Chapter 0166: It's Good to Be Home

"What, you want me to go to Beijing?"

In the general manager's office of Future Advertising, Zheng Yao looked at Zhao Fusheng with an absurd expression: "Is it really that urgent?"

Zhao Fusheng put his suitcase by the sofa, poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and then explained to Zheng Yao: "I met with Han Bin and talked things over. The spokesperson is basically confirmed. I've written the proposal. Tell me, if you, the general manager, don't go, does Bai Jie have enough weight?"

Zheng Yao was taken aback, then immediately understood what Zhao Fusheng meant.

Just as Zhao Fusheng said, with endorsement fees in the tens of millions, spokespersons at the level of top-tier superstars, and it being the first mobile phone ad in the country, Bai Jie, as the manager of the Beijing branch, really didn't carry enough weight for such a deal.

With that in mind, she nodded: "Alright, I'll pack up and head to Beijing right away."

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Also, when you get there, don't give them too much leeway. We need to save money for the advertiser, or else they'll think we're squandering their assets."

Zheng Yao hummed in agreement: "I know. I just didn't expect you to be able to connect with Andy Lau..."

To be honest, she really hadn't expected it at all. Earlier, when Zhu Yushi introduced Han Bin to contact her, Zheng Yao was actually a bit worried, because Han Bin's requirement was that the spokesperson must have extremely high fame—in other words, it had to be a top-tier star.

But the problem was, having money didn't necessarily mean you could find someone.

For example, even if an ad agency took a proposal and endorsement fee to a celebrity, negotiations were still necessary. Celebrity endorsements back then weren't as desperate as they would be later; many people liked to wait and see, partly to see if they could improve their terms, and partly out of concern that endorsing a product might affect their reputation.

Moreover, Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrity agents were notoriously difficult to deal with; they simply didn't take domestic ad agencies seriously.

So Zheng Yao hadn't expected that in just a few days, Zhao Fusheng would have everything settled, and she just needed to go to Beijing to negotiate and sign the contract.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "It's just mutual benefit."

After instructing Zheng Yao on some matters to note and giving her Wang Jinghua's contact information, Zhao Fusheng stood up, stretched, and said: "I'm off. Just got back from Beijing and haven't reported home yet. If I don't go back soon, my mom will blow her top."

Zheng Yao couldn't be bothered to argue with him; she still had to sort things out at the company and hurry to Beijing. She waved her hand: "Go on, go on. I'll call you once things are settled."

Then she frowned: "Tell me, can't you just buy a phone?"

Zhao Fusheng still used a pager and stubbornly refused to get a phone, not even a Xiaolingtong, which was really frustrating.

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "No worries. Maybe after this ad is done, Aipu will give us a few phones."

Zheng Yao was stunned, then looked at him speechlessly, pointing at him for a long time without saying a word.

This was common in the ad industry; advertisers usually gave some products to the ad agency as a thank-you gift, and also to let the ad planners experience the product so they could write better proposals.

But no matter how Zheng Yao thought about it, it felt like Zhao Fusheng was just waiting to take advantage of them.

Zhao Fusheng didn't waste more words with her. He took the proposal he had written out of his suitcase and tossed it on the table: "This is a draft of the proposal. I've outlined the general framework. We'll work on the specifics after you sign the contract."

That was a given; no matter what ad it was, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't reveal it before the contract was confirmed.

Zheng Yao nodded: "I know. I'll notify Bai Jie. We'll sign the contract with Han Bin first, then meet with Andy Lau."

The order couldn't be messed up; that was very important.

Neither Zheng Yao nor Zhao Fusheng was interested in doing work that would benefit others.

...

...

Leaving the company, Zhao Fusheng hailed a taxi and went straight home.

As he went upstairs, he was still thinking about how to explain to his mom why he was back so late. He had said he'd only stay in Beijing for two or three days, but instead, he'd spent the whole holiday there. Tomorrow was the eighth, and he was only now leisurely returning.

"Mom, I'm back!"

Opening the door, Zhao Fusheng said loudly.

But then he froze. Instead of the expected warm hug or stern expression from his mother, she and Li Yuan were huddled over a notebook with a calculator, figuring something out.

His father wasn't home, and Fan Beibei was sitting obediently watching TV.

"You're back? Food's on the table, eat it yourself." Zhao's mother looked up, saw Zhao Fusheng, nodded, pointed at the table, and then lowered her head, ignoring him.

Li Yuan also looked up and smiled at Zhao Fusheng: "Fusheng, you're back. Eat first, before it gets cold."

Zhao Fusheng blinked, making sure he wasn't dreaming. But what was going on? Where was the tender affection, the family joy?

At least there was Fan Beibei. The little princess saw Zhao Fusheng, immediately broke into a smile, ran over, and hugged his leg.

"Brother, where's my gift?" Her childish voice was crisp and pleasant, but it made Zhao Fusheng's happy expression freeze.

"Little girl, you only care about gifts. Did you miss your brother?" Zhao Fusheng reached out, tapped her forehead, and asked with a smile.

"Yes, Beibei missed brother so much. Where's the gift?" Fan Beibei said happily, completely unaware that her words were like a knife in Zhao Fusheng's heart.

Zhao Fusheng felt terrible. He had traveled all the way from Beijing, and now the old and the young alike showed no sign of welcoming him. Was this still the home he remembered?

"Mom, Aunt Li, what are you calculating?"

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng was easily satisfied. He opened his suitcase, handed Fan Beibei the gift Fan Bao had bought, then picked up the little girl, walked to the sofa, and asked his mother and Li Yuan.

Zhao's mother finally took a look at her son, sizing him up: "Tsk, just like Bao Bao said, you've actually gained some weight."

Then she pointed at the notebook in front of her, which was covered in messy numbers: "Don't even mention it. Your Aunt Li and I are calculating the purchase prices. Our supermarket is about to open, so we need to figure out the costs, right?"

Purchase prices?

Zhao Fusheng was dumbfounded. After a long while, he laughed: "Mom, have you got something wrong?"