Accidental Mark
chapter-9-30041322

The shareholders couldn’t be blamed for not believing in Pei Shaoze. After all, the original Pei Shaoze left everyone with the impression that he was a rich second generation, who relied on his family’s money to spend all day drinking and not doing business properly. In school, he often fought with people and never passed an exam. He was a typical bad student.

Pei Shaoze knew his son was inept and simply asked him to give up on the university entrance examination. He was sent abroad to study in a private university. Pei Shaoze returned to China after graduating at the age of 22 and was taken by Pei Sheng to work as an assistant in the company for three years. Due to the diagnosis of early gastric cancer that required surgery, Pei Sheng retired early and let his 25 year old son to take over as president.

His son wasn’t promising and giving him too much power was likely to ruin the company. Therefore, Pei Shaoze was nominally the president of Tianxuan but in fact, the power of the company was still in the hands of the two Vice Presidents, Cui Jue and Yang Mingwei. Important decisions had to be signed and approved by the vice presidents.

Now Vice President Cui’s plan to seize power hadn’t started and it was time for him, the ‘waste heir’ to stand up.

Pei Shaoze’s eyes swept over the audience and he spoke in a deep voice, “Good morning everyone, I have recently analyzed the management model of Tianxuan Group and found some unreasonable areas. I thought of some reform measures and came to the meeting today to discuss then with you.”

He stood to the side of the projection screen and pressed the laser pointer. The PPT turned pages and a clear table appeared.

“The artists of the Tianxuan Group are directly managed by their respective agents. It is easy for the artists to leave the company with their agents and establish themselves after they become famous. Agents are also given too much authority to suppress newcomers who aren’t pleasing to the eye and it is easy for talents to be buried. This table shows the status of artists and agents who have left Tianxuan in the past 10 years…”

Shareholders who had been skeptical found that Pei Shaoze’s voice was calm, his speech was clear and a lot of data was listed on the PPT. It could intuitively be seen from the table how serious the drain of Tianxuan had been in recent years. The shareholders were involuntarily attracted to his words and raised their heads to listen to him.

Pei Shaoze listed several pieces of data in a row and explained the various problems that existed in the company. Then he opened the next page of the PPT.

“I recommend that the company implements grouping and regular management of all artists. Each group should be led by an executive who has the absolute right to speak for the group’s artists without the consent of other executives. This can greatly improve work efficiency.”

“The hundreds of artists in the company can be divided into three groups: A, B and C. Each group will have a professional agent team. The three groups will compete fairly and the year-end assessment is also based on the groups. The outstanding group management team can get more bonuses and dividends. There is such an incentive policy and healthy competition between groups will be formed. In addition to paying attention to first-tier stars, the group will strengthen the training of newcomers. Any artist who is untreated fairly can directly report to the group leader to avoid it being covered up by the agent.”

Pei Shaoze talked freely and the shareholders exchanged looks.

Was this really Pei Shaoze? It felt like he was possessed by something amazing… he could actually face the shareholders and calmly tell them his views without looking down at a script the whole time?

Pei Shaoze briefly and simply explained the pros and cons of group management for 10 minutes. Then he turned off the PPT and calmly stated, “I’m finished. You can put forward any comments or suggestions. We can discuss it.”

Everyone, “……”

The room was quiet for a few seconds before they started to whisper to each other.

After a while, Vice President Cui spoke from where he was sitting across from Pei Shaoze. “For President Pei’s plan, the group leader has the highest authority. Does this mean that the investment that the team leader makes doesn’t need to be voted on at a company meeting and can be directly allocated by the finance department?”

Pei Shaoze nodded. “Yes, investment projects that are less than 10 million yuan can be directly approved by the group leader and there is no need for others to interfere. The investment of large IPs over 10 million yuan will need to be discussed and decided by the company’s executives.”

This approach was equivalent to ‘separation of powers and governance’. The group leader controlled the life or death of artists in their group without others intervening. However, he also set the ‘10 million’ standard to prevent the group leader from abusing their authority. In this way, the groups would improve the efficiency of the company while avoiding excessive authority of the group leader and the company’s losses due to investment errors of large projects.

In the entertainment industry where stars didn’t move unless their pay was tens of millions, a 10 million yuan investment wasn’t much. However, it was enough to make some modern dramas and online dramas that didn’t require big stars or special effects. The amount proposed by Pei Shaoze was precisely the figure that everyone could accept.

Pei Sheng couldn’t believe that Pei Shaoze, who was standing there calmly, was his son. He was stunned for several seconds before nodding gently. “The scale of Tianxuan Entertainment is becoming bigger and there are too many artists. It is easy to forget their names. Group management is indeed more convenient for cultivating artists and it is easier to find potential good seedlings.”

Chairman Pei said so and Vice President Yang Mingwei immediately agreed with a smile. “The group leader might have great authority but it is only possible to invest in small projects that cost less than 10 million yuan. It won’t affect the company’s interests too much. I think this plan is pretty good!”

Cui Jue watched Pei Shaoze with a deep gaze. “I also agree with the grouping approach. However, who should be the group leaders?”

Pei Shaoze answered, “Of course, it is three executives. Vice President Cui and Vice President Yang will be in charge of Group A and B respectively while I will be in charge of Group C.”

Everyone, “……”

The shareholders finally understood that the fundamental purpose of today’s meeting was to control part of the company’s real power. Pei Shaoze was currently just a nominal boss with no real power. Grouping was the easiest way for everyone to accept. Even if he lost money, it wouldn’t affect other groups. There was such a sloppy leader that the deduction of bonuses for the whole group would just make people laugh.

It dawned on everyone that this was Chairman Pei’s idea and the PPT was also made by him. He wanted to divide into groups to let his son Pei Shaoze experience it. Only Pei Sheng knew it wasn’t his idea. It was actually his son’s idea! Pei Sheng was very happy but on the surface, he displayed the dignity of the chairman. “Then put your hands up to vote.”

The vote passed unanimously.

Pei Shaoze opened an Excel spreadsheet on his laptop which listed the names of all the artists in the company. He glanced at Cui Jue and Yang Mingwei. “Since everyone is here, let’s take the opportunity to discuss how to group it. Vice Presidents Cui and Yang, the two seniors should choose the artists first. I just came to the company and you can give me less first-tier stars. I’m afraid I won’t be able to control them.”

The other two were eager to do so. They pretended to be polite while starting quickly. They picked the company’s first and second-tier artists, leaving a few of the more difficult ones for Pei Shaoze.

As for the invisible artists who just signed, neither of them had an understanding. They were also too embarrassed to pick them all in front of anyone. Therefore, Pei Shaoze got to choose first. In any case, the newcomers signed by Tianxuan were almost the same and it depended on how to train them later.

Pei Shaoze selected a few newcomers he thought had potential after reading their information and also marked a C after Cheng Xia. This was the main point.

No one noticed that Pei Shaoze laid so much ground today but it was actually just for a newcomer called ‘Cheng Xia.’ Among the hundreds of names, he quietly placed Cheng Xia in his own group. In the future, all arrangements for Cheng Xia could be decided by him.

He could invest in suitable projects for Cheng Xia and help Cheng Xia obtain the best resources. He wouldn’t tolerate others pointing fingers.

At 2:30 p.m., the group announcement and detailed lists were distributed to the mailboxes of all employees. There was a big earthquake inside Tianxuan. Some people privately built friends and gossip groups and discussed this important event one after another.

The agents assigned to Group C felt like they were sentenced to death. “My god, Pei Shaoze is actually the leader of Group C. Am I blind?”

“I have a foreboding feeling that the year-end bonus will be deducted?”

“Why does he suddenly want to manage a group personally? With his ability, can he do it?”

“A new person makes bold changes upon assuming office. He is just fooling around and setting fire to gasoline!”

The agents of Group A and B gloated. “Those who are going to Group C are almost crying right?”

”Performance is calculated based on the group. I think Group C is the group of death and will definitely not get bonuses in the future.”

”Vice Presidents Cui and Yang have many stars with a lot of traffic in their groups. There is definitely no need to worry about resources. President Pei’s Group C is really miserable. There are many new and invisible artists…”

The people of the legal department all looked bitter. Pei Shaoze actually asked them to change the contract template for newcomers. They estimated that they would have to work overtime until they were bald.

The agents department also had a headache. Agents in the company were regrouped and offices must naturally be reallocated. For a time, the agents were in a mess as everyone packed up and moved offices.

Cheng Xia knew nothing about this. He was currently reading a book carefully in his school dormitory.

He might’ve signed a contract with Tianxuan but he was a student of a film academy after all. The company didn’t arrange any notices for him and he attended classes at school. He couldn’t fail the final exam.

Just then, his phone rang. The caller ID showed a strange number.

Cheng Xia answered the phone and heard the voice of a woman. “Cheng Xia, hello. I am Chen Lu, the general manager of the agents department of Tianxuan. I want to inform you of something. Due to a reform, all artists will be managed in groups. You have been assigned to Group C. Please come to Tianxuan’s legal department to sign a supplementary contract again before January 20th.”

Assigned to Group C? Resign a contract?

Cheng Xia’s eyes lit up. President Pei didn’t kick him out, just distributed him to Group C? He didn’t know the situation of Group C but as long as he stayed in Tianxuan and didn’t have his contract terminated, there was hope!

Cheng Xia took a breath in excitement and asked, “Regrouping? Does this mean my agent is still Brother Zhao?”

Chen Lu told him, “Zhao Wenxiu has left and the assignment of agents has yet to be given by the group leader. It hasn’t been fully determined yet. Once it is confirmed, your new agent will take the initiative to contact you.”

Cheng Xia nodded. “I understand, thank you General Manager Lu.”

He hung up the call and opened his WeChat account suspiciously. He had been busy reviewing today and hadn’t noticed there was a voice message sent from Zhao Wenxiu in WeChat. Cheng Xia raised the phone to his ear and clicked play.

The man’s angry voice almost broke Cheng Xia’s eardrums. “Cheng Xia, you are so good. You dared to complain about me in front of President Pei and have him kick me out of Tianxuan! Damn you! Just wait. In the future, I will absolutely make it so you can never stay in the entertainment industry!”

Cheng Xia, “???”

‘Keep me out of the entertainment circle? Let’s see what you can do!’

Cheng Xia raised an eyebrow and typed back with no hesitation. [You drugged my juice. I didn’t scold you yet you cursed me first? Do you have any shame? Daring to use this type of underhanded means, you deserve to be swept out of the company! As for what I will become in the future, I won’t bother you. An agent like you, let’s see who will be in trouble [smile][smile][smile]]

After that, Cheng Xia simply blacklisted Zhao Wenxiu.

The three consecutive smiles at the end were extremely lethal.

Kill him!

Zhao Wenxiu wanted to curse again but the notification ‘The other party isn’t your friend. Please send a verification’ appeared.

Cheng Xia’s mood was extremely comfortable.

Zhao Wenxiu’s use of the pheromones release agent almost made him marked by a strange alpha. Cheng Xia felt disgusted just hearing the name. It was great that Zhao Wenxiu would no longer appear in Tianxuan in the future.

it could be inferred from Zhao Wenxiu’s words that President Pei drove him out of Tianxuan. Zhao Wenxiu thought that Cheng Xia had complained to President Pei so he yelled at Cheng Xia on WeChat.

He thought about when President Pei said ‘I’ll find out about this matter’ with a calm expression. Cheng Xia suddenly found that Pei Shaoze was a principled boss who only dealt with Zhao Wenxiu and didn’t drive Cheng Xia away. This indicated that President Pei didn’t want to involve the innocent. It seemed that he misunderstood President Pei before!

[Cheng Xia’s good impression of you +5.]

Pei Shaoze was busy in the office when this message suddenly appeared in his mind. Cheng Xia was starting to think about things again? Presumably, he received the company’s notice and learned that Zhao Wenxiu had left. This added some good feelings.

However, he probably didn’t know that the leader of Group C was Pei Shaoze.

Pei Shaoze’s lips curved slightly.

He would wait until after the exam to mention it. After all, this little guy had a very active brain and was always thinking some weird things. It would be difficult if he failed the exam due to random thoughts.

Proofreader: Cat