[Tian Qianqian: I heard the new guest is in place? Do you know who it is?]
[Song Qiang: I heard from my agent that they're an artist who started out as a child star. They left the industry to study a few years ago and just came back, hoping to use this show to return to the public eye.]
[Tian Qianqian: How much do they have to hate themselves to do that? Our show got off to such an unlucky start...]
[Chu Tian: I won't allow you to talk about our show like that! What's wrong with it? The director is just a little blind, and the guests they found are just a little criminal. No other problems!]
[Tian Qianqian: ...You're right about everything.]
While they were joking around, Wen Lan, whom he had not seen in days, quietly messaged Chu Tian privately to thank him.
[Wen Lan: I've been busy reporting the case, filing it, and dealing with the lawsuit, so I haven't properly thanked you yet. Thank you so much, Chu Tian. If it hadn't been for you and Gu Shiyan, I really wouldn't dare imagine what might have happened that day.]
Even through the screen, Chu Tian could feel Wen Lan's deep gratitude in every word. Somewhat embarrassed, he scratched his cheek.
[Chu Tian: You're too kind, Sister Lan. It was what I should have done as a man.]
[Wen Lan: I've handed everything over to my lawyer for now. When you and Gu Shiyan are free, I'd like to treat you both to a meal as thanks.]
Chu Tian gave it some thought. Knowing that Wen Lan also needed an opportunity to step out of the shadows, he did not refuse.
After learning that Wen Lan had signed a contract with the production team and could not terminate it, and that she would attend the recording as scheduled, they agreed to arrange a meal after they met again for the next episode.
Tian Qianqian, who had been chatting away in the group for ages without seeing Chu Tian speak again, also privately messaged him.
[Tian Qianqian: I want to apologize for what happened on the show. Please believe that I didn't mean any harm. I just wanted too badly to get away from that piece of trash Qian Feihe, so I acted without thinking.]
Tian Qianqian looked sweet, delicate, and soft-spoken, but she was very straightforward in both speech and action.
Combined with how she had protected Wen Lan that day, Chu Tian could not bring himself to feel any ill will toward her.
[Chu Tian: It's fine. I never took it to heart. It was nothing.]
[Tian Qianqian: Great. Then I hereby announce that we're friends from now on!]
Taking advantage of the opening, Tian Qianqian shamelessly began prying into Chu Tian's recent life.
[Tian Qianqian: I heard you joined a production to film a drama. I don't mean anything by it—I just wanted to ask whether you have any new gossip to share. I'm not here to eat melons. I'm here to make friends with you, really!]
[Chu Tian: ...]
Chu Tian sneered. Just as he thought—there was no such thing as friendship without reason, only entertainment junkies willing to stop at nothing for gossip!
To prove that she really was there to be friends with Chu Tian, Tian Qianqian hurriedly tried to make up for it by sharing her experience and offering to teach him how to livestream.
[Tian Qianqian: You're sitting on massive traffic and don't know how to convert it into income. What a waste. Even just to retain your new fans, occasionally livestreaming, recording vlogs, and sharing your daily life would be very effective.]
[Tian Qianqian: Especially since you've only just debuted. Other than one episode of Soul Shocker, you don't have any other work out yet. Your fans are starving and howling for content. If you don't feed them in time, they'll easily jump ship!]
Chu Tian pondered her words and actually took Tian Qianqian's earnest advice to heart.
His goal was lofty: make a lot of money, so that even if his parents and brother were dragged down by him someday, he could still earn enough to support them in their old age.
Thinking of his parents, who were still traveling around the world, then looking at Chu Maoming's standard of living, Chu Tian suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders grow even heavier. He did not want their quality of life to decline in their later years.
Tian Qianqian was right. Fans were the parents who fed and clothed him. If he wanted to make big money in the future, it was necessary to keep his dear fans' hearts!
And with the "experience" from his last livestream, Chu Tian felt it would not be too difficult.
[Tian Qianqian: Of course, if you can casually let everyone enjoy some gossip during your livestreams, I guarantee your fans will be even less willing to leave you!]
[Chu Tian: ...] So your ultimate goal was still to eat gossip! Heh, women.
Chu Tian coldly ended his conversation with Tian Qianqian, but immediately began seriously considering whether livestreaming was feasible.
Whether there was gossip to eat was not important. It was still necessary to stabilize his fanbase and give a little benefit to the people who liked and supported him.
No—
Chu Tian suddenly realized an even more important problem: why did so many people assume that following him meant there would be gossip to eat?
He had only ever experienced that one piece of gossip involving the idiot Qian Feihe, okay? How had he ended up being targeted by so many entertainment junkies?
Unable to figure it out no matter how hard he thought, Chu Tian temporarily tucked the question away and opened the livestreaming tutorial Tian Qianqian had sent him.
Convinced that he had become a new-generation livestreaming master, Chu Tian decisively started a Weibo livestream early the next morning.
Less than three minutes after the livestream notification went out, the viewer count in his stream rapidly soared.
"Is this viewer count real-time?" Chu Tian looked uncertainly into the camera. "It's a workday today. Don't you all have work or school?"
[Ahhhhhhh Tiantian baby! Damn it, one look and I can tell he's my baby. Come home with Mommy!]
[That face—it's barefaced! Even this close to the camera, his looks don't fall apart. Such a pretty baby!]
[Move aside, all you lovestruck fools. The screen is dirty. Let me lick it first.]
[I finally got a new livestream! The last one left me utterly stunned and tossing and turning at night. Other gossip has been bland ever since. The melons from Aunt Wang are still bigger and tastier.]
[Hahahahaha what the hell is Aunt Wang? Tiantian baby doesn't sell melons. He's just a bystander passing through the melon patch.]
[So, is there any new gossip to munch on today? This child is hungry. Is there any new gossip to munch on today? This child is hungry...]
After seeing what the comments were spamming, Chu Tian fell silent in disbelief.
What gave these people the idea that there would be fresh gossip whenever he livestreamed?
This was simply alarmist nonsense!
"Don't talk nonsense. I have no idea what you're talking about," Chu Tian said, ignoring the flying comments as he solemnly raised his selfie stick and headed outside. "I don't have anything serious to do today, so I'll show everyone a day in my life while I slack off."
Tian Qianqian had said that fans naturally put filters on artists they liked. Even if he did nothing at all and livestreamed himself sleeping, people would watch.
Chu Tian thought making his fans watch him sleep would be too boring. It would be better to take everyone on a one-day tour of Hengdian.
Chu Tian stuffed a carton of milk into his pocket, unwrapped a small cream bun, and ate as he walked.
"Our hotel stay includes breakfast, but I don't have much of an appetite today, so I'm just having something light to tide me over. At noon, we'll go eat a big meal!"
[Tiantian, eat more. You're so skinny. You don't need to manage your figure—you're still growing.]
[Where's your hubby? Aren't you living with your hubby? A young couple in the honeymoon phase can actually resist living together? You're defying the natural order! I want to see you sleep together!!]
[Sister above, mind your image. Your panties are flying off! But I want to see it too...]
"What hubby? What nonsense are you all talking about?" Heat rose to Chu Tian's face as he pointed at the camera. "Watch yourselves. I just started streaming—don't get my livestream banned."
[So where is your hubby? Don't be shy, let us see him. We never asked you two to livestream doi.]
[Seriously, with that body of his hubby's, one look tells you he's really good at fucking!]
"You people..." Chu Tian's face flushed bright red as he put on a fierce front and warned the group of female hooligans, "No sexual content in my livestream!"