"Saturday... we had our worst day yet. Earned only a mere 0.02%. The fund got ¥6 from performance and ¥2 from management."
He sighed.
"This resulted in our largest withdrawal yet. Many people panicked, wondering if it would go into the negatives."
He set down the documents.
"That's basically where we are."
He looked at Lin Feng.
"Today is our deciding day. If we really hit a negative today - while it's not unusual for funds to hit negatives sometimes - if we really do today, it could break our business. We're just starting out. We need to build trust."
He exhaled.
"I really hope it turns out great. I've made as many adjustments and optimizations to the algorithm as I could in hopes that it doesn't flop."
He leaned back.
"On the bright side, if we get a great return today, not only will we solidify the trust of our customers, we'll get even more recognition and attract even more people."
Lin Feng nodded.
He was deep in thought.
It seemed like his earlier assumption was right. While Xunfeng Delivery had received the least amount of investment and support, it really was more profitable than Tianji.
In a week, Tianji had made barely ¥400.
But Xunfeng made more than that every day.
Well, this was all short-term though.
As Tianji's pool of funds continued to grow, so would the returns.
…
Su Yue waved at the camera.
"Alright everyone, that's all for today! Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time!"
She blew a kiss and ended the stream.
She looked past the camera toward Lin Feng, who showed her a thumbs up.
She got up and walked over, sitting down next to Mengqi on the couch.
Instead of the single chair that Lin Feng usually sat on during streams, they had decided to move the couch in. The room was for streaming anyway - why be so reserved?
Mengqi got up and left.
Lin Feng turned the screen toward Su Yue to show her the metrics.
Total stream duration: 1 hour 8 minutes
Peak concurrent viewers: 3,297
Average viewers: 1,863
Total gifts received: ¥22,798
Chat messages: 18,564
"You had another peak after just yesterday's peak," he said with excitement.
At that moment, Mengqi returned with a glass of water and handed it to Su Yue.
"Thank you," she said, taking a long drink.
Lin Feng turned to Mengqi.
"What do you think? Seeing her in person."
Mengqi observed Su Yue seriously, her gaze piercing.
Su Yue shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"She's genuinely talented."
Su Yue's expression brightened.
"Except for..."
Mengqi held up a hand and began listing.
"Her breath support collapses on sustained notes above G4. She's compensating with throat tension instead of diaphragmatic control. Her vibrato is inconsistent - sometimes natural, sometimes forced. On the dancing side, her isolations are muddy, especially in the chest and shoulders. Her weight transfers are delayed by half a beat on syncopated sections, and she has a habit of locking her knees during transitions."
Su Yue's expression fell with each point.
"Other than that, I'd say she's pretty much perfect."
Mengqi finished with a smile.
The two just looked at her with blank expressions.
That's like saying you're not poor, you just don't have money.
Lin Feng thought.
Mengqi waved her hand.
"She needn't be worried. If someone wasn't a professional like me, they would never notice such things. It's just me nitpicking."
"But on the bright side, since I know exactly where her problems lie, I can help her work on them."
She held up a finger.
"In one - no," she raised a second finger, "two. In two weeks, we could get rid of at least half of those issues and some bad habits."
"That's great, I guess," Su Yue murmured.
"Speaking of," Lin Feng spoke up, "did you talk to her about the training?"
"Yeah," Mengqi confirmed. "I talked to her and she'll be beginning her training officially tomorrow."
She turned to Su Yue.
"It's best you sleep early if you're a heavy sleeper."
"I'm not a heavy sleeper," Su Yue pouted.
Lin Feng looked between them.
They seemed to be getting along much better than he had expected.
"Alright, let's talk about the main subject."
Everyone paid attention.
"Even if we train Su Yue to reach Mengqi's level, if we debuted her now, she would just be a nobody."
He leaned forward.
"What good is all her music and talent if no one listens?"
The two nodded.
"That's why we need to make an audience for her."
"Audience?" Su Yue asked. "Don't I already have an audience?"
Lin Feng shook his head.
"Not that audience. We need something bigger. Much, much bigger."
"How much bigger are we talking?" Mengqi asked.
He smiled.
"How about the whole of China?"
Mengqi scoffed.
"Even if you use that trick of yours - 'leaking' the title track - there's no way you could reach such levels. Even the top idols just share in this pie. Wanting to take it all..."
He smiled.
"Yeah, that's a little ambitious. But I have a method that can get us to the next best thing."
They all paid attention.
"Here's the plan."
He leaned back.
"I'm going to hire a water army and have them spread the clips all over the internet. They'll interact with the clip throughout today and Monday. This will gain some traffic."
He continued.
"Then, on Monday evening, I'm going to use my alt account during Su Yue's stream and send a World Train gift."
Su Yue tilted her head.
The World Train gift allowed people on the platform to tune into the livestream that received the train to participate. There was a chance for viewers to earn platform credits this way, which always attracted crowds.
"This would attract lots of viewers," Lin Feng explained. "I'll then use the chance to request the song in chat, saying I heard it somewhere and would like the Fairy to sing it."
He gestured at Su Yue.
"The Fairy would look it up on stream. This brings a spotlight to the leaked clip. Then she sings it."
He held up his fingers.
"It would just be a fifteen-second snippet, but that would be enough to catch the attention of those inflated viewers from the train. They'll definitely look it up on their own."
He smiled.
"From here, organic viewers take over the spreading of the leaked song."
Mengqi nodded slowly.
"Then," Lin Feng continued, "I call my water army to muddy the waters once again."
His smile widened.
"I'll have them suggest that the leak might be from a certain group. Others will say it's from another group. We use this to ragebait on all sides, making different fandoms turn on each other."
He spread his hands.
"They'll all be expecting the full release to prove the other side wrong."
He leaned back with satisfaction.
"And there you have it. An audience."
Lin Feng smiled.
This was the way of the modern world.
He looked at the two with a proud expression.
"What do you guys think?"