The phone call ended.
Jiang Yue walked out of the glass doors of the high-speed rail station.
The cold evening wind of Donghai City blew against him, rustling the hem of his clothes.
He waved to hail a taxi.
Sitting in the back seat, Jiang Yue placed his backpack beside him and stared out the window at the neon signs flashing past.
He would have to open a studio sooner or later.
Accounting, legal, and public relations could be outsourced for now, and he could pay someone to do the initial contract reviews.
But the official seal, commercial quotes, private itineraries, and original contracts could not be casually handed over to outsiders.
If something really went wrong, any time saved in the beginning would have to be spent cleaning up the mess later.
It wasn't hard to spend some money to hire a few low-paid clerks to take the exam just to make up the numbers.
The hard part was that the person holding the official seal and managing the contract process had to be someone he knew inside and out.
Those with certificates might not understand the industry, those who understood the industry might not be reliable, and those who were reliable might not be willing to start from scratch with a brand-new personal studio.
In the short term, it would be difficult for him to weed through the Donghai City circle to find such a person.
Jiang Yue opened his phone's notes app, typed the word “Studio,” and added a question mark below it.
Just as his finger came down, he paused.
A scene from the Lunar New Year, sitting by the charcoal brazier in the ancestral home, floated into his mind.
At the time, his younger cousin, Jiang Kaiwen, had been holding his phone, complaining about how miserable he was working as an intern at a small media company in Nancheng.
He was managing a minor influencer, getting ordered around all day for low pay and no visible future.
Jiang Yue remembered peeling a mandarin orange back then and casually asking, “Are there any requirements in your industry?”
Jiang Kaiwen had nodded.
“Yeah, the industry stepping stone is passing the performance broker qualification exam. But in small workshops like ours, even the boss doesn't have a license, let alone us.”
Jiang Yue had handed him a segment of the orange.
“Take the exam when you have time. Don't worry about whether the company can use it or not. Having an extra certificate means having another option, and it'll be useful after you graduate. Just think of it as getting another ticket in.”
Jiang Yue had taken many certificate exams during his university days.
Some certificates were useless in daily life, but when an opportunity arose, they became the stepping stone that set him apart from others.
He had only wanted his cousin to have a backup chip in hand at the time.
Now, this chip happened to fit perfectly into the studio's entry threshold.
Without any further hesitation, Jiang Yue tapped open his chat with Jiang Kaiwen and placed a voice call.
It rang twice before the other side picked up.
Jiang Kaiwen asked listlessly, “Yue-ge? What's up? Did second grandaunt nag you about losing weight again?”
“That certificate I told you about last time, did you take the exam?”
Jiang Yue got straight to the point.
“Huh? Which certificate?”
Jiang Kaiwen was stunned for a moment, then realized.
“Oh, oh! The broker license! Yeah, I took it! Why?”
Jiang Yue sat up a bit straighter.
“Did you pass?”
“I passed, I passed!”
Jiang Kaiwen's volume suddenly shot up.
“This year they changed it to a rolling computer-based exam, so you can schedule a slot as soon as you sign up. Didn't you tell me to take it when I had time during New Year's? I registered as soon as I went back to the company on the eighth day of the lunar month. I did practice questions every night after work until my eyes ached.”
“The results came out a while ago, and the electronic certificate just became available to check last week.”
At this point, he started pouring out his grievances again.
“I thought I'd get a small raise, but the boss just took one look and dismissed me. He said this kind of thing is useless in our small place, and in the end, we still have to rely on his connections.”
“Yue-ge, why did I even spend those few hundred yuan on the registration fee? I wasted so many of my evenings too.”
Listening to his complaints, Jiang Yue's finger rested on the car window frame.
The missing puzzle piece had fallen into place.
“Now, it's useful.”
The other end of the line went quiet for two seconds.
Jiang Kaiwen softened his tone. “Yue-ge, are you serious?”
“I'm serious.”
Looking at the Donghai sunset outside the car window, Jiang Yue stated his decision directly.
“Resign, buy a ticket, and come to Donghai.”
“Work with me.”
The call ended.
Jiang Yue put away his phone and watched the retreating street view outside, quickly organizing his thoughts.
Chen Jiaming was right. Going solo meant the hardest hurdle to pass was core trust.
Jiang Kaiwen was young and lacked experience in the industry, but he was smart and quick-witted.
More importantly, although the Jiang family had lived their own separate lives over the years, whenever something actually happened, none of them would ever side with an outsider.
Experience could be gained over time, but the official seal and contracts could not be handed over to someone whose background was unclear.
The taxi stopped downstairs at his apartment building.
Jiang Yue paid the fare, got out, and went upstairs to wash up.
Three days later at noon, Donghai Hongqiao Station.
Dragging a large black suitcase and wearing a backpack, Jiang Kaiwen stood in the crowd at the exit, looking around.
He had caught up on some sleep on the high-speed train, and his hoodie was creased in several places.
Donghai was still chilly with the spring cold in mid-March, but after rushing all the way, his cheeks were flushed.
Jiang Yue drove a rented car and pulled up smoothly by the curb.
Rolling down the window, he waved at Jiang Kaiwen.
Jiang Kaiwen's eyes lit up. He dragged his suitcase over, opened the door, slid into the passenger seat, and panted heavily.
“Yue-ge, as soon as I handed in my resignation letter yesterday, that boss actually tried to withhold half a month's salary.”
“I finished my handover, and then I showed him the resignation regulations and salary settlement clauses. Only then did he settle my pay and let me go on the spot.”
Jiang Yue turned the steering wheel, merging the car onto the main road.
“As long as the procedures were handled cleanly. Are you hungry?”
“I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.”
Jiang Kaiwen grinned.
Half an hour later, the car turned into a quiet alley and stopped in front of a private restaurant with simple, elegant decor.
Jiang Yue had booked a private room in advance.
The waiter led them through a corridor hung with bamboo curtains and into an elegant private room.
Jiang Yue ordered their signature poached sliced pork, a serving of spicy diced chicken, and two bowls of rice.
Jiang Kaiwen wolfed down half a bowl of rice, put down his chopsticks, and wiped his mouth with a tissue.
“Yue-ge, you mentioned opening a studio on the phone. How big of an operation are we talking about?”
Jiang Yue poured a cup of barley tea and pushed it over.
“In the early stages, it'll just be a small setup. It'll mainly handle my commercial deals, film and television contract reviews, and daily promotional materials.”
“Professional accounting and legal will continue to be outsourced. Internally, we just need to keep a tight grip on the processes, the people, and the seal.”
He explained the hard requirements of the Commercial Performance License and the necessity of having three full-time performance brokers.
“Counting you, we still need two more people with licenses. The certificates, the people, the contracts, and the social security must all match perfectly. We can't just find outsiders to register under our name.”
Jiang Yue looked at him, his tone deepening slightly.
“If we ever run into a contract dispute, any issue with the official seal, the contracts, or the itinerary will cause a massive headache.”
Jiang Kaiwen also put away his playful attitude.
Jiang Yue continued, “You're sharp. Do you have any reliable candidates in mind? Ideally, people who have just graduated, have clean backgrounds, and can be fully vetted.”
Jiang Kaiwen picked up his teacup, took a large gulp, and didn't rush to give names.
“Yue-ge, after you mentioned it last time, I went through everyone I know one by one.”
“Our school is just a regular private university, so we can't compete with top-tier universities when job hunting. Everyone just tries to get as many certificates as possible to pad their resumes. The certificates might not be useful later, but having an extra one is always better than having none.”
He spun his teacup with his fingers.
“We aren't the only three who took the broker exam. But I only know the others from class; we didn't interact much privately. I don't even know if they can keep their mouths shut, so how would I dare bring them to you?”
Jiang Yue picked up some poached sliced pork with his chopsticks and gestured for him to continue.
“In the end, I narrowed it down to two.”
“One is Chen Fei. He's my roommate, majoring in film post-production. He's pretty introverted. Aside from playing games with me, he mostly just huddles in the dorm studying editing software.”
“His skills are good, he's tight-lipped, and he's reliable.”
Jiang Kaiwen put down his teacup.
“The other is Su Qing, an accounting major. We met in an elective class and often played basketball and video games together after that. We have a pretty good relationship.”
“She's outgoing, sharp, good with numbers, and knows how to handle people. She won't easily get tricked or sweet-talked.”
Jiang Yue asked, “Do they have certificates?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Kaiwen nodded immediately.
“Back then, I was complaining about doing practice questions on my Moments. When they found out I wanted to enter the media industry, they looked into it too.”
“Chen Fei wanted to join a film and television company, and Su Qing wanted to add something to her resume. The three of us have average backgrounds, so we could only try to open up more paths. We registered together, teamed up to do practice questions at night, and took the computer-based exam together.”
“I've seen their electronic certificates, and I've verified the serial numbers.”
After saying that, he added, “They're still in their internship phase, so they haven't signed formal labor contracts yet, and their social security status is straightforward.”
“If you can offer them formal positions here, there's a high chance they'll be willing to come if I ask.”
Jiang Yue did not agree immediately.
He picked up his teacup and took a sip, weighing the feasibility in his mind.
Video editing and accounting happened to be the two functional roles the studio needed most in its early stages.
But Chen Jiaming had warned him that once things like the official seal, contracts, and itineraries were handed to the wrong people, the consequences would be endless.
“Tell them to come to Donghai tomorrow for an interview.”
Jiang Yue put down his teacup.
“We'll decide whether they can stay after we talk.”
Jiang Kaiwen nodded.
“Understood.”
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