Chapter 110: Chapter 109: I Want to Be Famous, Desperately

Lin Chu leaned back on the sofa, casually glancing over the resume of the face-changing performer.

Zhang Peng sat beside him, giving a brief introduction.

His name was Dai Pingchuan, thirty-three years old.

In the past, he had worked at rural weddings and funerals. As a teenager, he learned the suona, and as a young man, he studied Henan opera. Later, he picked up crosstalk and even participated in a variety show, but his skills were unrefined. Lacking any standout qualities, he was eliminated during the preliminary auditions.

Later, by a stroke of luck, he met a master of the face-changing art. He began studying under him and actually managed to learn it.

He had a good aptitude for it; his ability to learn was quite strong.

Dai Pingchuan had been streaming the whole time, but his popularity was poor. Without a company or a management team, it was hard for an independent streamer to get big. He was just scraping by, with only about ten thousand followers.

After Xue Xiaojun invited him via private message, he decided to come take a look, adopting a "let’s give it a shot" attitude.

The company bought him a plane ticket, and he was pretty direct about it. He figured it wasn’t a scam. ’A big company in Peng City must be loaded if they’re even reimbursing travel expenses for an interview.’ So he came to try his luck.

This guy...

He was actually pretty decent.

Lin Chu genuinely thought so.

As for his skill level, to be honest, it wasn’t really that important.

Lin Chu found his resume generally acceptable, seeing no major issues.

"By the way, we interviewed two other guys today, both male streamers. One sings Huangmei opera, and the other does wood carving. They seem pretty skilled, and their resumes are right here. I told them to come to the company for a trial stream tomorrow."

Zhang Peng added softly.

He and Lin Chu had already agreed on the benefits package for streamers: room and board included, a base salary of 6,000 a month, plus a share of tips and sales commissions. The cut would be determined by their tier, ranging from 20% to 50%.

Any revenue generated by the company’s own gift-spamming would be funneled back and wouldn’t be part of the streamer’s commission.

The company even covers the taxes. We’re already promoting you and building your popularity, what more could you ask for?

Beyond that, the amount of resources the company would invest in promoting them would depend on their performance and popularity during the trial stream. However, they would receive an initial resource package valued at no less than a hundred thousand yuan.

That was the gist of it.

These fields they were targeting were actually quite niche. Zhang Peng had no idea if they would be profitable in the long run.

But if they didn’t try, they would never know.

Besides, Brother Chu had already explained his thinking to him very clearly.

First get it done, then get it right.

"Alright, sounds good to me. We can check on those other two tomorrow. Let’s focus on this one for now."

Lin Chu said with a soft laugh.

’After all this preparation, it’s about time to see some results.’

’For me, live-streaming is a very stable path. The key is that it’s practically a perpetual motion machine for generating cash.’

’I can gift my own company’s streamers, get a rebate, and the money I spend flows right back. The streamers gain popularity. It’s just like the saying goes: the gentry’s money is returned in full, while the commoners’ money is split seventy-thirty.’

’Of course, I do have to pay taxes.’

’But paying taxes is fine. I can just treat it as giving the country a dividend.’

’This model is absolutely perfect!’

...

He glanced at Dai Pingchuan’s stream. There were currently about two hundred viewers. Half an hour had gone by, and the count had basically flatlined, not increasing at all.

Lin Chu thought for a moment and was about to add funds to his account, but Zhang Peng, keenly sensing his intent, reached out to stop him.

There was a new phone on the table.

"Brother Chu, use the Android. Your iPhone has that damn Apple tax. Every penny counts."

Lin Chu: "...Uh."

’Details, details.’

"You’re getting more and more meticulous."

He said with a laugh, praising him.

Zhang Peng laughed. "You know it. I did the math—for a single Carnival, the platform takes a fifty-fifty split. That’s 1,500 yuan gone right there. It’s a damn rip-off. Even if we want to boost our own streamers, the costs are still going to be high."

Hmm?

Lin Chu’s interest was piqued when he heard that. ’The platform takes a fifty percent cut?’

’I actually didn’t know that. In any case, the rebate still comes through.’

’However, if the platform is taking a fifty-percent cut, then even if I still get my rebate, spending money this way makes me look like a complete fool.’

’Even someone as close to me as Zhang Peng would probably have a hard time accepting it.’

’He’s the general manager of the company now, and he feels a sense of attachment and responsibility to it.’ 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

’If he calculates it that way, there’s no way I can justify myself.’

His mind raced. Lin Chu recalled the methodology Hou Chengjin had mentioned during their chat tonight: cast a wide net, then focus on cultivating the most promising prospects.

He immediately put what he’d just learned into practice.

He laughed and said, "No need to rush. It’s about casting a wide net and then focusing our cultivation efforts. Recruit more people, spread the resources around, and give everyone a chance. Based on the income of a top streamer, if even one out of ten becomes a hit, it’ll cover all our costs. How can you do business if you’re not willing to invest?"

"Whatever we lose is just a sunk cost, and a sunk cost isn’t really a cost. If we can make just one streamer a star, the profits will be enormous."

"You used to be in this business, you don’t know that?"

"In the beginning, you could say that most of a company’s up-and-coming streamers are supported by the earnings of the established stars."

Zhang Peng was... momentarily stunned.

He understood what Lin Chu meant, but he still felt the need to explain. "I know that, but you can’t invest in everyone. The costs would be too high, we wouldn’t be able to handle it. At my old company, they just put streamers on a base salary and let them lay low and grow on their own. The better they developed, the more resources they received."

Lin Chu said, "Time is more valuable than money. Money is a catalyst, understand?"

"Besides, I have other plans for the gifts I personally send."

Zhang Peng’s heart skipped a beat. He instantly understood: this was one of Brother Chu’s "core secrets."

’Don’t ask what you’re not supposed to ask.’

’When Brother Chu thinks the time is right, he’ll naturally explain.’

"Okay, right. I have no more questions, then."

Lin Chu unboxed the phone, a Huawei P70, and started downloading apps and setting it up.

He registered a new Douyin account, once again using his real name as the nickname.

He first loaded one million yuan onto the account, then sent three hundred thousand in gifts.

Starting with one hundred of them.

When he sent gifts, he never sent fewer than a hundred at a time.

’Tapping them one by one is too much trouble.’

Soon, the stream’s screen was filled with an endless parade of Carnivals. Dai Pingchuan was dumbfounded.

But he instantly realized this had to be the company boosting his numbers. He suddenly tore off his mask, knelt dramatically before the camera, and launched into an incredibly sycophantic speech.

The stream’s popularity, naturally, began to skyrocket.

Lin Chu was a bit taken aback as he watched him kneel and fawn, but after a moment of surprise, he found it understandable.

’Back when I was just an employee, if some whale had dropped three hundred thousand yuan on my performance metrics, I would’ve wanted to kneel for them, too.’

’A man who has weathered the storms of life understands best what it means to bow and scrape, to sell a piece of himself for money.’

’I once knew that feeling all too well.’

...

"Folks, hang on a second. I’m going to DM the big boss. Looks like he has something to discuss with me."

After saying a word to his stream, Dai Pingchuan walked out from behind the decorative screen and went over to Lin Chu. Confirming that this was indeed the boss, the man in his thirties suddenly dropped to his knees with a THUD.

"Boss! President Lin! Please, let me kowtow to you first."

He then dusted off his knees, got up, and began a rapid-fire speech. "President Lin, I want to be famous. I want it so, so badly. As long as you promote me, I’ll do anything. I have no shame, no self-respect, no bottom line. I’m all about looking toward money and earning thick stacks of it! The boss is the earth, the boss is the sky, the boss is my lifelong benefactor, my second parents..."

He pressed his hands together in a prayer-like gesture. His fawning left everyone in the room speechless.

They had all seen people suck up before, but never like this.

This... Wasn’t he laying it on a little too thick?

Lin Chu stared at him, momentarily shocked as well.

He even felt a little at a loss for what to do.

’Holy shit, this guy... I don’t even know what to say. He’s like one of those hyper-obedient Filipino maids. He’s gone mad with his desire for fame.’

’This is honestly the first time I’ve ever encountered a style like this.’

Lin Chu let out a long sigh. "Alright, that’s enough. Go back to your stream. Don’t keep the audience waiting."

Sigh...

’This guy’s really something else.’

’Then again, the streaming world seems to have no shortage of these "demons and monsters." The competition has driven them all insane.’

...

...