Lin Feng sat in his chair behind the desk.
Shen Mengqi stood before him, arms crossed.
She looked at him, her expression unreadable.
I genuinely can't tell what's going through this guy's head.
She exhaled and pulled out some documents from her bag, flipping through them slowly.
They had proposed several names during the registration process, but their main pick was Xingyao Entertainment - Star Brilliance Entertainment.
She walked up to his desk and set the papers down.
"What now?" she asked. "Do we just wait?"
"Not at all," Lin Feng said, leaning back in his chair. "You'll be my employee soon, but I was hoping you could get to work right now."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Of course," he added, "I'll compensate you properly after the company registration is finished."
She looked at him suspiciously.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Draft contracts," he said simply. "Both for yourself and for our talent."
He waved a hand.
"You know how this whole industry works, so it shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"
She nodded slowly.
Then paused.
"Talent?" she asked.
"That's right."
Lin Feng tilted his head.
"I didn't tell you that? Yes, I have a talent in mind."
He smiled smugly.
"Bet you don't think I'm incompetent now, do you?"
She looked at him with a completely blank expression.
He coughed.
"Ahem."
He pulled out his phone and scrolled for a moment before finding what he was looking for.
It was a clip from one of Su Yue's streams - the one where she sang and danced in the bunny outfit.
He handed the phone to her.
Shen Mengqi watched in silence.
The video played. A girl with a sweet voice moved across the screen, her movements energetic but slightly unpolished.
When it ended, Lin Feng looked at her with a proud smile.
"What do you think? Is she talented or what?"
She extended the phone back to him.
"I didn't expect you to have such interests," she said flatly. "Please refrain from showing your employees your weird hobbies in the future."
"What weird hobbies?!"
He yanked his phone back defensively.
"I'm being serious here!"
He composed himself and cleared his throat.
"So, what do you think?"
Shen Mengqi looked at him for a long moment.
When he had said he had a talent in mind, she had assumed it would be mediocre at best - given his previous displays of incompetence.
But looking at the video...
She nodded slowly.
"She has some talent," she admitted. "But she's still far from being an idol."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
"Do you think you can make her?"
She looked at him.
Then exhaled.
"It's not impossible."
She paused.
"That being said..."
Her gaze sharpened.
"That outfit."
Lin Feng blinked.
"If I'm seeing correctly, she's a streamer, right?"
He nodded.
"Won't that be bad for her image?" she asked. "Bunny costumes, dancing for donations - that's not exactly the pure and innocent idol image."
Lin Feng shook his head.
"It's not a problem at all."
He leaned forward.
"Before, it was all about purity and innocence for an idol. But now? Not as much."
He gestured vaguely.
"I've seen many idols break into the market from streaming backgrounds. It should be fine - as long as they don't do anything outrageous."
He smiled slightly.
"We can actually use the opportunity to farm some simps - I mean, fans - before she breaks out. Especially considering we're an unknown agency with a new, unknown idol. We need all the early support we can get."
Shen Mengqi stared at him.
Then, slowly, she nodded.
"You might be smarter than you look."
Lin Feng's chest puffed up slightly.
"Just a little, though," she added.
"What do you mean by that?"
She turned away and began pacing, one hand on her chin.
"First, we'll need to assess her current skill level in detail. Vocal range, breath control, pitch accuracy. Then there's dance - flexibility, rhythm, stamina."
"Hey…"
"Stage presence will need work too. Streamers are used to performing for a camera, not a live audience. The energy is completely different."
"Hey, don't ignore me."
"We'll also need to build a training schedule. Vocal lessons three times a week minimum. Dance at least twice. And media training - interviews, variety shows, fan interactions."
She continued walking and talking, completely ignoring him.
Lin Feng sighed and slumped back in his chair.
Well, at least she's motivated.
He watched her pace back and forth, already deep in planning mode.
I guess I'll just let her do her thing.
…
That afternoon.
After finishing his discussion with Mengqi and giving her some initial instructions, Lin Feng had received an invitation to lunch from Yu Shen.
It seemed there was something he wanted to talk about.
They met at a small restaurant near campus.
After they ordered their food, Yu Shen leaned in across the table, his eyes practically sparkling.
"Lin Feng," he said, barely containing his excitement. "The sponsorship deal yesterday…"
Lin Feng's heart sank slightly.
Was it a flop?
"...was an absolute success!"
Lin Feng almost choked on his drink.
"What?"
Yu Shen pulled out his phone and began scrolling through data.
"Let me break it down for you."
He turned the screen toward Lin Feng.
"From the stream, we had almost a thousand unique visitors to our landing page. That's a click-through rate of about forty percent considering her peak concurrent viewers."
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
"Out of those thousand visitors," Yu Shen continued, "thirty-five of them chose to invest."
He looked up with a grin.
"That's a 3.5% conversion rate. For a single sponsored stream. Do you understand how good that is?"
Lin Feng blinked.
"That does sound impressive."
"It's more than impressive - it's incredible!"
Yu Shen set down his phone and began gesturing as he explained.
"Now, let me walk you through the breakdown by tier."
He held up a finger.
"We don't have traditional tiers with added benefits or anything like that. These are just classifications we use to manage different groups of investors more easily."
Lin Feng nodded.
"First, there's the minimum tier. That's anyone investing between one thousand and one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine yuan."
Yu Shen smiled proudly.
"Because of our 'for the people' model, our entry point is way lower than most funds. Just one thousand yuan to start. And we only charge 0.5% management fee annually, plus ten percent of profits - compared to the industry standard which is basically double that."
He waved his hand.
"But anyway, that's beside the point."
Look at this…