April 5th, Shuntian South Station.

  As Li Qian walked out of the exit passage with the crowd, he easily spotted Wang Jinglu.

  It was early spring, she wore a light pink jacket, sandwiched between a large wave of black jackets and suits, it was extremely recognizable - who let people look good and jump high!

  Li Qian didn't resemble those art exam students who would drag their whole family along, after asking his class teacher for an art exam leave yesterday, he packed a small travel bag, only bringing a few sets of spare clothes and a set of toiletries, as if going on a short trip. He bid farewell to his parents and boarded the train with ease.

  At this time, following the crowd out of the passage, he smiled at Wang Jingluo, "Okay okay, don't jump around, I've seen you already, right? Come on, give me a hug!"

  This time the interval is short, just a month or so. The enthusiasm that Wang Jingluo and Li Qian brought out during the winter vacation has not completely dissipated yet. When Wang Jingluo heard this, she felt a bit shy, but when she found someone staring at her, she became even more shy. However, she still let Li Qian hug her obediently.

  After releasing her, Li Qian dodged her hand that was about to take the package and pulled up her hand instead, saying: "I can carry it myself, it's not heavy." Meanwhile, he couldn't help but ask: "Did you come alone? Did you ask for leave?"

  But as soon as he finished speaking, he raised his head and saw Li Jinlong.

  Alright, although he knew beforehand that something like this was inevitable, the other party caught wind of it so quickly, which still managed to slightly surprise Li Qian. However, after a moment's thought, he quickly figured out what was going on.

  As expected, when Li Qian and Wang Jinglu walked over, Li Jindong took Li Qian's bag while laughing and explained: "Qian Shao also knows that Jingxue and the others wouldn't dare to come here. They wanted to come, but I stopped them. If they came, we wouldn't be able to leave for three or two hours! So Jingxue arranged for her assistant to pick people up, and when I heard it was Qian Shao you who were coming, of course, I had to come! Haha. But don't worry, Qian Shao, I just brought the car to pick you up, didn't bring ears or eyes... You can be affectionate if you want!"

  As soon as this was said, Wang Jinglu immediately became so embarrassed that she couldn't bear it. Fortunately, Li Qian still held her hand and didn't let go. She tried hard to struggle free. When she really couldn't get loose, she took advantage of no one noticing and lightly kicked him once.

  At this time, Li Qianhun casually exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Jindong and then followed him to the parking lot.

  Before they had gone two steps, a man in his thirties saw Li Jinlong leading people out of the station and hurried over to greet them, grabbing Li Qian's luggage.

  They sat in the car, and the driver of Huage's record company drove. Li Jindong also knew to sit in the front passenger seat. The last two rows of the large business car were left for Li Qian and Wang Jinglu.

  As the car drove out of the parking lot, Li Jinlong turned around and said: "Our company's Huang Zong and Du Zong Jian have been eagerly waiting for you to come to Shun Tian. How about it? This time you're here, can you spare some time to come to our company to give us some guidance?"

  Li Qian slightly tightened his grip on Wang Jinglu's hand, but his face remained expressionless as he smiled and said: "Don't be like that, Li Ge. Don't put such a high hat on me. This time I came over just as an art exam candidate, I'm here to take the exam. If there's time, of course, I'd also like to go to a big company like Huage to take a look and learn from them, but I'm afraid it'll be hard to find the time! Let's talk about it later, okay?"

  Li Jinlong smiled and nodded, understanding that Li Qian had politely declined. Although he didn't understand what Li Qian was thinking or why he kept refusing the good intentions and invitations from Huage, at this moment, he still smiled and nodded, saying "good" repeatedly, then said: "Of course! Of course, we need to see your schedule! But our Huang Zong said that you are welcome anytime! And our Du Zongjian even said that when you come, he will definitely have a good chat with you."

  This purely hypocritical nonsense, Li Qian just smiled and perfunctorily responded with a couple of sentences, something like asking Li Jindong to convey his gratitude. But at this time, Li Jindong said: "That's right, I noticed that your agent didn't come with you this time? It's like this, our company is currently considering making the next album for Wu Xing Yu Su, so there are some things... Hehe, you know, after the previous successful example, the company will definitely consider continuing to cooperate with you first. So, the company entrusted me to contact your agent and discuss cooperation matters."

  Li Qian heard the words and was slightly surprised, but not too shocked. He nodded and said: "Originally, this time I came over just to take a simple exam, so she wants to come, I didn't let her come. In that case, I'll call her later and ask her to come over." And smiled: "So soon you want to make a new album?"

  Li Jinlong smiled and said, "We know that Jian Shao is going to help Liao Liao produce an album soon, so summer vacation time is limited, of course we have to book it in advance!"

  After he finished speaking, both of them smiled and laughed.

  Actually, in their hearts, no one took this matter seriously.

  "Sisters Stand Up" has been on the market for over three months, and the shipment volume from Universal Music has already exceeded 4 million copies. Although the actual sales volume may be just over 3 million, this is only in three months. In the future, although it won't sell as crazily, with time, a hot album like this will still have a long tail of sales. This album can easily sell over 5 million copies within a year.

  Before Li Qian's departure, at the end of March, Hua Ge had already transferred 30 million yuan (10% of 300 million) into Li Qian's account. If this album sells over 5 million copies, Li Qian can take a 15% commission and receive an additional 54 million yuan. For subsequent sales, Hua Ge will also settle with Li Qian every six months according to the contract.

  To a certain extent, based on the current purchasing power of this currency at home and abroad, if Li Qian does not live an overly luxurious life, the income from this album alone, including some tail-end sales that will continue to sell for many years, is already enough to give him a comfortable life for many years. This is the benefit of selling well.

  For such a best-selling album, the production costs, promotion expenses, and distribution fees have all been diluted by the huge sales volume. For the producers, as long as they sell to a certain extent, almost every subsequent sale is 100% pure profit, with no additional costs in the later stages. For someone like Li Qian who signed a contract with a share of profits, it's even more like hitting a gold mine, and one album can be profitable for ten years.

  Simply put, an absolute win-win situation.

  But capital is profit-driven. Human desire has no bounds.

  So, even with this win-win cooperation model that has made Hua Ge a lot of money, they still can't help but think: since they're already famous, why not ditch Li Qian and do it themselves? Wouldn't they make even more money that way?

  It seems that from Li Jinlong's words, for Wu Xing Wo Su's next album, although Huage may have already had plans internally, they still care about face and at least want to discuss it first, only going solo if negotiations really fall through.

  Of course, Wu Xing Wo Su has already become popular, and it's not like when Li Qian was asked to make an album at the beginning. Now, Hua Ge Records is in control. So, if Li Qian knows what's good for him and wants a relatively low price, then cooperation between both parties can continue. After all, letting Li Qian continue to produce Wu Xing Wo Su's new album will not only give Hua Ge more confidence but also prevent any trouble from arising on Wu Xing Wo Su's side.

  To know, the store often cheats customers, but when customers are knowledgeable, they can also cheat the store back.

  Like the combination of Wu Su, it was placed in front of a large company like Hua Ge. They were weak and could only listen to arrangements, but now with record sales soaring, their popularity skyrocketing, and performance fees repeatedly breaking records, they have become Hua Ge's cash cow while also gaining some leverage to negotiate with the company and demand conditions, no longer able to be arranged silently east or west like before.

  Although they are still inferior in front of Huaguo Records, at least Huaguo Records can no longer completely ignore the opinions of these girls, especially in the production of new albums, and must respect their opinions to a large extent.

  It's obvious that, whether considering they were originally brought to fame by Li Xian or the friendship established between them in Jinan Prefecture over those few months, they would all be extremely inclined towards having Li Xian continue to produce their next album.

  Not to mention that in the current popular music scene, Li Jian is indeed the best at promoting them and making songs tailored for them - even if you don't consider their personal relationships, even if it's just for the sake of continuing to be popular, they are obviously the most hoping that Li Jian will continue.

  So, if the price is right on Li Qian's side, then continuing to entrust the next album to Li Qian would naturally be a win-win situation. The company would be happy, with more confidence, Wu Xing Wu Su would be happy and feel more secure, and Li Qian could also continue to benefit from Wu Xing Wu Su's success. However, if the two parties ultimately fail to reach an agreement, then how to appease the Wu Xing Wu Su group would be a huge problem for Huaguo Records!

  Although in the end, Huaguo Records will still be able to suppress Wu Yifan's opinions, but making a fuss until both sides are unhappy and have grievances against each other is obviously not a good thing for Huaguo Records either.

  After all, the music circle is a ring of rings. A combination like Wu Xing Yu Su, which is so popular and sought after, I don't know how many companies are staring at it with wide eyes. Hua Ge Records is also afraid that if they're not careful, someone might pry into their corner!

  Wu Xian Wo Su is fully affiliated with Hua Ge Singing, but the contracts of the five girls are only left with two years.

  Just... let's talk about it later.

  It's just like salespeople getting commissions. When developing a new customer, the commission is naturally higher, while for old customers in a mature market, the commission that salespeople can get is naturally lower.

  So, giving Wu Su a solo album would be a completely effortless way to make money, even if the price is a bit lower, Li Qian can still accept it - as long as it's not ridiculously low.

  If the other party is indeed talking with an attitude of being casual about it, and gives a quote that is really awkward and unacceptable, then it's better to just let go.

  Since they think it doesn't matter whether they have themselves or not, and they can make money openly without themselves, then let them try to do it alone.

  It's often not until you've left that you realize how precious some people are, isn't it?

  …………

  Li Qian was picked up and then sent to the hotel that Wang Jingxue had already arranged for an assistant to accompany Wang Jinglu to help Li Qian check in. Li Jindong also tactfully bid farewell and left.

  Before leaving, he repeatedly expressed that when Li Qian has time, he hopes to invite Li Qian for a meal personally.

  Whether he was being polite or sincere, Li Qian treated him the same way as He Runqing, neither refusing nor directly agreeing, but instead leaving everything to time.

  Of course, unlike He Runqing's side, since the two parties had contact, Li Qian's impression of Li Jindong has always been good. As a producer, his talent may not be stunning, but he is stable and reliable in handling things. He is the kind of person who will not mess up if you give him something to do. Therefore, Li Qian thought that if the schedule could be arranged, he would still want to have dinner with him, and it wouldn't be good to ignore his kindness completely.

  However, seeing Wang Jinglu had already entered the hotel to wait, Li Jindong still glanced at his watch and pulled Li Qian back, saying in a low voice: "I heard Jingxue's assistant say that they five are going to invite you to dinner together tonight, so... about Xiaobing..."

  Just then, Wang Jinglu poked his head out of the hotel room again and looked over this way. He revealed a smile, meaningfully stretched out his hand to pat Li Qian's shoulder, let out a hearty laugh, and said loudly: "Don't worry about the company side, although I'm quite strict with those few girls, you're special! Haha, anyway, just take care of yourself..."

  Wang Jinglu quickly retreated, and he whispered, "Whatever you do, don't fight! If things get to that point, I'm afraid it will affect the unity of those few girls. So, Qian Shao, please be careful!"

  After finishing speaking, he patted Li Qian's shoulder again, leaving a meaningful smile, and then turned around and got into the car.

  Li Qian stood still, couldn't help but curl his lips and sucked on his teeth, suddenly had a feeling of wanting to scratch his head.

  Is this the legendary catfight?

  ***

  The first update, 4,000 words!