23: Invitation to variety shows

Night fell, and Gao Xiaofan stared blankly at the screen of his phone.

Zhao Yuling: “I’m interested. I think fishing is quite fun, but the station recently launched a variety show. Are you interested in participating?”

Gao Xiaofan shook his head, glanced out the window, and felt something was off after waking up.

Wasn't he supposed to be hiring a small assistant? How did it turn into asking him if he wanted to join a variety show?

Gao Xiaofan spent a long time editing in the input box, still unsure what to say, so he simply called her directly.

After half an hour of communication, he finally understood what was going on.

Ai Qi Film and Television was recently preparing to launch a Pastoral Variety Show, which would be broadcast non-stop 24 hours a day in the form of a full livestream.

The preliminary plan stipulated four celebrities and four internet celebrities as participants.

There was no choice. TikTok's influence was growing, and some internet celebrities were even more famous than certain celebrities. The contrast between internet celebrities and celebrities would also be a major highlight.

The reason why Spring River Television Station was involved was that the station was optimistic about the variety show and had invested in it. Everything was fine originally, but a celebrity suddenly raised their price recently, which directly led to a significant reduction in the pay for the internet celebrities.

If the celebrities' pay accounted for 80%, the internet celebrities only got 20%.

This made the station and Ai Qi Film and Television constantly struggle with which internet celebrity to choose. Even though the pay for internet celebrities was low, and some minor internet celebrities were willing to participate without pay, they were still conflicted.

The reason was simple: the investment in a variety show was too large. If the show's ratings dropped because of the choice of internet celebrities, it would truly be a case of losing a lot for a little.

"First, we must exclude internet celebrities with negative news, such as failed sales campaigns, scripted acting, PK addiction, or suggestive content."

"Second, they must have recent popularity. The Program Production Crew cannot invite an internet celebrity who was popular years ago, or else we won't know if they are helping the Program Production Crew or if the Program Production Crew is helping them."

"Finally, they must have one million followers. This is a hard metric. Without this, they are no help to the Program Production Crew at all."

This was the result of Zhao Yuling spending an afternoon consulting in the Station Director's office. With every sentence the Station Director spoke, her heart grew more excited, as she realized Gao Xiaofan completely met all these requirements.

Zhao Yuling immediately submitted Gao Xiaofan's name. The Station Director, having seen the recent news, also knew him and agreed, but the final decision still rested with Ai Qi Film and Television.

After hearing what Zhao Yuling said, it would be a lie to say Gao Xiaofan wasn't excited; after all, he would be appearing on television.

He profusely thanked Zhao Yuling, and only then did his mood slowly calm down. There was no other reason; it was simply that the System hadn't issued a mission prompt.

Maybe it was just a variety show and didn't involve fishing, or perhaps there were other reasons. In any case, his mind was quiet, but Gao Xiaofan had already decided: regardless of whether there was a mission or not, if he was truly selected, he would definitely go.

"It looks like I'll have to treat you to dinner again next time we meet."

Gao Xiaofan joked. With the frequent communication, he realized that Zhao Yuling was an easygoing girl, neither pretentious nor overly sentimental.

Zhao Yuling giggled, her bell-like voice coming through the phone.

"Once won't be enough. If you become popular and turn into a big internet celebrity, it has to be five times—no, ten times."

The two chatted for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

After hanging up, Gao Xiaofan looked at the small red dot on the SMS icon on his new phone and tapped it.

"Your China Construction Bank account 789 has received a transfer of 500,000 yuan."

Gao Xiaofan lay on the bed, feeling great. He woke up to so much good news. He patted his slightly empty stomach and got up to eat.

He went to the kitchen, thought about it, and decided to start a livestream to chat with his followers.

He cooked while interacting with the bullet comments.

Nickname: "I, Zhang Dali, have arrived!"

Nickname sent out 3 Carnivals.

Gao Xiaofan smiled and waved at the camera.

He prepared four dishes—stir-fried eggs with tomato, steamed preserved meat, stir-fried dried tofu, and seaweed egg drop soup—in one hour.

In the livestream room, the bullet comments floated at a steady speed.

First-Class Competitive Fishing Master Yu Weibao: "It's Brother Wo Zi's eating broadcast again."

Online ID: "Brother Fan's cooking skills are about ten percent of mine."

Intentional Punch: "I feel like something is wrong. Be honest, are you hiding a woman at home?"

Strong Hand Cracks Skull: "Otherwise, why would one person make so many dishes?"

Nickname: "+1."

Finally, unable to resist the demands of the followers in the livestream room, he gave them a tour of his house.

The followers in the livestream room were stunned when they accidentally saw the two gray photographs of the deceased in the living room, and even the speed of the bullet comments slowed down.

"See? There's no woman here. Am I interested in women? Impossible!"

Gao Xiaofan chuckled, placed his phone on the stand, and began to eat. But when he inadvertently glanced at a bullet comment on the screen, he nearly choked on his rice.

Yu Yu Yu Yu Ling: "Brother Wo Zi is awesome, I'll remember that."

The ID looked too much like Zhao Yuling's. He quickly clicked on it. The account hadn't posted any videos, but it was indeed from the same region as him.

Gao Xiaofan nervously shoveled rice into his mouth, remaining silent, only hoping Zhao Yuling would quickly forget about it.

Unfortunately, the comments on the bullet screen didn't stop for a moment.

Intentional Punch sent out 6 Carnivals!

Intentional Punch: "True man, fan for life. Brother Wo Zi, awesome."

Strong Hand Cracks Skull sent out 6 Carnivals!

Strong Hand Cracks Skull: "True man, fan for life. Brother Wo Zi, awesome."

Nickname sent out 6 Carnivals!

Nickname: "A real man should go fishing."

Online ID: "I now highly suspect Brother Quan and Skull Brother are the same person."

"How could that be?"

Strong Hand Cracks Skull: "You found us out."

Intentional Punch: "..."

First-Class Competitive Fishing Master Yu Weibao: "...Brother Wo Zi has a million followers. Are there any benefits?"

Gao Xiaofan was stunned for a moment, but instantly understood and quickly changed the subject.

"That's right, we hit a million followers today. We must celebrate! I'll hand out a few Lucky Bag, let's liven things up."

The commotion finally stopped after more than three hours of livestreaming. Gao Xiaofan put away his phone and cleared the dishes and chopsticks from the table.

Living alone is easy; you realize you have no pressure because there is no one left in the world whom you care about.

Gao Xiaofan sat by the window, smoking, and looking at the moon outside. It was getting rounder. Was it Mid-Autumn Festival again?

His phone vibrated, and Gao Xiaofan picked it up.

Intentional Punch: "No way, I spent so much on gifts just to get a few Lucky Bag? I'm so angry I can't sleep! I plan to go find Brother Wo Zi tomorrow morning for free food and drinks."

The Die-Hard Fan Group, which was created right after the livestream ended, included all the highly active followers. Gao Xiaofan did not set up message blocking for this Die-Hard Fan Group.