My Life with Narration

Chapter 657: Chapter 648: Never Too Old to Learn

"So, what were you thinking just now?"

Once the room was just the two of them, Tang Nan sat on the sofa with her legs crossed and asked with a smile.

Tang Nan had seen the expression on Su Qing’s face clearly just now. The two were familiar with each other, and she could easily tell he had discovered or thought of some issue.

Even though she hadn’t studied psychology, nor was she a detective like Old Lin, a woman’s intuition is something really mystical.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing didn’t hide it and said bluntly:

"You said to have our people join the crew to see where our money is being spent, is that... feasible?"

To this, Tang Nan chuckled: "Is there anything that’s absolutely reliable? We’re sending people over there just to make the others be more cautious. You’ve never been in a film crew, right? There’s so much going on there. Wherever there are people, there are complexities, open and hidden rules, all sorts of waste. I’ll give you an example: you know about the crew’s boxed meals, right?"

Su Qing nodded, he knew that well. Adding chicken legs to the meal—who doesn’t get it?

"I’m not even talking about the meal standards for actors and directors, just the extras. Outside, a boxed meal costs about 15 RMB, even less if bought in bulk. Some crews save money by having their own kitchen. But do you know how much they report it as costing?"

Before Su Qing could speak, Tang Nan continued: "20 RMB per box is on the low side, I’ve even seen it reported as 30. With so many people in the crew, filming for months, how big do you think the profits are? That’s not even counting some big-name actors’ meal costs.

This is just about food; lodging, transportation, even prop usage, and so on—almost anything you can think of provides an opportunity to siphon off money.

If we have someone over there, at least they won’t go too far and treat us like fools, pocketing the money for the movie."

Su Qing agreed with Tang Nan’s point, recognizing her professionalism despite being an outsider.

"But will sending someone over have any effect? What if the other side gives them benefits, making them turn a blind eye?" Su Qing asked.

After all, the narration just hinted that these three people were not exactly honest and certainly had their own ideas.

Tang Nan laughed at his question.

"What’s wrong, did I say something wrong?" Su Qing asked.

Tang Nan waved her hands: "No, no, you’re not wrong at all. In fact, I can tell you that what you said will likely happen."

"Then why are you still..."

But before he could finish, Su Qing seemed to realize something and looked at Tang Nan.

Seeing his expression, Tang Nan smiled, "What? Got it?"

Su Qing nodded: "Human intentions are hard to fathom. Such things are unavoidable, regardless of who you send unless we go ourselves or send a trusted family member to supervise, it cannot be completely prevented."

Hearing this, Tang Nan snapped her fingers: "Exactly, we’re certainly not going ourselves, so the people under us will naturally find ways to gain benefits. Waste in the crew is unavoidable, and since we can’t prevent it, we can only try to minimize it. As bosses, we focus on results, not the process.

If we acted as you think, we’d probably exhaust ourselves by doing everything personally.

As long as the people below us aren’t too extreme and can accomplish the tasks we assign and create value for us, then if they manage to benefit from it, that’s their skill.

We can’t take all the money and not let the people under us even sip the soup, can we? We just need to retain the power to cut them off from the benefits whenever necessary, and they’ll behave.

Look at our company with Xiao Yi. Every department head has their own interests, especially the business department, where they negotiate deals using our company’s price quotes, privately lowering prices to split the difference with the contact. Some sensible ones even share a portion with their leader. This behavior is commonly known as ’splitting the seam.’ You think Xiao Yi and I don’t know?

Especially Xiao Yi, she’s quite familiar with these tactics. In the company’s early days, she did it herself, and she did it pretty well, making a tidy fortune.

So as long as the film quality is assured and the project succeeds, we naturally get the lion’s share. Why worry about the scraps? Do you really think everyone willingly works for you without expecting anything in return?

You need to know your position as the boss, control the big picture, and as long as our interests are not harmed and we gain benefits, let the subordinates handle the details. If they fail to benefit us, no matter how honest they are, we will find a way to fire them."

Listening to Tang Nan, Su Qing felt enlightened, as if he’d just had an epiphany. Though he’d heard of practices like this before, it was his first encounter.

In business, Tang Nan might not match Shen Yi, but having been with the company for so long, it’s impossible for her to know nothing. To an outsider like him, her knowledge was impressive.

An employee with a tendency for small tricks, who earns the company one million using his authority each month, versus an honest employee who only generates a profit of ten thousand—who would you, as the boss, favor?

The answer is obvious. As a boss, what counts is the result, not the process.

Through this, Su Qing felt he’d learned a valuable lesson, even though he had narrative guidance, some things couldn’t be understood without experience or someone’s advice.

"Phew~~"

Su Qing let out a heavy breath, stood up, and his face relaxed significantly. He smiled: "You really do learn as you live. Alright, I’ll leave this matter to you, Brother Nan. Let Xiao Hu stay here to liaise with the three people, unless she wants to occasionally go on business trips to inspect various film crews."

Tang Nan couldn’t help but laugh: "Oh my, you’re letting go of control so thoroughly, aren’t you afraid of me taking advantage of you?"

Despite sending Hu Xiaoling and others to inspect the crews, Su Qing had no foundation here, and his employees were still people around Tang Nan.

"Come on, Brother Nan, you’re wealthier than me, would you really care about my pocket change? Besides, as you said, as long as the movie quality is up to standard, why should I bother with the rest? It’s tiring as hell."

Hearing this, Tang Nan laughed: "I must say, you’re really the hands-off boss, just like Sister Qing. If I didn’t know you were dating Xiao Yi, I’d think you and Sister Qing were a pair."

"What’s wrong with dating? Haven’t you ever dated?"

Tang Nan: "Do you think your sister is a nerd who hasn’t dated?"

"Since you’ve dated, how did it feel? Was it enjoyable?"

Tang Nan: ???

"Oh, come on, get serious. Ask your girlfriend how it feels!"

"I don’t know, but I feel pretty good!"

Tang Nan: "You really are naïve, like how your fingers feel when picking your nose?"

Su Qing: →_→

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