Chapter 208: The Invitation
Before Rong Yu could reply to anything, Deng Yu called, his tone full of complaint.
Deng Yu: "I'm so done with that stupid, brainless younger brother of mine. He's dead set on getting into the entertainment industry. Now, he's taken a fancy to a role in a drama and is throwing a tantrum, begging me to get it for him."
Rong Yu glanced at Sally, who was still driving, and tried to phrase his words vaguely: "So, your brother went to audition for it today too?"
Deng Yu: "Audition? What audition? Who needs that? Is our family's money not enough?"
Rong Yu: "Oh. Since he didn't even show up for the audition, then I didn't really snatch it from him. It just means he wasn't diligent and didn't cherish the opportunity himself."
Deng Yu: "So, you're not planning to give up this role?"
Rong Yu: "What? Do you want to try and take it? Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've had a chance to practice my skills. If you'd like, I don't mind giving you a lesson."
Deng Yu: "Are you threatening me? You're actually threatening me? Have you forgotten we once promised to be each other's angels?"
Just then, Sally parked and went out to buy something. Rong Yu stopped being cautious and spoke directly: "First, I think I need to clarify something. There has only ever been one angel in my heart from beginning to end, and that one is definitely not you. Second, calling it a threat is a bit of an exaggeration. Let's call it a reminder. After all, up to today, no one has ever taken something from me and gotten away clean. That rule hasn't been broken yet. Even if someone could, that person wouldn't be you."
Deng Yu: "...I feel like my heart's been stabbed several times."
Rong Yu: "That just shows your psychological resilience is getting weaker and weaker. You really need some training. Of course, since Young Master Deng isn't short on money, why not pay me for the training? I absolutely guarantee I can take your psychological resilience to the next level in just one day."
Deng Yu: "..." I shouldn't have made this call! Serves me right!
"Murong Yu, are you that short on cash? You're even taking on this weird side gig. Could it be that after you ran away from home, your parents really froze all your cards?" Deng Yu asked curiously.
Rong Yu: "Actually, no. It's just that I need to provide for my family now, so the more I can earn, the better."
Deng Yu: "...I can't help but laugh, and I'm laughing really loudly! You, providing for a family? If you haven't burned the kitchen to a crisp, we should be thanking heaven and earth!"
Rong Yu: "Providing for a family doesn't necessarily mean going into the kitchen. Someone like you wouldn't understand the happiness of having someone cover your food, drink, housing, clothes, and even warm your bed."
Deng Yu was speechless for a second before saying, "If they're covering everything for you, what do you do? Be a pretty, useless ornament?"
Rong Yu: "I handed over my salary card."
Deng Yu: "..."
Rong Yu: "I just entered the industry, I don't earn much yet. And because I nearly injured another artist on a lifestyle variety show, part of my salary went to compensation. So, for now, I handed over the cards I brought from home. But it's okay, I'll earn more in the future!"
Deng Yu was practically infuriated into laughter by Rong Yu's actions: "...My dear young master! Do you really think the amounts in those cards you brought from home are small change? Aren't you afraid that person will run off with the money? You'll end up losing both the person and the money, with nowhere to even cry!"
Rong Yu looked out the window and saw Sally had finished shopping and was waiting for the traffic light across the street. The red light’s countdown was nearly over, and Sally would be crossing the street any moment.
Rong Yu felt the conversation should end; if Sally overheard some of it, she might become suspicious. So he said, "Instead of worrying about me here, you should go calculate how much you're going to spend on your brother. Also, a single dog like you can't understand the sense of belonging someone with a family has. I won't hold it against you. I'm hanging up."
"Hey! You—!"
Rong Yu decisively ended the call just as Sally opened the car door and got in. Seeing Rong Yu put away his phone, she smiled and said, "Finished your call? Here, I brought you a warm cup of corn juice."
"Thanks, Sister Sally," Rong Yu said, his gaze falling on the several large and small bags in Sally's hands. "Sister Sally, what did you buy?"
Sally: "I had some custom formal wear made for you at this shop a while back — their latest style. It just happened to be ready today, so I swung by to pick it up. Try it on when we get back and see how it fits."
"Formal wear?"
Sally: "Yes. Next Friday is the Lingxiao Awards Gala. They'll be selecting the Best Film of the Year, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenwriter, etc. This weekend, the official Lingxiao Weibo will release the nomination invitation letters."
"But the invitation letters haven't come out yet. There might not even be one for me. Why prepare so early?" Rong Yu didn't understand.
"What I'm talking about are the nomination invitation letters released by the organizers. But for the regular invitation letters, Huansheng Entertainment is definitely going to get some slots. The company's first- and second-tier artists will definitely get theirs. For you, I've saved one, sister has her ways. Did you think I've been muddling along all these years for nothing?" Sally covered her mouth with a light laugh. "Besides, even if I didn't have one, President Yin definitely wouldn't leave you out."
"Then... will President Yin be going?" Rong Yu asked.
"Either he or Vice President Shang will go. One of them has to represent Huansheng, and they need to show face to the hosts. We're all in the same circle, we see each other all the time, and collaboration is frequent," Sally explained.
As they spoke, Sally drove Rong Yu back to the company.
Meanwhile, Yin Chengjue was also busy preparing for the creation of the new website.
Technical personnel had been quickly recruited. After all, Yin Chengjue provided sufficient funding. As long as they each did their job, he naturally wouldn't treat them poorly.
The website was just a platform; authors and readers were the driving force behind an original content website's operation. Therefore, creating a website capable of handling a large number of simultaneous users was essential. Websites that frequently crashed or had bugs could easily deter readers unless they had excellent signed authors, leading to reader traffic loss. As readers leave, authors gradually lose motivation and might eventually choose to leave too. The remaining readers would then follow the authors, creating a vicious cycle.
Thus, the website's foundation had to be solid to ensure smooth operation later on.
To this end, Yin Chengjue hired several specialized testers to conduct multiple tests on the website. Any bugs found were to be fixed immediately. He even prepared multiple contingency plans. If the website was hacked, it would immediately activate emergency mode, prioritizing the protection of works published on the site by authors and the funds in all registered accounts.
All fund flows in accounts would be actively saved in triplicate, entering three separate backup archives. This was to prevent irreparable losses in case of malicious hacker attacks causing website financial data loss.
Clearly, these tasks couldn't be completed in just a day or two.
Once the website was built, they needed to recruit editors. This included full-time in-house editors, remote resident editors, and freelance online editors.
Each original content section would be overseen by a chief editor. One chief editor would manage five in-house editors. In-house editors would manage resident editors, and resident editors would manage online editors.
Actually, the nature of resident editors and online editors was similar; neither needed to clock in and out at the company. They only needed to sign contracts with the company and work according to the rules and regulations stipulated in the contract.
However, resident editor contracts were of a higher level than online editor contracts, with correspondingly higher tasks and commissions. If online editors wished to advance, they needed to work hard to meet the website's requirements to be promoted to resident editor.
The requirements for editor promotion were actually quite simple. First, an editor's performance was linked to the authors they signed. Online editors were responsible for casting a wide net to find authors. If an author met the website's signing requirements, the online editor would receive a bonus. The bonus level increased based on the contract level the author signed.
For example, if an online editor found an author who signed a standard contract, they would receive a 100 yuan bonus; for a C-level contract, 200 yuan; for a B-level contract, 400 yuan; for an A-level contract, 600 yuan.
After the contract was signed, it depended on the author's monthly earnings. The online editor would receive 5% of the monthly income from each author they signed. Of course, this was per author. If they signed many authors or high-quality authors, this could accumulate into a considerable amount.
Resident editors' income came from two parts: one from the authors they signed themselves, and one from the online editors under their management, also using a commission system.
In-house editors' income also came from two parts: their own signed authors and the resident editors under their management.
The chief editor in charge of each section didn't need to sign authors themselves because their task was to arrange layouts and recommendations for all normally updated works in their section on the website, arrange for promotional cover art for works without it, and compile and report various contracts and data information from the hierarchical management system to the company, as well as promptly disseminate various company announcements and messages downwards.
Especially during this initial development phase of the website, various new issues were bound to arise constantly. They couldn't be completely avoided just by preemptive planning. If other editors encountered problems, they needed to report them to the company promptly through the chief editor for timely resolution.
If a chief editor could manage all these assigned tasks and still have spare energy to seek out and sign authors, the company wouldn't restrict them.
"President Yin, these are the latest contracts submitted. They need your seal," said a new assistant surnamed Huang, placing a stack of paper contracts on Yin Chengjue's desk.
"Hmm." Yin Chengjue rubbed his temples and glanced at the clock. "There are five minutes left until quitting time. There's a lot going on at the company lately, and overtime won't finish it all. Everyone should head home. Rest up and recharge for tomorrow's battle."
"Understood, President Yin. I'll go tell them," Assistant Huang replied.
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