Chapter 269: Fleecing the Wool
"Chairman Jiang."
Bae Joo-hyun's parents approached Jiang Shu, looking somewhat constrained.
Having done business for many years, Jiang Shu had met countless people, and he immediately noticed the constraint in Bae Joo-hyun's parents.
It was precisely because he noticed it that Jiang Shu was very puzzled; within this constraint, there was also a hint of... fear?
This greatly puzzled Jiang Shu; the side he presented had always been gentle, and even when occasionally assertive, it was far from a fearsome image.
Jiang Shu cast a questioning gaze towards Bae Joo-hyun, who was standing on the other side.
Seemingly sensing Jiang Shu's confusion, Bae Joo-hyun smiled and said, "When you, Chairman, brought me from Daegu to Seoul, my parents were very worried that I wouldn't get used to living in Seoul.
Now that they see how well you've taken care of me, they took this opportunity to specially come and thank you."
These words not only explained the reason for her parents' attitude to Jiang Shu but also provided a topic for her parents to continue the conversation.
"Yes, yes, we are especially grateful to Chairman Jiang for taking such good care of our Bae Joo-hyun," Bae Joo-hyun's father quickly chimed in, saying with a cheerful smile.
"This also has to do with Bae Joo-hyun's own efforts," Jiang Shu said with a smile, realizing it was about the time he had 'eloped' with Bae Joo-hyun.
Thinking about it, it made sense; he had just taken Bae Joo-hyun away like that, and her parents must have been extremely worried.
Now that they found out Jiang Shu wasn't a swindler, but had instead made their daughter a big star, this contrast made Bae Joo-hyun's parents feel a sense of apprehension.
After all, their attitude back then wasn't exactly good.
"It's getting late, the party is about to begin, Bae Joo-hyun, quickly take the two of them to their seats."
"Yes."
Bae Joo-hyun bowed slightly to Jiang Shu, then looked at her parents, "Dad, Mom, let's sit."
"Okay, okay."
With Bae Joo-hyun and her parents taking their seats, the table, which could seat twenty people if squeezed, was now full.
Liu Zhimin looked around, feeling a bit dejected.
Only her family hadn't come...
Dong!
The sound of high heels hitting the floor echoed, and people looked up to see Kim Tae-yeon, dressed in a white evening gown and holding a microphone and cue cards, and Lee Ji-eun, in a black evening gown and also holding a microphone and cue cards, walking over together.
DM Entertainment had no male artists, so for this kind of party, they didn't specifically arrange for a male host; they simply let the company's only two solo artists take on this role.
As Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun took their places, the first DM Family Mid-Autumn Festival Party officially began!
After a brief opening speech, the two got down to business.
"Since it's a family party, in addition to the company's artists performing, every guest present can choose to perform a talent on stage, and every guest who goes on stage will qualify for the final Mid-Autumn prize draw," Kim Tae-yeon said with a cheerful smile.
"The Mid-Autumn prize pool includes three Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phones, five lg air conditioners, and a guaranteed box of Coca-Cola or Pepsi."
The prizes weren't of high value, but the fun was in participating, and it was also a measure to encourage everyone to participate in the party performances.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and lg air conditioner were prizes worth one to two million korean won, and besides, even if they didn't win those two things, there was still the guaranteed cola.
Many guests on site were a bit tempted; whether they won or not was secondary, but appearing on stage, and with DM Entertainment's official website surely publishing the Mid-Autumn Festival party video, showing up in front of the public was also good.
"How come these prizes sound so familiar to me?" Liu Zhimin leaned into Jiang Shu's ear and whispered.
"Oh? How so?" Jiang Shu asked with a smile.
"Look, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phone was released in the first half of this year, and the endorser is Youzhen Ni.
As for cola, Coca-Cola is me, and Pepsi is Yuan Ying.
It seems only the lg air conditioner was bought by the company; the others didn't cost anything, right?"
"You're wrong."
Jiang Shu shook his head slightly, and under Liu Zhimin's puzzled gaze, he smiled, "None of them cost anything."
Liu Zhimin: "?"
"The phones are endorsed by Youzhen Ni, so we just asked Samsung phones for three units; how could they ask us for money?
Then there's cola; this stuff is even less valuable.
The cola in the company's pantry now is all freely given by these two brands."
Liu Zhimin endorsed Coca-Cola, and Zhang Yuanying endorsed Pepsi; among other things, the beverages in DM Entertainment's pantry are now basically these two brands.
Why?
Because they're free!
Providing products for free to the endorsing artist's agency during the endorsement period is an unwritten rule for food endorsements in Korea.
There are as many of these prizes as they want; they just need to pick them up from the warehouse.
Food companies also have a say; how much does this stuff cost?
A few cents can get you a bunch of cola; the most valuable part isn't the liquid inside, it's the plastic bottle.
"The lg air conditioner is endorsed by Taeyeon, you probably didn't pay much attention, so these five air conditioners also didn't cost anything."
Liu Zhimin looked at Jiang Shu speechlessly.
So rich yet so stingy, there's no one else like him.
Does he have to fleece even this kind of wool?
Unbelievable.
"President nim, I'm ready to go on stage."
At this moment, a voice reached Jiang Shu's ear.
Stopping his conversation with Liu Zhimin, Jiang Shu turned his head to look.
Wu Haiyuan had already stood up.
"Mm, go ahead."
Jiang Shu nodded; NMIXX, as the first group to perform, certainly carried enough weight.
In mid-July, NMIXX also pulled out their classic song "O.O," and with the reputation established by their debut song "Cheer Up," they skipped the adaptation period for "O.O" and went directly into the brainwashing phase.
Jiang Shu had said long ago that "O.O" wasn't bad; it was just a pile of concentrated shit as a debut song, but as long as it wasn't a debut song, the charm of this song could be revealed.
Who would come out and pull such stunts when the public doesn't even know you yet?
Do they want to die faster?
This time, with a year-end champion-level song like "Cheer Up" as a pre-requisite, the effect of Emperor O went straight into the realm of land immortals.
The song performed this time was naturally not Emperor O; it was definitely the more well-known "Cheer Up" first.
Jiang Shu leaned back in his chair, looking at the NMIXX members who were only a few meters away from him, and suddenly had a sense of the company's monthly exam.
But during a monthly exam, there wouldn't be so many spectators, nor would they be this close to the audience.
As he watched, Jiang Shu's ear once again heard Liu Zhimin's voice.
"Is today the 80s segment you arranged?"
Jiang Shu was stunned, then immediately realized what Liu Zhimin was talking about.
"I forgot until you mentioned it," Jiang Shu said with a chuckle.
"Eh?" Liu Zhimin widened her eyes, "You can forget that?"
"That's how it is when you get old," Jiang Shu said with a cheerful laugh.
Liu Zhimin looked at Jiang Shu speechlessly.