Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities-Chapter 45 - 43: We Don’t Freeload

After making his decision, Chen Jincheng told Sister Hong to post a response. He was about to head upstairs to find President Li and discuss an advance payment for the advertising fee.

But just then, his phone rang. The call was from Lin Hao.

’Why is this guy suddenly calling me?’

He answered the call, and Lin Hao’s forceful voice came through. "Lao Cheng, I saw that video from that Li Lisheng guy. What a damn show-off. Wreck him tonight. Remember how I said I’d give you a million yuan in gifts? I’ll send it over tonight. Go break a record and show these so-called ’PK streamers’ what you’re made of."

"Uh, I was just kidding last time," Chen Jincheng said, stunned.

’This was all a bit sudden.’

"A promise is a promise, no take-backs. I meant what I said. Crush him tonight. I’ll be there on time. Who the hell does that guy think he is, anyway?" Lin Hao’s voice dripped with disdain. Even though he also dabbled in being an influencer, his family’s wealth made him look down on the antics of these PK streamers.

Chen Jincheng knew what Lin Hao was like. He smiled after hanging up. ’Looks like I don’t need to find President Li after all.’

To his surprise, however, President Li walked into Second-Life Star right at that moment.

"President Li, welcome!" Chen Jincheng immediately went to greet her.

"Mr. Chen, I’m just here to foster our relationship," Li Ya said, half-joking. Of course, it was also the truth. Building a good relationship was all about frequent contact.

She had a feeling that with this new sales model, she would have to rely heavily on Second-Life Star in the future.

"President Li, please don’t call me Mr. Chen. It sounds too distant. You can just call me Xiaochen." Chen Jincheng could easily guess her intentions, so he was happy to oblige. After all, President Li definitely qualified as a high-quality business partner.

Li Ya was quick to agree. "In that case, Xiaochen, you should also drop the formal ’President Li.’ I’m much older than you, so if you don’t mind, just call me Sister Li."

"Of course, Sister Li. Please, have a seat inside." Chen Jincheng led her into the reception room.

Once seated, Li Ya got straight to the point. "Xiaochen, I’m actually here because I’d like to hire Xiaobai for a print ad for another one of our clothing lines. The minor celebrity I hired previously didn’t generate enough buzz. I can offer 100,000 for it. What do you think?"

"That works. I’ll have Sister Hong draw up the contract." Chen Jincheng smiled, taking out his phone to text her.

At her current level of popularity, 100,000 for a print ad was a reasonable price for Jiang Xiaobai.

An influencer’s advertising rates are determined by three main factors.

The first is follower count. The general rule of thumb is follower count multiplied by 0.01. Jiang Xiaobai was about to surpass three million followers, which would put her base rate around 30,000.

Of course, this was just the baseline for the advertising fee. In other words, when an influencer takes on a certain type of ad for the first time, the client will typically offer a price based on this lower limit.

The second is viewership, particularly the video completion rate. This affects the upper price limit for future ads of the same type.

The third factor is their content niche and brand identity. This has a complex impact and was the reason Tiao Yin in his previous world had launched its creator certification program.

Therefore, it was perfectly normal for influencers with the same number of followers to have wildly different advertising rates.

With her recent successful video ad as a baseline, 100,000 for a print ad was more than worth it for Jiang Xiaobai.

Li Ya asked curiously, "Xiaochen, I just saw online that someone challenged you to a PK. He didn’t seem very friendly. Is there some bad blood between you two?"

Chen Jincheng smiled and explained, "Sister Li, on the internet, it’s not always about bad blood. I’m just getting a lot of buzz today, so he’s trying to clout-chase. I didn’t even know who the guy was before this."

"I see. In that case, you give him a good thrashing tonight. I’ll support you with ten million Tiao Coins’ worth of gifts." Li Ya immediately pledged her support. She had already set aside the ten million Tiao Coins, originally intending to gift them during his stream anyway.

’It seems they can be put to even better use now.’

She wanted to build a strong relationship with Second-Life Star, but they had only collaborated once. This was the best way she could think of to solidify their connection.

"Sister Li, that’s too much," Chen Jincheng said politely, though he knew perfectly well she was investing in their relationship. He didn’t feel he was unworthy of the sum, either. Besides, he was certain Jinghong Women’s Clothing was going to make a fortune from their collaboration.

Still, her gesture left a very positive impression on him. It suggested that future collaborations would be quite pleasant.

Despite Sister Li’s large frame, she had a surprisingly deft touch when it came to managing relationships.

’He’d just been lamenting that he didn’t have a "whale" to top the leaderboards for him, and now, didn’t a "top whale-sister" just show up?’

Li Ya immediately replied, "Don’t mention it. Just help me come up with another great plan for next season’s clothing collaboration, Xiaochen."

"Don’t worry, Sister Li. I’ll certainly do my best," Chen Jincheng said with a smile and a nod.

This served as a verbal agreement for their next collaboration.

While the two were talking, Sister Hong received Chen Jincheng’s message.

She prepared the contract right away and signed her name. A contract of this level didn’t require the boss’s personal signature.

Afterwards, she went to the rehearsal room to find Jiang Xiaobai. "Xiaobai, I need you to sign this advertising contract. The boss just landed you another print ad for a clothing line."

"Oh, coming!" Jiang Xiaobai, who was in the middle of practicing her dance moves, rushed over to Sister Hong, her face lit up with a delighted surprise.

The others looked on with envy. She had landed another ad so quickly.

A few others curiously followed, and they gasped aloud when they saw Jiang Xiaobai sign the contract:

"100,000 for a single photoshoot!"

"Sister Xiaobai, you’re making money in your sleep now."

"You’re so amazing, Sister Xiaobai!"

The quicker-witted ones had already started calling her "Sister" to cozy up to her, crowding around Jiang Xiaobai.

Others just pursed their lips. ’Making money "lying down," alright. If she weren’t lying down for the boss, why would he be so good to her?’

’And the boss is so handsome, too. I wonder if it’s easy to get into his bed.’

’It doesn’t seem like he gives anyone a chance, though.’

Jiang Xiaobai, however, was thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention. In her heart, she was already plotting how to thank that jerk, Chen Jincheng.

After having Jiang Xiaobai sign the documents, Sister Hong returned to the reception room where Li Ya was waiting. "President Li, here is Xiaobai’s advertising contract. We’ve already signed our part."

She said, handing the contract over.

Li Ya smiled and signed her name. After a few more minutes of small talk, she left Second-Life Star.

Sister Hong put away Second-Life Star’s copy of the contract and turned to Chen Jincheng. "Boss, one more thing. After I responded to Li Lisheng’s PK challenge, the fans in your dedicated fan groups have been asking about it. What should I tell them?"

Usually, in a situation like this, the streamer would use all sorts of tactics to get their fans to spend more on gifts.

Chen Jincheng just smiled. "Tell them not to worry about it and just treat it like any other stream. There’s no need to go out of their way to send gifts. They can just do what they normally do."

To be honest, in the relationship between an influencer and their fans, a fan gifting on their own accord is a sign of genuine appreciation. Once you start using PKs to pressure them into spending, it starts to feel exploitative, and the whole dynamic changes.

Besides, fans aren’t stupid. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Most importantly, he knew the stubborn nature of his fan "bros" all too well. The more polite he was, the more likely he was to trigger their contrarian streak, and they’d probably end up gifting more just to spite him.

Sister Hong didn’t know his fans well enough to understand this. After getting his instructions, she posted his message in the dedicated fan groups.

But the enthusiastic response she received in the groups took her by surprise.

"Cheng is just worried about us spending money. I’ve been freeloading off all this great content lately, so I’m dropping a Carnival tonight to show my support!" –Lovely Little Pig.

"I’m no freeloader either. Count me in for two Carnivals." –Old Six.

"Who’s freeloading here? My budget’s tight, but I can support with two Tiao Yin Number Ones." –Dirt Dog.

"Damn, it’s Cheng’s first PK and he’s treating us like strangers? That Li Lisheng is so arrogant I can’t stand it. I’m dropping 100,000 tonight, and that’s a promise!" –Young Master Feng.

On his end, after sending the message in the group, Guo Feng immediately picked up his phone to top up his Tiao Coin balance.

He knew that Cheng never did PK battles. He’d stumbled across Li Lisheng’s streams before and knew the guy was nothing but a troublemaker. This time, Li Lisheng was clearly picking a fight. How could he stand by and let his bro get bullied?

Sister Hong watched the flurry of activity in the group chat, feeling deeply moved.

She truly hadn’t expected her boss’s fanbase to be so tight-knit. She recalled how, during normal streams, these fans would constantly give the boss a hard time and even argue with him. ’They must really see him as a friend, a brother.’

There were probably very few influencers on the entire internet who could cultivate a fanbase like that.

「Time passed, and night soon arrived.」

News of the PK battle between Li Lisheng and Chen Jincheng had already spread far and wide, catching the attention of influencers big and small all across Tiao Yin.

Video-focused influencers were baffled. In their eyes, although Chen Jincheng was known as the "Internet’s Number One Scumbag," he had always stuck to a content-driven path. His three campaigns had all been massive successes, generating incredible hype. Why would he suddenly pivot to a PK battle?

Besides, a content creator going up against a dedicated PK streamer in a gifting battle? He didn’t stand a chance.

Streamers in the PK community, however, were focused on something else. Many of them saw right through Li Lisheng’s motives. Li Lisheng had already been putting the word out that he was about to break Gao Yanyan’s record of 11.5 million Yinlang. Challenging a content creator to a PK battle... wasn’t that just bullying?

However, everyone understood that this PK battle could give rise to a new A-list influencer. With over ten million Yinlang poured in, the concurrent viewership would hit 50,000 at a minimum. The platform’s algorithm would instantly push a massive amount of traffic to the stream; viewership could even exceed 100,000.

As night fell, Li Lisheng began mobilizing his fans. At the same time, his assistant brought him good news. "President Chen from Baiyuan just got back to me. He agreed to put up 500,000 to help with your PK. He has one condition: after you become an A-list influencer and the ’little yellow cart’ feature is released, you have to list one of his products for free. If you don’t become an A-list influencer, you have to refund the 500,000 in full."

"Tell him yes," Li Lisheng said without hesitation.

’What a joke. As if I could break the record and *not* become an A-list influencer.’

With this extra 500,000, he’d have a total of 1.7 million in funds, which equated to 17 million Yinlang. He would shatter the old record by more than 6 million.

"Alright, I’ll let him know," the assistant said right away.