Traffic Star Development Program

Chapter 73 Low Probability Clause Implementation

When the artist replacement clause was written into the contract, Chen Business's legal counsel reviewed it twice.

The focus of the review was on the revenue sharing structure and content review clauses, with less attention paid to replacement clauses.

The probability of policy risk triggering is about 15% in their assessment model, which is a low-probability clause. The procedures were followed, but nobody took it seriously.

The low-probability clause has now been fulfilled.

The availability of slots on iQiyi is real, and the cost of replacing the host is an order of magnitude lower than the loss from stopping the broadcast, so they came on their own initiative—this was not Zeng Hao putting pressure on them, but rather they had calculated the costs themselves.

Xu Kunkun was chosen for this position not because he was the most suitable, but because he is currently available, his schedule is compatible, his age is right, and his singing and dancing style aligns with the talent show format—that's all.

What happens next is what happens next.

...

The framework agreement was placed on the table with a soft thud, but the TV station representative's hand remained pressed on it, not letting go.

Regarding the first broadcast rights, he said, "our intention is to have the satellite TV channel broadcast it exclusively for seven days, followed by simultaneous broadcast on online platforms after seven days."

Zeng Hao didn't look at the agreement; he was looking at the copy he had brought with him.

The two agreements are largely consistent in their terms, differing mainly in two areas: the initial broadcast window and the revenue sharing ratio for joint sponsorship. The other party offered a seven-day window with a 40/60 split, while Sunshine Entertainment wanted a three-day window with a 50/50 split.

"Seven days is too long," Zeng Hao said. "Three days."

Five days.

"Three days."

The TV station representative glanced at him, said nothing, removed his hand from the agreement, and picked up the teacup next to him.

Sitting next to me was the legal counsel from the TV station, a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. She was flipping through Zeng Hao's agreement, and when she got to the page about revenue sharing, she paused for a moment.

"Regarding investment attraction," she looked up, "what's the basis for the 50/50 split?"

"Exclusive content licensing fees will be deducted," Zeng Hao said. "Member-exclusive content belongs to the platform, satellite TV gets the first broadcast slot, asset allocation is equal, and advertising revenue is split 50/50."

The legal department looked at that page again.

The TV station representative put down his teacup: "We need to have an internal meeting to discuss this during the three-day window."

"Um."

"We can negotiate a 50/50 split with advertisers," he said, "but the premiere window cannot be less than five days; that's the channel's bottom line."

Zeng Hao flipped to the attachment page of his agreement and pushed it over: "Attachment Two, priority ranking of joint investment clients, the TV station has veto power."

The legal counsel looked down and his brow twitched slightly.

This clause is an extra provision—in the joint investment promotion, the TV station has the right to veto brands, which means that the platform cannot unilaterally introduce brands that conflict with the TV station's clients, which is a substantial protection for the TV station.

The TV station representative took it, glanced at it, and then exchanged a look with the legal representative.

"A four-day window," he said, "for investment promotion, we'll keep Annex 2."

Zeng Hao took back the agreement: "Okay."

The signing was scheduled for the afternoon. Xu Wen went to the notary office to complete the formalities. After shaking hands with the TV station representative, he left and spoke briefly to his assistant in the hallway. His voice was low, but it could be faintly heard through the corridor.

"This company is quite honest; they're willing to negotiate now and won't take advantage of the situation to raise prices."

I didn't hear what the assistant said.

Zeng Hao folded the copies of the agreement on the table and put them into a file bag.

The four-day window was within his expected range; the 50/50 investment promotion plus the veto power were extras he secured. The TV station is in a hurry now; the THAAD vacancy hasn't been fully filled, and there are gaps in subsequent slots. The terms they can get by signing a framework agreement now will be completely lost once the market stabilizes in six months.

It has nothing to do with whether it's true or not.

Xu Wen poked his hand in from the doorway: "Give me a copy of the agreement, I'll go archive it."

Zeng Hao handed over the file bag.

"That assistant from the TV station was saying in the hallway that you guys are too honest," Xu Wen picked up the conversation and casually added, "I held back and didn't explain for you."

"Um."

"Aren't you going to explain?"

Zeng Hao picked up his coat: "Let's go."

Variety show recording studio, 3 PM.

Xu Kunkun was in the fourth group. After the first three groups finished, the director said in his earpiece, "The rhythm is a bit scattered." The atmosphere on set was not exactly low, but it wasn't lively either.

Only two reporters remained outside the venue. The others had come and waited for a long time when the THAAD news first came out, but found there was nothing to photograph, so most of them left.

Of the remaining two, one works in the variety show section, and the other is a photographer for the entertainment section, waiting outside the railing with a telephoto lens.

When Xu Kunkun walked onto the stage, the photographer's lens was tilted to the side—looking for other shots.

There is a few seconds of silence before the music starts.

Xu Kunkun stood in the center of the stage, the lights shining down. He was 18 years old, wearing a practice outfit, with an ordinary hairstyle. There was nothing particularly outstanding about him; he was just standing there.

Then the music started.

Xu Wen was on the sidelines, looking down at his phone. He saw that the comments on the mocking post on Weibo were still rising, and a new screenshot had appeared, taken by Xu Kunkun while he was waiting backstage.

The caption was changed to "The trainee from a small company has pretty good facial expression control," and the tone was still sarcastic, but one or two replies started to look a little different—"Wait a minute, look at his posture while waiting on stage..." and "He must have trained his physique."

She wanted to hand the phone to Zeng Hao, but after thinking about it, she didn't.

The action on stage has already begun.

The singing and dancing are synchronized, and the beat is very precise. It's not the kind of precision that's just on the surface, but the whole body is on the same beat—breathing, center of gravity, hand position, every point is solid.

The photographer's lens turned back.

He didn't say anything, refocused, locked the viewfinder onto Xu Kunkun, and manually adjusted the aperture.

The reporter next to him glanced at it, said nothing, and turned his notebook to a blank page.

Xu Wen put his phone away and looked at the stage.

Zeng Hao was next to her, not looking at the stage, but at the recording schedule in his hand. He flipped to the fourth group's page, his gaze lingered for a second on the line with Xu Kunkun's name, and then turned over to look at the later episodes.

When the performance ended, there was applause from the audience. It wasn't enthusiastic, but it was genuine—not just perfunctory. A few staff members started clapping, and then the people around them joined in.

The reporter outside wrote a few words in his notebook but didn't let the photographer next to him see them.

Xu Kunkun walked off the stage and returned to the waiting area. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He nodded without saying anything and bent down to straighten his earphone cord.

In the comments section of that post on Weibo, a new reply has surfaced, and the number of likes is increasing: "...Wow, when he finished the last eight counts, I thought he was going to fall, but he managed to stay steady. That level of control—well, I'll just wait and see."

When Xu Wen saw this message, he wanted to hand it to Zeng Hao, but then he didn't.

"Did he play well today?" she asked.

"Um."

"What about the people outside who say he's capable?"

"We'll see."

Xu Wen said "Oh," put his phone in his pocket, and glanced towards the waiting area. Xu Kunkun had already sat down, with an unopened bottle of water next to him, looking down at something.