Chen Jincheng looked at Xue Qian waving from atop the sports car, genuinely surprised.

He immediately waved back in response.

Just then, Xue Qian held up his phone, clearly gesturing for them to talk on the phone. The next moment, Chen Jincheng’s phone rang.

It was a call from him.

He immediately answered, and Xue Qian’s voice came through. "Chen Jincheng, see you at the Wenhua Oriental Hotel later!"

Chen Jincheng asked in surprise, "Old Xue, you’re staying at the Wenhua Oriental Hotel too? What a coincidence!"

Xue Qian laughed. "What coincidence? The other day during the stream, after we connected and said we’d meet in Shanya, the Wenhua Oriental Hotel contacted my people. They said they could arrange my food and lodging in Shanya and mentioned you were planning an event with them for the National Day holiday."

"You know I love to get in on the action, so I agreed. Since your plan involves shooting a video, I wanted to join the fun."

Chen Jincheng realized that the Wenhua Oriental Hotel had arranged everything.

’This really shows the Wenhua Oriental Hotel’s ambition and their knack for seizing opportunities.’

So he said to Xue Qian, "Old Xue, see you at the hotel then!"

Seeing him hang up, Sister Hong asked, "Boss, was that the big star, Xue Qian?"

"Yeah!" Chen Jincheng nodded. "He’s on top of that sports car."

This made Sister Hong, Ximeng, and Jiang Xiaobai all look over, and sure enough, they saw Xue Qian on the sports car.

Sister Hong said in astonishment, "I can’t believe that big star actually came to Shanya as promised."

Ximeng and Jiang Xiaobai were also filled with surprise.

After all, Xue Qian wasn’t some minor celebrity; he was extremely famous, at least in the music industry.

The car soon arrived and stopped in the Wenhua Oriental Hotel’s parking lot.

As soon as Chen Jincheng got out of the car, he looked directly toward the beach outside the hotel, specifically at a pile of reefs.

Right now, this stretch of beach only had some beach chairs and umbrellas. It hadn’t yet become the sensational influencer hotspot from his other life, where crowds gathered to see the Wave-Summoning Technique.

In that instant, he saw a huge wave crash against the reefs, sending up a spray several meters high.

This was the season for big waves.

’It’s true. Many things have always existed, just waiting to be discovered. Not everyone has an eye for beauty.’

’Sometimes, certain things are just the product of an accident.’

’If it weren’t for the memories from his past life, he never would have known that these perennial waves could be used like this to create a famous influencer hotspot.’

’So, in this world, he would be the one to create this influencer hotspot.’

"Chen Jincheng."

Just as he was thinking, an enthusiastic voice called out. He didn’t even need to think to know that the highly recognizable voice belonged to Xue Qian.

Sure enough, he saw the man walking over with a smile.

"Old Xue, a pleasure to finally meet you!" Chen Jincheng also greeted him with a smile.

Xue Qian, however, gave him an enthusiastic hug. Behaving as if they were old friends, he looked at Chen Jincheng’s face and said, "You really are handsome. Damn, I’m a little envious. Zhu Zhen, wouldn’t you agree?"

There was another person behind Xue Qian, who also nodded with a smile.

Chen Jincheng recognized him. It was Zhu Zhen, the one who could get along with anyone.

"Hello." Chen Jincheng smiled and shook his hand.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you," Zhu Zhen said immediately.

Just then, a group of people walked out of the hotel.

The man in the lead, dressed in a suit, enthusiastically approached them as soon as he saw Chen Jincheng and Xue Qian. "Mr. Chen, Mr. Xue, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Lin Sheng, the General Manager of the Wenhua Oriental Hotel. Your arrival is an honor for our hotel. We’ve already prepared your accommodations. Shall we get everyone settled in first?"

As Lin Sheng spoke, he welcomed Chen Jincheng and Xue Qian into the hotel. Then, he called over a woman with a pretty face and a stunning figure to attend to them.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Xue, my name is Song Ya, the Guest Relations Manager. Please follow me." Song Ya led both groups to a service counter, handed out the pre-prepared room key cards to Chen Jincheng and the others, and had a bellhop show them the way.

"Lao Cheng, let’s get settled. We’ll talk later." Xue Qian called out, his way of addressing Chen Jincheng having changed casually.

"Okay, sounds good." Chen Jincheng nodded with a smile. ’This big star really wastes no time getting familiar.’

"Mr. Chen, please follow me." Song Ya, however, turned to Chen Jincheng and personally led the way for him.

’She naturally had to seize this opportunity.’

’She had been looking forward to his arrival.’

’He’s just as handsome as he is in his online videos.’

’Seriously, in terms of looks, he’s way more handsome than Xue Qian.’

’And his body is amazing. I love it.’

’I wonder if I’ll get a chance to see him with his shirt off this time.’

"Thank you for the trouble," Chen Jincheng said to Song Ya.

"No trouble, no trouble at all!" Song Ya said hurriedly, leading the way.

When they reached the room, she gave an even more enthusiastic introduction to the hotel’s various features. After she finished, she spoke to Chen Jincheng with a hint of cunning, "Mr. Chen, if you have any problems or needs, you can let me know. I’ll help you resolve them immediately. We could exchange contact information."

After saying this, even though she felt it was perfectly reasonable to use this as an excuse to add him on WeChat, her heart was still beating a little fast.

Chen Jincheng gave the young woman a half-smile. How could he not see that she was using this as a chance to get his WeChat?

It was just like how many people could never manage to get a flight attendant’s WeChat, but flight attendants would often use the excuse of "you can ask me if you have any questions about future air travel" to add the WeChats of some wealthy tycoons and their heirs.

This young woman’s method was quite similar.

Song Ya clearly noticed his look, and her pretty face immediately flushed. Afraid of being rejected, she quickly added, "Mr. Chen, I’m a fan of yours."

Hearing this, Chen Jincheng smiled, took out his phone, and showed her his WeChat QR code to scan. He didn’t forget to ask, "Want to take a picture together too?"

"Can I?" Song Ya asked, secretly delighted as she added his WeChat.

"Sure." Chen Jincheng smiled, not refusing.

"Thank you!" Song Ya didn’t hesitate. She happily stood beside him, deliberately getting very close, and filmed a video with a huge smile on her face.

Only then did she leave the room, somewhat reluctantly.

Chen Jincheng just smiled at this.

’Seeing her like this, he was starting to understand why it was so easy for celebrities and influencers to hook up with their fans.’

To be honest, the young woman had good looks and a great figure. It’s just that he’d grown accustomed to the finest things, so he wasn’t about to be swayed by a little bit of beauty.

After Song Ya left and closed the door, he lay down on the bed to rest for a bit.

Flying was tiring.

He rested until he got a call from Xue Qian.

He answered, and the man’s voice came through. "Chen Jincheng, I’m treating everyone from your Second-Life Star to hotpot tonight. I’ve arranged cars for you."

"Okay, thanks a lot." Chen Jincheng hadn’t expected him to offer to treat them right after landing.

However, hearing "hotpot" reminded him that Xue Qian had gotten his start by opening a hotpot restaurant. He had the "Shangshangqian" hotpot chain, with nearly 30 locations nationwide. It seemed there was one in Sanya, too.

After hanging up, Chen Jincheng heard a knock on the door.

He opened the door to find Sister Hong outside.

He immediately said, "Sister Hong, perfect timing. Xue Qian is treating us to hotpot tonight. Please let everyone know."

Sister Hong was surprised to hear this. "I didn’t expect Xue Qian to be so friendly. But this is a good thing for us. After all, influencers can’t compare to celebrities at this stage. Having someone like Xue Qian, who respects you musically and is willing to hang out with you, will be beneficial for you."

But Chen Jincheng just smiled and said, "Sister Hong, actually, the reason I’m so polite to Xue Qian is because I genuinely think he’s a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry. He’s a good guy, and one of the few big stars who’s willing to hang out with influencers."

"As for who really benefits from our association, it’s too early to say. There’s no need to put celebrities on such a high pedestal. And we shouldn’t look down on our own status as influencers. Times are changing. What’s most important is to follow the trends of the era and be liked by the public."

Sister Hong couldn’t quite understand this. She even tried to figure out what her boss meant, but after thinking for a long time, she still couldn’t grasp it.

’This was a limitation of the thinking of her time.’

If Chen Jincheng didn’t know the trends of the future, he never would have imagined a time when influencers could compete on the same stage as A-list celebrities. He wouldn’t have thought that even award-winning actors would need to go on an influencer’s livestream to promote their movies and play along with their memes.

Many once-famous celebrities would eventually become nothing more than guests an influencer could pay a small fee to have on their stream as support.

In terms of status, how many people in the entire entertainment industry could compare to Li Ziqi?

You could say that many of the powerful figures who personally received Li Ziqi were the very same people top-tier celebrities had to treat with extreme caution.

It was just that at this point in time, no one would believe any of this.

After all, in 2018, Tiao Yin hadn’t completely defeated Kuaishou yet. It hadn’t achieved that terrifying level of traffic and star-making ability.

Sister Hong didn’t dwell on her boss’s words. Instead, she immediately reported something. "Boss, I just got a call from Kuaishou. They didn’t state their intentions directly, but it sounded like they want to poach Second-Life Star. I feel like Kuaishou is making a move, so I came to report to you right away."

Chen Jincheng was stunned to hear this.

At this stage, when you talked about Tiao Yin, you naturally had to mention Kuaishou.

Just like in his other life, Kuaishou’s momentum was incredibly strong right now.

According to the latest data from 2018, Tiao Yin’s daily active users were at 250 million, while Kuaishou’s were at 180 million. (Daily active users isn’t the total user base, but the number of active users each day).

But hearing Sister Hong’s report, he suddenly thought of something and immediately took out his phone to search for it.

He hadn’t had any dealings with Kuaishou before and hadn’t thought about this, but now that Sister Hong mentioned it, he suddenly recalled something.

’Perhaps he could profit from this.’

’After this, as long as he demonstrated enough value and the timing was right, he might even be able to get a stake in Tiao Yin, even if it was just a small one.’

’If he succeeded, he might really be able to attempt that Python and Sparrow Swallowing Dragon plan.’

He immediately picked up his phone to check and quickly found a news article about Kuaishou.

In 2018, not only had Tiao Yin failed to defeat Kuaishou and pull ahead, but because of a certain event, Kuaishou would soon surpass Tiao Yin in daily active users in 2019, leading to a complete stalemate between the two giants in a north-south confrontation.

For a year after 2019, Tiao Yin was even suppressed and fell into a crisis, which was precisely what prompted Kuaishou to make plans to go public.

And all of this stemmed from one of Kuaishou’s acquisition plans and resource integrations, which introduced new features and a new traffic resource algorithm.

This news made Chen Jincheng slap his forehead.

’He’d been so focused on the Python and Sparrow Swallowing Dragon plan that he had completely Forgotten this important matter.’