"My God, fifteen million, did I hear that right?"
"You heard correctly, it's fifteen million."
"Just a few seconds of screen time, and they want so much pay? Why doesn't she just rob a bank?"
"Let me calculate, five seconds for fifteen million, that's three million per second. One minute is 180 million, and an hour is 10.8 billion. Oh my, this is too outrageous!"
"10.8 billion an hour, even the world's richest wouldn't be able to afford such a salary."
They hadn't realized it until they calculated, but the hourly wage of 10.8 billion stunned everyone.
"This salary might sound exaggerated, but we can't calculate it like that. Time and pricing are different in every industry."
"For instance, antique shops. They might go three years without a customer, but when one comes, they might buy an antique after only a few minutes of looking. Do the hours spent before that not count?"
"Or real estate agents. Signing contracts, payment, title transfer, and closing can be done in half a day. Do the countless hours spent showing dozens of properties to clients or helping them with loan approvals not count? Time is money, and these also have costs."
"Right, right, every industry has costs. Like last night, I took the last subway home. There wasn't a soul in the carriage. Assuming the operating cost of one subway trip is a hundred yuan, my ticket was two yuan. Whether it carried just me or a full car, the cost is essentially the same. Jiang Ling just happened to be at that minimum threshold, like me on the last subway, which is why the film salary seems so terrifying."
Even so, fifteen million yuan in salary was an astronomical figure that many working people couldn't earn in a lifetime.
The entertainment industry was just that distorted.
Leaving the bustling "Shi Li Yang Chang" filming location, Sister Sa said with glee, "A few seconds of acting, effortlessly earning fifteen million. Even after deductions for commission and taxes, there are still a few million. It's just too easy money."
Jiang Ling said faintly, "Five seconds of acting, the money sounds easy to earn, but the acting itself isn't. Many people saw my performance as Hailong just now. With such a sky-high salary, it feels hot to the touch!"
Hearing this, Sister Sa was taken aback.
Jian Zhou, however, was indifferent.
In his opinion, Jiang Ling's earnings were not excessive at all.
The exorbitant film salaries in the entertainment industry had always been a source of criticism.
Little did people know, there were plenty of professions in the 360 trades that were even more lucrative.
Take finance, for example. Leveraging his rebirth advantage, he invested huge sums in the stock market, buying low and selling high.
Through these transactions, he made hundreds of billions in cash in just one year.
That averaged out to 300 million yuan a day, and that was even after accounting for holidays and weekends.
If you factored out the days off, the earnings were even more staggering.
However, the entertainment industry was special.
Standing under the spotlight, drawing everyone's attention, many things that seemed unreasonable in other industries were magnified to an absurd degree.
A few million yuan in hand was mere pocket change for Jian Zhou, an invisible billionaire benefiting from his rebirth.
Jiang Ling was silent for a moment, then said, "This money feels too hot to hold. Once the salary arrives, please help me donate it."
As the most popular and highest-paid actress currently, millions of eyes were on her.
Audiences were increasingly resentful of the distorted income in China's domestic entertainment market, and even a small revelation could lead to targeted backlash.