Chapter 102: Equity Distribution

“Hey, don’t say that!”

“Who said we have no interest?”

Seeing Lu Yuanqing looking so anxious, as though he were about to miss out on something priceless, Su Chen could not help but smile and shake his head.

“Brother Qing, don’t be in a hurry.”

“I was only asking what your thoughts were.”

“Since you’re interested, let’s take it slow and talk it through.”

At first, he had assumed Lu Yuanqing would merely make an introduction, take a small equity share, and then appear on the show as a mentor, just to have something to do.

He had not expected Lu Yuanqing’s reaction to surprise him so much.

It was clear that the man wanted to be involved on a much deeper level.

Su Chen welcomed that more than anyone.

For one thing, his cash on hand was indeed a little tight at the moment.

If he were to shoulder everything himself, he would have to go through some trouble and scrape together more funds.

But if Lu Yuanqing joined in, the money problem would be solved at once.

For another, producing a program inevitably meant dealing with people from every corner of the industry.

Lu Yuanqing held a high position and had extensive connections.

If he were willing to invest real money, he would naturally take the various matters much more seriously.

Otherwise, Su Chen was genuinely worried that one day, if things became difficult, Lu Yuanqing might simply walk away.

As for equity, a little more or a little less meant nothing to him.

What he wanted was a stronger relationship and a more perfect team.

Hearing Su Chen’s reassurance, Lu Yuanqing felt his old face grow slightly hot.

He had indeed lost his composure a little just now.

Still, since he and Su Chen were already fairly familiar with one another, he did not dwell on it.

Putting aside the stray thoughts in his mind and steadying his emotions, he said to Su Chen, “If I remember correctly, this program has twelve episodes.”

“Roughly how much do you expect the whole production to cost?”

Su Chen did not hesitate and answered at once.

“Eighty million.”

“About sixty million of that would go to personnel costs, production costs, publicity, and related expenses.”

“The remaining twenty million has to be held in reserve, just in case.”

“We can’t let the program fall behind schedule because the budget runs over. If that happens, everything will be ruined.”

He had already calculated this budget over and over in his mind, so there was no pause at all when he spoke.

If funds were abundant, of course the production budget the larger, the better.

The mentors the bigger the names, the better.

But with limited funds, eighty million was already the absolute limit Su Chen had arrived at.

Within that budget, the production value would not be compromised.

The only thing that would have to be reduced was the investment in mentors.

“Eighty million?”

“That’s higher than I expected!”

Lu Yuanqing exclaimed in surprise after hearing Su Chen out.

Su Chen could not help rolling his eyes.

Come on, Brother. You’re a heavenly king, and yet you’re this lacking in perspective?

But then he thought about the current state of variety shows on Blue Star, and it made sense.

At least for now, there simply had not been any variety program with an investment this large.

“I was already speaking conservatively,” Su Chen said.

“Forget everything else. Just assembling four top-tier mentors alone would cost at least half the budget.”

“Brother Qing, think about what your appearance fee would be if you were one of the mentors.”

Lu Yuanqing froze, and then he immediately understood.

The variety industry on Blue Star was still at a relatively early stage.

The mentors invited for competition shows were generally not particularly high-profile either.

There really had never been anything as ambitious as what Su Chen was doing.

“Eighty million...”

Lu Yuanqing murmured to himself, then turned to look at Ji Xiangyang.

Seeing this, Ji Xiangyang waved his hands at once.

“I’m not joining in.”

After saying that, he added with a wry smile, “I’m just a small-time host. I’m nowhere near as outrageously rich as you two.”

Lu Yuanqing nodded.

He knew Ji Xiangyang was only being modest.

But matters like this were entirely up to personal willingness.

Since the other man did not want to participate, he did not say any more.

That actually meant Lu Yuanqing and Su Chen could each take a larger share.

It suited his expectations perfectly.

Thinking of Su Chen, he suddenly realized something.

Then he looked at Su Chen with an expression of utter disbelief.

If he remembered correctly, Su Chen had just said that if Ji Xiangyang and the other man did not join, he would cover the whole thing himself.

That was eighty million!

And from the look on Su Chen’s face, he did not seem to be bluffing.

Did that mean Su Chen really had that kind of strength?

He silently estimated how much Su Chen earned from writing songs for Jiang Yan.

It was still a long way off from that number.

“Su Chen, you really are full of hidden depth,” he said.

Su Chen instantly understood what he meant.

He gave a gentle smile.

“Brother Qing, don’t laugh at me.”

Then he changed the subject.

“Eighty million. How much do you plan to put in, Brother Qing?”

Lu Yuanqing was a tactful man.

Although he faintly suspected that Su Chen’s background might not be nearly as simple as it appeared, he would not pry into someone else’s privacy.

“If it’s just the two of us, how about splitting it fifty-fifty?”

“As for my appearance fee, we can settle that separately later.”

“Right now, let’s only talk about the investment.”

“I’d rather keep the two matters separate, so there’s no confusion.”

Su Chen heard this and found it perfectly acceptable. It did not cross his bottom line.

So he made the decision on the spot.

“Fine, then it’s settled.”

“Next we’ll need to hire a few functional staff members to handle company registration and keep daily operations running.”

“Do you have any suitable candidates?”

Lu Yuanqing and Ji Xiangyang both shook their heads at the same time.

“When have we ever handled this kind of thing?”

“You figure it out.”

Seeing the two of them acting like hands-off bosses, Su Chen could not help feeling speechless.

“Then I’ll have to post the recruitment notice on public platforms.”

In the end, after the discussion, Su Chen would hold a controlling sixty-five percent of the company’s shares.

Lu Yuanqing and Ji Xiangyang would hold twenty-five percent and ten percent respectively.

Once the necessary staff had been hired, they would begin company registration, office selection, and other preparatory work.

After that, the three of them discussed the approach for speaking with the leadership of Zhenan Television the next day, and then went their separate ways.

Lu Yuanqing had stayed in Hang City for about a month and had come to genuinely like the place.

So he simply bought a house there, planning to live there permanently.

Su Chen politely declined Lu Yuanqing’s invitation to stay at his home.

Instead, he chose a hotel as close to the television station as possible.

After returning to his hotel room and washing up briefly, he lay down on the bed and opened his phone.

He found a few reliable job websites and began posting recruitment notices.

At the company’s early stage, he intended to operate it in the form of a project-based team.

So he planned to hire one finance staff member and one administrative staff member first.

The finance staff would handle company registration and fund management.

The administrative staff would take care of office selection and daily miscellaneous tasks.

Once the company was running steadily, the team could be expanded.

That way, company preparation and variety show production could proceed on parallel tracks, saving time as well.

The next morning, a little after seven.

Su Chen was awakened by the vibration of his phone.

“Su Chen, we’re downstairs already.”

“Get ready and come down.”

Su Chen felt utterly hopeless.