Normal procedures?
Normal?
Are you sure?
Su Wanran looked into Xue Hong's eyes and said softly, "As far as I know, the first two seasons didn't charge a fee, did they?"
Xue Hong smiled and said, "Indeed, the first two seasons were free. But those seasons were meant to open up the market and gain good reputation. Our TV station was losing money to gain customers. It's like a capital operation, where you lose money first to grab customers, and then charge them once they're all there. The first two seasons built a solid audience base, so in the third season, our TV station can't afford to keep losing money. That's why we're starting to charge."
It was clearly arbitrary charging, yet there were a lot of excuses.
It sounded plausible, though.
And.
Xue Hong extended a finger, "This time, I'll take responsibility and only charge you one million for production costs. Just one million, no more, no less. How about it?"
One million?
Before Lu Ming or Su Wanran could respond, Chang Yunwei excitedly exclaimed, "Station Manager, we're only charging one million? That's a huge loss! Normally, the production cost per episode is around 1.5 million. You're only charging one million, which means our TV station will be losing over 500,000. It's a loss, a real loss."
Xue Hong waved his hand, "For an excellent restaurant like Mingyuezhai, we must have them on the show. A small loss here and there is nothing."
"This..." Chang Yunwei stomped his foot, "Station Manager, you're just too kind."
The two of them put on a show, as if it were all true, as if they would genuinely incur a loss.
Su Wanran, being a genuinely kind person, softened her heart at this scene and was about to agree to their demands.
One million yuan was truly nothing to Su Wanran.
However.
Lu Ming spoke up before her, his voice cold and firm, "No."
Huh?
Chang Yunwei, Xue Hong, and even Su Wanran all froze, their gazes shifting to Lu Ming simultaneously.
What was the meaning of this?
Chang Yunwei and Xue Hong had put on such a convincing performance, and he still refused to budge?
This was too much!
Chang Yunwei couldn't hold back and said sarcastically, "Heh, our TV station is spending money to produce a show for you, to promote you, and in the end, we get nothing for our trouble. Fine, fine. Station Manager, let's go! We can't afford to serve such a restaurant."
Su Wanran also gently tugged at Lu Ming's sleeve, signaling that it was enough and there was no need to push them to the absolute limit.
Only Xue Hong remained silent.
Xue Hong narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Lu Ming, looking at him closely and carefully.
After a long while, Xue Hong suddenly burst into laughter.
He nodded and said, "As expected of a restaurant recommended by Old Xie. It's truly extraordinary. A restaurant this excellent, with a leader of such integrity, is rare in Wudu. Very well, I'll help you this once, considering it a benefit to the people of Wudu."
Xue Hong stood up and said very seriously, "We won't charge a single cent. Mingyuezhai will be on the show for free!"
This...
Everyone in the room was stunned, especially Chang Yunwei.
Free?
No way?
Chang Yunwei swallowed, finding it unbelievable. The station manager was known to be extremely greedy, even more so than Chang Yunwei himself.
How could such a person be willing to host a show for free? It seemed highly unlikely.
He couldn't figure it out.
Chang Yunwei racked his brain but couldn't comprehend why Xue Hong would agree to do the show for free.
Lu Ming smiled slightly and said, "Is that appropriate? The TV station losing money to help us at Mingyuezhai promote our business."
Xue Hong smiled, "If it were any other restaurant, it wouldn't be appropriate, but for Mingyuezhai, it is. It's precisely because Mingyuezhai is so outstanding that I'm willing to promote you for free!"
Lu Ming smiled.
A cold smile.
He stood up and said, "Then thank you, Station Manager."
Their eyes met, they both smiled, then shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and Xue Hong, with his entourage, left the private room.
After everyone had left.
Su Wanran quickly closed the door and approached Lu Ming, whispering, "Didn't you go a bit too far? It was only one million yuan, we could afford it. There was no need to force them to do it for free, was there?"
As expected, she was still so naive.
Lu Ming looked seriously at Su Wanran and asked a question instead of answering, "The restaurants featured in the first two seasons were all on the show for free, yet we, Mingyuezhai, are being asked to pay one million to be featured. Why?"
Su Wanran said, "Didn't they say it was for production costs? The first two seasons were about losing money to gain customers, and the third season is to recoup losses."
Naïve!
Lu Ming waved his hand.
He said, "That's your explanation, but the audience won't believe it. If someone with malicious intent were to stir things up, it could become a narrative that the Su family secretly bribed them with one million to get on the show. At that point, Mingyuezhai would be heavily criticized and plunged into eternal damnation."
Uh...
Would it?
Su Wanran scratched her head, "You don't think so? Who would be so heartless?"
There are plenty.
The Wu family!
Lu Ming said, "The Wu family has been watching us. Any slip-up on our part could be exploited. Wu Lingxuan is a formidable opponent. It's hard to say if she might use others to attack us, using Chang Yunwei to destroy Mingyuezhai."
This was the far-sightedness of Lu Ming's thinking.
Su Wanran sighed, "What you said makes sense, but... it still feels a bit uncomfortable that the TV station would lose money to help us with promotion."
Lu Ming laughed upon hearing this.
He poked Su Wanran's forehead and said, "You're too naive. Losing money? What a joke. Before the show was even produced, the advertising fees had already come in. The price list Chang Yunwei showed us earlier was the advertisement list. For such a popular show, there are plenty of businesses eager to advertise, so they won't lose money at all."
Su Wanran was stunned, "Then why were they acting like it was the truth? Chang Yunwei was almost crying just now."
If the act isn't convincing, how can you fool people?
Charging for a show twice.
Heh, how despicable!
"Furthermore," Lu Ming's tone suddenly became serious, "even though the TV station has waived our production fees and agreed to feature us for free, we can't celebrate too early."
"Why? Free and you're not happy? Do you expect them to actually pay us out of their own pockets?" Su Wanran was confused.
Lu Ming explained, "Based on my observations, both Chang Yunwei and Xue Hong are greedy individuals. People like them wouldn't willingly do a show for us for free."
Su Wanran was even more bewildered, "But they've already agreed."
That's precisely the problem.
They shouldn't have agreed, so why did they?
There are two possibilities.
First, there might be profits to be made elsewhere; second, retaliation!
In Lu Ming's opinion, the second possibility was more likely.
Lu Ming said very seriously, "The TV station will produce the show for us and promote us, but that doesn't mean they'll promote our 'good' aspects. Xue Hong might retaliate by deliberately reporting negatively about us, causing us to be slandered and using the show to create public opinion to destroy Mingyuezhai!"