The next day at 10 AM, Mira picked up Linton and reminded him that it was time to change his car. As a popular singer, driving a used pickup truck was no longer suitable.
Linton agreed wholeheartedly. He thought for a moment that he had nothing to do today, so they might as well go buy a car at the car city.
Upon arriving at the car city, various luxury cars were dazzling. Considering space and comfort, and not wanting to be too ostentatious, he ultimately bought a Cadillac for $50,000. After swiping his card, he drove straight home. When they reached Linton's villa, Mira, after much hesitation on the way, finally spoke to Linton,
"WMA Company Vice President Logan wants to throw a celebration party for Linton. How do you want to arrange it?"
Linton heard the unusual tone in Mira's voice and asked,
"What's wrong? What's your suggestion?"
In fact, Mira had been under immense pressure recently. On one hand, Linton's sudden rise to fame proved her foresight and brought enormous benefits to both herself and WMA.
Excluding the previous signing fee, the first single alone sold at least 5 million copies, with an average price of 6 yuan. According to Linton's royalty split of 22%, this one song alone would bring Linton a commission of 660,000, and she herself would receive $330,000 from it.
Moreover, two more singles were to be released consecutively soon. The message from Universal Records was that their quality would be no worse than the first. At this rate, Universal would definitely release an album for Linton by the end of the year.
A rough calculation revealed the enormous financial benefits of Linton's management contract, not to mention the Overseas Market. No one would doubt Universal's overseas promotion capabilities; this was simply a money tree.
As Linton's popularity grew, her own standing in the company also rapidly increased. Last week, there were rumors of her promotion to a Senior Agent, which initially made her secretly happy.
But then, colleagues started calling her, subtly suggesting they wanted to join her team to help her serve Linton, which immediately poured cold water on her. This wasn't a promotion for her; it was clearly an attempt to snatch her benefits.
Logan's call last night further intensified her worries. He spoke nicely, saying he wanted to give her a bigger platform, more responsibility, and that WMA wanted to upgrade Linton's service Rank and provide more comprehensive service.
In essence, it was about wanting to meddle in Linton's management contract, share in his management profits, and even establish direct contact with him.
What worried her even more was that with her connections, experience, and naive office politics, the company might very well use this method to seize control of Linton's services. It was even possible that another agent might use this to snatch Linton's position as lead agent.
Furthermore, Linton's management contract was only for one year. Given the situation, all Hollywood agencies would try every possible means to approach Linton and offer him new contract terms when his current contract expired next year. She couldn't even imagine losing Linton as a client.
Fortunately, her service had earned Linton's approval and trust. All of Linton's affairs, big and small, were handled by her. Even when Vice President Logan tried to bypass her and deal directly with Linton, Linton ignored him, which reassured her considerably.
She knew her biggest bargaining chip currently was Linton's approval and trust. But she didn't want to bother Linton with these matters, to avoid distracting him and affecting the current excellent situation. She also worried that Linton might think the company's arrangements would be more beneficial to him, and if he supported them, it would be even harder to handle.
But now that Linton had asked, it indicated he had already sensed her predicament. After a moment of hesitation, she still told Linton about the company's plan.
There were two main points: first, the company's senior management wanted to establish direct contact with Linton to potentially intervene in or influence Linton's related affairs at certain times, such as the casting of the MV's female lead. This was actually why many in the company were dissatisfied with Mira; both casting decisions had nothing to do with WMA, and colleagues felt Mira wasn't prioritizing the company's interests.
Second, they wanted to establish a management team for Linton, transitioning from Mira's sole service to a management team led by Mira, providing more comprehensive service to Linton in all aspects.
Linton pondered. The first point was absolutely impossible to agree to. With his memories of the future and his Cultivation Technique, such a huge advantage, he couldn't let others interfere randomly. Absolutely impossible to agree.
The second point initially sounded like it was for his benefit, but on closer inspection, as a Cultivator with a clear development path, and without any bad habits—at most, he'd date a female celebrity—what service did he need from them? Simple work and life trivia Mira was enough for. Besides, Universal Records had already provided him with an assistant and bodyguards. More people wouldn't help with Cultivate; he had to rely on himself.
If several people were to do a job that Mira alone could do well, it might actually turn out worse. Isn't there an old Chinese saying, 'One monk carries water to drink, two monks carry water to drink, three monks have no water to drink'? With more people, things might not get done well; instead, problems could arise.
Thinking this, he said to Mira,
"Forget it. Starting tomorrow, I'll be fully dedicated to promoting the 'Numb' single. As for the party, I really don't have the energy. Also, I'm very satisfied with your current work. Please keep it up; there's no need to change it. There's no need to build a management team either.
Go back and tell the company exactly what I said. Also, if you have time now, learn about fan management; you'll need it next. Oh, find some time to help me get rid of my old pickup truck; it's taking up space in the yard."
Mira was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly,
"Linton, thank you for your trust. I promise to do my best in all the tasks you've given me."
Then she brought up the many endorsement and collaboration invitations she had recently received and asked Linton if he wanted to accept them now.
Considering his rapidly rising fame, accepting them now wasn't worth it. If he were to accept, it should be after the three singles were released. By then, his popularity and Rank should be moving up from the second tier, approaching the first tier, and the endorsement fees would also be different. They agreed to discuss it again in July.
In fact, Linton had still thought too simply. A person's rapid rise to fame, with an extremely clear upward trajectory, would definitely affect many vested interests and snatch resources from other competitors in the same field.
You see, while the market is vast, the audience's (listeners') attention and purchasing power are limited. If you rise to fame quickly or even explode in popularity, what about everyone else? They will certainly be greatly affected.
Before, no one expected him to emerge so quickly and become famous at light speed. Others couldn't even manage to target or smear him in time. Who would pay attention to or target a newcomer who had never debuted?
But now it's different. He's already very popular, and he's about to release his second single consecutively. This won't do; rivals or peers will definitely make a move. At that time, all sorts of smears, rumors, and bad reviews will certainly be unavoidable.
From this perspective, a complete management team is necessary. Linton isn't following the path of a gangster rapper.
However, even if Linton thought of this, he probably wouldn't change his mind, because his core demands were different from others'.
Others' core demand is to become famous. For singers, it's about increasing sales, gaining popularity, establishing a good public image (even if they're chaotic in private), getting more and better announcements, and securing more high-paying advertising endorsements.
These are the core demands and development paths of ordinary singers. Of course, at a certain height, they might even cross over into other fields, but ultimately, it all points to fame and fortune. Fame and fortune are everyone's ultimate goals.
But Linton is not. His core demand is to Cultivate Immortality, and his ultimate goal is to gain longevity and power through Cultivate. Opponents' rumors, smears, bad reviews, and other tactics might affect his single sales, personal image, and even endorsement benefits.
However, controversy can precisely bring him the popularity he needs. In the Mortal World Asking Immortal Art Cultivation Technique, someone praising you increases popularity, someone discussing you also increases popularity, and someone cursing you still increases popularity. To use a fashionable phrase from later generations, 'Whether you're popular or infamously popular, I like it all.' This popularity is the resource that accelerates his Cultivation Technique.
In the face of Cultivate, everything else is secondary. One must not confuse the primary and secondary relationships. Besides, with his current money-making ability, would Universal sit by and watch? By then, they would probably be even more anxious than he was.
Mira left happily, and Linton, for a rare change, rested at home. Unexpectedly, he received a call from Cameron Diaz in the evening.
She asked if he was free and wanted to have dinner together. It seemed she had developed a taste for it. Of course, Linton couldn't refuse.
He was initially worried about paparazzi, but then he thought, 'Who cares?' A scandal is a scandal. It could even increase his popularity and help Cameron gain more attention. Ultimately, Dual Cultivation would accelerate, and he would benefit more.
Driving his newly purchased Cadillac, he arrived at the restaurant as arranged. There's nothing much to say about the dinner. As they left the restaurant, they saw several paparazzi secretly taking photos. Oh, they were openly taking pictures. After taking them, they even ran over and directly asked,
"Mr. Anderson, Miss Diaz, are you two dating?"
Both smiled without answering, got into the car, and drove directly to the small villa.
Click, click! The paparazzi were thrilled! Eating dinner together and leaving in the same car! Quick, quick, follow them, follow them! See where they go! They followed all the way to the community gate and saw Linton and Cameron drive directly into the community. They were overjoyed.
Click, click! Shutters clicked. Big news! "Popular Singer and New Model-Actress Suspected of Cohabiting." What great news material! They had to sell it for a high price.
It was still the same point: Linton had become famous too quickly. Before, he had been recording songs and shooting MVs. Apart from promotional releases, there was absolutely no gossip material. The media and audience had long been ravenous for content.
Oh, it would be best if they didn't come out tonight. Let's go all out and keep watch! It seems they'll have to split up. He called his partners to take the existing material and pitch it to newspapers and magazines, selling it for a good price to make tomorrow's morning news.
He would continue to stake out here and could even do a follow-up report. He was truly winning big. He just prayed to God that they wouldn't come out tonight, preferably coming out together tomorrow morning.
While the paparazzi kept watch, Linton brought Cameron home. As soon as they entered the house, the two clung to each other, and a battle immediately broke out. We'll skip 30,000 words here; suffice it to say, the entire villa bore traces of the battle.
However, what pleased Linton was that Cameron's popularity had truly increased a lot. During Dual Cultivation, he could clearly feel the boost she gave him. It seemed his previous plan was correct: he should Dual Cultivate with female celebrities or Cultivate female celebrities for Dual Cultivation. Oh, he must firmly implement this.