Chapter 294: Year-End
December 31st, the last day of 2020.
The year-end stages, which had been recorded in advance by various TV stations, would also be broadcast sequentially throughout this month.
Previously, SBS's Gayo Daejeon had already aired, and today there would be MBC's year-end Gayo Daejejeon.
The Golden Melody Awards and MAMA year-end award ceremonies had already concluded; IZONE replicated IVE's unparalleled feat from back then, but unfortunately, while IVE dominated with eight awards that year, IZONE only received six and five awards this time.
Although their combined total surpassed IVE's overall awards, IVE's single-ceremony feat of eight awards is virtually confirmed to be unprecedented and unrepeatable.
However, in terms of historical standing, IZONE, which suppressed an era and became the first group to reach the pinnacle of K-pop history, far surpasses the original IVE.
ITZY, which narrowly lost to IZONE, also received some awards, while other girl groups, even strong ones like aespa, ended up as mere participants.
In terms of solo singers, since IU shifted to acting this year, and Taeyeon performed steadily, she unexpectedly broke through the blockade of Hyuna and Lee Sun-mi to win this year's Best Female Artist award, expanding the Three Greats female soloists to Four Greats.
2020 had too many memorable events for K-pop, and the year-end stages were certainly a summary.
Every year-end, discussions on Korean online forums naturally revolve around the awards and year-end stages of various groups.
In domestic entertainment, the New Year's Eve galas of various satellite TV stations are the main topic of discussion.
When Bilibili announced its New Year's Eve lineup for this year, seeing Jiang Shu and Sakura's collaborative cover of Mayday's "Contentment" on the program list caused Jiang Shu's domestic popularity, which had previously dwindled significantly, to surge once again.
It would have ended there, but on the 30th, a video on Douyin went viral, incidentally boosting Jiang Shu's popularity.
President's Office.
Jiang Shu held an iPad, watching the video playing on it.
Across from him, Qin Zhen and Qu Fan stood, one on each side, waiting for him to finish watching the video.
The video was playing the conversation between Jiang Shu and the designated driver, Old San, whom he had met on Christmas.
Originally, this was just a normal daily work video posted by a blogger working in Korea, but the problem was that even though Jiang Shu was wearing a scarf, there were many K-pop fans on Douyin, and Jiang Shu was recognized.
As a result, shortly after Old San posted this video, someone recognized it as Jiang Shu, and people left comments, educating passersby and the blogger Old San about who Jiang Shu was.
Coinciding with Bilibili purchasing traffic to promote its own guests, Jiang Shu also received purchased traffic; several coincidences combined led to this video going viral.
Now, the comments section of the video is full of people saying that Old San is too malicious, joking that he actually cursed someone to have an annual salary of tens to hundreds of millions.
It was precisely this serendipitous opportunity that turned this video into a promotional boost for Jiang Shu and Bilibili's New Year's Eve Gala.
He turned off the video and looked up at the two people standing opposite him.
"Tell me, what's the plan next?"
Qin Zhen poked Qu Fan with his elbow; Qu Fan didn't look at him but still spoke.
"Director Qin has already discussed with Bilibili, and we've decided to let nature take its course, without manual control over public opinion.
And our marketing department will transfer this matter to Korean online forums, guiding Korean netizens to pay attention to it and gather the popularity."
"Sounds not complicated."
"Yes."
"Then why did you two make a special trip? A call or WeChat would have sufficed," Jiang Shu asked, looking at the two in confusion.
"We have some other matters," Qu Fan said helplessly, seeing Qin Zhen acting like a dead man and not speaking.
"Speak," Jiang Shu said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'd like to request a few days off; my younger brother is getting married, and as his older brother, I need to go back and attend.
But please don't worry, I will keep my phone on and stay updated on work at all times," Qu Fan said.
"Getting married, huh?" Jiang Shu was stunned, then looked at Qu Fan strangely, "You're not even married, and your brother is?"
Qu Fan gave an awkward laugh.
"It's just that I haven't met anyone I connect with yet."
Jiang Shu chuckled.
"I'll transfer a thousand yuan to you later; consider it my wedding gift.
Don't think it's too little; in my hometown's customs, even very close friends only give five hundred," Jiang Shu said with a smile.
Not to mention a thousand, he could even fork out ten million, but there was no need; an explanation would suffice.
"You're too kind."
Qu Fan didn't refuse either.
"What about you?" Jiang Shu turned to look at Qin Zhen.
"Hehe, I'm going to the wedding," Qin Zhen said, pointing at Qu Fan.
"Alright," Jiang Shu nodded, generously approving their leave.
"I'll give you a week off, is that enough?"
"Enough! Enough!" Qu Fan nodded in surprise.
He had originally thought three days would be acceptable if necessary, but he hadn't expected to get seven days.
"However, your positions are special, so I need you to keep your phones on, and even if you're not in the company, you must pay attention to relevant public opinion concerning the company, working remotely.
Can you do that?"
"Yes."
Of course, both of them had no problem with that; those in this line of work primarily operate on a year-round, 24-hour on-call basis.
Even when going home for the New Year, they must handle emergencies immediately; both of them understood this after working in this industry for so many years.
"Alright, hand over the leave request form," Jiang Shu said, reaching out.
Qu Fan and Qin Zhen took out the DM Entertainment leave request forms they had prepared earlier, and Jiang Shu signed his name in the 'President/CEO Signature' field at the bottom.
DM Entertainment's leave approval process is not difficult; grassroots employees can get their direct supervisor's signature, and this signature doesn't necessarily have to be handwritten; approval can also be obtained online through DM Entertainment's internal APP.
However, it's more difficult for middle-level managers to take leave.
Middle-level managers play a role in connecting superiors and subordinates, so they need the signatures of their direct supervisor, the supervising director, and either Li Duohui or Jiang Shu, a total of three signatures.
This can also be approved through the internal APP.
For middle-level management like Qu Fan and Qin Zhen, the signatures of the supervising director and either Li Duohui or Jiang Shu are required, and approval through the internal APP is not permitted; handwritten signatures are mandatory.
As for senior management…
Who can control senior management?
"Take it," Jiang Shu put down his fountain pen and handed the leave request forms to the two.
"Thank you, President/Boss!"
The two left the office cheerfully.
Looking at the closed door, Jiang Shu picked up his phone and transferred a thousand RMB to Qu Fan via WeChat.
The next moment, the office door, which had just been closed, was knocked upon.
"Come in."
Subsequently, the office door was pushed open, and Choi Ji-yeon's figure came into view.
"President."
Choi Ji-yeon approached the desk, carrying a bag whose contents were indiscernible, bowed respectfully, and then spoke.
"I've brought what you asked for."