Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities

When the news broke that Si Rui Film and Television was trying to smear Chen Jincheng, many people suspected there was a bigger story behind it.

But when the news came out that Zhou Huapeng had been arrested and Si Rui Film and Television was under investigation, no one expected the scandal to be this big—that it actually involved money laundering.

For a while, chaos erupted among all the costume and production design companies in the entire film and television industry.

This was because the incident implicated a great many people.

Of course, just as Chen Jincheng had predicted, once Central Mother aired the interview, all the public attention shifted back to Second-Life Star and its Hanfu.

...

Initially, people only knew that the Hanfu Chen Jincheng was promoting were beautiful, and that he had been smeared online because of them.

But no one had imagined that there were so many unknown details hidden behind the scenes. Chen Jincheng had even been threatened by criminal elements, which filled his fans with righteous indignation.

Especially the box of dead cats and the employees with bruised faces—one even had a bleeding arm. Those thugs had actually attacked Second-Life Star, hadn’t they?

This made people even more furious.

After all, what kind of society was this? How could these people still be so lawless?

The Hanfu enthusiasts who hadn’t known the full story were swayed.

After all, the Hanfu Chen Jincheng produced were truly beautiful. He was definitely promoting and preserving Hanfu’s cultural heritage, something they could all get behind.

These enthusiasts naturally wanted to see Hanfu develop in the right direction.

Now that Central Mother had exposed the situation, Chen Jincheng was clearly on the side of justice. So, naturally, everyone had to support him. With the guidance of these Hanfu enthusiasts, supporting Chen Jincheng suddenly became a trend.

And then, sales of Second-Life Star’s Hanfu completely exploded.

After all, the simplest way to show support was to buy a Hanfu from Second-Life Star.

If you couldn’t afford a 3,000-yuan one, a 400-plus-yuan one was also an option. Besides, after buying one, you could even go to Jinglan City to participate in the Hanfu Outing Day.

With all the hype around this issue now, the Hanfu Outing Day was bound to be incredibly lively and fun.

...

「Second-Life Star.」

Chen Jincheng looked at the sales data from Xiaoju and the other girls’ promotions with a smile on his face. Although the affair with Zhou Huapeng had caused him some trouble, it had also brought him enormous benefits. Sales figures for almost every Hanfu had seen explosive growth.

Take Xiaoju’s second video, for example—a Hanfu video that used classical poetry for its transitions. Coupled with her stunning ’cold and forlorn widow’ Sacred Body persona, it had already broken 30 million likes, and her follower count had reached over 8 million.

With a bit more promotion, her follower count would soon break ten million.

The sales figures for her ’sophisticated beauty’ Hanfu were also incredible, with total orders reaching over 200,000 units and total sales hitting 300 million.

Although the order numbers for the other girls’ Hanfu weren’t as insane, their total sales were still substantial.

Sister Hong did the math. This wave of Hanfu launches had generated a total of 3.5 billion in sales. With a profit margin of around 50%, that meant 1.75 billion in profit.

You could say that Second-Life Star was developing the Hanfu market at an extremely rapid pace. Its fame, brand value, and prestige... they were all cemented in this single wave.

This wave was due to special circumstances, of course. They certainly wouldn’t be able to achieve such insane numbers in the future and would have to rely on slow, steady growth. Even so, any other clothing companies wanting to enter the market now would find it difficult to compete with Second-Life Star.

Naturally, this meant the machines at the contract manufacturers’ factories were practically smoking. They ran 24/7 in three shifts without stopping, raking in a fortune in manufacturing fees.

It was the same for the clothing factories that Second-Life Star had acquired.

According to the factory workers, you could even smell the scorching odor of the overworked machines.

As Chen Jincheng was looking over the data, Ah Pao walked in from outside and said respectfully, "Boss!"

"Give me the list," Chen Jincheng said.

Ah Pao handed over a list. On it were the names of the men who had been injured while apprehending that guy, along with the details of their injuries.

’This counts as a work-related injury, so I’ll cover the expenses.’

However, Chen Jincheng didn’t just go through the standard work-injury reimbursement process for these men. He gave each of them a bonus of 20,000 to 50,000 yuan, depending on the severity of their injuries. Those who participated in the capture but weren’t injured would also receive two extra bonuses this month.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

’After all, these guys are the ones who actually step up when things get serious. If I don’t give them a bonus for getting hurt, who’s going to step up next time?’

He took the list, snapped a photo of it, and sent it to Sister Hong, telling her to process the payments through Second-Life Star’s accounts.

After giving the instructions, he said to Ah Pao, "The work-injury compensation will be deposited into their accounts. After they receive the money, have them go sign for it with Sister Hong."

"Thank you, Boss!" Ah Pao hurriedly replied, thanking him on behalf of his men.

Having a generous boss kept them highly motivated.

In truth, the injuries his men had sustained this time weren’t even that serious. The worst one was a guy who got a cut on his arm, yet he received a 50,000-yuan injury bonus. That guy was grinning from ear to ear.

Just then, Chen Jincheng’s phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was a call from President Lei.

He answered, and President Lei’s complaining voice came through the phone: "President Chen, why didn’t you tell me about something like this? If you had, I could have reported the situation to a high-ranking official much sooner."

"Here in our own country, how can we, who do legitimate business and pay so much in taxes every year, be bullied by a bunch of rats from the gutter?"