Chapter 193: 《lonely And Brilliant God: Ghost》 And The Unrivaled Top Streamer’s Daily Life
Click.
The door to the reception room was pushed open, and Yue Na and Young President Liu walked in with weary expressions.
Yu Yan and his agent looked up, but neither spoke.
Young President Liu moved his lips: “Your album sales and single sales… have all been surpassed by Chi Ye.”
Yu Yan’s heartbeat stuttered, feeling a sense of defeat like “it really came after all.”
《Xing Ni》 Before airing, due to the incident where Chi Ye forcibly peng ci’d Yu Yan, on the first day it ended, Yu Yan’s fans started buying 《Meteor》 and Yu Yan’s new album like crazy, causing both single and album sales for Yu Yan to lead Chi Ye by several times.
As of the last message Yu Yan received, his single should have broken 240 million, leading Chi Ye’s by nearly three times with 90 million more in sales, and the album data was similar, but now…
“How could this be? The gap was so big, how did he surpass it so quickly?!”
The agent first instinctively questioned, then realized with shock—one or two billion gap, is that still big for Chi Ye now?
“Then… how much does he lead by?”
Young President Liu rubbed his cheeks: “Not much, 《Jian Ni》 single is almost 300 million… album… um… about the same… not much, really not much, right?”
Yu Yan and his agent listened, looking at Young President Liu in surprise one by one: Buddy, are you okay?
Young President Liu noticed their gazes and kept a blank expression.
He couldn’t describe the mix of feelings in his heart now… anger, shock, broken defense, regret…
Yes, he regretted it to death!!
He shouldn’t have let that Goujian go, of all things!!
Looking at Yu Yan in front of him, he felt a suffocating urge to spit blood—you’re an unrivaled top streamer, I spent so much money and resources to bring you over, and now you’re saying Chi Ye has become the new unrivaled top streamer?
No, Chi Ye isn’t just an unrivaled top streamer now, he’s an Asian top streamer!
Young President Liu went mad; he felt like he must be fated to clash with Chi Ye.
300 million!!
And it hasn’t stopped yet!
Just with this one song 《Jian Ni》, how much money has Chi Ye made by himself?!
And the album, Chi Ye will release more songs in the future… and this time, he doesn’t need to worry about sales anymore, because even if he releases something reliant on thesis defense, his fans will prop it up to Guinness records.
Mine, mine, all of this should clearly be mine!
“……President Liu, calm down first. I think now that he’s at the peak of popularity, this situation is normal, but he won’t eat off just one role forever. Calm down first.”
The agent couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up to remind him.
Yu Yan also lowered his head and rubbed his temples.
He too needed to calm down now; the team needed to react and couldn’t let Chi Ye keep “peaking” like this.
“Actually… no need to worry too much.”
Seeing both of their mental states about to collapse, the agent stepped forward: “With his sudden rise, how much fan base has he stolen? How many people will he offend? I think… although it’s too late to prevent explosion now, we can still do a lot.”
“You mean… Si Zi?”
Young President Liu looked up hesitantly: “He probably looks down on this kind of traffic.”
“Heh.”
Yu Yan suddenly laughed upon hearing this.
Young President Liu was surprised: “What are you laughing at?”
“Looks down on it? Does he?” The agent also laughed: “Does he look down on it? He just doesn’t have the face for it. If he hadn’t successfully transformed into the film circle and had a background, his current development might not even match his two teammates.”
Young President Liu’s gaze turned thoughtful: “Even if he feels uncomfortable, what can he do?”
“……Chi Ye got popular a bit late.”
The agent suddenly said: “The Spring Festival Gala program schedule was set long ago. He’s after Si Zi and us, with treatment a full level lower in every aspect, but with the current situation… what if it gets switched?”
Young President Liu was stunned: “You mean…”
“Just watch, this year’s Spring Festival Gala is going to be a fight. Si Zi’s fans care the most about star power and look down the most on ‘traffic stars’.”
Young President Liu looked at the two and fell into deep thought.
……
Whether they look down on traffic stars or not is unknown, but among the top luxury brands, big factories, and big names coming to find Chi Ye this time, there were indeed many that previously looked down on him but are now eagerly offering prices.
Among these brands, besides those on Yu Yan and those in negotiation for endorsements, there were many others that were about to expire or in negotiation on other top streamer young actors.
This was actually very normal, because any normal business, seeing the current explosive popularity of 《Xing Ni》 and Chi Ye and Jin Xia, couldn’t resist wanting a piece of the pie.
If the timing and contract happen to fit, why wouldn’t they come?
For example, brands like Prada and Cartier were luxury brands about to expire for Si Zi; they came this time to “lick” Chi Ye for endorsements.
This industry-shaking event of numerous luxury brands competing for Chi Ye lasted nearly five days.
Chi Ye negotiated his “first batch” of endorsements after becoming a top streamer.
The reason for “batch” is that there were indeed quite a few, but… not that many.
Because his route was actually different from Yu Yan’s.
Yu Yan was the textbook for monetizing in the traffic era, with endorsed products covering every aspect of life, from work to bedtime, all featuring “him,” mainly relying on endorsements to “maintain” his persona.
But this route only suits pure traffic paths; the downside is that it not only consumes one’s own commercial value but also makes bystanders, reputation, and even star power very unstable.
This instability means everything’s fine without opponents, but once a similar top streamer appears, fans getting poached is certain—Ji Hemming is an example, Yu Yan is too—this is the drawback of single-drive play in the pure traffic era.
Chi Ye is different.
In his previous life, he was proficient in various marketing, and he had plenty of experience with routes after becoming traffic or top streamer—because Earth had precedents.
That is, the dual-drive career model.
Namely, works + endorsements dual-drive.
This is the upgraded version of pure traffic era play: works + traffic, consolidating public cognition through film and variety works, then using high-stickiness fans to feedback commercial value, achieving a more solid fan base with mutual nourishment between film works and traffic.
In the industry, there have been professional studies on this; the two top streamer models seem to just add a works element after traffic, but they are actually completely different.
Pure traffic demands short, flat, and fast.
Dual-drive traffic demands long, enduring, and stable.
Due to market changes, the rise of streaming platforms like Douyin, Gen Z and post-00 fans valuing “real persona” more, and pure traffic having extremely poor reputation among bystanders, continuing pure traffic play is doomed not to last.
On Earth, after Lu someone’s fall, the remaining newly rising young actors were almost all trying the dual-drive top streamer model route.
It’s just that this playstyle is harder than pure traffic; it requires maintaining 1-2 quality works per year, or commercial value drops quickly.
But the benefits are obvious: fan base steady as a rock, not easily losing status, and better bystander reputation.
And from professional data analysis, per-fan spending power and non-fan conversion rates for pure traffic top streamers vs. dual-drive are at a crushing disparity level—the latter dominates; pure traffic play is long outdated.
Actually, Si Zi is walking this road too, but his face isn’t up to it, so though called dual-drive, it’s actually another form of “pure traffic play.”
Chi Ye is different; he wants all the benefits of top streamer, and while young, with this face at its prime, not using it would be a waste, but he also wants a steadier fan base, even bystander reputation.
So, for endorsements, he chose “many but refined,” yet not as “insane” as Yu Yan.
Specifically, the ones already negotiated are:
Top luxury brand: Dior global brand spokesperson（ highest level, tens of millions USD/year）
Cartier Asia-Pacific region brand spokesperson（ first Chinese spokesperson, 5 million USD/year）
Yu Yan was previously Cartier China’s first brand ambassador; Chi Ye is two levels higher.
Fast-moving consumer goods（ phenomenal endorsement）:
Coca-Cola global brand spokesperson（ highest level, 《Xing Ni》 Professor Chi/Qian Songyi co-branded cans, “Coca-Cola, wild energy full,” snatched from Yu Yan, but two levels higher.）
KFC Asia-Pacific region brand spokesperson（ highest level, Professor Chi/Qian Songyi limited set meal, snatched from Yu Yan, but one level higher.）
Yili global brand spokesperson（ highest level, snatched from Yu.）
Dove global brand spokesperson（ highest level, snatched from Yu.）
Digital/Internet:
JD.com global brand spokesperson（ covering 618, Double 11 etc. major promotions, snatched.）
Huawei tri-fold global spokesperson（ snatched）.
Ku Ying Video global spokesperson.
Sony brand global spokesperson（ snatched）.
And many more… from top luxury to fast consumer, top luxury maintains prestige, all “firsts” breaking historical records, Dior even the true first Chinese artist as global brand spokesperson.
Fast consumer brushes face without dropping class.
Beverages have Coca-Cola, fast food has KFC, others include milk, chocolate; Coca-Cola’s treatment is also unprecedented first Chinese global spokesperson—because this endorsement is Chi Ye and Empress Dowager duo, and plus too many colas drunk in 《Xing Ni》.
Empress Dowager made a huge contribution!
And KFC Asia-Pacific spokesperson, the last Asian to get it was even earlier and more dominant than Yu Yan’s Quan Dama.
Finally, digital/auto tech, internet fields etc… honestly, with this wave, Chi Ye’s endorsement quality and quantity skyrocketed instantly, the kind that would make career fans climax and faint.
What Lao Ji Yu Yan, not enough to watch; several “firsts,” several global spokespersons?!
All negotiated endorsements together total sixteen; plus skincare ones Chi Ye can’t take now（ L’Oreal Men not expired, can’t take similar）, and others, Chi Ye now has nearly twenty endorsements.
And quality basically explosive, can proudly call himself: I, internal entertainment circle endorsement king, throw money!
Of course, more importantly, these are all snatched from Yu Yan!
Refreshing!
“No no, this title is too unlucky. Teacher Chi, you must value yourself.”
At the doorway of the CCTV Building, inside the car.
Empress Dowager heard Chi Ye evaluate himself like this and immediately put on a stern little face, shouting it’s unlucky while craning her neck to look around: “No one, let’s go!”
Chi Ye was also observing the surroundings, and just as Empress Dowager was about to open the door, he quickly grabbed her: “Don’t, wait.”
The usually rebellious Empress Dowager surprisingly obeyed and immediately sat back obediently.
Sure enough, moments later, the sound of a door opening came from the car behind.
Then, three or four little girls chattered over, peering into the car.
Luckily, their car had anti-peep film, and the two had already ducked their heads first.
Didn’t see them.
Another ten minutes passed.
“Gone?”
Jin Xia bent over, facing Chi Ye’s crotch, mumbling stuffily: “Teacher Chi, this position is too awkward.”
Chi Ye: “?”
“You get it, huh.”
Jin Xia muttered to herself: “Of course I get it… Eh, Teacher Chi, it’s bigger?!”
Chi Ye: “???”
He glanced at today’s third-shift female driver, unusually blushing: “Bigger what?!”
“Age bigger.”
Jin Xia looked up slyly at the window, one hand fiddling with Chi Ye’s collar: “Gone gone, get up Teacher Chi.”
Chi Ye sat up gasping, very dissatisfied: “Don’t test my patience.”
“Aiya, what are you saying Teacher Chi, Master’s still here, be good, back home we’ll close the door and talk in detail.”
Jin Xia cheekily added: “Talk in detail about patience.”
Chi Ye: “?”
Every time with Empress Dowager, he felt his status always “up and down”; he could sense her strong desire to “control” him, but… woman, don’t play with fire.
“Let’s go down.”
Outside should really be clear of people now; the driver master pretended not to see this scene, and Chi Ye and Jin Xia sneaked out of the car like ghosts.
—No wonder the two were like this.
Ever since 《Xing Ni》 aired, Chi Ye and Jin Xia had consecutively experienced “sasaeng fans secretly filming and stalking,” “hotel pinhole cameras planted,” “stealing security uniforms to sneak into event venues for his original scent clothes,” “illegally obtaining schedule info,” “hackers searching locations to expose,” etc., a series of outrageous incidents unimaginable before, next step seeming to enter legal channel territory.
Among them, Jin Xia was better off, since male fans and female artists aren’t that extreme.
But Chi Ye was different.
Though he had anticipated it, he still didn’t expect things to get this serious, even affecting his personal life.
You think it’s just ordinary fans doing this?
NO, many industry venues where he works normally, like that clubhouse last time, had a bunch of “fans” secretly filming him.
Just last night, an astronomical invitation announcement came from South Korea, just wanting him to attend an event there; they promised chartered flight + flight arrangements.
The day before yesterday, a Hong Kong rich lady even spent tens of millions just to invite him for a meal—how outrageous!
You want to eat? Don’t you know what you want to eat?!
How could Chi Ye accept that kind of request?
He just had someone precisely ask if those “tens of millions” were ten million or ninety million…
After all, the “tens of millions” range is quite large; if ninety million… having a meal isn’t impossible, just pure chatting anyway.
“Teacher Chi, what script have you been writing lately? I see you’ve been staying up late these past few days.”
Jin Xia followed beside Chi Ye, “little brown bear” following “big brown bear,” her pleasant voice rising: “Another one for me?”
Chi Ye was surprised: “You want another 《Xing Ni》?”
“Mm… I don’t want it. Though I’m happy to be this popular, but… it feels so tiring.”
Empress Dowager said seriously: “And if not for you, I wouldn’t film.”
Chi Ye: “……I’m writing a script not inferior to 《Xing Ni》.”
Jin Xia was stunned: “Huh?”
Chi Ye thought and said: “You won’t be tired, but I need to ‘get busy.’ How long this popularity lasts is uncertain; I need to solidify fans and build a solid fan base.”
“……Can it surpass 《Xing Ni》? That 《Ghost》 you wrote, is it really okay?”
Jin Xia was a bit surprised hearing him so serious.
A script more explosive than 《Xing Ni》?!
“I don’t know, but it won’t be worse.” Chi Ye shook his head: “Movies will be main after this, but dramas can’t stop.”
“……Teacher Chi, thank you.”
“Hm?”
Chi Ye was stunned, not understanding why Empress Dowager suddenly said this.
Jin Xia’s long lashes fluttered, her beautiful peach blossom eyes staring seriously at Chi Ye, as if carefully memorizing his appearance: “I know you’ve always felt a bit guilty, guilty that because of you my career suffered, wanting to make me better. Thank you, Teacher Chi.”
Chi Ye raised a brow: “……Did I? You’re overthinking.”
“You did!”
Jin Xia was adamant.
Chi Ye stared at her serious expression, paused, then curved his lips, turning to walk into the building: “……Alright then, I did.”
