Chapter 445: Meng Ban-Yi

Chapter 445: Meng Half a Hundred Million

"Stay on as faculty?"

Qin Jiao was neither very surprised nor very delighted; instead, she fell into serious thought.

Although she was both a teacher and department head, she had also watched Meng Fan grow chubby, considering herself something of an older sister. Her first concern was whether this decision was suitable for Meng Fan personally, not how much benefit or influence it would bring to the college, the department, or even herself.

After hearing the reasons behind Meng Fan's idea, Qin Jiao thought it over carefully and said, "Everything else is fine, but given your current situation, if you really want to stay on as faculty, what to teach is a problem. From the animation major's perspective, there are many courses you are absolutely qualified to teach, but does your schedule allow it? Obviously not. So you definitely can't teach specialized courses. A visiting lecturer?"

Qin Jiao laughed as she spoke, "It really can only be a visiting lecturer. First, your time would be flexible, and you wouldn't be 'misleading the students'; second, you can use the visiting lecturer role as a transition, giving you time to buffer subsequent arrangements; third, the college and department would probably love it."

Then her expression turned serious again: "I know you—you definitely don't want to just be a figurehead, coasting through the days for security. So you still need to think carefully about a direction for what you teach."

Suddenly recalling the scene when Meng Fan had lectured the members of Damei Studio on illustration and poster design, and then thinking about Meng Fan's comprehensive strength in comics now, she felt that in terms of ability, Meng Fan was very suitable to stay on as a teacher. Moreover, thinking of this, she also had a rough direction in mind, but she didn't say it right away.

"This matter—think it over yourself, and I'll help you consider it too. Don't bring it up to the department leaders today. Anyway, whenever you mention it, they'll be a hundred percent welcoming."

"Mm, okay."

Many people experience some confusion when they enter their senior year, and Meng Fan was no different. However, the difference was that he had a few more choices, and this choice would determine a fairly long period of his future, so he didn't think he could settle it in just a few words. He really needed to think it over carefully. Since he had come to Qin Jiao to talk, naturally he wanted her help in considering it. If he had just wanted to give a heads-up, he could have gone directly to the college leaders—as Qin Jiao said, the college leaders would definitely be a hundred percent welcoming.

After the department leaders finished their speeches, Meng Fan spoke as a representative of "senior students." What he said didn't matter; what mattered was that the new students got to see the "legendary senior" as they had hoped. As for Meng Fan's substantive speech, it became a bonus.

"What's wrong?"

Meng Fan came out and found Wu Tong, seeing that she had just finished a phone call and was in a bad mood.

"Nothing."

Wu Tong glanced at Meng Fan, let out a light sigh, and said, "If someone from my family calls you to do something, don't bother with them."

Meng Fan was familiar with this kind of thing—after all, his family had a big star, a master of traditional Chinese painting, a master architect, and so on. He could guess without asking. He smiled and said, "How could I not bother? They're your family and relatives. But I'll let you know."

"Mm."

Wu Tong nodded, took Meng Fan's arm, and they walked out of the campus.

Wu Tong had also entered her senior year. Her future plans were much clearer than Meng Fan's. She had already secured a spot for graduate school without exams. Her senior year was mainly about preparing for her personal exhibition and graduation exhibition, and then while pursuing her graduate studies, she would start working on her own gallery.

As for accommodation, she certainly kept her bed in the dormitory, but most of her daily necessities had already been moved to Meng Fan's home. She would spend most of her evenings there. Both sets of parents had met and were very satisfied with each other, and even the relatives had met one another. So it was only natural.

Of course, the stability of their relationship was the foundation of everything.

On September 3rd, the representatives of the five advertising sponsors that Hu Yijing had arranged came to Hangzhou. Starting at ten in the morning, they met one every hour. The meetings were also negotiation sessions, with both sides making demands, probing, and compromising. Even Meng Fan couldn't get every condition accepted.

At the same time, each company was pushing their offers to the limit, knowing full well that there were four other competitors coming.

All five were almost the same—they all wanted to secure Meng Fan's first endorsement. Four of them were not only pushing their offers to the limit but also adding more to secure Meng Fan's exclusive endorsement for the near future, with the time limit agreed upon as one month.

That is, they hoped Meng Fan would not accept any type of endorsement for the next month.

One month was naturally not very long, but this month happened to be the "golden period" after the Olympics. If they could secure the exclusive endorsement, they would capture all of Meng Fan's commercial value during that golden period.

Moreover, one company went even further, hoping Meng Fan would sign a five-year contract—generally, endorsements are signed for one to two years, and these five companies all offered at least two-year contracts. The fifth year was a very clever time frame because the Olympic cycle is four years. If Meng Fan signed for four years, it meant that his influence one year after the next Olympics would still be within their range.

If it were a five-year contract, the endorsement fee would certainly be very high, but the risk would be very small. As long as no major accident happened, everyone knew Meng Fan would definitely win the championship again at the next Olympics. In that case, the returns would naturally be huge, because Meng Fan's value at that time would certainly be higher than now!

After negotiating with all five companies, Meng Caiwei returned from her workout at Fengji Martial Arts Hall. She sat down with Meng Fan and Hu Yijing to lay out all the conditions from the five companies and discuss them.

They discussed in three batches: one batch for two-year contracts, one batch for two-year contracts with exclusive rights for one month, and one brand that offered a five-year contract—they brought it up, discussed it, and then rejected it.

"If we're signing two-year contracts, we can directly close deals with four of these five companies. In terms of brand reputation, influence, and the endorsement fee offered, each type can be decided on the spot. If we're only signing with one, my personal opinion is these two brands."

Hu Yijing pushed forward two of the brands, gave a brief analysis, and then fell silent.

Meng Caiwei nodded in agreement.

In the end, the final decision was up to Meng Fan himself.

"No more hesitation—let's go with this one!"

Meng Fan pointed to the brand he favored and said, "It has the best conditions in every aspect, and besides, support domestic products."

"Okay, then this one."

Meng Caiwei also thought it was suitable. Hu Yijing smiled and nodded—she was just there to assist.

After deciding, Meng Fan didn't waste any time. He had Hu Yijing call that company directly. They arranged to meet again that evening. During this meeting, many details were further finalized, and Hu Yijing continued to put forward demands on Meng Fan's behalf. Ultimately, the cooperation was confirmed that very night—very efficient.

After the contract was signed, the brand's official account announced online that evening that Meng Fan had become the global brand ambassador for "China Glory." As for the endorsement fee, it leaked through other channels: fifty million!

When the news came out, Meng Fan gained a new nickname—Meng Half a Hundred Million!

(End of chapter)