Chapter 97: Signing with Twelve Tones Music Studio

  Who is this guy?

  Would you like to treat us to a drink? Are you from this company? Is it really okay to just come in like that? The girls present thought to themselves.

  It's no wonder they couldn't recognize the identity of the boy in front of them, he just looked too young, his youthful face had no signs of age at all, if not for wearing a mature suit, it would be perfectly normal to say that he was a high school student from any school.

  The girls in front of him, who had been stunned and now looked guarded, finally reacted after a few seconds. He patted his head and said, "Oh dear, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Zhou Xiao, and this AZX is my company."

  "What?" More than a dozen girls looked at each other, still without any further action. Zhou Xiao? Boss? At your age? Are you kidding me?

  In 2000, China's entertainment circle was not completely unaware of Japan's entertainment circle. In fact, it can be said that at this time, mainland China's star-chasing fans had a much greater enthusiasm for Japan's entertainment circle than they did in 2014.

  Why is that? It's simple, at this time, the star-chasing crowd receives information mainly from various newspapers and magazines. Such newspapers and magazines often carry news about the entertainment circles of mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea because it fills up more content. So, at that time, Japanese pop stars like Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, Kinki Kids, SMAP were also somewhat well-known in China.

  However, this only applies to fans of celebrities. If someone is not interested in celebrities and gets their information from TV stations, they probably wouldn't know much about the Japanese entertainment industry. And as for Xiao Zhou's sudden rise to fame, it has only been a few months, unless you are very interested in the Japanese entertainment industry or go online to look for news, or even understand Japanese, otherwise most people would not recognize Xiao Zhou at all.

  Several folk music girls from China suddenly jumped out and said that this company is mine, you will all work under me in the future? No, no, don't joke around. All of us present are older than you, even the youngest ones are already seniors about to graduate, and Mr. Inoue just now is around 50 years old, how can they work under you? Think about it with your own experience, this is impossible.

  Looking at the girls in front of him with disbelieving faces, Zhou Xiao wanted to explain something but ultimately didn't say it out loud. He said: "You wait a moment, I'll find someone and you'll know."

  After finishing speaking, he also didn't knock on the door and turned around to push the door into Ogawa Keiko's office.

  "Did he just go in like that? Without even knocking on the door? Isn't it said that Japanese people are very polite?"

  "Won't I be kicked out immediately?"

  "You're so young, what's wrong with you coming here to talk big?" Several girls didn't believe Zhou Xiao's words at all, only Li Xuejiao frowned and seemed to be thinking: "This guy is either a leader or has a very strong background, otherwise he wouldn't be so familiar with this place..."

  Just then, Zhang Yu, who had run to answer the phone, ran back.

  "Where is the boss?" Zhang Yu asked the girls.

  "Boss? Didn't see him." someone replied.

  "Didn't you see? How is it possible, I just saw him enter from the doorway a moment ago." Zhang Yu said.

  "The one who just came in... The one who just came in!"

  "You... you're not referring to that very young one, are you?" someone asked tentatively.

  "That's right, it's him! The boss is really young, only 18 years old!" Zhang Yu said.

  "He... he's really the boss?"

  Just as he said that, the door of Watanabe Keiko's office opened again and a young man came out with Watanabe Keiko and Inoue.

  The girls were all frightened because they could clearly see that the boy did not show any special expression in front of two people who were much older than him, but instead, these two people were slightly lowering their heads and listening to what the boy was saying.

  "He... he's really the boss." someone couldn't help but say.

  The boy looked over in this direction and happened to see Zhang Yu.

  "Zhang Yu! You're just in time, help me introduce myself to everyone! They still don't believe I'm the boss." The man said with a smile. He didn't ask Watanabe Keiko or Inoue to introduce him, neither of them spoke Chinese, and even if they explained carefully, it would be a waste of words.

  "This is our boss Zhou Xiaolong of AZX. Don't look at his young age, but after he started out, he has done many impressive things. If you can sign under him, you'll be making a lot of money." Zhang Yu hastily introduced.

  "Is it clear now?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "Boss... we didn't know..." a girl said with embarrassment and regret.

  "Don't worry, I won't pursue these matters. At my age, I've been misunderstood too many times. Let's talk about your affairs instead. Your dormitory has already been prepared, and not only that, but also the meals for every week are guaranteed to be free of charge. The company will also invest in packaging for you, all without spending a single penny from you. When the song is released, you'll get what you deserve, and on top of that, each of you will receive a monthly salary of 50,000 yen." Zhou Xiao announced.

  This treatment is even considered good in Japan, don't look at the 50,000 yen as a small amount, just accommodation and food can be exchanged for a lot of money, let alone various training expenses. It can be said that if they live frugally, this 50,000 yen can be mailed back without spending a single penny, and they can still live well in Japan.

  However, there are also problems. First of all, after forming the Twelve Girls Band, they couldn't earn any money from their performances because when the contract was signed, both parties chose a monthly salary system. This system can guarantee a pretty good life when you're not popular, but if you become extremely popular and still only get a monthly salary of 50,000 yuan, then you can't be too resentful. After all, the boss took risks to make you famous and invested money in promoting you. Now that you're famous, you want to take back the part you earned yourself? There's no such good thing in the world.

  Li Xuejiao was also surprised by Zhou Xiao's age, and after their first meeting, a group of girls were led to the dormitory found for them by the company. The room in the dormitory was very small, but according to the cleaning lady, Tokyo's price level is not comparable to China's, and each person can have such a place to live, the company has already been very generous. This cleaning lady is actually also Chinese, she just went abroad for nearly ten years.

  And as for Zhou Xiao, the aunt couldn't stop praising him: "This kid Zhou Xiao, you guys might not know since you just came from China, but after a few days you'll see how amazing he is. One single album sold 2 million copies! He's making money like crazy..."

  "A single sells 2 million? Is it awesome?" a girl asked.

  "It's not a big deal, you can calculate it yourself. One CD sells for 1,050 yen, so go ahead and calculate how much two million CDs would be." The aunt asked back disdainfully.

  "Two hundred million multiplied by one thousand and fifty? Ten million... hundred million... billion... ten billion... two... twenty billion?! Twenty billion!" A group of girls looked at each other in dismay, they had no idea what the tax rate was, so this sales figure of twenty billion really scared them.

  "Two billion yen is how much RMB? Let me calculate... uh... ah..." A girl counted on her fingers.

  "Never mind, there's plenty of time to calculate later. First, pick a house and then honestly move in. Mr. Zhou Xiao will definitely create popular songs for you too. When you become famous, you can count your own income." The aunt said as she opened the dormitory door.

  He had gotten to know the group of girls and one of the tasks he was working on, namely the sound effects for "A Liter of Tears", was almost complete. The two songs for his new single were also recorded. From now on, there was only editing left for the movie. Although Zhou Xiao still couldn't do this task himself, he would undoubtedly participate in the whole process to learn from others. This kind of learning wouldn't enable him to edit a movie just by watching someone else finish one, but Zhou Xiao felt that it would allow him to learn more about camera work and make his own movies even better in the future.

  Another thing to do besides editing is that the recording of "Final Exam" in '99 is about to start.