“So that’s what this is all about,” Yun Xiangxiang realized.
This was a fight for resources. Huan Yu Century Entertainment might be producing “Flying Sky” themselves. They couldn’t take all the risk on their own. They had to spend money on hiring an internationally acclaimed director and foreign producing staff.
This was a huge investment. It meant everyone had to pitch in. Huan Yu couldn’t take all the cake. They could only take the biggest slice. Everything else relied on other investment sources.
Huan Yu made this large scale selection to prevent anyone from forcing them to cast their people just because they invested in the production.
It was also a marketing stunt for “Flying Sky.” The more people wanted to act as Tiantian, the more attention the film would get.
“What’s wrong?” He Wei didn’t know what Yun Xiangxiang went through.
He would have expected that to happen if Yun Xiangxiang was a bigshot, but she wasn’t. At least not yet. He wouldn’t expect anyone to pay foreign media to follow someone like Yun Xiangxiang.
The enemy wasn’t just spending pennies on this. They couldn’t recoup the money that was spent on following her in Paris.
“Qianqian noticed something.” Yun Xiangxiang had to tell He Wei. Chen Junjie might be spending money for nothing, but Yun Xiangxiang had to get her guard up, even if it wasn’t a malicious attack.
Nobody could settle this kind of matter better than He Wei could. “This is just my guess,” she didn’t have concrete evidence yet.
But aside from Chen Junjie, Yun Xiangxiang couldn’t think of anyone who would do this.
“Leave this to me. Don’t dwell on it,” He Wei reminded her.
“Thank you, Brother Wei,” Yun Xiangxiang smiled sweetly.
“I have something for you here. SL wants you to be the Chinese ambassador for their handbags.” He Wei gave her a file. “These are their terms.”
SL was one of the world-renowned handbag luxury brands.
Yun Xiangxiang perused the draft of the contract. They were offering her attractive benefits, and there weren’t any outrageous demands either.
“Is there something wrong with this endorsement, Brother Wei?” Yun Xiangxiang wanted to know why He Wei was letting her see this, despite it not being problematic at all.
“I can’t shake what happened during that endorsement in Italy out of my head,” He Wei smiled. “SL might not be giving you impossible deals, but asking you to be its ambassador itself is already a free lunch. And there is no free lunch in this world. I need you to verify it.”
Yun Xiangxiang currently only endorsed one top luxury brand: MonRoe. And that was thanks to He Wei’s connection with Austin.
She managed to become its ambassador thanks to her hard work that impressed Austin.
SQ was also a luxury brand, but it was not on SL or MonRoe’s level.
Brands like these would only consider international stars when looking for ambassadors. Even if they needed Chinese stars, they would only choose the ones with the most influence internationally.
Yun Xiangxiang wasn’t at that level yet. SL making this offer was unusual. He Wei was worried it might be a trap.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If they took this offer now, they would be at a disadvantage. Sooner or later, they would have to pay a bigger price.
“Maybe they know I’m a diamond in the rough,” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t think anyone was behind this.
Lucifer was the only person she knew who would interfere with her career by manipulating top luxury brands to offer her ludicrous benefits. But even so, Lucifer was a showy man. He wouldn’t deign to make such roundabout moves.
It had not been too long since Lucifer gave her a car of flowers, which she asked Qi Jun to dispose of. Lucifer might not be in Paris now.
“That’s good to hear. I’ll go to their company tomorrow and talk to whoever’s in charge there. I’ll bring you over to sign the contract once that’s done.” Since Yun Xiangxiang herself said that, He Wei could relax.
Yun Xiangxiang said goodbye and went back to her room. Even if she said that to He Wei, she still asked Song Qian to look into this, just in case something was up. “Qianqian, can you look up who SL is related with?”
Yun Xiangxiang was sure this wasn’t Lucifer’s style. But even so, a brand like this asking her to be their ambassador was bizarre.
Not all the resources He Wei had involved top luxury brands. He aimed for mid to high-end luxury products for the current Yun Xiangxiang.
Yun Xiangxiang had always believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch unless there was a trap waiting for her.
“What do you need me to look into?” A multinational conglomerate like that was a complex beast. It would be hard to investigate if there were no clear directions.
“They suddenly want me to endorse their handbag.” Yun Xiangxiang held her face in her hands. “I am confident in my charm, but I need to know if anyone is behind this sudden offer.”
“I understand,” Song Qian nodded and left.
Not long after that, Li Xiangling and Song Meng were back. “Everything is done?” Yun Xiangxiang asked.
Li Xiangling and Song Meng went to clear up the aftermath of the disaster this couple of days.
“En, everything’s done. The losses are calculated, and the manager gave us our salary.” The girls waved the notes in their hands happily. There’s about fifteen thousand yuan here. This trip is worth it.”
Their expenses were fully covered, and they went to a lot of fun places. They didn’t spend a single cent of their budget, and now they made money needed for the flight tickets. There would still be some left after factoring in the ticket cost.”
“Are you girls still finding a job?” Yun Xiangxiang was glad that they were happy.
“We can’t find a job that only needs us for half a month.” Song Meng was addicted to working here. It was easy to make money.
It was tiring, but it was so much better than doing summer jobs in China. She made a lot more in Paris. Her friends had some money, but Song Meng didn’t. She had to start taking action now.
Even if she couldn’t get millions, she wanted to reach tens of thousands before graduating.
“Qi Jun said the vineyard’s grapes can almost be picked. They need someone to help them,” Yun Xiangxiang knew about it after she asked Qi Jun. She suggested it to her friends.
“Really?” Song Meng looked forward to it.
“I have to make it clear to you two. The grapes are just ripening. They aren’t recruiting yet, so you shouldn’t have any problems with this job.”
“Remember, picking grapes is hard work. Also, you’re going to get exposed to the elements, so your skin will get damaged,” Yun Xiangxiang reminded.
“I don’t mind. Give me some more of your sunscreen, and the sun won’t scare me,” Song Meng adored Yun Xiangxiang’s sunscreen.
Song Meng wanted to buy it no matter how expensive it was. Or so she thought. But when she found out that it was given to Yun Xiangxiang exclusively, Song Meng could only ask her friend for some.
Yun Xiangxiang took a sealed bottle of sunscreen and tossed it to her friends. “This will be enough for you two. This job pays by the day, and it depends on how many grapes you can pick. But you need to pay for those that are too damaged.”
Yun Xiangxiang found it out for them. How many could the girls earn depended on their skills.
“Do you have something to do?” Li Xiangling shrewdly noticed it. “You seem to be arranging our schedule.”
Yun Xiangxiang gave her a look that said clever. “Once I’m done here, I’ll have to follow the crew to other cities in France for the scenes there.”
Yun Xiangxiang wouldn’t have thought about Qi Jun’s suggestion if it were not for the fact that asking the girls to run around the whole country with her could spell trouble.
The vineyard was on Qi Jun’s turf. The girls would be safe there. Yun Xiangxiang would have to travel to a lot of places. It could tire them out.