Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities-Chapter 161 - 144: I Don’t Believe I Can’t Take Down Chen Jincheng
For example, there was a case where one celebrity sued another celebrity’s company. The plaintiff won, and the defendant had to pay over 8 million in compensation.
The country’s laws don’t support these unreasonable disputes between MCNs and influencers. For instance, contracts lasting ten or fifteen years are not upheld. Predatory compensation clauses are also not supported. In one case, a company sued an influencer for 5 million, but the court ultimately ordered them to pay only 500,000.
In a dispute where a college student influencer was sued for 300,000, the court only ordered a payment of 5,000.
In such rulings, the court looks at the actual profit generated and calculates compensation based on that figure. It’s not based on whatever amount is written in the contract. The law simply won’t support that.
Before these precedents, many contracted influencers would be controlled and intimidated by companies like CYH.
Once these rulings became public, the influencers started getting ideas. They were no longer at the mercy of CYH and began taking them to court one by one.
The outcome was predictable: CYH’s reputation was ruined.
In the end, the boss absconded with the investors’ money and the influencers’ earnings. He was eventually caught and sentenced to ten years in prison.
In the other world, several such companies had emerged. They were the pests of the MCN industry, and their spectacular failures were what gave MCN agencies such a bad reputation.
Wang Qiqi continued, "We couldn’t reach an agreement with his company, so I was about to leave. But then his wife suddenly burst in, yelling that she’d long suspected him of cheating and accusing me of being the other woman. The worst part is, that ugly bastard Hu Zhicong actually claimed I was the one who seduced him! His wife tried to hit me, and I wasn’t about to just stand there and take it, so I fought back. That’s the real story behind that video online."
Hearing this, Chen Jincheng teased, "Sounds to me like you were made the scapegoat. His wife was probably looking for someone else, and he just used you to take the heat!"
"Exactly. I had to threaten to call the police just to get out of there," Wang Qiqi said viciously.
"Then why didn’t you call the police?" Sister Hong asked, cutting straight to the point.
Wang Qiqi explained, "I went a little too hard. I scratched up his wife’s face and even managed to kick Hu Zhicong in the crotch. If I’d actually called the police, it would’ve been considered a mutual brawl, and I might have ended up with more of the blame."
"Oh, I see," Sister Hong said, looking at Wang Qiqi with surprise.
’In that case, this girl is not to be messed with.’
Still, she had to ask, "How can you prove it?"
"I..." Wang Qiqi faltered, a more pronounced look of grievance on her face.
Because she had no way to prove it; right now it was just her word against theirs.
’If I’d known this would happen, I would have just called the police right then and there. I wouldn’t be so helpless now.’
So all she could do now was look at Chen Jincheng with tear-filled eyes, hoping desperately that her new boss would believe her. Otherwise, she truly didn’t know what she would do.
As she thought this, tears gathered in her eyes and began to fall, a testament to how wronged she felt.
"Sister Hong, there’s no need for proof. I believe her," Chen Jincheng said with a smile. He pulled a couple of tissues from the box on his desk, walked over to Wang Qiqi, and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "What is there to cry about? Calm down. We still need to review that video together."
Wang Qiqi stared blankly at her boss, completely stunned.
’She had even been preparing herself for him not to believe her...’
Her aggrieved expression slowly began to change as an indescribable emotion blossomed in her heart.
’My boss was so gentle just now! And so handsome.’
Sister Hong saw this and pursed her lips. ’This boss of ours really knows how to flirt.’
Chen Jincheng returned to his office chair with a smile and looked at the employee information again.
He had just received a notification: the young woman’s Loyalty stat had increased.
Name: Wang Qi
Loyalty: 90
Status: It feels so good to be believed. My heart is suddenly pounding!
And so, with the information provided by the game-like system, many things became much easier.
Just like that, the girl’s Loyalty had jumped to 90.
Seeing that her boss chose to believe the young woman, Sister Hong sided with his decision and said, "The fact that they posted an edited video, cutting out the beginning and end, means they don’t dare release the whole thing. This situation isn’t actually that difficult to handle. It’ll just be a bit of a back-and-forth."
Just as she said that, she suddenly received a message on her phone. Her eyes widened in surprise as she began to tap at the screen.
A moment later, she frowned and looked up at Chen Jincheng. "Boss, someone from CYH just contacted me through an intermediary."
She glanced at Wang Qiqi as she continued, "They want to negotiate. They’re asking you to drop Wang Qiqi. If you do, our two companies can still collaborate on projects, share resources, that sort of thing. Otherwise, we’ll become enemies. They said there are plenty of fish in the sea, and it’s not worth making an enemy over one woman."
Hearing this, Wang Qiqi immediately tensed up again.
CYH was obviously trying to blacklist her.
’The thing is, I don’t think I’m important enough for the boss to go head-to-head with another company just for me.’
’After all, I’m not some major influencer, and I’m not the boss’s girlfriend either.’
But she couldn’t blame anyone in this situation. All she could do was sigh to herself.
Chen Jincheng, however, didn’t seem to take the matter to heart. He simply turned to Sister Hong and asked, "Are they threatening me?"
"It seems so," Sister Hong confirmed with a nod.
"I don’t like being threatened," Chen Jincheng said with a cold laugh.
’Honestly, making enemies of our two companies? As if I’m scared.’
’They’re just one Company MCN, a mere Tiao Yin 3-star Guild, and they want to blacklist someone? Are they that delusional?’
’Do they think they’re some major player in the entertainment industry?’
’When Company MCNs go after each other, the worst they can do is compete for talented creators and fan resources. After that, it’s just a battle of operational skill.’
’And in that department, what gives them the courage to threaten me?’
’They might be a 3-star Guild, but have they ever launched a viral project like our Second-Life Star? Are any of their influencers on the advertising leaderboards?’
