"Damn, your luck is really good, huh? She's already in the top three, and her chances of winning the championship tonight are probably the highest."
From betting on Liverpool to win the championship to this Flashchase spokesperson deal, Tan Jincheng seemed divinely aided, easily securing two wins.
Especially the choice of spokesperson this time was a stroke of genius.
Chun Ge made it into the top three.
With the champion being determined by off-site SMS voting, Chun Ge's popularity gives her at least a 50% chance of winning.
Even if she doesn't win, Tan Jincheng has already made a fortune.
Gu Qingqing, Qin Siyu, and Zhao Xianbo watched from the side, finding Zhang Laoban's disgruntled yet helpless expression quite amusing.
Today is August 26th.
The final live selection of Super Girl is tonight, which will determine the champion.
So, Tan Jincheng invited Zhang Xupeng, Gu Qingqing, Qin Siyu, and Zhao Xianbo to have dinner together and watch the competition.
In a blink of an eye, it was almost September.
The summer vacation was nearly over, and the trio's summer job tenure was also coming to an end.
Usually, Tan Jincheng was quite busy and couldn't pay attention to the three of them, so he took this opportunity to treat them to a meal as a send-off.
In the coming years, both the Taobao store and Flashchase would continue to collaborate with them.
Where else could one find college students who were cheap, capable, and willing to do the grunt work?
Tan Jincheng had also asked Wang Guoxin, the production department manager, about Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo's performance.
The feedback was that while they weren't skilled and their movements were much slower than regular workers, their attitude was very serious.
Zhao Xianbo, in particular, was willing to eat, sleep, and work the same shifts as the regular workers.
Even Wang Guoxin had to sigh, remarking that such simple and unpretentious college students are truly rare these days.
At a Korean BBQ restaurant outside the Golden Coast Residential Area, five people sat at separate seats in a private room.
Tan Jincheng looked at everyone and couldn't help but smile.
Honestly, to be chosen as clothing models, Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo were both good-looking and had good figures.
Among the people sitting there, Zhang Xupeng was arguably the least attractive.
Tan Jincheng raised his glass and said,
"Cheers! The summer vacation is almost over, and you'll all be returning to campus soon. I wish you all a bright future and no failed courses."
Eating BBQ on a hot day was honestly a bit strange, but that's what today's college students liked, wasn't it?
The Korean Wave was quite popular at the turn of the century.
Businesses discovered opportunities in this, and various Korean BBQ restaurants appeared.
There were quite a few in Beicang, but most of them were imitations.
In his previous life, having sold fast food, he had some understanding of the dining scene around Beicang.
This particular restaurant still left a deep impression on Tan Jincheng; the proprietress seemed to be Korean, and the restaurant was still in business until 2023.
Whether it was authentic or not was beside the point.
A restaurant that could operate for 20 years after the initial craze had passed certainly wouldn't have bad food.
"Thank you, Tan Laoban, for your care these past few months. I wish you success in your career and great sales for Flashchase,"
Qin Siyu said, raising her glass first.
The others also raised their glasses one after another.
Since the glasses were all filled with beverages, everyone had no inhibitions.
Five young faces, young people from three provinces, gathered in a private room.
The oldest, Zhang Xupeng, was not yet 21.
Anyone unaware of the situation would simply think it was a simple class reunion.
Who could have imagined that two millionaires were sitting among them, especially Tan Jincheng?
If calculated by valuation methods, even at the lowest estimate, he was undoubtedly worth over a hundred million.
A clothing trade company with over 50% equity, a wholly-owned electronics trade company, and an electric scooter manufacturing company with an annual output value exceeding 60 million yuan—three well-operating companies.
A combined valuation of 100 million yuan is quite reasonable, isn't it?
However, not only the four people present, but even Tan Jincheng himself hadn't realized this yet.
Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo had limited understanding of Tan Jincheng, while Zhang Xupeng and Gu Qingqing had witnessed Tan Jincheng accomplish all this step by step, so their perception of the wealth wasn't as pronounced.
As for Tan Jincheng himself, when he started his business early last year, he spent every penny as if it were two, and this year he was constantly short of money.
If he wanted to buy a new car, he had to wait until next month when new models were launched to see if older models would be discounted.
In this constant state of being short on cash, and with a rented house, how could he realize he was a billionaire?
Many times, when you are fully immersed in your career, receiving positive feedback, and seeing your plans develop smoothly step by step, wealth seems to become the least of your concerns.
"Remember to vote for Chun Ge tonight, and go to your team leader tomorrow to collect your money," Tan Jincheng said with a smile after clinking glasses with Qin Siyu.
"Only you could think of that. This is cheating. Even if she wins the championship tonight, I won't be convinced by you,"
Zhang Xupeng said, pouting.
Gu Qingqing, next to him, had a smiling face.
She didn't say much tonight, working with Zhao Xianbo to grill the meat and then distribute it to everyone.
"The votes I bought probably won't have much effect, just to make up numbers and show some effort. This way, I'll have an explanation for Chun Ge's manager, and it'll be easier to negotiate for future promotions."
After all, she was their own spokesperson, so they had to put in some effort.
To that end, Tan Jincheng organized a voting campaign for employees from five companies, including Jinpeng Trade, Jinyi Industry, Zhang Haiping, Zhang Mingcan, and Flashchase Auto.
The five companies had about 600 employees.
Each phone could cast 15 votes, and for every 15 votes cast, a 50 yuan subsidy could be collected.
This money was personally paid by Tan Jincheng and was not recorded in the company books.
Each phone casting 15 votes could earn 35 yuan.
It was estimated that many employees would use their family members' phones to vote, contributing over ten thousand votes.
In fact, for Chun Ge's popularity, these ten thousand-plus votes could at most be considered icing on the cake.
Gu Qingqing, who hadn't said much all evening, finally spoke:
"If Chun Ge really wins the championship, will promotion become much more difficult later on? I've heard that many celebrities like to act like divas once they become famous."
"There's a possibility of that. After all, if she really wins the championship, we're already benefiting from her current popularity. Plus, in the future, she certainly won't lack endorsements and will be even busier, so occasional non-cooperation with promotions is probably to be expected."
"But no matter what, we have a two-year contract, and the commercials that need to be filmed will still be filmed. The rest depends on her management team and the integrity of the management company. Anyway, it doesn't matter; we've already made a huge profit."
The others, hearing Tan Jincheng say this, were somewhat confused.
It's true that product awareness had increased, but didn't they spend money?
How could he say they made a huge profit?
Or was the endorsement fee very cheap?
Only Gu Qingqing chuckled without speaking.
She had gone with him to sign the contract and was aware of the exact amount of the endorsement fee.
Tan Laoban actually paid the management company only 800,000 yuan for the endorsement.
Signing this year's hottest Super Girl for 800,000 yuan was indeed a huge profit.
As for the money given to the celebrity herself and her management team after winning the championship, that could only be considered a bonus.
The management company wouldn't receive a single cent.
It was possible that the management company, realizing they had signed for too little, might cause some trouble in future promotions.
In fact, Tan Jincheng had already made these plans.
He knew about Tianyu's future reputation.
It didn't matter; at worst, they could still use this year's advertisements for next year and simply replace her with another spokesperson after the contract expired.
Moreover, because this year's Super Girl was so incredibly popular, everyone had exceptionally high expectations for the 2006 Super Girl.
However, the results were not ideal; the 2006 Super Girl competition was arguably the most controversial edition.
An overly complex competition system, contestants causing various stirs just to gain fame, plus male talent shows starting in 2006, and the strongest 0713 in history emerging in 2007, all contributed to Super Girl's popularity significantly declining thereafter.
The 2005 Super Girl was like a stock, reaching its peak.
Tan Jincheng was lucky enough to buy the chips he wanted at a very low price just as this stock was starting to take off.
He expressed his intent to sign before the Top 15 became Top 10, piquing the team's interest.
After the Top 10, he went straight to the point and signed immediately, leaving no time for market feedback or research for the management team, thus securing the contract at the lowest possible cost.
Everything was so smooth.
Speaking of which, he also had to thank Gu Qingqing's reminder.
Without her reminder, Tan Jincheng might have fallen into a trap: waiting to sign Jay Chou after his business had grown.
Thinking of this, Tan Jincheng raised his glass to Gu Qingqing, who responded with a smile that only she and Tan Jincheng understood.
Seeing that the others didn't understand, Gu Qingqing felt a little smug inside.
This could be considered a secret between her and Tan Laoban, right?
After dinner, the five returned to the two-bedroom apartment rented by Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng.
This was the first time Gu Qingqing and the other two had come to Tan Jincheng's home.
They usually saw Tan Laoban in a work setting and were a bit curious about what Tan Laoban was like in his personal life.
After entering, Gu Qingqing deliberately observed.
It wasn't as messy as she imagined; the house looked very clean, and the living room furnishings were also very simple.
Qin Siyu, being straightforward, said as soon as she entered,
"Wow, Tan Laoban, your house is quite clean, and there's no strange smell. I thought all boys' dorms were messy and dirty."
Zhao Xianbo nodded in agreement; their dorm was indeed quite messy.
"Make yourselves at home. There are drinks in the fridge; take whatever you want to drink."
"No, no, I'm good. I just finished eating. Let's rest for a while."
After Gu Qingqing looked around, her feelings were similar to Qin Siyu's.
The balcony was also well-tidied, even with a potted plant.
Although there was an ashtray on the coffee table, there was no dirt in it, suggesting it was probably cleaned regularly.
After a brief contemplation, Gu Qingqing boldly looked at Tan Jincheng and said,
"May I visit your room?"
"Woah,"
Qin Siyu was the first to tease.
Without waiting for Tan Jincheng to reply, Zhang Xupeng also burst out laughing and said,
"Feel free to look. Xiao Tan's room isn't locked; the master bedroom on the left is his. Go ahead."
(End of this chapter)