Chapter 656: If you were given ten million and a diploma from a top-tier university, which would you choose?

Fang Jie picked up Jin Li at the school gate of Profound Heaven University.

It is difficult to find a place bustling with people in the early morning outside of business hours, and it is even harder when there are still three hours left until the workday begins.

But the campus of Profound Heaven University is an exception.

It is only 6:00 AM, yet many students are already coming and going.

After Sui Lingfang picked up Jin Li, she looked at the students walking along the main road, chatting and laughing, and sighed, "As expected of Profound Heaven University students, they really do wake up early!"

Jin Li shrugged, "It's a pity you can't live at Profound Heaven University; otherwise, you would definitely have to see the library lit up bright as day. There are many students who look up at the moon at 3:00 AM."

Sui Lingfang shivered, "Spare a working stiff like me."

Perhaps only the routine of students can out-compete the grind of a working stiff.

But the pressure on students often seems distant; only when they reach their third year of high school do they experience that sense of pressing urgency.

Yet the pressure on a working stiff is omnipresent.

Every month, one must rush to meet business targets, rush to meet schedules, and rush to meet performance metrics. The urging of superiors, useless companions, one's own pitiful self...

Jin Li asked, "I checked the sales of the August issue of *Jin Se* on the online store last night; it has already sold 300,000 copies. Combined with the revenue from physical sales, do you know how many copies they have sold in total?"

It would have been fine if Gu Cheng hadn't mentioned it yesterday.

Once he brought it up, she became a bit curious about the true sales figures of *Jin Se*, but there was almost no news about it on the internet.

Sui Lingfang said, "I received the data from *Jin Se* yesterday. Actually, the online store sales have already exceeded 500,000 copies, but they aren't allowing sales competition right now.

No matter how many more copies are sold subsequently, the public data will be locked at 300,000. Moreover, they are launching the September issue of *Jin Se* today.

Just yesterday, the cover of the August issue was officially taken down from the online store and is no longer for sale."

She paused and added, "If the August issue cover that you and Gu Cheng shot together hadn't been taken down and all the data locked, I wouldn't have been able to get the specific figures from *Jin Se*."

Jin Li pondered, "Selling over 500,000 copies online—that's a pretty good result."

Fashion magazines are not like novels; nowadays, hit novels occasionally sell millions of copies.

But novels can satisfy people's spiritual needs, something that fashion magazines struggle to do.

Sui Lingfang: "Physical sales are even better than online sales. I couldn't even get their actual sales figures; I only know they sold more than the online ones. Therefore, the August issue of *Jin Se* created an unprecedented million-copy sale."

When she reached this point, she couldn't help but smile, "This has also caused *Jin Se* to put great pressure on other peers. They have all started to feel annoyed at why *Jin Se* didn't create this kind of sales volume during the 'Golden September and Silver October' period.

Bringing in such massive sales volume during the off-season for magazines—if they can't reach *Jin Se*'s sales volume when the true peak season arrives, the contrast will be too obvious, and it will be difficult to attract subsequent investment."

Jin Li shook her head, "This is a paradox."

"Although such astonishing sales volume was brought in during the off-season, one could still find a reason to explain it."

"But if it were truly placed in 'Golden September and Silver October,' their performance would be so outstanding that it would make other magazines appear even more incompetent."

"After all, even *Jin Se*'s own September and October issues might not necessarily surpass this performance."

Sui Lingfang said with a smile, "Indeed, it's too hard to compare; even *Jin Se* doesn't know if it can surpass it."

"Moreover, when I was asking around yesterday, I heard an interesting story from one of the agents."

"That is, the September and October issues of *Jin Se* were actually shot back in August, but the stars they had booked suddenly quit, refusing to allow their photos to be placed in the September and October issues."

Jin Li was stunned and asked, "What kind of reverse operation is this?"

"I've only heard of magazines temporarily replacing a star's cover; I've never heard of stars forbidding a magazine from being published normally."

Sui Lingfang turned her head to glance at Jin Li and said leisurely:

"I don't know who created this year's sales miracle in the magazine industry, making the stars who were supposed to be on the 'Golden September and Silver October' covers feel immense pressure, fearing their data would be far inferior, so they simply chose not to appear."

Jin Li said "Ah," "No way, really?"

Chen Qin couldn't help but say, "Really, those stars are all afraid their data won't beat yours and don't want to be compared with you, so they refuse to let *Jin Se* use their cover issues. Unless—"

"Unless?"

Sui Lingfang revealed the answer: "Unless *Jin Se* promises them that their covers won't be sold online and will only be shipped through physical stores. Otherwise, they would rather breach the contract and pay the penalty than cooperate."

Jin Li understood completely.

She pondered for a moment and smiled with a relaxed posture.

"I can only say that it seems *Jin Se* really reaped all the benefits from the August dual-star issue, so they wanted to synchronize the online release for the September and October issues as well, hoping to rely on online traffic to boost online store sales."

Sui Lingfang said, "Actually, *Jin Se*'s plan for opening an online store was well-conceived. If they could successfully open up online store sales, they would possess an additional channel to obtain advertising fees and could demand exorbitant prices from advertisers."

"It's just that they didn't expect the start to be too smooth, accidentally creating an industry myth, and as a result, those stars refused to do it."

One only needs to think about it to understand the reason those stars are unwilling.

Jin Li's current popularity is a gap-leading advantage compared to other first-tier stars.

Yet, she ultimately hasn't become a superstar; nominally, she is still a first-tier star.

As fellow first-tier stars, everyone doesn't want the gap to be so large, providing data for netizens to gossip about.

Jin Li asked, "Then what did *Jin Se* do?"

Sui Lingfang gave a light scoff.

It was unclear whether she was laughing at *Jin Se* for being timid or at those first-tier stars for being timid, lacking even a shred of courage.

"What else could it do? If *Jin Se* refuses to maintain the online store channel, not a single first-tier star will be willing to cooperate with it."

"Unless it picks veteran stars to appear during 'Golden September and Silver October.' Those veteran stars have better public reputations than you, higher dissemination rates, and more classic works than you. They no longer care about data; even if the magazine sales are dismal, it doesn't matter."

Sui Lingfang changed her tone, "But 'Golden September and Silver October' is nominally the peak season for magazines. They cannot pick veteran stars to appear during such a peak month; this won't attract advertisers."

"I'll reveal this to you privately: the editor-in-chief of *Jin Se* still hadn't given up on the online store channel a few days ago and even secretly came to ask me if you could spare some time to go there and shoot a few more sets of photos."

"The implication was that they wanted to use your cover for the September major issue, and I refused immediately."

Jin Li said quickly, "Refused well. I have already shot the September major issue for *Fashion Trends* and signed a non-compete agreement; it's impossible to help *Jin Se* shoot a cover."

"Even if *Jin Se* were willing to pay the breach of contract penalty for this, I wouldn't be willing. This is a matter of professional ethics for a star. Some bridges aren't meant to be crossed just because one wants to; this doesn't conform to industry rules."

Sui Lingfang: "Correct, it doesn't conform to industry rules."

"*Jin Se* opening an online store isn't impossible, but it must follow the rules. By doing this, it might have built up the online store, but it would have ruined your reputation."

"My attitude here is very firm. *Jin Se* didn't say much else; yesterday, it already took down the link to your magazine in the online store and didn't upload any new magazine links."

"It must have agreed to the requests of other stars and chosen the purely physical sales route."

After finishing the gossip, Fang Jie and Jin Li compared their schedules.

In the morning, she has to participate in the *Fashion Trends* event, and in the afternoon, she has to participate in the global event for *Fang Fei*.

The *Fang Fei* global event is held abroad, which means after she participates in the morning event, she has to take a flight abroad.

After participating in the event abroad, she has to take a flight back to the country because she has classes tomorrow.

Jin Li finished her military training yesterday; she has no classes all day today, as it is a rest day specifically arranged by the school for the students.

Sui Lingfang thought of this and turned to look at Jin Li again.

Jin Li has to attend events all day today, and they are relatively important announcements.

Before seeing Jin Li, she was worried that Jin Li, who had undergone half a month of military training, would get tanned.

After all, for a female star, skin tone is still relatively fatal.

Although it is now popular to promote a normal, healthy wheat-colored skin, it must be said that fair skin is truly a killer in front of the camera.

It's not that a person has to be very white to be good-looking, but that natural, rosy, pearl-like luster of white is very attractive.

Jin Li has also relied on her "milk skin" many times to kill off other female stars and earn plenty of topics.

Today, after seeing Jin Li, she finally set her heart at ease.

It must be said that her state is very good; not only was she not tanned, but she is also full of vitality.

Could this also be brought about by military training?

This question was asked by Chen Qin.

"Sister Jin Li, is the military training at Profound Heaven University fun? Why aren't you tanned at all? Did you all train under the shade of trees?"

Before Jin Li could answer, she muttered to herself:

"But that's not right either; even under the shade of trees, one would still be irradiated by ultraviolet rays. Could it be that the sunscreen product is very powerful? What product are you using?"

Jin Li shook her head, "It's not a problem with the sunscreen product; this is an individual constitution. You can understand it this way: I belong to a constitution that doesn't tan no matter how much I'm exposed to the sun."

Chen Qin asked again, "Sister Jin Li, I have always wanted to know what it feels like to live in Profound Heaven University."

"Is it that you are bathed in a sacred scholarly atmosphere every day, feeling that you are wasting time if you don't work hard for a day, and even feel that it is a sin to be idle when going to eat?"

Her tone was full of yearning, and she thought of a classic question on the internet.

"If you were given ten million and a Profound Heaven University admission letter, which would you choose?"

Previously, Chen Qin felt she would choose the Profound Heaven University admission letter.

As long as she was admitted to Profound Heaven University, it would mean she possessed wisdom.

After all, being a graduate of a prestigious university—the gold content of this alone would be enough for her to find a job that pays millions.

The school is her massive network of contacts.

But now Chen Qin doesn't think so; she would choose the ten million directly.

She feels she doesn't have the ability to rely on the signboard of a prestigious university to cultivate contacts.

To be honest, after graduating from university and entering society, the opportunities to use the school's faction to add assistance to oneself are actually very rare.

After all, the number of people graduating from prestigious universities every year is just that many; in a city of millions, the number one can meet is very few.

And more importantly, if you don't struggle to a certain level, you won't see the senior executives who are also graduates of prestigious universities, and at the same time, you aren't sure if they will help you.

Of course, the most important point is that even if one graduates from Profound Heaven University, it doesn't necessarily mean everyone can earn 10 million.

Many bosses are not necessarily graduates of prestigious universities.

Many times, the wealth on a person is created by the era, not by a diploma.

However, having a good diploma can allow one to contact more resources, increase knowledge, and also make it easier to obtain opportunities than ordinary people.

Jin Li laughed out loud when she heard what Chen Qin said.

"I have been in military training these days and haven't officially started classes yet. If I needed to officially start classes today, I would absolutely not ask the professor for leave."

"But one thing you said is right: in school, one cannot help but work hard, urging oneself not to waste time, as time is very precious."

"How should I put it? I feel that every second spent absorbing knowledge in school is precious and meaningful; this is something that cannot be felt while working outside."

"Working outside cannot bring you personal improvement; you are often adding value to other brands."

"This might be that in school, I am my own master, my own boss, while working outside, you are someone else's employee."

Chen Qin clicked her tongue, "So, you study desperately every day in school?"

Jin Li said in a relaxed tone, "I feel it's okay; it's about the same as my self-study before. Anyway, it all requires self-supervision."

Sui Lingfang turned to look over and exhorted, "Pay attention to the combination of work and rest; don't study too hard."

"As for the body requirements, I won't make too many demands on you. You use your brain too much while studying; eat more good things to supplement it."

Jin Li suddenly became bold and asked in a low voice, "Then potato chips?"

Sui Lingfang said ungraciously, "Potato chips have high calories. If you think this stuff can replenish physical and mental strength, then eat it, but eat at most 20 grams a week; no more."

Jin Li originally thought Fang Jie would refuse righteously.

After all, she had been craving potato chips for a long time. When she was sick before and wanted to eat them, she mentioned it several times, but was refused by Fang Jie, who thought this stuff only had calories and no nutrition.

As a result, she didn't expect that she would be worried about her excessive studying and physical exhaustion, and instead nodded to let her eat potato chips.

This...

Jin Li couldn't help but doubt herself. In the eyes of outsiders, is her studying really that crazy? More terrifying than when she was sick?

Arrived at the announcement site for *Fashion Trends*.

Today is the 15th, the day the September issue of *Fashion Trends* is officially released.

Major physical stores have already stocked up, and at the same time, they have also opened online channels, having done publicity a week in advance.

Coinciding with Jin Li's military training at Profound Heaven University, *Fashion Trends* specifically obtained a few of her military training photos through some channel and publicized them extensively, buying her several hot searches.

This kind of behavior where a brand actively does publicity for an artist makes other entertainment companies and artists very envious.

Other companies don't know how many times they have cursed privately about what kind of dog-shit luck Dawn Entertainment had to sign an artist like Jin Li who came to repay a debt.

And other artists are fiercely envious and jealous.

Heaven knows how cool it feels not to have to do your own data!

This is simply the brand actively creating momentum for Jin Li; Jin Li doesn't have to do anything and just lies down to win! ===== CHAPTER 657 =====