I Want to Sign a Contract

Hearing Yang Li, Fang Zheng muttered, "How is this deception? I said it was a battle anime. There's nothing wrong with that~"

"Hehe, would you like this lady to help you contact a security company?"

Ever since learning from Fang Zheng that Shiru would die, Yang Li had not contacted him for several days. She still seemed to be sulking over the fact that Fang Zheng was going to have Shiru bite the dust.

Over the past few days, with Zhang Siyu keeping busy, ACG Culture Company had finally started to look like an actual company.

Taking the five million in startup funds Fang Zheng had given her, Zhang Siyu first rented an office area of more than two hundred square meters in Qinghui Building in Modu as the company's temporary workplace.

Logically speaking, given Fang Zheng's fame, the company under him should not have been crammed into a tiny office area of just a few hundred square meters, especially not a rented one.

But there was no helping it. Land in Modu was incredibly expensive. Some people worked hard their entire lives and still could not scrape together enough money to buy even a bathroom in Modu.

Although Fang Zheng had won ten million as the champion's prize in the Annual Best Creator Competition, ten million looked like a lot, but once he actually started spending it, it was nowhere near enough.

Especially in a high-consumption area like Modu.

Thus, helplessly, Zhang Siyu could only rent an office first to deal with the immediate situation.

After all, the company had just been founded. It was not realistic to demand too much. Asking the current ACG Culture Company to compete with a behemoth like TT Group would simply be humiliating itself, wouldn't it?

One had to know one's own limits. Zhang Siyu knew that ACG's future would definitely be bright, and it might even become a world-class enterprise, but certainly not now.

At present, ACG was like a baby in swaddling clothes. It still needed careful care and patient nurturing.

Now that there was an office, the trademark Fang Zheng had registered back then could finally be put to use. ACG Culture Company had officially hung out its shingle in Modu.

During this period, Fang Zheng held an extremely low-key opening ceremony for the company. It was not that he did not want to make it grand, but the only people attending were Zhang Siyu, Yang Li, and him, the chairman. There was simply no way to make it grand.

Although the expense was small, in a certain sense, it was a kind of sorrow—a desolate sorrow filled with bleakness~

There was no helping it. When Fang Zheng's company opened, Zhang Siyu was its only official employee. Yang Li had merely been dragged over to make up the numbers.

ACG opened for business at Qinghui Building in Modu without making a sound. Thanks to the recruitment advertisement Fang Zheng had posted on the interview program, quite a few applicants submitted their résumés.

From among those applicants, Zhang Siyu personally conducted interviews and finally managed to build up the company's core departments.

"Director Fang, I think you should find a personal secretary."

Early one morning, Zhang Siyu arrived at Fang Zheng's home and knocked on his door.

Looking at Fang Zheng's bleary eyes, Zhang Siyu sighed helplessly and spoke slowly.

"What's wrong?"

Fang Zheng looked at Zhang Siyu in confusion. He did not understand why she suddenly wanted him to find a secretary. Did every boss really need to have a pretty little secretary?

"My dear boss, take a look at your phone. Do you know how many times I called you last night?"

The matter might have been fine if it had not been brought up, but the moment it was mentioned, Zhang Siyu became angry. She had wanted to discuss the promotion of "Akame ga Kill!" with Fang Zheng yesterday, but she simply could not get through to him.

That was why she had come to Fang Zheng's doorstep first thing in the morning.

Sometimes, Zhang Siyu felt that she was an idiot. She was clearly the company's CEO and clearly received only one salary, yet she felt no different from Fang Zheng's nanny.

If this had happened in the past, she would never have believed that she would one day lower herself to serve a man!

"Uh... I was too tired from working last night, so I fell asleep." Fang Zheng's face stiffened. Looking at Zhang Siyu's dark expression, he felt somewhat embarrassed.

He had been working tirelessly in the system space these past few days, completing several projects without rest.

It was not until last night, after finishing all the preparations for "Akame ga Kill!", that he finally could not hold on any longer. He had collapsed onto the bed and fallen into a dead sleep.

He had only woken up when Zhang Siyu came knocking early in the morning.

"That's why I said you should find a personal secretary, Director Fang. Then I wouldn't have to keep running back and forth." Looking at Fang Zheng's exhausted expression, the gloom in Zhang Siyu's heart unknowingly faded.

She sighed and said, "Otherwise, if there's an emergency and we can't get in touch with you, it could cause a major problem."

Just like yesterday. She had called dozens of times without anyone answering. By the end, she had even begun to suspect that Fang Zheng had been kidnapped by those fans online who were on the verge of losing their minds.

On the ACG Community, after Fang Zheng uploaded the promotional PV for "Akame ga Kill!", he had stood up those fans.

At first, things had been fine. The fans still had some reason and knew that producing an anime took time. But as time passed and Fang Zheng continued to give no updates, those viewers and fans began waiting impatiently.

At precisely that time, Fang Zheng seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth. A Company had no news, Weibo had no news, and even the online buzz had begun to fade.

Fang Zheng's actions caused the fans' last shred of reason to slowly disappear. Quite a few people had already threatened to track down Fang Zheng's personal information.

"All right. I'll find one when I have time."

Fang Zheng also felt that Zhang Siyu had a point. Besides, how could the chairman of a company like him not have a secretary by his side?

If word got out, would he not become a laughingstock among the other bosses?

"Come inside and talk~"

Only then did Fang Zheng belatedly invite Zhang Siyu into the room. He then brought out a pot of clear tea, and the two sat facing each other.

Given Zhang Siyu's workaholic personality, she would absolutely never waste time coming to his place without something important.

"Director Fang, I'd like to know how far along 'Akame ga Kill!' is." Zhang Siyu took a sip of tea, her brows knitting slightly.

"The buzz online has already begun to decline slowly. On top of that, many fans' emotions are already at the verge of exploding, so..."

Zhang Siyu did not finish, but Fang Zheng understood what she meant.

Nothing in this age could retain its popularity forever. Even the anime that had once been hugely popular was no exception.

Therefore, no matter how good a work was, it still needed publicity. Money also had to be invested into producing advertisements on a massive scale. People hated advertisements, but advertisements had never decreased.

That was one of the most important reasons.

"'Akame ga Kill—' Ah, no! I mean, 'Akame ga Kill!' has finished production. The only thing left is the dubbing." Fang Zheng coughed twice to hide his embarrassment.

He had almost blurted out what he really thought. That had been close!

At present, Fang Zheng was the only one who knew the plot of "Akame ga Kill!". That tomboy Yang Li had probably guessed a little, but she did not know the details.

Therefore, Zhang Siyu knew only the title of "Akame ga Kill!".

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Want to Sign a Contract (Please Support Me in Every Way)

"Right, did anyone apply for the voice-actor position?"

Fang Zheng looked at Zhang Siyu. He had posted recruitment information on the program at the time, and later posted it on the community and various websites as well. He simply did not know whether anyone had applied.

"Very few people applied for the voice-actor position, and none of them were particularly professional, so the recruitment results weren't very good."

Zhang Siyu's answer caused Fang Zheng's heart to sink. Voice acting and drawing could be said to be two of an anime's greatest pillars.

Aside from hard requirements like the plot and character design, voice actors could be said to be a key factor affecting an anime. But anime had only just begun to emerge in this world, and voice acting was still a new profession to people. It felt very unfamiliar.

The applicants had not undergone professional training, nor did they come from professional broadcasting backgrounds like Yang Li. Most of them did not meet Fang Zheng's requirements.

"I see~"

Fang Zheng felt somewhat troubled. He could handle the voices of male characters, but he could not handle those of female characters. His current voice-acting ability was not yet good enough to switch between male and female voices.

Did he have to continue raising his voice-acting ability?

"No!"

Fang Zheng quickly shook his head. His current voice-acting ability was Level 5. Raising it to Level 6 required ten million Reputation Points, and he did not even know whether Level 6 voice acting could switch between male and female voices.

Leaving everything else aside, the Reputation Points alone stopped Fang Zheng from considering the idea.

"Director Fang, perhaps Lili has a solution."

Seeing Fang Zheng's troubled expression, Zhang Siyu offered a highly feasible suggestion.

Yang Li had come from a professional broadcasting and hosting background. She certainly knew people who had come from the same background. If he could get their help, perhaps he could find voice actors suited to the characters.

Furthermore, broadcasting majors had very high requirements and all underwent systematic training, making them highly compatible with the profession of voice acting.

Hearing Zhang Siyu's words, Fang Zheng's eyes lit up. Every year, so many broadcasting majors graduated. Surely they could not all be as unbelievably talented as Yang Li and enter television stations.

If they were people who had not found their ideal jobs, Fang Zheng was highly confident that he could persuade them to join his voice-acting team.

If necessary, he could even sign contracts with them and make them professional voice actors under his company. After all, voice acting was extremely important to anime.

A voice actor did not have to suit only one character. They could also be used in his other anime works in the future.

He could even turn the voice actors under him into celebrities. Developing a celebrity economy for the voice-acting industry was not impossible.

"Contact Yang Li right away and see whether she's willing to help!"

Fang Zheng rubbed his hands together, somewhat excited.

The voice-acting problem that had troubled him for so long finally seemed to have a solution. Even he was growing impatient.

Once the dubbing was finished, "Akame ga Kill!" could be released on the ACG Community, which would also help ease the emotions of those fans who had already lost their reason.

Zhang Siyu contacted Yang Li. As it happened, Yang Li had the day off. Upon hearing Zhang Siyu's request, she agreed without a second thought.

They arranged to meet at the company. Fang Zheng then washed up and tidied himself before riding to the company in Zhang Siyu's car.

Naturally, Zhang Siyu teased him along the way. After all, he was the head of a company and still had to hitch a ride. It was a little hard to justify.

When they arrived at the company, Fang Zheng went straight to the office Zhang Siyu had prepared for him. Before long, Yang Li arrived.

"I heard you need a favor from me?"

Yang Li was not polite either. She entered Fang Zheng's office as if she had returned to her own home and sat down boldly.

"How is that asking you for a favor? What kind of relationship do we have? This is just helping each other."

Fang Zheng curled his lips. This girl's opening words were already irritating.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Yang Li glanced at Fang Zheng disdainfully, then stopped beating around the bush. "As for the voice-acting problem, I did find you some people. They're all former classmates from when I studied broadcasting. I'll have them come over so you can see whether they're suitable."

As she spoke, Yang Li picked up her phone and sent a message in her class group chat.

She had graduated from Modu University, where she had majored in broadcasting. After graduation, she had also stayed to work in Modu, and most of her classmates had made the same choice.