Chapter 216: Ambiguity

The book signing was still ongoing, and by the end of it, Cheng Chen felt utterly exhausted.

Still, there were some gains—at least from these Korean fans, he learned how popular he was in Korea.

He also learned that his songs were inspiring a group of people here in Korea.

Like that intern lawyer named Jiang Yan!

"Uh, I really like you—could you sign for me?"

A boy, about seventeen or eighteen, reached the front of the line.

The boy looked shy, his expression excited, eyes eagerly fixed on Cheng Chen.

Looking at this boy, for some reason, a familiar feeling rose in his heart.

"Do I know anyone in Korea?"

Cheng Chen thought to himself as he stared at the boy.

"Is that not allowed?"

Seeing Cheng Chen stare at him without speaking, the boy thought he was about to refuse, and lowered his head in disappointment.

"Ah, of course it is—absolutely."

Cheng Chen finally snapped out of it and signaled to the interpreter beside him.

Hearing Cheng Chen say that, the boy beamed:

"That's amazing, thank you so much—I sneaked out just for this! If I didn't get your signature, it would've been a huge loss!"

As Cheng Chen wrote his message, he asked:

"What's your name?"

"I'm Kwon Ji-yong."

"Alright, then—wishing Kwon Ji-yong, little one, good progress in your studies… wait, Kwon Ji-yong???"

Cheng Chen suddenly looked up at the boy across from him.

He finally understood where that familiar feeling had come from.

This boy says he's Kwon Ji-yong... It seems Korea really is small!

Many post-95s in the future would surely have heard of the name Kwon Ji-yong.

He was a Korean singer, leader and rapper of BIGBANG, and one of YG Entertainment's main Producers.

So how impressive was this man?

According to later statistics, BigBang earned roughly 70 billion Korean won per year.

That's 200 million Korean won per day, nearly 40 million Korean won per person.

Roughly 240,000 RMB per day, plus 5 million in annual song royalties.

He commanded 60 million for endorsements—not counting filming, ads, or contract renewals.

His minimum annual income: 152.6 million Korean won.

By 2012, his income had already reached over 600 million.

In the future, Kwon Ji-yong's royalties ranked highest among Korean idol artists.

At least three times higher than other young songwriters his age.

The only one who surpassed Kwon Ji-yong's royalties was Park Jin-young.

But when Park Jin-young was Kwon Ji-yong's age, he had not reached such heights.

Beyond musical talent, another reason Kwon Ji-yong was adored was his fashion.

His own brand and designed products were loved by many young people today.

Not only that, he was a regular guest at major fashion shows, favored by "the Grand Dame."

His appearances always brought a refreshing sensation, and many juniors imitated his style.

But none captured the essence… of course, fashion is subjective.

To some, it just looked like demons and monsters…

If he remembered right, this boy should still be a trainee.

Honestly, Korea's trainee system was incredible.

Take Kwon Ji-yong: born in '88, he debuted in '94 as a member of the children's group ROORA.

He performed on the Chamshil concert stage.

In '96, he joined SM Entertainment and became a trainee.

In 2001, he debuted as a rapper, then caught the eye of YG's CEO and became their trainee.

Now, he was already a minor celebrity, though not yet famous.

Only in 2006, as a member of the group BIGBANG, did he become a household name in Korea.

Thinking of this, Cheng Chen crossed out "wishing you academic success,"

and rewrote:

"Wishing Kwon Ji-yong a brilliant star path—become a big star soon."

Seeing Cheng Chen's message, Kwon Ji-yong froze in place.

"Y-You know me?"

He was excited—he wasn't particularly famous yet; in some parts of Korea, he was maybe just vaguely recognizable.

But he never imagined this foreigner knew who he was.

Even more astonishing—this foreigner was his idol.

Kwon Ji-yong was overwhelmed, his eyes faintly moist.

Cheng Chen smiled and said:

"I've heard you sing 'My Age Is 13'—it's a fantastic song. Keep it up."

Hearing this, Kwon Ji-yong quickly bowed and thanked him:

"Thank you for your encouragement—I won't let you down!"

……

The book signing lasted an entire day before ending.

Cheng Chen returned to the hotel, rubbing his sore wrist.

"Oh my, our Mr. Cheng is so tired—so terribly tired!"

Koreans' exaggeration and hypocrisy seemed etched into their bones.

From far away, Cheng Chen saw Park You-ryeol, chairman of Jucan Culture, warmly approaching.

"It's nothing, just a bit sore."

At first, this level of strain had confused Cheng Chen during his debut signing.

Back then, Gao Yuanyuan had been beside him, rubbing red flower oil on his wrist.

Later, as his physical condition improved and signing events increased, it became nothing.

"But that won't do! If it leaves a lingering problem, how heartbroken our fans will be when they see it at tomorrow's concert!"

This guy was clearly worried Cheng Chen's wrist would hinder tomorrow's concert, yet he phrased it so delicately.

No wonder the chairman speaks with such finesse!

"How about this? Assistant Wu, go to the hospital and bring the doctor here—have her come to Mr. Cheng's room."

"The Five Dynasties and the Wind and Moon"

Park You-ryeol instructed his assistant.

"Yes, Chairman."

"Won't that be too much trouble?"

Cheng Chen asked.

"No, no—it's our own hospital; feel free to use it. Mr. Cheng, you've worked hard today—I've prepared a modest banquet, waiting just for you."

Park You-ryeol smiled.

"Chairman Park, you're too kind."

Cheng Chen nodded.

Since arriving in Korea, except for that first meal when Chairman Park wasn't by his side, the man had practically glued himself to Cheng Chen for twenty-four hours a day.

No wonder he was so attentive to Cheng Chen.

It's well known that Korea's entertainment industry is nearly monopolized by SM, YG, and JYP.

All three are backed by chaebols; today, anyone in Korea's entertainment circle hoping to make money must beg for scraps under these three.

Jucan Culture's support in Korea is far inferior to the big three, yet submitting to them was unacceptable.

Fortunately, the person behind him pointed him toward a path… developing in China.

Starting in 2004, China's national economy entered a new phase of rapid growth.

According to statistics, the annual gross domestic product reached 1,675,870 million yuan, a 10.1% increase over the previous year at comparable prices, up 0.1 percentage points from 2003.

The net increase in annual GDP once again shattered historical records, reaching 283,370 million yuan—over 50% higher than the previous record-breaking year.

China was continuously progressing, something the whole world could see.

Consequently, the three major industries—industry, agriculture, and services—were also steadily improving.

As a derivative, the entertainment industry naturally experienced a boom.

Take the film industry as an example:

In 2004, film production set a new historical high.

Building on the previous two years' outputs of 100 and 140 films, it surged to 210—50% higher than 2003's output.

It also surpassed the previous record of 170 feature films set in 1992.

It established the highest film output record in China's history.

Among them were "House of Flying Daggers," "A World Without Thieves," "Kung Fu," "2046," "Kekexili," and "New Police Story."

This batch of films has once again made domestic movies a hot spot for entertainment consumption and a topic of social discussion.

In that same year, China's film box office broke through 1.5 billion yuan, a nearly 60% increase over the previous year.

Domestic films' box office revenue far exceeded that of imported films.

All films earning over 100 million yuan were domestic productions, and the top three box office earners were all domestic films.

The dominance of imported blockbusters in prime movie slots had been broken.

Meanwhile, nationwide, 36 cinema chains had developed, with 1,188 cinemas joining them.

They possessed 2,396 screens, an increase of 316 cinemas and 815 screens since the chains' inception.

Domestic films' success in the domestic market also accelerated their entry into international markets.

As Chinese cinema expanded into overseas mainstream markets, film festivals showcasing Chinese films were held successively in 24 countries and regions.

A total of 240 Chinese films were screened, and 115 Chinese films participated in 55 international film festivals.

Twelve films won 16 awards at 14 international film festivals.

It was the year with the most international participation, competition, and awards for Chinese films in recent history…

Perhaps these figures seem insignificant by later standards, but remember—it is 2005.

These figures are all from 2004, and they clearly show China's market growing steadily and making visible progress.

Therefore, Park You-ryeol and those behind him had great confidence in the Chinese market and wanted to establish a presence there.

Fortunately, Cheng Chen's arrival provided the perfect opening.

Using Cheng Chen, this mega-star whose fame is at its peak in China, as an entry point to break into the Chinese market.

That way, you don't have to grovel under the Big Three just to make a living, yet still make money.

Know this: the most profitable time is when a market like China is booming and still in its early, wild growth phase.

This was Park You-ryeol's unwavering belief…

After the doctor examined Cheng Chen, he applied a plaster and left.

Cheng Chen also thought Park You-ryeol was overreacting, even though they were business partners.

But wasn't Park You-ryeol being overly enthusiastic?

Something out of the ordinary always hides ulterior motives; Cheng Chen knew full well that good things don't just fall from the sky for no reason.

Park You-ryeol's recent flattery in front of him hadn't gone unnoticed.

Either this guy needed something from him, or he had some kind of cooperation in mind.

This was all Cheng Chen could guess right now, but no matter which direction it went, Cheng Chen held the upper hand.

And if he didn't call it out, Park You-ryeol would likely keep serving him…

"Mr. Cheng, I toast you—may your concert the day after tomorrow… in your Chinese phrase, be a great success…"

Park You-ryeol even said "immediate success" in Chinese.

It was truly hard on this Korean who had never set foot in China.

Feeling Park You-ryeol's "enthusiasm," Cheng Chen raised his glass and smiled:

"To our immediate success!"

"Ganbei!"

…

Even after dinner, Cheng Chen received no concrete information from Park You-ryeol.

But this only strengthened Cheng Chen's belief that he was seeking something—just not saying it yet.

That night, Cheng Chen practiced singing and called both Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Danchen.

After coaxing both of them to sleep, Cheng Chen sent a text to Ceng Li.

Their relationship had finally grown closer thanks to her recent involvement.

Yet now there was the Japan concert, then coming to Korea—though they texted every day,

Cheng Chen clearly sensed a change in Ceng Li's attitude.

To be honest, a woman like Ceng Li wasn't easy to win over; Cheng Chen was just doing his best to maintain their current bond through conversation…

"When will you return to China?"

Ceng Li texted back.

"Miss me?"

Cheng Chen smiled.

He didn't know when he'd started making such casual jokes with her so naturally.

"Pfft… miss you? I'd rather hit you! By the way, didn't you buy something for Ceng Yu?"

Ceng Li asked.

"Buy something? You mean those extra reading books? Don't worry—they're not romance novels or anything.

Just supplementary reading materials to help her writing. Haven't you noticed your little Yu has a talent for writing?"

Cheng Chen asked.

"What writing talent? She just writes nonsense on her composition notebooks like 'After Snow White married the prince, he smoked and gambled every day, while Snow White stayed home crying over seven kids.'

That's called talent? Come on—she'll barely manage to write silly little stories online to fool people…"

Ceng Li bluntly mocked.

Looking at Ceng Li's text, Cheng Chen could almost picture her lying on her bed, pouting, fingers flying across the keyboard.

Cheng Chen loved their current state.

In the days they didn't meet, maintaining a steady "frequency" of communication and fixed-time chats

could deepen their bond.

Plus, through conversation, he could learn her preferences and habits.

Come to think of it, after what happened last time, they now seemed to be in a gray area.

They had reached a point of unspoken understanding.

So when Cheng Chen said cheesy lines, Ceng Li no longer resisted as she once had…

In fact, many men chasing women love to brag endlessly about how amazing they are.

Yet women just smile on the surface and silently call them idiots.

When talking to women, men should maintain an optimistic, upbeat tone and a humble, unassuming manner—it makes women feel comfortable.

Also, ask about her opinions often, making her feel you truly value her perspective.

Give her a sense of being cared for and respected.

Never talk nonstop during chats without waiting for her to speak.

Don't just dump your views, or worse, directly contradict hers.

Such men? Even gods can't save them!

Psychology mentions the "homophily effect."

It says two similar people are more likely to come together.

So make her feel you two are compatible—then she'll fall for you on her own…

…

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