Chapter 75 - 74: A Performance Troupe with a Story

Chapter 75: Chapter 74: A Performance Troupe with a Story

Lin Feng hadn’t expected there to be a problem with the performance troupe.

Hu Xia sat in the rocking chair opposite him, complaining, "That Colorful Silk Dance troupe is such a rip-off. They’re demanding fifty thousand for a single performance and refuse to lower the price."

"Oh? What’s their usual performance fee?"

Lin Feng was very optimistic about the Colorful Silk Dance performance. Everyone enjoys beautiful things.

"I did some asking around. They’ve taken gigs for ten or twenty thousand before. If that was the price, I would have agreed. But they’re stubbornly sticking to fifty thousand and won’t budge.

Besides, I got the feeling they weren’t really interested in working with us. The negotiation felt perfunctory."

"Then forget it. Even if we have the money, we’re not going to be suckers.

I’ll ask Director Liu again in a bit and see if there are any other Colorful Silk Dance troupes in the county."

If this one didn’t work out, they’d just find another. Cooperating with a troupe like that could lead to trouble down the line.

"What’s the story with that other dance performance?"

"Them? They’re still considering the collaboration model, but reaching an agreement won’t be a problem."

Hu Xia wasn’t too worried about that dance team. After all, there were plenty of dance troupes in the county, so the competition was pretty fierce.

It was just that this particular one, the Vitality Dance Ensemble, was famous in the county and had even been on TV before.

"Alright. Let’s get a few acts lined up first and add more later."

Lin Feng thought that would be the end of the matter, but things took a turn that afternoon.

Looking at the girl who had performed the Colorful Silk Dance, he saw that even without makeup, she was still a beauty.

Qin Youyou mustered her courage. "Hello, Boss Lin. My name is Qin Youyou. I was the performer in yesterday’s Colorful Silk Dance. I’m sorry to bother you."

"Hello. How can I help you?"

"I heard that our troupe’s negotiations with you weren’t successful. Was our performance not appealing to the tourists?"

"That’s not it. Your price was too high, so we couldn’t reach a deal."

Qin Youyou asked, puzzled, "But isn’t the folk song troupe also getting ten thousand? Our price should be the same as theirs!"

Hearing this, Lin Feng grew a bit suspicious. It seemed she wasn’t aware of her troupe’s quote.

"Miss Qin, your troupe’s asking price was fifty thousand, and they were unwilling to lower it."

When Qin Youyou heard this price, her round face flushed red. The light in her eyes dimmed, and she sank dejectedly into a chair.

"Miss Qin, are you alright?"

"I’m fine, just a little upset. Boss Lin, would you be willing to hear the story of our performance troupe?"

Lin Feng didn’t really want to listen, but seeing how distressed she was, he nodded anyway.

Qin Youyou began to reminisce. "Our Colorful Silk Dance troupe was actually an old opera troupe. Originally, the Class Leader wanted to train his own daughter to be the lead performer.

But his daughter thought the training was too hard, and she wasn’t willing to watch her diet. By the time she was six, she weighed over eighty-five pounds.

Later, the most senior apprentice recommended me, and that’s how I became the lead performer for the Colorful Silk Dance.

I started learning the Colorful Silk Dance when I was six, so it’s been eighteen years now. Boss Lin, do you know how much the Class Leader pays me for each performance?"

Lin Feng asked curiously, "How much?"

Qin Youyou wore a scornful expression. "Five hundred! A whole five hundred yuan!

It started with nothing, then it was a few dozen yuan. In 2013, it went up to three hundred, and now it’s five hundred.

Hah, and I’m the highest-paid. My senior apprentices only make two or three hundred. The Class Leader says the performances don’t make money, that he has to grease wheels everywhere.

He used to say we weren’t profitable, and we all believed him. When the internet age came, we even started livestreaming, but the Class Leader still said we weren’t making money.

He told us that our performances were all booked by other companies, and we had to split the money with them."

Lin Feng asked, puzzled, "Did you never check, or maybe try to contact the companies that booked you and ask?"

"We did! Of course we did. But the senior apprentice who asked got kicked out for it. The Class Leader said he was breaking industry rules by snooping around, and that the client company wouldn’t give us gigs anymore because of it.

For a whole month, we didn’t have a single show. We didn’t earn a single cent. He’s a ruthless man!"

Lin Feng said, puzzled, "If you didn’t earn a cent, as long as your Class Leader paid your salaries as usual, that doesn’t seem like a huge problem. It’s a normal business tactic."

"What salary? If we don’t perform, we don’t get paid."

Lin Feng asked in astonishment, "Your performance troupe... it’s not even a registered company, is it?"

’If that’s true,’ he thought, ’then this Class Leader is beyond unscrupulous. He’s worse than the most black-hearted of merchants.’

Qin Youyou said sarcastically, "No, we’re just an opera troupe. We were never a company.

It was only last year that we discovered the ’company’ the Class Leader claimed was booking us was actually owned by his son.

His son bought a house in the city worth several million, paid in full, and a car worth over a million.

After we found out, the Class Leader claimed all that money was earned by his son’s company and had nothing to do with us."

Lin Feng didn’t know what to say. ’If even one of them had a sharp mind, they wouldn’t have been fooled for so long.’

’Of course, the Class Leader didn’t seem all that bright himself. If he’d been smart like those entertainment agencies and had them sign contracts with exorbitant penalty clauses, it would have been difficult for any of them to even think about leaving.’

’He was probably just too cheap to pay a basic salary and social security. It sounds ridiculous, but some people really do operate like that.’

"Right, once you found out what was happening, why didn’t you just ditch the Class Leader and go solo?"

Qin Youyou said quietly, "My senior apprentices all have families. Most of them have mortgages and car loans."

Lin Feng understood. They were just like ordinary workers, shackled by their burdens, afraid to take risks because they had no margin for error.

"So, your purpose in coming to me... you want to ditch your Class Leader and go solo?"

"I actually just came to find out why the deal didn’t go through. If we had secured the contract, we would have had a stable source of income, and then we could have tried to break away from the Class Leader."

"Wait, your Class Leader didn’t tell you that you could become direct employees here, earning a salary and bonuses?"

Seeing the look of utter, uninformed fury on her face, Lin Feng’s understanding of the Class Leader reached a new level.

"We can be hired directly by your tourist area?"

Hu Xia, who had approached at some point, suddenly spoke up. "You can. We offer two types of collaboration: one is payment per performance; the other is joining us directly to earn a salary and bonuses.

That Class Leader of yours is just awful. I can’t believe people like that still exist. So, beautiful young lady, would you like to join us?"

"Yes! If it’s possible, of course we’re willing to join you. But the Class Leader..."

"Miss, you don’t need to worry about a black-hearted boss like him. He never even signed contracts with you. There’s no legal relationship between you.

In fact, I think you could even sue him. You’d need to consult a lawyer about that, though."

Lin Feng stepped aside to let Hu Xia talk with her. He had a feeling they could probably poach the Colorful Silk Dance troupe.

He took out his phone and did a quick search, finding the troupe’s livestreaming account online. It had quite a few followers.

’Based on Hu Xia’s previous experience, an account with over 500,000 followers would definitely generate significant income. What a total scam!’

’Everything had been calculated. Even if Qin Youyou and the others found out, he could just claim the account was run by another company, which was why it wasn’t profitable.’