Perfect Superstar.

''Whale TV'', Lu Fei's live streaming channel. 

Lu Chen's debut on ''Whale TV'' had been live for two hours. During this time, he had performed a total of nine songs, including his original pieces 'My Old Classmate' and 'Cinderella'.

At 8:30 PM, his online viewership was over 15,000. By 9:00 PM, it had reached 20,000, and by 9:30 PM, it soared to over 30,000!

Just past 10:00 PM, the online viewership had reached 49,742, almost breaking the 50,000 mark.

As for his follower count, it had skyrocketed from 500+ at the start of the stream to over 45,000— a 90-fold increase!

These numbers were staggering, especially for a new streamer with no prior fame. It was nothing short of a miracle because Lu Chen's data was 100% genuine, without any artificial boosting.

His total tips had exceeded 10T (1,000,000 Fish Balls), with ''Li Bai'' contributing 5 ''Aircraft Carriers''. This "Chief Strategist of the Lu Family Army" had drawn in a large audience by sending these super gifts. Without this, relying solely on the homepage's newcomer recommendation wouldn't have generated such a massive response.

Attracting viewers was one thing, but retaining them was a whole other challenge. Lu Chen's strength lay in his incredibly high conversion rate of viewership to followers— more than 80% of those who visited his stream chose to follow him and become fans!

Lu Chen, unaware of how impressive these numbers were, still felt a wave of joy and satisfaction from the barrage of comments and the continuous stream of Fish Ball gifts.

"Thank you all for your Fish Balls," Lu Chen said into the microphone. "There are so many of you here that I want to express my gratitude to everyone collectively."

A new wave of Fish Balls filled the screen, mostly in batches of 100, but small amounts quickly added up.

"Lu Fei, keep it up! We're supporting you!"

"The streamer is awesome! The people of Jiangnan send their congratulations on your successful debut!"

"Xiangbei sends their congratulations!"

"Shengjing sends their congratulations!"

"Chaoshan sends their congratulations!"

"People from Treasure Island send their congratulations!"

"What? There are people from Treasure Island watching Lu Fei's livestream? Small world, small world!"

"Haha, I'm from Hong Kong, also sending congratulations to the streamer!"

"Passing through from Asia!"

Li Bai, with a smug ''hmph'', didn't waste any words and immediately gifted another ''Aircraft Carrier''! 

Lu Fei's total tips had now reached 11T!

Lu Chen had signed a formal contract with ''Whale TV'', allowing him to take home 65% of the revenue from virtual gifts after taxes, which was an increase from the 50% he received before the contract. 

That 15% increase may seem small, but considering that streamers have to pay a fixed 20% in personal income tax, ''Whale TV'' itself only kept 15%. Although the platform had other sources of revenue, the majority of the earnings still went to the streamer.

With the 11T in total tips, Lu Chen could withdraw over 7,000 Yuan immediately if he wished. And that was just from two hours of streaming!

He now understood why online live streaming had become such a hot trend, with top streamers commanding contracts worth millions. No wonder so many people were flocking to this industry—the pie was enormous!

''StarryLive's'' fame and success had a reason behind it.

Lu Chen put down his guitar, grabbed the water bottle on the table, twisted off the cap, and took a couple of sips to soothe his throat, giving himself a brief moment to rest.

After streaming for a long time, Lu Chen felt a bit tired, but his spirits were still high.

If he could consistently earn this kind of income, paying off his family's debts in the future wouldn't be an issue. A little hard work on his part was nothing compared to that.

"Thank you, Li Bai, for the Aircraft Carriers!" 

Lu Chen put down the water bottle and picked up his guitar again, flashing a heartfelt smile at the high-definition camera.

"The next song…"

…

The stubborn alarm clock woke Lu Chen at dawn as usual.

His basement room was pitch black, with no sunlight able to reach it, making it impossible to tell day from night. He opened his eyes but saw nothing, so he turned on the small lamp by his bed from memory.

Bang! 

The warm orange light hit Lu Chen's face, making him squint and frown as he turned his head away, rubbing his temples. His head was still a bit fuzzy from last night's hangover— the effects of the alcohol hadn't completely worn off.

Lu Chen didn't get up immediately. He lay on his bed, staring at the gray concrete ceiling above.

It still felt like a dream.

Last night, Lu Chen's debut on ''Whale TV'' lasted three hours. By the time it ended, his follower count had successfully broken the 50,000 mark, with peak viewership surpassing 60,000.

Though far from the hundreds of thousands of followers and viewers the top streamers on ''Whale TV'' had, for a newcomer, Lu Chen had achieved incredible success.

With songs like 'My Old Classmate' and 'Cinderella', Lu Chen had started to make a name for himself as a singer-songwriter on ''Whale TV'', and he had received a substantial amount of virtual gifts.

With a total of 12T in tips, Lu Chen had surpassed 90% of his peers on ''Whale TV''—and he had accomplished this in just one live stream.

Gold always shines, even if it faces setbacks and failures for a time; in the end, it can't be hidden!

Lu Chen suddenly turned over and reached under his pillow for his phone.

He eagerly opened his messages and read the latest text again.

The message was a notification from the bank, informing Lu Chen that 7,800 Yuan had been deposited into his account.

This was the payout from the 12T worth of Fish Balls he earned last night on ''Whale TV''—65% of that amounted to 7,800 Yuan.

In the past, this would have been Lu Chen's hard-earned salary for an entire month! 

Now, he could hardly believe that he had earned a month's wages so effortlessly. He was a little worried that this was all just a dream, and once he woke up, it would all be gone.

Thankfully, it wasn't a dream! 

Lu Chen couldn't help but clench his phone in excitement, giving it a celebratory wave. But his still-groggy brain hadn't fully adjusted to the rush of emotions, and a sudden throb of pain made him groan.

Just after his live stream ended last night, his neighbor, Li Feiyu, rushed over, insisting that Lu Chen treat him to a meal to celebrate the successful debut on ''Whale TV''.

Lu Chen couldn't refuse, so the two went to a nearby restaurant and drank an entire case of beer! 

That guy!

Lu Chen shook his head with a bitter smile, got out of bed, and put on his clothes before heading to the bathroom.

After washing up, he left the house to work out.

By the time he returned to his small apartment, it was already past 9 AM. Lu Chen, wearing a sweat-soaked workout shirt, began another busy day, ordering takeout for lunch and working until the afternoon.

At 4 PM, he went out to print his contract, signed it, and mailed it off to Shenzhen.

At 5 PM, he treated himself to a lavish buffet as a reward, and at 6:30 PM, he headed to the bar.

At 7:10 PM, Lu Chen arrived early at ''Daylily Bar''.

The bar usually opened around 5 PM, but since it wasn't the weekend, it was still quiet inside at this hour, with no customers and not even any staff in sight.

Bartender David was behind the bar mixing cocktails. When he saw Lu Chen walk in, he immediately waved and called out, "Lu, come try this new cocktail I just created— I'm sure you'll fall in love with it!"

Lu Chen walked over with a smile and said, "I think the only thing I'll fall in love with is a beautiful woman."

Since it was still early, he sat down at the bar.

A crystal-clear glass filled with blood-red liquid shimmered under the bar lights.

David beamed and said, "I've named it 'Burning'!"

"Burning?"

Lu Chen eyed the cocktail David handed him skeptically and said, "It looks like 'Bloody Mary' to me, just with a brighter color."

David immediately put on an expression of mock offense, though his reaction was clearly exaggerated.

Just then, a delicate hand reached over and grabbed the 'Burning' cocktail beside Lu Chen. 

(End of Chapter)

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