Chapter 108 - 107: Might as Well Get a Job
Yang Shen picked up the endorsement contract and looked through it carefully, while Director Liang took the opportunity to explain:
"The endorsement contract is only valid for one year, and they’ll only start their promotional campaign after the college entrance exams. It’s aimed at the next few classes of students. Their initial offer was ’100,000 a year,’ but considering Jinkang Pharmacy has suffered heavy losses, can barely fend for itself, and is on the verge of bankruptcy, I think..."
Yang Shen: "They need a discount?"
"They need to pay more!"
Yang Shen was momentarily speechless.
Director Liang said calmly, "Supply and demand determine the price, not whether someone is having a hard time. It just so happens that they’re desperate for a comeback right now, so naturally, the price should go up... Besides, your reputation isn’t the same as it was a few days ago."
"I did some negotiating for you. It’s 200,000 a year, plus 10,000 worth of supplements each month, which comes out to a total value of around 320,000. It only covers the ’campus-related pharmaceuticals’ sector, and the region is limited to Jinshui District. If your grades improve and you can land a bigger endorsement deal later, this won’t hold you back."
"If you’re not satisfied with the price, you can ask for more, but based on my experience, it’s unlikely to go any higher. That’s just the market rate."
Although Yang Shen had been impressive lately, Liang Shen didn’t think it was likely he could go head-to-head with the annual Champion Scholars from across the country.
Those were the kinds of geniuses who could score 800 on a 750-point exam.
The price wasn’t particularly high, but it was a "great deal" for Yang Shen. After all, the sector and regional limitations were very specific, so it wouldn’t prevent him from taking on other endorsements in the future.
Anyone on the rise might think, ’If I just wait a little longer, I’ll earn even more.’
But from a business perspective, that was a gambler’s mentality. Wealth is accumulated bit by bit, not by holding out for one big score.
The next opportunity might never come, and even if it does, it might not conflict with the current one.
Only what’s in your hands is real.
Yang Shen did a quick calculation in his head... ’200,000 in cash and 120,000 worth of supplements...’
A huge sum. Definitely a huge sum.
’Oh, no... It’s the feeling of temptation!’
But Director Liang added, "Of course, as the spokesperson, you also have contractual obligations. Your total score on the last monthly exam was 637. The contract requires you to promise that your score on the official college entrance exams won’t be lower than 650. If it is, you’ll have to pay a penalty of double the deposit..."
Yang Shen frowned slightly. ’650 points... Isn’t that a piece of cake?’
’320,000 is practically a freebie.’
Even if he just slacked off from now until the exams, he wouldn’t score lower than that. His "heroic act" alone had already added ten points, not to mention his cultivation had reached the early stage of Marrow Refining and the third layer of Qi Cultivation.
But he was still cautious. "Will there be any legal risks? For example, what if Jinkang Pharmacy sells counterfeit medicine?"
Director Liang laughed. "Are you a celebrity? Someone who lives and dies by public opinion?"
Yang Shen didn’t quite understand what Director Liang meant.
Director Liang spread his hands. His demeanor was less like a vice principal and more like a corporate elite from a major company:
"Although Jinkang Pharmacy took a big hit this time, they’ve never had any issues with their business reputation. Even if there’s a problem with their products, it won’t trace back to you. That’s not the spokesperson’s responsibility; it’s a legal matter."
"If for every endorsement, the spokesperson had to guarantee the brand was foolproof, going deep into the factory to inspect and supervise quality, then this business couldn’t exist. You might as well have their own quality inspectors be the spokespeople. They know the quality issues best, hiding away in the factory."
"In reality, they won’t just sign you. That would be too risky. They have other ’spokespeople’ in the other districts of Jianghuai City, and you’re the one for ’Jinshui District’."
"But this has its advantages. The smaller the scope of the contract and the shorter its duration, the less it will affect your potential future earnings. When you become more exceptional later on, bigger companies will naturally seek you out for endorsements on a larger scale."
Yang Shen connected the dots. "Got it. When that time comes, I’ll just need to exclude Jinshui District from the new deal."
But Director Liang shook his head. "No, you just pay the termination fee. Someone else will foot the bill for you. It’s not expensive, anyway."
Yang Shen: ...
’The Director is really something else... so tough and unyielding...’
Actually... if Yang Shen really did have a chance to skyrocket to fame and land a bigger contract, Director Liang would be the first to help him handle these minor details and bring in a new "high-value endorsement."
Just like today, when he suddenly called Yang Shen over and said, ’Yang, I’ve got a 3-million-yuan endorsement for you, are you interested?’
After all, there was a "finder’s fee" involved...
Director Liang treated every good student in the school as if they were his own child... his own potential source of income, that is.
Either a loan or an endorsement—there’s always one that’s right for you.
Yang Shen thought about it and ultimately decided the money was worth earning.
It wasn’t a small amount, and he wasn’t some kind of moral Saint. When it came to making money, what venture was without risk?
Even if he sold some Spirit Plants himself, he couldn’t rule out someone claiming they got a stomachache and coming to cause trouble. If he wanted to stay completely untainted, he might as well just lie flat, be poor his whole life, and then he certainly wouldn’t be "tainted" by anything.
He needed money to develop his clan and improve himself. When an income opportunity arose within a reasonable framework, he should seize it.
After reading through the contract in detail, Yang Shen felt relieved.
Anything handled by Director Liang was quite "impartial." He had a reputation for it.
The kind where even if he sold you out, he’d write the terms of the sale clearly on paper...
"Mm... I’m willing to accept..."
Director Liang nodded in satisfaction.
"Payment is in two parts. The 100,000 deposit will be paid once the financial procedures are complete. They’ll start preparing materials and so on, which will require your cooperation for a photoshoot. Then, the marketing campaign begins after the college entrance exam scores are released. If you score above 650, they pay the balance. Below 650, you pay the penalty. The rules are simple."
Thinking of Jinkang Pharmacy’s current situation, Director Liang said meaningfully:
"Of course, there’s another possibility. Jinkang Pharmacy could go bankrupt before the exams. In that case, you’d have basically earned a free 100,000, and you could sue for the remaining 100,000 through legal channels."
But Yang Shen waved his hand. "That wouldn’t be right."
"Oh? Feeling soft-hearted?"
"No, they’d still owe me 120,000 in supplements. That’s a total of 220,000, not 100,000."
Director Liang was stunned for a moment, then his smile grew even wider.
’This kid will definitely be a big shot in the future!’
’I like him!’
————
With the matter settled, Yang Shen left with a copy of the contract.
The signing wouldn’t happen here, but at Jinkang Pharmacy’s office in a few days. The copy he held was just to remember the contract’s contents.
Yang Shen had only one extra request: the 120,000 worth of supplements had to be delivered all at once.
Since Director Liang himself had hinted at the risk of Jinkang Pharmacy going bankrupt, Yang Shen certainly wasn’t going to bet on them still being around in twelve months.
Director Liang said this wouldn’t be a problem.
Yang Shen weighed the dozen or so pages in his hand.
’200,000 doesn’t feel that heavy.’
He was in a great mood!
’But I can’t get carried away. I need to stay grounded.’
This was just the small prize. If he really aced the college entrance exams—not necessarily becoming a Champion Scholar, but even just a top-tier student one level below—there would be much bigger prizes waiting for him.
As a mature Clan Leader, Yang Shen would never let the small prize distract him from the big one!
Yang Shen looked up "Jinkang Pharmacy." As a star enterprise in Jinshui District, it focused on "traditional pharmaceutical services," employing veteran doctors who both wrote prescriptions and sold medicine, following a long-term service model.
This approach had its selling points, but of course, its scale was nothing compared to an old, established Sect-turned-corporation like the Vajra Sect, let alone a mega-corporation like Biological Domain.
It was a regional enterprise, nothing more. Its business had yet to expand beyond Jianghuai City, and it wasn’t even considered particularly strong within the city itself.
So, it was likely that Jinkang Pharmacy needed Yang Shen to endorse not a specific "product," but the service concept of the pharmacy itself. The exact model was unclear.
However, Yang Shen also realized a problem... as soon as the 100,000 deposit came in, it seemed the side quest, "One Spirit Stone Stumps the Nascent Soul Cultivator," would be completed instantly.
He would receive the quest reward: one Random Magic.
But he would also lose the quest information... and would no longer be able to track the other half of the Jade.
Yang Shen thought for a moment and decided to try and exploit a loophole.
So, in the hallway, he gave Chen Beiwang a call.
The call was answered quickly. Chen Beiwang said, "Booking a tutoring session? I’m busy the next couple of days."
Yang Shen was already desensitized to the guy’s laziness. "No, I need to ask you for a favor."
"I have some income coming in, and I’d like to ’deposit’ it with you for a while. The money will be transferred to you, and I’ll ask for it back when I need it."
This was the method Yang Shen had come up with. He didn’t know if it would fool the system.
As for asking Jinkang Pharmacy to delay the payment and leave the money on their company books, Yang Shen didn’t trust that.
Who knew if they would go bankrupt at any moment.
Chen Beiwang listened and said casually, "How much? If the amount is too large, I could face tax risks."
Yang Shen said emphatically, "One hundred thousand!"
Chen Beiwang: ...
"Fine... I’ll send you an account number later. All my pocket money is in that account."
Yang Shen raised an eyebrow. "You’re not going to ask why? Not worried it’s black money?"
Chen Beiwang: "A hundred grand? Black money, my ass! If that’s your level of ’black money,’ you’d be better off just getting a regular job. Anyway, I’m hanging up. We can do the tutoring another day."
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