Self-Demotion

026. Self-Demotion

Zhao Xuan understood at once. After letting out a sigh of relief, she continued explaining to Jiang Siming.

"Although the term is a little longer, you have to understand that we offered you an S-Class Contract for your very first livestream. The risk is already enormous, so you have to give us some peace of mind, don't you think?"

Jiang Siming wasn't buying it. He wasn't some gullible shut-in who could be coaxed around with a couple of sentences.

With his wealth of work experience, he could handle situations like this with ease.

"I know I have no experience with livestreaming, but you can't use that as leverage in negotiations, Manager Zhao. Otherwise, you wouldn't have offered me an S-Class Contract in the first place, would you?"

"My value to your company was definitely acknowledged after careful consideration. It must outweigh the disadvantage of my lack of livestreaming experience. Am I right?"

Zhao Xuan fell silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Jiang Siming smiled and continued, "Since that isn't an obstacle, there's naturally no risk as you described, Manager Zhao. No one can guarantee what might change over ten years. Betting my entire career and youth on ten years—I don't think that's humane."

"I'm not ungrateful for how highly your platform values me. How about this? We sign the contract one year at a time, and change the S-Class Contract to an A+ one."

Zhao Xuan froze. This was the first time she had ever heard a streamer voluntarily lower his own contract benefits.

"Your company has treated me generously, and I'm not an ungrateful person. When someone gives me a peach, I return a plum. Since I won't agree to a ten-year contract, I naturally have to make some concessions. I can't be the only one getting all the benefits, right?"

Jiang Siming's carefree smile made Zhao Xuan's favorable impression of him rise uncontrollably.

He was nothing like the person she had imagined. He could voluntarily lower his contract benefits in exchange for his freedom.

Not only was he free-spirited and wise, he also had tremendous self-control—and immense confidence in his future.

If he weren't completely confident in his future, how could he give up such a generous ten-year contract?

Once the ten-year contract was signed, even if Jiang Siming failed to meet their expectations or his popularity declined, the platform would still pay him at least ten million yuan every year.

That amounted to one hundred million yuan over ten years, yet Jiang Siming had rejected it. Zhao Xuan truly hadn't expected that.

"Very well. I agree."

After weighing it over, Zhao Xuan nodded.

"However, the contract must stipulate that once it expires, provided our platform hasn't treated you unfairly, we'll have the right of first refusal for renewal."

Jiang Siming agreed without hesitation.

"I'm someone who values relationships. If the platform treats me well, I'm willing to stay here permanently."

"Good, then. Here's to a pleasant partnership."

Zhao Xuan smiled and shook hands with Jiang Siming once more.

The contract was soon prepared in duplicate, and both parties signed and stamped it.

From that day onward, Jiang Siming officially became a "glorious" streamer!

"The A+ signing fee is five million yuan. The platform will transfer it to your account in three installments. The first installment will be two million yuan, and it will be deposited no later than tomorrow."

"As for the date of your first official livestream, how about the day after tomorrow? The platform will promote you as vigorously as possible over the next two days."

Jiang Siming had no objections and agreed to everything.

At that moment, the waiter brought out the dishes. Having finished their business discussion, the two enjoyed their meal.

Jiang Siming had eaten Japanese cuisine a few times before, so he didn't embarrass himself like some country bumpkin.

After the meal, Jiang Siming and Zhao Xuan happily said goodbye to each other.

Before leaving, they exchanged WeChat accounts.

Jiang Siming watched Zhao Xuan drive away in her Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, then lowered his head and glanced at her profile picture on his phone.

It looked like an intimate photo of a mother and daughter. The girl seemed to be around eleven or twelve years old, while the mother beside her was Zhao Xuan.

Her Moments feed was also filled with everyday photos of the little girl. The posts were all about what her daughter had done that day, birthday wishes, and the like.

They really were mother and daughter.

Jiang Siming was surprised that Zhao Xuan was already a mother, and that her child was so old.

From Zhao Xuan's appearance, she was at most in her early thirties. How could her child be so grown-up? Had she married young?

Besides, the daughter didn't look much like Zhao Xuan.

Jiang Siming scratched his head in confusion, then decided not to think about it anymore. Why should he pry into someone else's family matters?

Since he rarely came to Xujiahui, Jiang Siming planned to buy a new computer and livestreaming equipment there.

Dumb Sister had told him yesterday about all the hardware needed for livestreaming, and they were still chatting about it now.

"Brother Ming, are you in Xujiahui right now?"

Dumb Sister didn't know where Jiang Siming had gone to discuss the contract. She only knew that he was also in Shanghai, staying in Hongqiao, far away from her.

"Yeah. I'm planning to go to Xujiahui to buy the equipment. You're not in Xujiahui too, are you?"

"No, no. I'm at home, quite far from Xujiahui."

At that moment, Dumb Sister was nervously waiting in a clothing store somewhere in Xujiahui for Erqian to try on clothes.

She was afraid Jiang Siming would invite her to meet him. She wasn't prepared at all.

She hadn't put on much makeup today either. She was only accompanying Erqian to buy a couple of outfits, so she wasn't at her most beautiful. If she met him, she had to let Brother Ming see her at her best.

Feeling guilty, Dumb Sister hurriedly turned around and peeked twice, as if afraid Jiang Siming might be nearby.

It hadn't even occurred to her that she had never met Jiang Siming before. Even if he were there, she wouldn't recognize him.

"Then I'll go take care of things first. We'll chat later." Jiang Siming didn't suspect a thing. After saying that, he headed toward the computer mall.

Xujiahui had a dedicated digital-products floor filled with high-end electronics. It was the kind of place poor people could only admire from afar.

Jiang Siming hadn't planned to buy anything too good, but Dumb Sister had told him otherwise.

Running a livestream and a game at the same time placed too much strain on a computer. A low-end computer would not only lag, but would also drastically reduce the livestream's frame rate, causing problems such as blurry footage.

With no other choice, Jiang Siming decided to buy something good.

His signing fee was about to arrive, so he wasn't so reluctant to spend this bit of money.

Just as he was wondering which store to choose, WeChat rang again.

"Brother Ming, there's a store called 'Jisu' in the Xujiahui electronics mall. Everything they sell is authentic, and the owner is honest, though the prices are a little high. If you don't know where to buy your equipment, you can take a look there. I bought all my equipment there."

"Okay, I'll go take a look now." Jiang Siming agreed.

Meanwhile, in the clothing store, Dumb Sister was extremely excited. She hurriedly pounded on the door of Erqian's changing room.

"Erqian, hurry up, hurry up! It's urgent!"

"What's wrong, Dai Dai? I'm not finished trying this on yet." Erqian asked from inside.

"Brother Ming is in Xujiahui buying a computer. Let's go take a look at him!"

Once this idea appeared in Dumb Sister's mind, she could no longer suppress it.

"Huh? Are you two finally meeting in person?" Erqian was shocked.

Dumb Sister spat at her and said:

"What are you thinking? I barely dressed up today. I don't want Brother Ming to see me looking like this."

"Then why are you going?"

"We'll secretly go look at him. We just have to make sure he doesn't notice us."

"Are you sure? What if he's really ugly? I heard that good-looking voices usually come with very 'random' faces. What if he's a sloppy, potbellied middle-aged man? What will you do then?" Erqian warned her.

"No way."