Perfect Superstar

Chapter 148 -Buying a Car

After leavingDelong Building, Lu Chen and Lu Xi took a taxi back to the studio.

Lu Xi askedcuriously, "What’s the matter with Director Wen? Why was he so polite toyou?"

She and LuChen came to EMI to sign the contract. After signing the contract, she waitedin the reception room. She didn’t go to the listening room, so she did not knowwhat happened later.

When WenZhiyuan sent them out just now, he was very polite.

Even to thepoint of flattery.

This made LuXi felt very strange. The attitude change of the director of the brokeragedepartment of EMI was too big.

Lu Chensmiled and briefly talked about the grudge between Wen Zhiyuan and Zhang Qiong.

This was whatWen Zhiyuan told Lu Chen himself.

Afterhearing this, Lu Xi suddenly realized: "So that’s it. People say that theworkplace is dangerous, really..."

She couldn’thelp shaking her head.

Lu Chen hasalways been reluctant to sign a contract with other big company, and evendeclined the personal invitation of the music director of Flying Stone Records.At that time, she somewhat didn’t understand. But now, she thought that LuChen’s choice was really correct.

There is noway for EMI to compare with Flying Stone Records, where the internal infightingwas so fierce. if she and Lu Chen entered Flying Stone Records, she didn’t knowwhat kind of situation she will face.

Although LuXi has a strong character, she doesn’t like to fight with others.

Although LuChen’s own studio is weak, there is no problem in this regard.

The premiseis that he can make so much money!

Ring! Ring!

Suddenly, LuXi’s cell phone in her bag rang twice.

She took it outand looked at it, and she suddenly smiled with delight: "The money from EMIhas arrived!"

"So fast?"

Lu Chen wasalso surprised. He and Lu Xi had just left but the money has already arrived. Isn’tthe efficiency too high?

In the signedcontract, it was stipulated that the payment should be completed within threedays.

Lu Xi said witha smile, "It seems that they attach great importance to you!"

If they didn’tattach great importance to him, it was impossible for the finance of EMI to paythe money so quickly.

It must havebeen someone at the top that have spoken.

Lu Chensmiled and said, "If they want to buy a song again in the future, then wehave to raise the price again!"

There was nodoubt that he was right to adhere to the high-price for high-quality productstrategy from the very beginning for customers like EMI. As long as one tastedthe benefits, then they can slowly increase the price, just like boiling frogsin warm water¹.

If theprevious offer was low, it was not good to raise it too high all of a sudden asthat would easily ruin his reputation.

Lu Xi wasspeechless.

She foundthat she could not see through her brother more and more.

Ring! Ring!

Her cellphone rang again.

Lu Xi lookedat it, smiled again, and smiled even more happily.

Lu Chen wasstunned: "What?"

Lu Xi shook hermobile phone and proudly said: "The bonus of Beijing Satellite TV hasarrived, 1.4 million!"

Lu Chen wonthe championship of "Singing China". Although he gave up the so-called4 million new star raising fund, the total cash reward was still as high as 1.4million, and it was tax free.

However, themoney was not immediately obtained at that time, and the satellite TV side alsoneeded to follow the procedure.

Now it hasarrived. It’s double happiness!

Lu Chen waseven happier and said without hesitation, "Let’s first transfer 1 millionto Mom, and then let’s buy a car."

He shoutedto the taxi driver in front, "Sir, please take us to Beijing AutoCity."

Lu Xi didn’tknow whether to laugh or cry: "There is no need to be in such a hurry,right?"

It was okayto transfer money to their mother, but they were not in a hurry to buy a carnow.

Lu Chen saidwith a smile, "Buying now and buying later doesn’t make any difference. So,let’s just buy one now."

Since theestablishment of the studio, several staff have been recruited, and the dailywork has gradually become busy. It’s really inconvenient and time-consuming nothaving a car.

Time ismoney. He has long wanted to buy a car, waiting for the bonus from BeijingSatellite TV to arrive.

Since LuChen had made up his mind, Lu Xi has no objection.

After all,the studio depends on him to make money, and now that he has made so muchmoney, it is not a big deal to buy a car.

Lu Xithought for a moment and said, "Then I’ll call Li Feiyu. He used to be froma 4S store. He definitely knows the business."

Lu Chennodded: "Un!"

When the twoarrived at Beijing Auto City, Li Feiyu was already waiting at the entrance.

The 4S storewhere he used to work was in Auto City, so he definitely is familiar with the situationthere. They definitely won’t be cheated.

Seeing Lu Chenand Lu Xi, Li Feiyu ran over with a smile on his face and asked eagerly: "BigChen, you are finally going to buy a car. I’ve been looking forward to thisday. Have you decided what kind of car to buy?"

He was LuChen’s assistant. The car he bought must be for him to drive.

Lu Chensaid: "We do not need to buy great cars or luxury cars. We just need somethingdecent and affordable."

"As forthe price..."

He thoughtfor a moment and said, "About 200,000, please help me have a look."

"200,000?"

Li Feiyuscratched his head and said: "At this price, then choose the domesticallymade compact SUV, a gas-electric hybrid, highly subsidized, fuel-efficient, andthe configuration is equivalent to imported cars that’s worth 400,000 - 500,000."

Lu Chen saidwith a smile, "You’re the expert. I’ll listen to you."

He got hisdriver’s license when he was 18 years old. He used to drive the family car. He likedcars but didn’t know much about them.

His career hasjust started. There’s no need to buy a good car, but it can’t be too bad.

High-qualitydomestic cars should be a very good choice.

Lu Xi said,"Then you go and choose first. I’ll go to the bank and transfer the money andcome back here."

They partedways. Lu Chen followed Li Feiyu around the Auto City to choose a car. He lookedat several stores in succession.

Finally, theyarrived to the 4S store of Zhonghua Motors. (TN: Zhonghua = China)

A white SUV placedat the front entrance immediately attracted Lu Chen’s attention.

The shape ofthis car is very good, the appearance is majestic but exquisite. The splitfront face and arc headlights are perfectly blended together, giving people asense of power.

Li Feiyurecognized it at a glance: "Zhonghua X7? This new car is already on themarket!" (TN: Image of X7 at the end.)

As soon asthe two stopped in front of the new car, a salesperson from the 4S storeimmediately came to introduce the car to them enthusiastically.

ThisZhonghua X7 is a new urban SUV that was just launched by Zhonghua Motors. It isan environment-friendly hybrid electric vehicle. It integrates a number of thelatest technologies and is quite high-tech.

In additionto the fuel-efficient power system, its configuration was also very good, withfront and rear sensors, intelligent cruise, on-board computers, panoramicskylights, leather chairs and everything that one expects to find, and the interiorspace was spacious enough.

The biggestfeature of the gas-electric hybrid was fuel saving. The fuel consumption of 100kilometers is very low. Of course, the power performance is different from thetraditional power, but Lu Chen doesn’t race or do cross-country drive, so it wasenough for city driving.

The mostimportant thing was that the car has a good safety configuration and a solidframe. It was equipped with six airbags.

If it is usedby Lu Xi, he can rest assured.

In addition,in domestic cars, Zhonghua is a famous brand, and its quality has always beenreliable.

As for theprice, it is 190,000 to 290,000 depending on the configuration.

For this newcar, Li Feiyu was full of praise, and Lu Chen was very satisfied, so he askedthe salesperson to arrange a test drive and drove around the Auto City in the ZhonghuaX7.

When theydrove back to the 4S store, Lu Xi also came over.

The eldersister has no requirements for the car, as long as Lu Chen likes it. She and LiFeiyu bargained together.

Lu Chenfinally decided to buy a comfortable configuration. After the subsidy, theprice of the base car was 245,000, and the final price was not small, but the 4Sstore added about 20,000 worth of interior decoration and services as a small present.(TN: Base car means the standard configuration.)

The landing priceof the car plus insurance, purchase tax, and other expenses is 263,000. (TN:Landing price is the total price of a product or shipment once it has arrivedat a buyer’s doorstep.)

He paid bycard on the spot. After the insurance and temporary license was handled, they willdirectly pick up the new car from the 4S store.

There wassome time in the middle, and the three had a late lunch together.

The color ofthe car was white. Apart from being a little worried about it easily gettingdirty, Lu Xi was very satisfied.

The three wentback together in the new car.

The driver wasLi Feiyu. Lu Chen saw that he liked this car very much, so he generously gaveup the first driving right.

Li Feiyudrove the new car on the elevated road in high spirits and said, "Big Chen,now that you have a studio and a car, you can consider buying a house in Beijing.How can a big star live in an office!"

Lu Chen gaveup the single apartment he had rented to her sister. He has been living in thestudio.

He intendedto find another small apartment near the park.

As forbuying his own house...

Lu Chen saidwith a wry smile, "I really can’t afford a house in Beijing now. Let’stalk about it in a few years."

His first considerationwas to pay off all his family’s debts. It would be a long time before he could buya house.

Don’t lookat Lu Chen making a lot of money now, but according to his own estimate, if hewants to pay off his family’s debts, and if there is no accident, it would atleast take until next year and the year after next.

But comparedwith the endless despair in the past, now it is a great happiness.

As forbuying a house, the house in Beijing has the highest price in the country, andthe average price is about to break through the sky.

He has justearned more than 1 million yuan. Even if he didn’t use all of it to buy a fullyfurnished house and choose a new house with a better location, he could only buya bedroom. He would still not have enough for the down payment!

It is saidthat the biggest dream of many third and fourth tier star artists is to saveenough money to buy a house in the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing.

The incomeof third and fourth tier artists is not too bad, but the usual expenses arealso high, so buying a house is really a luxury.

Li Feiyusighed, "Yes, the house is too expensive. I will go home sooner orlater."

Lu Chen saidwith a smile, "Are you going to take Xiaomei back with you?"

Li Feiyu laughed.Since Chen Xiaomei started working in the studio, Li Feiyu’s pursuit seemed tohave paid off.

They chattedand laughed all the way, and they were about to arrive at the park.

At this time,Lu Chen’s phone rang.

It was ChenJianhao who called. He asked Lu Chen to go to a teahouse in the university city.

So, Lu Chen askedLi Feiyu to drive to the studio first, and then drive to the place Chen Jianhaosaid.

By the timethey found the place, it was already 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

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TN: The" boiled frog in warm water " originated from a "boiled frogexperiment" performed by scientists at Cornell University in the UnitedStates at the end of the 19th century. When scientists put frogs in water (notboiling water) at 40 degrees Celsius, they couldn’t stand the sudden hightemperature stimulus and immediately jumped out of the boiling water tosuccessfully escape.

Whenresearchers put frogs in a container of cold water and then slowly heat them(rises 0.2 degrees Celsius per minute), the results are different. Instead, thefrog was comfortable in the water because of the comfortable temperature of thewater at the beginning. When the frog found that it could not tolerate the hightemperature, it was already overwhelmed and weak, and was unknowingly boiled inhot water. (This has another meaning but since it’s not related with the story,I won’t explain it here)

In this case, if in the beginning Lu Chen asked for a sky-high price (his was just high-price), then any company would be immediately repulsed into buying his songs. And since he just asked for a high-price (warm water), and the work (song) was of high-quality, EMI was much comfortable with it, and they won’t mind even if Lu Chen raise the price next time.