Because he slept on the sofa, Lin Yi got up early the next day.
After getting up, he went upstairs and found Little Nuonuo still asleep.
"What time did you come back yesterday?"
Ji Qingyan asked while styling her hair.
"Almost one o’clock. I slept on the sofa downstairs."
"The sponsorship should have been pretty successful, right? Someone even asked me yesterday if the Lingyun Group is planning to enter the entertainment industry and wants to invest with you." Ji Qingyan smiled and said:
"Now you guys have become the industry trendsetter."
"We received 109 million yuan, which isn’t a small amount." Lin Yi went to the bathroom to freshen up, "Although I didn’t show up, those are all personal favors, and I’ll have to repay them when I get the chance."
"That’s not necessarily true. As long as this program becomes popular, those who joined the sponsorship will also gain actual benefits—it’s rather them who owe you a favor."
"The current problem is that making this program stand out might be a bit challenging. Whether it becomes popular will depend on luck."
"What do you mean?"
With nothing better to do, Lin Yi talked to Ji Qingyan about the program.
"Received 109 million in sponsorship fees but only added 5 million to the budget? What are they thinking?"
"It involves overt and covert struggles, otherwise it wouldn’t be like this," Lin Yi said. "Next, it depends on how the 5 million is used."
"It’s actually simple. If you use your identity, you can easily manage it; face is given for a moment." Ji Qingyan said:
"But if you don’t want to use that method, you can try another way."
"Tell me."
"If this program succeeds, your producers will definitely be given important tasks—perhaps doing another variety show, then inviting the same people, and in that program, you can repay the owed appearance fees, making it a win-win situation."
"A program’s budget is capped. If money is used to repay them, the funds will still be tight, and we won’t be able to invite other people."
"This is even simpler," Ji Qingyan said:
"For the next program, Lingyun Group leads the investment again. If the sponsorship fee is still 30 million, you can agree behind the scenes to provide 20 million discreetly, and the remaining 10 million goes into the program’s budget, so it doesn’t go through the accounts and enters your budget."
"Hmm?"
Lin Yi’s eyes lit up. "President Ji, you really are smart to come up with such a plan."
"But there’s risk involved in this kind of thing. Doing it once is enough, as long as it doesn’t get exposed."
"Don’t worry, I’m familiar with this kind of under-the-table operation."
After chatting for a bit, they went to have breakfast, then drove to work.
At the office, Lin Yi wasn’t focused on making the program successful but was thinking about why Feng Zhengxiang’s issue was still unresolved.
The system task was stuck at (2/3), with no progress.
Lin Yi thought to himself that if there was no movement in the next few days, he’d have to inquire about what’s going on.
"What? They didn’t pay?"
"Okay, I understand. I’ll go there and get the details right away."
Zhao Yuhuan hung up the phone and looked at Lin Yi.
"Lin Bro, there’s a problem with Feng Zhengxiang’s case. One household hasn’t paid."
"Didn’t pay? We had agreed upon it at the time and now they’re reneging?"
"According to Feng Zhengxiang, that’s pretty much it. I think we should go check it out. If we record it, it might add a twist to the program."
"Definitely, let’s go check it out now."
"Okay, okay."
After a quick cleanup, Lin Yi greeted Zhao Jing, then left with Zhao Yuhuan, driving to Feng Zhengxiang’s noodle shop.
"Journalist, you’re here."
Seeing them come in, Feng Zhengxiang stood up.
"Which household hasn’t paid?"
"Wu Xiaomei’s family," Feng Zhengxiang said:
"Initially, the settlement was for each person to pay 40,000 yuan, slightly more than before, but Wu Xiaomei claimed that her family’s conditions were poor and couldn’t come up with more money, asking me to wait a couple of days while she gathered the money. I agreed, but afterward, I couldn’t reach her by phone and nobody answered when I went to their place."
"What was her attitude when she said that to you? Was she sincere?"
"Actually, I’ve only met her once. It was her mother discussing with me most times, and the final agreement was over the phone," Feng Zhengxiang said:
"Afterward, I couldn’t reach her."
"This person is really making things difficult, even with the court issuing a summons, she’s still playing hardball," Zhao Yuhuan said:
"I think it could be taken to court again."
"Technically correct, but the agreement was signed, would suing again be effective?"
"The agreement was signed?"