Chapter 204: The Chosen One
"I'm full!" Jiang Shu patted his stomach and leaned back on the sofa, looking completely stuffed.
Bae Joo-hyun rested her chin on her hand, smiling as she looked at Jiang Shu.
"You ate so much; remember to exercise this afternoon, or you'll gain weight."
"It's been a while since I exercised. It's a good idea to get some exercise." Jiang Shu nodded in agreement. "Then I'll go to the gym this afternoon."
"What about you?" Jiang Shu asked.
"I won't be going this afternoon," Bae Joo-hyun said with a chuckle, "I need to prepare for my schedule."
Jiang Shu nodded upon hearing that.
"In two days, I'll also need to take some people to Shanghai. I wonder how far along the girls are with their Chinese."
"Is it about the gala?" Bae Joo-hyun remembered Jiang Shu's previous question to Zhang Yuanying and inquired.
"Yes." Jiang Shu nodded slightly. "They're already urging us."
Though he said 'urging,' in reality, they were just asking Jiang Shu to submit the performance songs and personnel list as soon as possible, and their wording was quite subtle.
Something like, "Please arrange it as soon as possible if you're not busy, but it's okay if you are, no rush."
Even if they were subtle, you couldn't take it lightly. If others give you face, it's best you return the favor. Giving you face isn't out of fear, but out of respect.
"I see." Bae Joo-hyun nodded. "Then you... er, do you have a candidate in mind?"
Her habitual honorific paused on her tongue before turning into casual speech.
"I don't have a candidate yet; I'll go ask this afternoon."
"Mm."
After chatting for a while, the two left, but this recording session was not yet over.
The show doesn't only film the four of them together; individual shots of each member are also filmed.
A family isn't just a family when they are together; the activities of every family member can be filmed.
After a nap in the office, Jiang Shu indeed went to the gym as Bae Joo-hyun suggested, and also notified the production crew to come and film.
Since they were filming, it wouldn't hurt to show some work scenes to the audience. After all, his channel's vlogs often revealed industry insights.
Jiang Shu exercised at a steady pace on the treadmill with his Bluetooth earbuds in, while the program's cameraman filmed DM Entertainment's gym, then turned the camera to Jiang Shu.
After running for over ten minutes, Choi Ji-yeon appeared in the frame. The cameraman, of course, recognized the secretary to the chairman of DM Entertainment and immediately aimed the camera at Choi Ji-yeon.
Choi Ji-yeon ignored the camera pointed at her and quickly walked to the treadmill where Jiang Shu was.
Seeing Choi Ji-yeon, Jiang Shu didn't stop running but took off his earbuds.
"Are the results out?"
"Based on current Chinese proficiency, Hitomi Honda's Chinese is the best," Choi Ji-yeon replied.
Jiang Shu had given Choi Ji-yeon instructions before his lunch break, and by this time, the Chinese proficiency of the three had been tallied.
"Can she hold a normal conversation?" Jiang Shu asked.
"No, but she can understand some basic Chinese and have short conversations," Choi Ji-yeon shook her head and said.
"What about the other two?"
"They're far behind."
"Then it seems Renmei has good language talent." It hadn't been long, and Hitomi Honda could already have short conversations and understand basic Chinese; her language talent was indeed impressive.
"Report her to Bilibili; we'll use the performance song we agreed on last time," Jiang Shu said.
"Yes." Choi Ji-yeon nodded.
"Where is Renmei now?"
"She's at T1 Club recording the group reality show."
When she said that, Jiang Shu remembered the group reality show filming he had personally discussed with Li Lishi at T1 last time. By now, they should have been experiencing the life of professional players at T1 for some time.
"Have her come... um..." Jiang Shu turned his head to look at the camera. "I'll go over there."
Choi Ji-yeon was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered.
"I'll arrange a car right away."
"Chairman-xi rarely takes a car," the cameraman, signaling to the PD, asked in an off-screen voice.
Jiang Shu didn't answer, but Choi Ji-yeon, who had followed Jiang Shu for so long, immediately reacted and smiled at the camera, replying:
"Although the chairman often drives himself, DM Entertainment has quite a few company cars provided for executives."
"Our company's system in this regard is the same as the Three Greats. For executives at or above the director level, the company provides a car not exceeding 200 million korean won as a dedicated vehicle. However, only the president, chairman, and representatives can have drivers provided at company expense. Other executives must bear the cost of their hired company car drivers themselves." Choi Ji-yeon took the opportunity to explain the company's system.
But she knew that wasn't the main point; the audience wouldn't care about the executives' benefits.
"Artists' benefits regarding company cars are benchmarked against the director level. Company car expenses are not calculated as operating costs, but driver expenses will be borne by the artists and calculated as part of the artists' group training costs. In this aspect, we differ from most companies, and this was a decision personally made by the chairman."
The Three Greats were quite stingy, practically wanting to count employee salaries as artist expenses.
"Go arrange the car," Jiang Shu waved his hand and said.
"Yes."
Jiang Shu's company car was a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the same brand as his personal GLS. In fact, all company cars at DM Entertainment were Mercedes-Benz, and they got a good discount when buying in bulk.
It wasn't that he particularly liked Mercedes-Benz; it was mainly because Mercedes-Benz offered the most discounts among several brands.
As for Genesis, which most companies used, Jiang Shu wasn't interested in that brand. A company's procurement brand is closely related to the preferences of the company's top executive.
DM Entertainment wasn't particularly close to T1 Club, but it was a smooth half-hour drive by car.
"Hey, don't enter through the parking lot." Jiang Shu stopped the driver who was about to drive into the parking lot, looked at the fans gathered at the main entrance of the club, and smiled.
"We'll enter through the main entrance."
Choi Ji-yeon, in the passenger seat, was stunned.
"Chairman, you—"
"I know what you're going to say. It's fine."
Since Jiang Shu said so, what else could Choi Ji-yeon say?
The car stopped at the main gate. When such a car pulled up, the T1 fans looked over curiously, wondering which club management it was, and then...
"Jiang Shu!"
"It's Jiang Shu!"
"Who is Jiang Shu?"
"Which Jiang Shu?"
"Which Jiang Shu could it be? The one from DM Entertainment!"
"Xi ba! It's actually him?!"
The fans immediately became enraged and started yelling at Jiang Shu as soon as they saw him.
"Xi ba Jiang Shu!"
"You bastard, how dare you come to T1!"
The insults left the cameraman, who had followed them out of the car, bewildered.
Jiang Shu, the person in question, was quite calm and even smiled and waved at the fans who were cursing him.
This action made the fans even more furious, and the insults grew more intense.