109 Cost of Joining

Heh heh, your head. Even though you talked so high-soundingly, aren't you still here for the money?

Of course, Hong Dali didn't care about that—as long as he came, then it would be much easier to invite the other celebrities. The one million yuan was worth it!

It could be said that at the beginning, "I Am a Singer" needed someone with enough influence to attract other contestants. After all, in such a competition, it was fine if they won, but once they lost, it would be quite embarrassing. Now that Chu Zhongqin did "I Am a Singer" such a big favor, he naturally deserved some reward.

Therefore, Hong Dali took over the phone, grinned, and said, "Mr. Chu, you are too polite. If you are not busy, can you come over tomorrow? I will ask Sister Cai to host you and discuss the show, how does that sound?"

"Are you… the legendary Young Master?" Someone who could talk to him in such a situation and sounded so young, it could only be that Young Master. Thus, Chu Zhongqin quickly guessed who he was. "Hello hello, then I shall go over tomorrow? Yup, I will get there around four in the afternoon. Oh my, speaking of which, I saw Lady Nianwei's concert too. It was spectacular!"

"You flatter me, I'm always good with luck." Hong Dali placed all the credit to his luckiness and said, "In that case, I shall be awaiting your arrival. I believe that this show will definitely increase your fame."

"No problem, you are too courteous." Chu Zhongqin sounded quite happy. "Since everything's settled, I shan't hold you up anymore. I will see you tomorrow."

"Yup, see you tomorrow." Saying so, Hong Dali hung up the call.

Zhang Cai asked, "Young Master, regarding this Chu Zhongqin… do you have any plans for him?"

Hong Dali smiled and said, "Who knows how capable he is. I'm not concerned with other things, as long as he doesn't make any big mistake on his first performance, then let him get the first position as a token of our appreciation. Although doing such stuff is pretty meaningless." Saying that, Hong Dali laughed and said, "But we should show our sincerity."

What he said was logical.

Frankly speaking, "I Am a Singer" needed someone who could hold the stage. This person did not necessarily have to get first place, but he must have enough prestige. If not, it would be difficult to invite other singers. Therefore, giving him first place for the first performance was a token of his gratitude. As for his results after that, that would have to depend on his own capabilities.

"OK, Young Master." Zhang Cai took back her phone and said, "Now that Chu Zhongqin has agreed to join the show, shall we start inviting the other singers?"

"Yup, you can start calling them now. As for this aspect, you're more familiar. Fine those with different styles, don't let the show become bland."

"Noted."

Zhang Cai instantly started calling the mangers of those singers. When she was a manager in Huawei Entertainment, she collected quite a number of phone numbers. It caused her little effort now to search for those numbers.

At first, it was quite difficult to invite people to join, but once they heard that the Big Brother of the music industry, Chu Zhongqin, was also joining, they were tempted to join as well. After all, if Chu Zhongqin was joining, it also represented the capabilities of the producing team behind the show. Once they heard of the cost of joining the show that Hong Dali offered, quite a number of them instantly agreed. Of course, knowing that the legendary prodigal Hong Dali who squandered excessively was behind the show was the main reason they agreed.

After all, no one would reject money…

Therefore, in just a short two hours or so, the participants for the first and second performances were finalized.

Zhang Cai came back and reported to Hong Dali, who was resting on Li Nianwei's thigh. "Young Master, the participants for the first and second stage have been finalized. They are Chu Zhongqin, Liu Yuqiong, Xia Yuyao, Fei Chang, Yang Jun, Panda, Jiang Ruoyu, Li Xiao."

Hong Dali knew none of them. Of course, he wasn't concerned about this. The show was just purely for fun, the main objective was to spend as much money as possible.

Although he wasn't interested, Hong Dali still had to show some interest. He at least had to know the capabilities of these singers. Otherwise, it would be hard to manage later on. "Sister Cai, how are their capabilities?"

Zhang Cai answered, "Liu Yuqiong is currently a second-rate singer in the country. She has the skills and capability, just that her songs never really got circulated. She's the type that has the talent but doesn't have the opportunity to showcase them. Therefore, when she heard about this show, she was the first to agree. Her cost for joining is 250,000 yuan."

"Xia Yuyao is currently one of the top male singers in the country and is quite well-known. He should be of some help to pull up the viewership rating. His cost of joining is 200,000 yuan—this is quite a fair price."

"Fei Chang, quite a well-known singer in the country. He is close to becoming a first-rate singer. He has both the talent and opportunities and didn't plan to join at first. But once he heard that Chu Zhongqin is participating, he also agreed. His cost of joining is 500,000 yuan."

"Yang Jun, the prince of love songs. His popularity is quite high, and his situation is also similar to Fei Chang. His cost of joining is also 500,000 yuan."

"Panda, one of the best baritone singers—his voice is full of strength and oppression when singing. But because of his looks and age, his popularity is not very high. His cost of joining is 200,000 yuan."

"Jiang Ruoyu, a third-rate singer. She's quite skilled and also has the looks, but it is a pity that she's the classic type that doesn't have the opportunity to shine and can't rise in popularity no matter how. She can be considered to be here just to fill the numbers, and her cost of joining is 50,000 yuan. As long as she has the chance to sing on the stage, her requirement is the lowest out of all."

"Li Xiao, second-rate male singer. He had a few albums that were big hits, but towards the back, he didn't have any new good songs. His popularity is getting lower and lower. When he heard of this show, he also instantly agreed to join. His cost of joining is 250,000 yuan.

After she finished introducing these seven people, Hong Dali starting counting on his fingers. "Wait a moment, let me count—25, 20, 50, 50, 20, 5, 25, adding all of them up that will be…"

Tang Muxin burst out in laughter and said, "Stupid, that's a total of 1,950,000 yuan. You can't even calculate that."

Hong Dali touched his chin and said, "1,950,000 yuan? Then, for that person called Jiang Ruoyu, give her another 50,000 yuan to make it a round number. Just nice, that will be a total of two million yuan!"

"My god…" Tang Muxin covered her face. "If I had known, I would just say two million in the first place…"

Now that everything had been settled, Hong Dali didn't care about that extra 50,000 yuan. The only thing on his mind now was how to enjoy himself. "Sister Cai, these coming two days, prepare a few more capable singers. Our show will eliminate one person every two stages, and it would not be nice if we couldn't find someone to occupy the slot at the last minute. Oh right, tell them that those who are eliminated will have 200,000 yuan as consolation. Let them leave without too many regrets!"

Zhang Cai smiled and said, "Ok, Young Master. I got it. I will arrange for it now."

"Ah, I'm tired, time to go back home and sleep!" Hong Dali stretched his waist and said, "Sister Cai, is Unexpectedly! done? If it is, give me the hardcopy. I shall let my parents view it first."

"It has long been ready." Zhang Cai took out the thumb-drive from her pocket and handed it to Hong Dali. "Here it is."

"OK, let's go back home!"