industrial chains joined forces to give Changsheng Records a heavy blow when "Liao Liao" was selling the hottest.

  Others like Sony and Huawei are also willing to do business with you, but they only give you one production line!

  As for the price, it's even more directly asking for a high price. Not to mention Zheng Changsheng, even Liu Manager of the Production Department who went to discuss business was so angry that he almost smashed his cup on the spot!

  And Nan Sheng... okay, although their production line is the same as Sony, Xinda and Hua Ge, but their scale is still too small. The whole company only has three lines, and it's during the summer vacation when the record market is hottest. They had already taken a lot of orders before, so they couldn't breach the contract. It was already very kind of them to squeeze out one production line for us on short notice, given that we hadn't had any dealings with them before.

  As a result, without having its own production line, once it encounters insufficient inventory, it can only beg for help everywhere, and in the end, it can only get three lines.

  Three production lines, and the weekly output is around 2 million boxes!

  That is to say, even if there are countless people who want to buy the album "Liao Liao", next week's sales figures will be at most 200,000!

  But what can be done? Go onto the production line yourself?

  Obviously can't bear to be so ruthless!

  Apart from Liao Liang's album, which was an unexpected success, the 7 or 8 male singers and 5 or 6 female singers under Chang Sheng Records together only sell a few million copies per year, which is really not enough to sustain the company.

  Moreover, from Zheng Changsheng's perspective, he clearly knew that the cassette tapes which currently dominated the market would not last for many years. The future of the record market definitely belonged to CDs and digital audio.

  But, ironically, the current CD production line... even the three major record companies still have to rely on their production advantages to strongly pressure various small and medium-sized record companies to bundle production for promotion. At this time, if a new system is introduced, at least in the next few years, it will be clearly left to gather dust!

  And...the CD is also a bit too expensive!

  So, I can only think about it and get over my craving.

  But thinking that "Liao Liao" which is extremely popular in the market couldn't explode with huge sales at the easiest time, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

  Subconsciously, he pulled open the drawer and took out last week's sales ranking list from Dongguan Bookstore.

  Liao Liao, second name, weekly sales of 11,484 copies.

  Yesterday, when Zheng Changsheng saw this data, he couldn't help but take out the data from the past two weeks and carefully calculated it three times with a calculator: The tapes, CDs, and records sent to Dongguan Bookstore were originally 17,000 sets. In the first two weeks, they sold 1,128 and 4,386 copies respectively. Adding this week's 11,484 copies, the total is 16,998 copies.

  There were only two records left unsold because they didn't know which branch store had sent them!

  Zheng Changsheng estimated that eight or nine out of ten were vinyl records.

  And got such explosive data, "Liao Liao" probably only took about two days!

  Every time this happens, Zheng Changsheng can't help but feel extremely regretful!

  Sales estimates before release, production preparation are not to mention, after all, who has no foresight, if this is said wrong, the entire company's high-level will only have Liao Liao as the correct one.

  What really made him regret was that if he had known earlier, when he got the sales data of Dongguan Bookstore a week ago and found that the sales volume had increased, he should have placed an order with Sony at the first time. In this way, even if it took two days to rush out, the market could start replenishing supplies on Saturday and Sunday!

  If last week, Liao Liao had three or four days of normal supply time, then even Liu Mingliang's new album, which was released in the first week, could also explode for him!

  After all, Liu Mingliang's new album was only 13,241 copies in Dongguan Bookstore in the first week of its release!

  Less than two thousand copies difference, "Liao Liao" would have exploded even if it had sold for one more day!

  Think about it, if the album "Liao Liao" can still be on top three weeks after its release, just like Liu Mingliang's first week, that feeling... is simply too great!

  If it really comes true, Liao Liao will be famous all over China!

  What a pity... What a pity...

  Just as he put away the folder containing the weekly sales rankings, someone knocked on the door. Zheng Changsheng had just shouted "come in" when Zhao Meifeng stormed in, slapping a messy stack of papers onto his desk. She glared at him with a fierce expression, like a lion staring straight at him. "I'm telling you, Director Zheng, when did you transfer me to the brokerage department again? Are you going to give me a raise?"

  "Ah?" Zheng Changsheng was slightly stunned, but still comforted first, "Meifeng, Meifeng... don't rush, don't rush! Take your time to talk! Come on, come on, you sit down first, I'll make you a cup of tea! Sit down and talk!"

  "Alright, don't bother making tea for me either, you'd better hurry up and arrange a broker for Liao Liao first!"

  Zheng Changsheng was taken aback, and didn't rush to get the tea leaves anymore. He looked puzzled and asked: "What's...what's going on here? Who from the brokerage department offended you? And what does this have to do with Liao Liao's agent?"

  Zhao Mei Feng walked over and handed the stack of paper back to Zheng Chang Sheng, "You take a look yourself!"

  Zheng Changsheng took it over and looked at it, his eyes lit up instantly!

  This is actually an invitation to a business performance!

  The other party requires signing a contract for five games first, with a quotation of 500,000 yuan per game! They also said that if the cooperation effect is good, they can provide a contract for 20 games afterwards, with a quotation of 600,000 yuan per game.

  Turned to the next page, it's another commercial performance invitation!

  This one is even more ruthless, directly quoting 100,000 per game, and requiring a direct signing of 20 games!

  He's really got a lot of money and is very generous!

  Zheng Changsheng was almost blinded by the dazzling array of invitations - all together, there were nearly twenty performances, all commercial performances, with the highest price quoted at 120,000 yuan per show!

  So many business performances, if all of them are accepted, Liao Liao won't need to do anything else in the next year, just start the annual flight package mode!

  But all of this is just money!

  As a record company boss, I wouldn't dare reject any of them!

  However, after roughly flipping through it, Zheng Changsheng quickly looked up at Zhao Meifeng and smiled: "I understand, but... how did the brokerage department send these things to you?"

  Zhao Mei Feng was already furious, and upon hearing this, she exploded even more, her mouth moving like a machine gun. "Is this my fault? Who knew what those people in the management department were doing?! Liao Liao doesn't have a manager, but isn't this kind of commercial performance their responsibility?! But they just directly gave out my contact information! I'm a producer! Producing records, selecting songs, arranging songs, that's my job! But this kind of commercial activity, what does it have to do with me?! You see these, they're still the good ones, they're all directly sending quotes to the company, and the management department sends them to me, I can pretend not to see them. But the problem is there are many people who don't give quotes, they just call me directly to ask about prices! From yesterday afternoon on, my phone hasn't stopped ringing, one after another, I'm in the middle of making an album for Le Le, and this is what happens, I sing half a song and then go answer the phone, I sing half a song and then go answer the phone again. How am I supposed to finish this album?! And I still can't yell at them, after all, I also know that taking these commercial performances is very important for the company and Liao Liao. But... you say what kind of thing did the management department do?!"

  Zheng Changsheng listened with a smile, waiting for Zhao Meifeng's rapid-fire speech to finish. He thought that the fire in his heart would also subside a bit. Only then did he say: "This matter is my fault, my fault. The brokerage department, I had long wanted to take action and rectify it, but before I could do so... Ah, this matter, don't be angry. Old Xiao from the brokerage department is currently out with the concert, if he weren't at home keeping them in check, those guys would have turned things upside down! You can rest assured, I'll help you vent your anger later! When Old Xiao returns, I'll scold him severely too! Hmm, at that time, I'll call you over and scold him in front of you, to help you vent your anger. How about that?"

  It's not that Zheng Changsheng is a good person, but after saying these few words, even if he clearly knew that Lao Xiao would come back, he wouldn't be able to do such a thing. But Zhao Meifeng still felt uncomfortable and the last bit of fire in her heart was also gone.

  Zheng Changsheng actually understood very well: although Zhao Meifeng was exaggerating, even if someone really called, there wouldn't be many. The key is that these entertainment companies all understand the rules, wanting people to appear, either directly quoting a price or coming over to discuss, just making a phone call, it's also too lacking in sincerity.

  Mainly... um, I guess mainly it's just that her phone number was leaked, so Zhao Mei Feng is angry! If it were as serious as she said, wouldn't they have come after us yesterday?

  So, today she came over, it's certain that she had a fire in her heart. But actually, if you think about it carefully, I reckon she would have brought over the many commercial performance invitations she collected for a whole day to show off... That's also possible!

  Look, this album by Liao Liao was produced by me! It's popular now, right? Now there are commercial performances, right? And a lot of them at that! These commercial performances make a lot of money, don't they? So... so you're the boss, handle it yourself!

  In this circle for over a decade, Zheng Changsheng has long been familiar with the thoughts of these literary and artistic figures!

  Their nature is straightforward, not only belonging to the donkey type, but also can only be combed in one direction. Once you go against the grain, they will immediately give you a kick, and it's still the cannon type, which ignites with just a touch. It can be said that when they speak and act, they are much more direct than those so-called white-collar or blue-collar workers outside, but that doesn't mean they won't express themselves in a subtle way... On the contrary, artistic youths are really good at playing this game, far better than others!

  Then, after she had calmed down, Zheng Changsheng waved the stack of commercial performance quotes in his hand and said with a smile: "Meifeng, this is all your credit! When Liao Liao comes back, I'll set up a celebratory banquet for you!"

  It's no wonder that Zhao Mei Feng was already in a good mood at this time, and after hearing this, she suddenly showed a happy expression. Then, she couldn't help but offer her advice, saying: "This is easy to say! However, it's not me who said it, Director Zheng, on the side of Liao Liao, it's really necessary to arrange an agent for her. Don't mention anything else, just this time she went out and ran around so many places with only a small yellow following... That little girl is still younger than Liao Liao, it's hard to say who takes care of whom! Moreover, some lawsuits that require slapping on the wrist, can't let Liao Liao do it herself, after all, there should be an agent!"

  Liao Liao's agent... of course!

  When signing the contract, Changsheng Records and Liao Liao signed two contracts, just like most small and medium-sized record companies. One was a recording contract, in which the company promised to help Liao Liao produce at least two albums within three years and give him a share of the album sales. Apart from this, the company did not pay Liao Liao any salary.

  Another one is the brokerage contract, which also has a term of three years. Within these three years, in addition to the album sales share, the company can directly take 50% of Liao Liao's commercial performance income and concert income!

  It was just that before this, Liao Liao, who had only released a single EP, would not have received any commercial performance invitations at all. So, apart from preparing for her new album, she didn't have anything else to do. The company also did not arrange any agent for her, but instead sent newcomer Huang Wenjuan to be her assistant.

  But now, the weekly sales of Liao's album have already broken 200,000, and even if there isn't a bigger explosion in sales later on, it won't drop to anywhere low! So, Liao has become popular!

  It's just one album, it's a bit early to say that she's on par with the four heavenly kings, but at least she's definitely top-tier!

  So she certainly needs an agent!

  Moreover, Liao Liao's current status is already there, and this broker cannot be weakened!

  Otherwise, take a look at those business performance invitations. If the broker is weak, these invitations alone can knock him out!

  So, Zheng Changsheng nodded slightly as he heard the words, but couldn't help feeling a bit hesitant. Finally, he said: "This matter, arrangements must be made, and it's better to do it sooner rather than later. The problem is that the personnel selection is not easy to grasp. In this case, we still have to wait for Old Xiao to come back. When he returns, we'll discuss it together and see who would be more suitable to take over!"

  Upon hearing the boss say that, Zhao Mei Feng immediately nodded in satisfaction and quickly stood up to bid farewell. She then resumed her usual gentle demeanor and said: "Alright, you all decide on this matter, I'll head back first, Lele is still waiting for me!"

  Zheng Changsheng nodded and forced a few more words out, personally escorting her out of the door before returning.

  Then he closed the door and held those business performance invitations in his hand, and couldn't help but smile again.

  "This is just one album!" He sighed: "Ten albums that sell 500,000 copies are not as good as one album that sells 2 million copies in a single week! When something's hot, it's hot, and there's no use arguing about it!"

  He thought for a moment, put down his things, sat back down and started dialing a number on the phone. When the other party picked up, he said directly: "I'm Zheng Changsheng, Old Liu, Liao Liao is coming back soon, right? ... Oh, Friday, okay, you remind me then. I want to personally go pick up Liao Liao! Yeah, got it! By the way, those radio and TV programs that I asked you to contact before, don't rush to set a date yet. You remember, now that Liao Liao is popular, it's not like we're begging them to have him on their shows anymore! Now they all hope Liao Liao can go on their shows! ... Yeah, as long as you understand!"

  He put down the phone and leaned back in his boss chair, his body swaying slightly, and couldn't help but laugh again.

  ***

  More than 5,000 words again, seeking several recommended votes!

  Some friends suggested that I split one chapter into two, I know it's really beneficial to increase clicks and scores, but I always feel that it shouldn't interrupt your emotions, because when I read books myself, I like to read a big chapter at a time, feeling smooth and refreshing. So, unless it's like this chapter, where the plot in one chapter can't be finished, otherwise, I'm not willing to split chapters easily! As for the lost clicks... if you think the book is good, just give a few more recommendation tickets every day, or recommend it to your friends!

  Thank you!