Inside the bar.
Sister Hong clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "You all did great today! I've booked a large private room at the restaurant next door. Let's all head over in a bit!"
The girls all cheered in agreement.
It was clear from the afternoon's shoot that they were in high spirits, full of hope for the future.
Chen Jincheng, however, offered a reminder, "Until you all get famous, keep a level head. After dinner, those of you who have to work should get to work!"
But he soon realized his words had fallen on deaf ears. Once they arrived at the restaurant and sat down, every single girl was glued to her phone with a joyful expression, discussing the stats on their videos.
After being uploaded, with the 500-yuan Dou+ promotion and the traffic directed from Jiang Xiaobai's account, the likes on the girls' videos quickly surpassed all their previous totals.
It was their first time, after all, so it was no wonder they were constantly checking their video stats.
Although Sister Hong had booked the largest private room in the restaurant, their group was huge. With the 11 girls recruited by Wang Yuan, 7 "e-girls," Sister Hong, Wang Yuan, Lao Chen, Xiaohai, Xiaoliao, and Elephant, there were 24 people in total, making it a bit cramped.
"Boss, let me toast you!" Lin Qing was the first to raise her glass to Chen Jincheng, clearly demonstrating her higher emotional intelligence.
"Mm, you did a great job today!" Chen Jincheng nodded with a smile.
'This girl is truly a talent. Previously, just by looking at her profile—her chest, legs, figure, and sultry face—I felt she was suited for the flirty, provocative influencer route. She could be an excellent filler streamer. But after interacting with her today, I discovered she's a quick learner who knows how to seize opportunities to stand out. Her emotional intelligence is also high. All these are qualities of a potential top influencer. If a provocative streamer also has some emotional intelligence and knows how to showcase her strengths—even if it's just her body—then with good planning and a bit of talent, she has every chance of becoming a main-roster influencer for a major MCN agency. The only risk is her nightclub background. If she has any dark history, a single scandalous video could destroy her career once she gets famous. That's why a saying was popular in my past life: even if you work in a nightclub, you have to 'keep yourself clean'. However, right now, I just want to mass-produce a batch of filler streamers, so I don't need to worry about any of that. First, I have to get the Tiao Yin Guild application sorted out.'
With Lin Qing having broken the ice, the other girls caught on. The girl with the largest chest immediately came over, bowed low, and said respectfully yet coquettishly, "Boss, my name is Yinyin. Let me toast you too!"
"Mm, keep up the good work. You've got potential." Chen Jincheng drank a glass with her, and his simple words made her ecstatic.
After that, he stood up and called for everyone to drink a toast together.
The group of girls immediately stood up in unison. Throughout the meal, Lin Qing and the other girls frequently toasted Lao Chen, Wang Yuan, Xiaoliao, and Xiaohai. They did a great job of livening up the atmosphere, even managing to draw the two video-editing homebodies, Xiaohai and Xiaoliao, out of their shells.
This was one of the reasons why so many nightclub girls became filler streamers: they knew how to create a lively atmosphere, were proactive, had low training costs, and produced quick results.
Take streaming, for example. A regular girl might agonize for ages over wearing something a little revealing. A nightclub girl, on the other hand, would dare to show off half her chest right from the get-go and even write the names of her top two donors on it.
The meal didn't last long. After all, the girls still had to go to work at the bar that night, so it ended rather quickly.
As he left the private room, Chen Jincheng was surprised to see a young man leading a group of girls out of another large private room.
The young man was surprised to see him. "Lao Cheng, fancy meeting you here! You've started your MCN, too?"
"Lin Hao, looks like you've had a good haul as well," Chen Jincheng said with a smile, greeting him while glancing at the girls behind him.
The guy was also an influencer from Coastal City with over a million followers. He was a rich second-generation heir, and his approach to the internet business was completely different from a grassroots guy like himself.
However, he was a pretty decent guy. They often had meals together after getting to know each other, so Chen Jincheng had even analyzed the explosive growth potential of MCNs for him. He never expected the guy to actually go and do it.
Lin Hao said with a laugh, "Lao Cheng, what do you think of the girls I recruited? Pretty good, right? They're all beauties I handpicked from the art academy. The only problem is they're all pretty shy and reserved during video shoots. They need more training, otherwise the video quality isn't great."
Chen Jincheng was well aware of this, which was precisely why he had chosen nightclub girls who didn't need training and were quick on the uptake.
His ultimate goal for starting an MCN was to make money, after all. As a boss, he had to consider the energy and costs he invested. He didn't care about the girls' backgrounds, as long as they could help him achieve his final objective of earning a profit.
Lin Hao then looked at Jiang Xiaobai and praised, "Lao Cheng, you're the impressive one, building up Jiang Xiaobai so quickly. She's past 600,000 followers, right? But I won't lose to you. My family invested 30 million to help me start this MCN."
"..." Chen Jincheng suddenly had no desire to speak to this guy anymore.
'I'm still waiting for Tiao Yin to transfer the 1 million yuan public license fee for "Trajectory" to use as startup capital, not to mention settling last month's liquor procurement bill for the bar. And this motherfucker just opens his mouth and his family throws 30 million at him.'
Back at the bar, Chen Jincheng called Sister Hong and Zhu Ling over again.
He checked Zhu Ling's stats. The video "Working hard at my street stall to save for a dowry..." had over 500,000 likes, and she had already gained 180,000 followers.
Although this concept didn't achieve the same results as in his past life, the Bai Yueguang-like Street Vendor Girl persona was still unique and appealing in this world.
'I just wonder if this Zhu Ling girl, once she gets famous, will end up like the one from my past life—deleting her account, quitting the internet, and marrying into a wealthy family.'
Chen Jincheng then gave instructions to Sister Hong, "Sister Hong, in a bit, take a few people and help Zhu Ling film another video. Today, do a street interview. You'll ask her out of curiosity, 'Why are you working so hard at your stall?' She should be looking down, preparing some grass jelly. When she hears the question, she'll look up with a big smile and say, 'I'm working hard to earn a little more money so my future boyfriend can have an easier time!' Make sure you capture that smile at the exact moment she looks up."
"I understand," Sister Hong nodded.
"Let's go. I'll take you to buy an outfit first," Chen Jincheng said to Zhu Ling. The girl had changed her clothes today, but her current outfit wasn't right and would make for a much worse video.
A short while later, he bought the girl another outfit: a cool and aloof "Bai Yueguang" dress that had been popular in his past life.
Afterward, he had Sister Hong take the girl to film the video while he went straight home to get some sleep.
He had had a bit to drink at the restaurant, but more importantly, he hadn't gotten to sleep until after 4 a.m. the previous night. On top of that, he had expended his stamina twice on Jiang Xiaobai. He was truly exhausted. 'A man has to take care of himself.'
He was up bright and early the next day. He pulled out his phone and saw that overnight, the "window-wiping dance" had become a trending topic!
This was within his expectations. His stomach rumbled, so he found something to eat in the fridge, then lay down on the sofa and started playing the Life Simulation Game in his mind.
The bar in the game was doing very well. As he completed various life-skill-related quests, he would gain different types of reputation points, attracting more customers to spend money at the bar.
After playing for a while, a special quest with a golden exclamation mark suddenly appeared.
He tried accepting the quest and found it interesting. The simple story was about a down-on-his-luck uncle who comes to the bar wanting to drink a familiar cocktail, one personally mixed for him by a female bartender he met back when he was the "King of Disco."
He had never forgotten the female bartender and wanted to dance one more song with her.
The quest was to help the down-on-his-luck uncle find that former female bartender, and it would end with the two of them sharing a disco dance.
But upon completing the quest, he finally received a game notification:
[Congratulations on completing the King of Disco quest. Managing a bar requires the ability to disco dance, as it allows for better interaction with female customers. You are rewarded with the special ability: King of Disco!]
[Note: 1. You now possess the ability of the King of Disco. 2. When disco dancing at the Extreme Bar, your charisma and appeal to the opposite sex are increased by 100%, making it easier to find a dance partner.]
In that instant, the stream of information flowed into Chen Jincheng's mind again. At the same time, it felt as if his body was being adjusted; he could even feel his muscles stretching.
The information was all about mastering body coordination and hitting the beat—the experience of a dancer. Disco, after all, was a form of dance.
Chen Jincheng sat up from the sofa, his face full of pleasant surprise.
'This is a great reward! Compared to the dancing ability itself, the +100% appeal and charisma to the opposite sex when dancing at the Extreme Bar is secondary.'
'My mind is full of long-legged girls from my past life, many of whom were dancers. It's difficult to "port" their dances over. Even for something as simple as the Booty Dance, I feel it would take a lot of effort to explain and coach the girls. But now, things seem different. I can demonstrate it myself.'
As he thought about it, his body instinctively started to move, performing the Booty Dance. The rhythm was incredibly smooth, his hip movements were perfect—it was completely effortless. This was all thanks to the King of Disco ability.
Just then, Sister Hong walked in from outside and stared at him, her face a mask of astonishment.
'This is the first time I've ever known the boss could dance,' she thought, 'and more importantly, for a man, his dancing is surprisingly sultry.'