Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities

Shanghai.

Black Cat TV.

Sophie came to the office today dressed in a white Hanfu.

She had no choice. Traffic on Black Cat TV had plummeted recently, and it seemed their "young master" boss had stopped investing money to attract new users.

So, to maintain her earnings, she sometimes had to start streaming early in the morning.

The platform's traffic was limited, and she couldn't compete during the other time slots, so her only option was to catch the early birds.

On top of that, she had to keep finding new ways to keep things fresh for her viewers.

The easiest way to do that was by changing up her outfits.

Just a few days ago, she had gone for a sexier look, wearing a glamorous backless dress. Today, it was a white Hanfu.

In a few days, she planned to go for a younger look by wearing a high school uniform.

'Streaming has gotten so much harder lately.'

As she was about to walk to her streaming room, she overheard two people talking in low voices.

One of them was PPD, one of the platform's most popular streamers, and the other was another famous gaming streamer.

"Did you hear? The company's funding fell through. They've cut off all the user acquisition efforts recently."

"That's impossible. The boss's family is loaded."

"It's not his money. I heard he's planning to bolt. He's already secretly hired people to liquidate the company's assets."

"Then what about us? My popularity already took a huge hit when I switched over. Am I supposed to just crawl back to my old platform with my tail between my legs?"

"Yeah, right. As if they'd take us back. I tried contacting some of the other big platforms. Our popularity has tanked on Black Cat TV, and we were poached with inflated contracts to begin with. There's no way they'll pay to buy us out. We'll just have to wait for our contracts to be voided and sign new ones. And the offers will be even lower than what we had at our old platforms."

"Fuck! Aren't they just screwing us over?"

Hearing that furious voice, Sophie felt like her world was collapsing.

'Streaming was already hard enough, and now the company is going under?'

She knew PPD. He was always well-informed and wouldn't just be spouting nonsense.

'This must be true.'

'So what was she going to do?'

Just then, she received a WeChat message from her friend, Sun Yifan.

After reading the message, she frowned and replied, "Ningning, how can I possibly be in the mood to guess why you want us to invite Black Cat TV streamers into a group chat? Black Cat is about to go under, and I have no idea what to do."

「In the hotel.」

When Sun Yifan saw Sophie's message, she replied in surprise, "Honey, you also know that Black Cat is going out of business?"

Now it was Sophie's turn to be surprised. "What? Even you know? How come I didn't know? Did that 'young master' tell you? He's gone too far, secretly hiring people to liquidate assets. Isn't he just screwing us streamers over?"

Seeing this, Sun Yifan quickly replied with an explanation, "Honey, it wasn't that guy who told me. It was a handsome guy with tens of billions in assets."

"Oh, right, that handsome ten-billionaire and an older, handsome hundred-billionaire are organizing a get-together. They're inviting the streamers from Black Cat TV to a party in Beijing."

Sophie felt the urge to make a sarcastic comment when she saw this message.

'How could she still be joking at a time like this? I'm so done with this friendship.'

'A hundred-billionaire? As if people like them could ever meet someone like that.'

'Besides, why would a big shot like that organize a party for internet celebrities? Couldn't he get actual A-list stars?'

With this in mind, she replied, "Ningning, I'm really not in the mood for jokes. My head's a mess right now."

Sun Yifan tried to reassure her, "Honey, do you really think I'm the kind of person who can't tell what's serious? I'm telling you the truth. It's Boss Lei and Chen Jincheng who are organizing it."

"Boss Lei is about to invest three billion to become a shareholder in Second Life Star City, and Chen Jincheng is the handsome new tycoon with tens of billions in assets."

"He's the one who told me Black Cat is going under. He plans to take on Black Cat's streamers, so honey, what are you worried about?"

"Is being a streamer at that guy's company even comparable to being an entertainer working under Boss Lei and Chen Jincheng?"

"Everyone knows how good Chen Jincheng is at making people famous. Besides, looking at the current trends, what platform can even compare to Douyin?"

As if worried Sophie wouldn't believe her, she then sent a photo of herself and Chen Jincheng at the Great Wall.

Sophie, of course, recognized Chen Jincheng—Douyin's top star, whose popularity was skyrocketing.

His five-billion-yuan sales figure from that recent livestream shopping video had stunned everyone.

Moreover, he had somehow managed to connect with Boss Lei and had been praised by the tycoon multiple times.

And now, Boss Lei was even investing in Second-Life Star, turning Chen Jincheng into a tycoon with tens of billions in assets.

Oh my god!

'Can an internet celebrity really make it this big?'

She couldn't help but ask, "Ningning, is Chen Jincheng really going to take on us streamers from the Black Cat platform??"

Sun Yifan confirmed, "He is. In fact, I recommended you to him. He saw your picture and clearly liked it. He even told me I had to invite you."

Then, she added a teasing joke, "Who knows, you might have a chance to catch his eye!"

"Just think about it. He's so handsome, has such a great body, and he's so rich. Most importantly, he even writes songs. If he takes a liking to you, he might even write a song about you."

"Do I really have a chance?" Sophie saw the new message and replied without thinking.

'She suddenly felt a little nervous.'

'If Chen Jincheng could write a song for her, that would be absolutely amazing.'

'Nothing else really mattered!'

'After all, she'd been singing for so long but still didn't have a single original song to her name.'

Sun Yifan pursed her lips when she saw this and cursed inwardly, 'You little flirt.'

Hmph!

'She was just joking, but the other girl was actually taking it seriously.'

'When the time comes, and Sophie is with Chen Jincheng... with him in the front, she'd be in the back, ready to punish that girl properly.'