Chapter 647: Then Let’s Film It

"Qianqian!" Sun Qian frowned, gently chiding her assistant to stop. Her assistant was also her best friend; they were close, had both studied music, and understood the ins and outs of the industry. That’s why Sun Qian had asked her to help with various odds and ends. While it was true that promotion was her responsibility, abruptly inviting Hah’Er to star in a music video was still too forward.

Sun Qian was on good terms with Hah’Er and Shen Yibin, but Hah’Er was still a top-tier international superstar. Even a "friendship" appearance fee wouldn’t be cheap, and Sun Qian’s studio couldn’t afford it right now. Shen Yibin surely knew this as well. If he asked Hah’Er to lower his price, or even work for free, Sun Qian would feel far too indebted.

"But this album and the studio are your passion project! I can’t just watch you fail, can I? The quality of the music is crucial, of course, but without promotion, without money to climb the charts, no one will hear it, no matter how good it is." Qianqian’s reasoning was sound. "You’ve poured all your previous earnings into producing this album and setting up the studio. If the sales are bad, we’ll be starving! I can’t just stand by and watch the studio go under, can I?"

"Mr. Shen, I’m so sorry. I’m only turning to you because I’m truly out of options." Before Sun Qian could respond, Qianqian had already started apologizing to Shen Yibin. "As you know, Qianqian isn’t fond of schmoozing with people in the music industry, nor does she like doing commercial events. So she has no connections, and no funds for promotion. After thinking it over, I realized you and Hah’Er are probably the only ones who can help her. I never told Qianqian about this; it was all my idea. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me."

"Qianqian is right. Even the best product needs promotion before people will know about it." Shen Yibin was understanding. If Hah’Er hadn’t helped promote the beauty of Yunzhong City, would it be so famous now? If they hadn’t poured hundreds of millions into publicizing *Panda Hero*, with Director Kong and his staff flying all over the world to promote it, would it have done so well? Sun Qian’s music was fantastic, no doubt, but how many albums could she sell on the word-of-mouth of a few fans?

"But all my savings are tied up in the studio and the new album. I’m afraid I can’t afford Hah’Er’s appearance fee, so... let’s just forget it. I’ll figure out another way to get an MV made." Sun Qian felt she was already deeply in Shen Yibin’s debt and couldn’t bear to accept yet another favor.

"Hey, don’t be a stranger. We don’t have much going on lately anyway. Just think of it as taking Hah’Er out to have some fun," Shen Yibin said, slapping his thigh. "So it’s settled. You get a script written for the MV, and I’ll bring Hah’Er over for the shoot."

"No refusals! You still haven’t finished recording your song. You’ve had your break, so hurry up and get back to it. Qianqian and I will sort out the rest!" Before Sun Qian could object, Shen Yibin stood up and gently pushed her toward the recording booth. "Go on, go on, get back to recording!"

Since he’d put it that way, there was nothing more Sun Qian could say. She stood inside the recording booth, her expression conflicted. ’Sigh, now I owe Bin even more. I’ll probably never be able to repay him... Why is he so good to me?’

After a while, prompted by the staff in the control room, Sun Qian finally calmed down. She cleared her throat, composed herself, and continued recording the new album. Outside, Shen Yibin and Qianqian began discussing the MV, while Hah’Er and Maphario returned to listen to Sun Qian’s singing from just outside the booth.

"Mr. Shen, again, I’m so sorry. I really had no other choice but to bother you with this." Qianqian began with another stream of apologies. "Qianqian truly has no spare funds right now. So how about this? We can agree on a price now, and then once the new album goes on sale and we get our share of the revenue, we can pay Hah’Er’s appearance fee in installments."

"There’s no need for that. It’s really no trouble. Besides, Hah’Er actually enjoys being on camera, so we’ll just treat it as a fun outing." Shen Yibin didn’t want to get into money matters with Sun Qian, so he repeated what he had said before. "Let’s talk about the best way to shoot it instead."

"Okay, then." Qianqian could only drop the subject for the time being. ’But,’ she thought, ’as soon as our finances improve, I’ll need to have a serious talk with Sun Qian about how to repay Mr. Shen for this favor.’

"Mr. Shen, since Hah’Er is willing to be in our music video, we don’t need to worry about which song to use. The first one Sun Qian was just recording will be perfect," Qianqian said. As it happened, that song was written specifically for Hah’Er, making it the ideal choice for the MV.

"Mm, that’s the song I was thinking of, too," Shen Yibin said, finding they were on the same page. "When we start filming, I’ll post about it on my Weibo to generate some buzz. Then, once the MV is in post-production, I can share it again whenever you need me to." With tens of millions of followers on his Weibo, Shen Yibin’s posts would surely have a huge promotional impact.

"Thank you so much! A single share from you is like running several major promotional campaigns." Qianqian was ecstatic. At last, she didn’t have to worry about promoting the new album.

"It’s nothing, really. Don’t mention it," Shen Yibin said with a dismissive wave. "Is the script ready? And who were you planning to have direct it?"

"Um, well..." Qianqian looked troubled once more. Their budget was extremely tight, so they couldn’t afford a high-end production team. They could only hire a mid-level one, and she feared the resulting MV wouldn’t be very impressive.

"It sounds like you don’t have a good production team," Shen Yibin said, instantly understanding her predicament. His eyes shifted as an idea came to him. "Okay, I’ll take care of that for you, too."

"You can find a great team, Mr. Shen?" Qianqian asked, a little embarrassed.

"Yep. As it happens, Director Kong called me a few days ago. He said he’s coming to Yunzhong City to relax for a bit. He’s a world-famous director—shooting a music video would be a piece of cake for him." In his early days, Director Kong shot MVs for many of Xiangjiang’s pop kings and queens, so he was extremely experienced.

"I’ll ask him to bring his own crew. I estimate they can get it all done in two or three days. Just send me the track Sun Qian recorded and a brief on the concept you’re aiming for. I’ll forward it to Director Kong and let him handle the script, too," Shen Yibin said.

"I’ll get on it right away." Qianqian immediately hurried off to gather the materials.

Shen Yibin dialed Director Kong’s number. ’Now, what kind of terms will it take to get him to agree to this?’ he wondered.