Chapter 51: Spokesperson

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Cheng Chen learned that the other party had returned from studying abroad in Miguo, and after witnessing the glorious development of the foreign internet, he too threw himself headlong into the wave of internet entrepreneurship.

In these days, the internet had not yet become the main driving force of the economy as it would in later generations, mainly limited by the scarcity of users.

Although in 2002 computers were no longer as rare as in the previous century, a price of four or five thousand was still enough to make ordinary families think twice.

The two discussed the current state of the internet at length, and the more they talked, the more shocked Li Zhenyu became.

This young man's understanding of the internet far exceeded his expectations.

One had to remember that people Cheng Chen's age had only been exposed to the internet for entertainment — chatting in internet cafes, playing games, watching TV dramas, listening to music, and the like.

There were even some people his age who had never touched a computer.

Someone who could chat so fluently about the history of the internet's development, and even offer insightful predictions about its future, was exceedingly rare.

Some of the points Cheng Chen raised required even Li Zhenyu, who considered himself a child of the internet, to pause and think before he could keep up.

"How do you know so much about the internet?"

Li Zhenyu hesitated for a moment, voicing the doubt in his heart.

Cheng Chen smiled faintly and said:

"Because I surf the web too."

In later generations, the internet developed so rapidly that everyone absorbed massive amounts of information daily — even if you couldn't do the tech work, surely you could still toss out a line or two!

Hearing this, Li Zhenyu also grinned.

Right — the internet was a magical place; it broke down the barriers of space and geography and created countless miracles.

"Since you also believe the development of the internet is the trend of the times, then today's talk should go much more smoothly.

I won't beat around the bush — I want to invite you to be the spokesperson for our Huaxia Blog!"

Li Zhenyu said, looking at Cheng Chen with sincere eyes.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen finally understood what kind of cooperation Li Zhenyu had been talking about.

He quite agreed with Li Zhenyu's approach — the mainstream people surfing the web now were young and middle-aged.

If Huaxia Blog wanted more exposure and users, it had to hold onto these groups tightly.

And Cheng Chen's songs, from pop hits like "Wolf Loves Sheep," "Autumn Does Not Return," "Fairytale," and "Love Transfer," were hugely popular among young people.

But his "Blue Lotus," along with the soon-to-be-released "Once You" and "Life Like Summer Flowers," resonated deeply with the middle-aged crowd.

So Cheng Chen's fan base aligned astonishingly well with Huaxia Blog's target users. As for why he specifically wanted Cheng Chen, Li Zhenyu quickly provided the answer.

"To tell you the truth, I spent all of yesterday refreshing your blog. Your behavior was very different from other users — you know how to work the internet, and you really understand what users want to see…"

Li Zhenyu paused, as if organizing his words:

"In just one day yesterday, you brought thirty thousand users to our Huaxia Blog… and your blog's page views, as of this morning, have already broken one hundred thousand. All of this is the value you've demonstrated — you're very… hmm, how should I put it…"

"Internet-savvy."

Cheng Chen quietly supplied the phrase.

"Internet-savvy?" Li Zhenyu mulled it over, then suddenly slapped his palm and laughed in agreement:

"Right, internet-savvy! You have a unique sensitivity to the internet — something other celebrities don't have. And your fan base fits our users perfectly. Of course, there's one more reason I want you as our spokesperson…"

Watching Li Zhenyu hem and haw, Cheng Chen smiled and said:

"Because I'm cheap."

Li Zhenyu gave an honest, simple laugh, neither confirming nor denying.

As a singer who had suddenly become hugely popular, Cheng Chen's songs were indeed widely sung,

but after all he had only just blown up, and his position was not yet stable.

Moreover, for those long-established celebrities, endorsement fees easily reached the million-yuan level, and Li Zhenyu was certainly unwilling to spend that kind of money.

And if he hadn't seen Cheng Chen's flashy maneuvers on the blog yesterday, Li Zhenyu wouldn't have had the impulse to invite him as spokesperson.

"President Li, then how are you thinking of structuring this cooperation?"

In these days, there were plenty of celebrities endorsing drinks, watches, clothing — but celebrities endorsing internet companies were few and far between, almost nonexistent.

So the cooperation model still needed to be discussed further between the two of them.

"Um… we were planning…" At this point, Li Zhenyu adjusted his glasses and said somewhat hesitantly:

"We plan to hire you as spokesperson for one year, with an endorsement fee of… two hundred thousand."

A two-hundred-thousand-yuan annual endorsement fee, if offered to an ordinary newcomer, was actually not low.

The key was that Cheng Chen was no ordinary newcomer — his songs had swept the charts, album sales alone had reached an astonishing two hundred thousand, not to mention commercial performances at fifty thousand a show.

Given his current popularity, an annual endorsement fee of at least five hundred thousand was warranted.

So this two-hundred-thousand-per-year fee really was dirt cheap.

Seeing Cheng Chen say nothing, Li Zhenyu, aware his offer was too low, said awkwardly:

"We also touched on the internet winter just now — for Huaxia Blog right now, we're in a stage of tightening our belts. -

I won't hide it from you, we're having a very hard time. This two hundred thousand was scraped together by cutting back on various expenses."

At this point, Li Zhenyu's tone turned somewhat pessimistic:

"Originally the company people didn't agree to this extra expenditure, but if I want to break out of our current predicament, I have no choice but to fight with my back to the wall.

If this winter doesn't end soon, I'm afraid Huaxia Blog won't last another two years…"

Cheng Chen knew Li Zhenyu's words were deliberately meant for him to hear, and he also understood that he wasn't lying — the 2002 internet winter had burst the global tech bubble, and China was deeply affected, with most internet companies facing the brink of collapse.

In search of profit, many internet companies moved into online gaming — China's first batch of online games appeared precisely at this time.

But expecting a company on the verge of bankruptcy like Huaxia Blog to develop online games was obviously unrealistic, so Li Zhenyu wasn't crying wolf.

Cheng Chen looked into Li Zhenyu's eyes and slowly shook his head.

Seeing that Cheng Chen was rejecting him, Li Zhenyu's face went pale, then said nothing further, laughing bitterly:

"It's fine if we can't reach an agreement…"

But he saw Cheng Chen slowly extend three fingers and say:

"I can be the spokesperson for Huaxia Blog for free, for three years!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhenyu's eyes lit up, as if he had grabbed a lifesaving straw, but then he suppressed the joy on his face and instead showed some hesitation.

At his age, he already understood the principle that "the most expensive thing in the world is often free."

"What are your conditions?"

Li Zhenyu stared into Cheng Chen's eyes and asked.

Cheng Chen laid out his condition:

"I want shares in Huaxia Blog!"