2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 145 The Eve of the Finals
"You're incredibly lucky, kid. You've made it into the top three. Tonight's final night should be the best chance for her to win the championship."

From buying Liverpool's championship to becoming the spokesperson for Flash, Xiao Tan seems to have divine assistance, easily handling both situations. The choice of spokesperson this time is especially brilliant.

Chun Ge made it into the top three. Based on the current off-site SMS voting method, the champion will be determined first. Chun Ge's popularity gives him at least a 50% chance of winning the championship. Even if he doesn't win, Xiao Tan has already made a fortune.

Gu Qingqing, Qin Siyu, and Zhao Xianbo found it quite amusing to watch Boss Zhang's unconvinced yet helpless expression.

Today is August 26th. Tonight is the final live broadcast of the Super Girl competition, which will determine which contestant will be the champion. So Tan Jincheng invited Zhang Xupeng, Gu Qingqing, Qin Siyu, and Zhao Xianbo to have dinner together and watch the competition.

September is almost here, and summer vacation is coming to an end. The three of them will soon be working over as well. Tan Jincheng is usually too busy to take care of them, so he is taking this opportunity to treat them to a meal as a farewell gesture.

In the next few years, Taobao stores or Flash will continue to cooperate with a few people. Where can you find college students who are cheap, easy to use, and willing to screw things in?

Tan Jincheng also asked the production manager, Wang Guoxin, about Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo's performance. The feedback he received was that although they were not skilled and their hands and feet were much slower than those of the regular workers, they were very serious.

Zhao Xianbo, in particular, was willing to eat and sleep with the regular workers and take the same shifts. Even Wang Guoxin had to admit that such a simple and honest college student was indeed rare these days.

Five people sat at separate tables in a private room at a Korean BBQ restaurant outside the Gold Coast residential complex.

Tan Jincheng looked at everyone and couldn't help but laugh; to be honest, Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo were both good-looking and had good figures, so they were chosen to be clothing models. Among the people sitting there, the least good-looking one was Zhang Xupeng.

Tan Jincheng raised his glass and said, "Come on, summer vacation is coming to an end, and you will soon be returning to school. I wish you all a bright future and that you will not fail any courses."

Eating barbecue on a hot day is honestly a bit strange, but what can you do when college students like it these days? The Korean wave was quite popular at the beginning of the century.

Merchants saw a business opportunity in this, and all sorts of Korean BBQ restaurants appeared, including quite a few in Beicang, though most of them were fake.

Because I used to sell fast food in my past life, I have some knowledge of the food around Beicang. I still have a deep impression of this Tan Jincheng restaurant. The owner seems to be from South Korea. This restaurant was still in business until 2023.

Regardless of whether it's authentic or not, a restaurant that can operate for 20 years after its initial hype has faded must have tasted pretty good.

"Thank you for your care over the past few months, Mr. Tan. I wish you all the best in your business and great success for FlashCar," Qin Siyu said, raising her glass first.

Everyone else raised their glasses, which were full of drinks, so no one held back.

Five youthful faces, young people from three provinces, gathered in a private room. The oldest, Zhang Xupeng, was not even 21 years old. If you didn't know the situation, you would just think it was a simple classmate reunion.

Who would have thought that two millionaires were sitting among them? Especially Tan Jincheng, who, according to valuation methods, is already worth over 100 million even at the lowest valuation.

A clothing trading company with more than 50% ownership, a wholly-owned electronics trading company, and a small electric scooter manufacturer with an annual output value of more than 60 million yuan—three well-run companies—a combined valuation of 100 million yuan seems reasonable, right?
However, not only the four people present, but even Tan Jincheng himself is unaware of this.

Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo had limited understanding of Tan Jincheng, while Zhang Xupeng and Gu Qingqing witnessed Tan Jincheng's actions step by step, and their feelings about the money were not so obvious.

As for Tan Jincheng himself, he was extremely frugal when he started his business last year, and this year he has been constantly short of money. If he wants to change his car, he will have to wait until the new model is launched next month to see if the old model will be discounted.

In this state of constant financial hardship, with the house still rented, how could one possibly realize that they are a billionaire with a net worth of over 100 million?

Often, when you are fully committed to your career and receive positive feedback, and the things you want to do are progressing smoothly step by step, wealth seems to become the least important thing.

"Remember to vote for Chun Ge tonight, and collect your money from your group leader tomorrow," Tan Jincheng said with a smile after clinking glasses with Qin Siyu.

"Only you would think of that. You're cheating. Even if you win the championship tonight, I won't accept it," Zhang Xupeng said, pursing his lips.

Gu Qingqing, standing next to him, had a smile on her face. She didn't say much tonight, and she and Zhao Xianbo were in charge of grilling the meat and then distributing it to everyone.

"The tickets I bought probably won't be of much use. They'll just be there to make up the numbers and do my part. That way, I'll have something to say to Chun Ge's manager so it'll be easier to handle the promotion next time."

Since he was their own spokesperson, Tan Jincheng felt he had to put in some effort. To this end, he organized a voting campaign involving employees from five companies: Jinpeng Trading, Jinyi Industry, Zhang Haiping, Zhang Mingcan, and Shanchi Automotive. The five companies had approximately 600 employees, and each mobile phone could cast 15 votes. For every 15 votes cast, they would receive a subsidy of 50 yuan, which was paid personally by Tan Jincheng and not recorded in the accounts.

Each phone can earn 35 yuan for casting 15 votes. It is estimated that many employees will use their family members' phones to vote, which could contribute about 10,000 votes. In fact, for Chun Ge's popularity, these 10,000 votes are just icing on the cake.

Gu Qingqing, who hadn't said much all night, finally spoke up: "If Chun Ge really wins the championship, won't it be much more difficult to promote him later? I've heard that many celebrities like to act like divas after they become famous."

"There's a chance of that. After all, if she really wins the championship, we'll benefit from her current popularity. Plus, she'll definitely have no shortage of endorsements in the future, and she'll be even busier with work, so it's possible that she might occasionally not cooperate with promotions."

"But no matter what, we have a two-year contract, and the commercials that need to be filmed still need to be filmed. The rest depends on her management team and the conscience of Jiji Company. Anyway, it doesn't matter. We've made a fortune."

The others were somewhat confused by Tan Jincheng's explanation. It did increase product awareness, but didn't that cost money? Where did he get the idea that they made a huge profit, or that the endorsement fee was cheap?

Gu Qingqing chuckled silently. She had gone with the team to sign the contract and knew the exact amount of the endorsement fee. Boss Tan had actually only paid the agency 80 yuan for the endorsement. Signing this year's hottest Super Girl for 80 yuan was a huge profit.

As for the money given to the star and their management team after winning the championship, that can only be considered a reward. The management company doesn't receive a single penny. It's possible that the management company might try to sabotage the publicity if they find that they signed the star too cheaply.

In fact, Tan Jincheng had already made this plan. He was aware of Tianyu's future reputation; so what? At worst, he could use this year's advertising next year and replace the spokesperson with another one when the contract expired.

Moreover, because this year's Super Girl was so popular, everyone had high expectations for the 2006 Super Girl. However, the results were not ideal, and the 06 Super Girl was arguably the most controversial.

The competition format was incredibly complex, with contestants constantly causing trouble to gain popularity. In addition, male talent shows started in 2006, and the strongest contestant in history, 0713, was born in 2007. As a result, the popularity of Super Girl has declined significantly since then.

The 05 Super Girl contestants were like stocks, reaching the peak of a stock, while Tan Jincheng was fortunate enough to buy the shares he wanted at a very low price when the stock was just starting to rise.

Before narrowing down from 15 to 10, express the willingness to sign contracts to arouse the team's desire; after the top 10, get straight to the point and sign contracts immediately, without giving Jiji's team time for market feedback or research, and secure contracts at the lowest cost.

Everything went so smoothly. I have to thank Gu Qingqing for reminding me. If it weren't for her reminder, Tan Jincheng might have fallen into a vicious cycle, which was waiting until he had grown stronger before signing Jay Chou.

Thinking of this, Tan Jincheng raised his glass to Gu Qingqing, who responded with a smile that only she and Tan Jincheng understood.

Seeing that the others were confused, Gu Qingqing felt a little smug. Was this a secret between her and Boss Tan?

After dinner, the five of them returned to the two-bedroom apartment rented by Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng. This was the first time Gu Qingqing and the other two had come to Tan Jincheng's home. They usually only saw Tan Jincheng at work, and they were curious about what Tan Jincheng was like in his daily life.

After entering, Gu Qingqing took a closer look. It wasn't as messy as she had imagined; the house looked very clean, and the living room was simply furnished.

Qin Siyu, being straightforward, said as soon as she entered the room, "Wow, Boss Tan, your house is quite clean, and there's no strange smell. I thought boys' dormitories were all messy and dirty."

Zhao Xianbo nodded in agreement; their dormitory was indeed rather dirty and messy.

"Please sit wherever you like. There are drinks in the refrigerator. Help yourself to whatever you want."

"I'm not drinking anymore, I'm full, I'll rest for a while."

After observing the surroundings, Gu Qingqing felt similarly to Qin Siyu. The balcony was well-maintained, with even a potted plant. Although there was an ashtray on the coffee table, it was clean and free of grime, suggesting it was frequently cleaned.

After a moment's thought, Gu Qingqing boldly looked at Tan Jincheng and asked, "May I have a look around your room?"

"Wow!" Qin Siyu was the first to cheer.

Before Tan Jincheng could reply, Zhang Xupeng laughed loudly and said, "Go ahead and look around. Tan's room isn't locked. The master bedroom on the left is his. Go ahead."

(End of this chapter)