Chapter 2: It's About to Go Bankrupt~
Seeing Liu Zhimin agree, Jiang Shu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This was a real world, and he couldn't be sure if Liu Zhimin would run off, so he had to do everything he could to keep Liu Zhimin.
A monthly salary of one million korean won was an absurdly high amount in the K-pop industry; after all, in an industry where trainees typically received subsidies of one hundred to two hundred thousand korean won, a million korean won trainee subsidy was practically throwing money away!
It could only be Liu Zhimin; if it were Bae Joo-hyun, she would probably start wondering if Jiang Shu was going to sell her to Myawaddy.
“Jiyeon, take Xiao Liu to register and sign the trainee contract,” Jiang Shu said, looking at Choi Ji-yeon.
“Okay,” Choi Ji-yeon said. Although she was a bit puzzled by the treatment Jiang Shu offered, the company belonged to Jiang Shu, so what he said went.
Signing a contract usually required the trainee's parents to be present, but it could be signed first, and then the guardian of the trainee could review it for a second signature. Both methods were acceptable.
Since Jiang Shu didn't specify, she assumed it was the latter.
After Choi Ji-yeon took Liu Zhimin to sign the contract and register her name, Jiang Shu went to his desk and took out the debut preparation group's debut document.
At the very end of the document, it said 'Not Approved'.
He didn't want any of these four 'divine' idols.
Undeniably, these four heavyweights were very capable, especially Lisa and Xu Suizhen. Although BLACKPINK's explosion in popularity had the boost of five hundred hot searches in half a year, the members themselves, except for Kim Jixiu, were all exceptionally skilled. As the main dancer of the group, Lisa's dancing skills naturally needed no further explanation.
And Xu Suizhen's dancing had a unique charm in K-pop. You couldn't say she was exceptionally beautiful; in fact, her face shape made her look a bit big, which negatively affected her appearance.
But as soon as she started dancing, people would immediately feel what it meant to be charming but not vulgar, alluring but not gaudy.
Her stage presence was still very good.
Although Kim Garam and Choi Yunjin were not as outstanding as these two, they also possessed considerable skill. While they all had various issues, for DM Entertainment, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, they were still trainees worth relying on.
The premise was…
Liu Zhimin hadn't arrived.
Normally, you'd let him use C or D cards, but now there's a ready-made S card. Why would he keep these ticking time bombs?
Are you kidding me?!
Liu Zhimin also had ticking time bombs, but compared to the potential she represented, these were not an issue.
The problems with Lisa were too big for a small company like DM Entertainment to handle. According to the game's setting, artists were bound to have problematic issues; this was the underlying logic of this game world.
Jiang Shu wasn't sure if the world he transmigrated into had this underlying logic. All he could do was be careful if it did, and if not, then everything would be fine.
These four people all had value, but their value wasn't in debuting at DM Entertainment and shining brightly, only to blow up DM Entertainment.
In the game, his approach was to directly terminate their contracts and let these four 'smart' people leave, but he couldn't do that now.
Because… he was poor!
Knock knock knock.
A knock on the door broke Jiang Shu's thoughts. He looked up at the door.
“Come in.”
The office door opened, and a woman in a women's suit walked in, holding a stack of documents.
“Minister Wu,” Jiang Shu said, looking at DM Entertainment's Minister of Finance.
It must be said that in this male-oriented game, every female character, even if not an artist or trainee, was exceptionally beautiful.
“Chairman, the company is out of money,” Minister Wu said, her words making Jiang Shu feel a bit awkward.
“How much is left?”
“If we continue to invest in the development of the new girl group, it can probably support two comebacks,” Minister Wu said expressionlessly.
“What does ‘support’ mean?”
“After two comebacks, the company won’t even be able to pay its employees’ basic salaries.”
Jiang Shu: “…”
Had it become this poor?
“Then, if we cancel the new girl group’s debut plan now, how long can we last?” Jiang Shu thought for a moment and asked.
Minister Wu froze for a moment, then looked at Jiang Shu in confusion.
“Isn’t the new girl group your ambitious project?”
So it was an ambitious project.
“I suddenly feel like my ambition isn’t very good,” Jiang Shu said self-deprecatingly, handing the 'Not Approved' document on the table to Minister Wu opposite him.
“You can go ahead and distribute this document. Jiyeon has taken the new person to register.”
“Yes.” The advantage of a small company was that you could find anyone, and she could do the work of other positions.
Don't ask, just assume it's due to insufficient staff.
“Are you sure you want to give up on the new girl group?” Minister Wu asked, not quite believing him.
Their chairman had racked his brains and worked on this new girl group for a long time.
Looking at Minister Wu in front of him, Jiang Shu suddenly realized something.
The people here seemed no different from people in the real world. In a game, Minister Wu would simply follow his orders without any questions.
But the Minister Wu in front of him was as real as a true living being.
No!
She was a real person!
“Yes. How long can the company last after giving up?”
“One year.”
Jiang Shu: “???”
“How much?”
“One year,” Minister Wu repeated calmly.
“Aren’t we about to go bankrupt?” Jiang Shu asked, looking at Minister Wu in confusion. To be able to last another year, it didn’t look like they were about to go bankrupt at all, did it?
“Because you require the new girl group to perform on music shows for each comeback, and one music show appearance costs about fifty million (korean won), and that doesn’t even include other expenses.”
Jiang Shu's eyes widened slightly.
How much?
One music show appearance costs fifty million korean won?
Damn, they're robbing people!
Why didn't I notice this when playing the game?
Oh, right. In the game, korean won were given out in tens or hundreds of millions daily through system check-ins, so I never really paid attention to expenses in the tens of millions.
System-given currency, who would care about that when playing a game?
No wonder small and micro entertainment companies rarely have their artists perform on music shows. One performance costs fifty million korean won; which small or micro entertainment company could afford that?
Jiang Shu raised a hand and rubbed his temples.
“Go handle it. I’ll figure out the money.”
“Okay.” Minister Wu wasn't worried about the money. After all, although her chairman's management skills were terrible, he had never withheld employee salaries. If it weren't for that, all the staff would have left long ago.
After Minister Wu left, Jiang Shu fell into deep thought.
The original owner was a rich second generation. The startup capital for establishing an entertainment company in Korea was 30 million (Chinese yuan) given by his parents, and he had received some additional funds later. The 10 million remaining in his card was what was left after spending.
In the game, with the system, this currency became meaningless, so there was no need to worry; he just needed to spend money to draw cards.
But Jiang Shu couldn't do that. He had to find a way to make money, otherwise, he could only continue living off his parents.
He scratched his head. Living off his parents wasn't a long-term solution either.
Suddenly, Jiang Shu's eyes lit up.