54: Why do some people always like to lean their faces in so close?

A few minutes later, the guests all started their livestreams.

Qu Lang stood at the front, checked the time on his pad, and shouted.

"It's 6:55 now. We start at exactly 7:00. This calculation period will last ten minutes. After ten minutes, you will choose your teammates in order based on the gift leaderboard."

Hearing Qu Lang's words, bullet chats flew across the various livestream rooms. Even with the other guests live, Gao Xiaofan's popularity remained the highest at over 20 million. The guest with the lowest was Exploding Watermelon, with a mere 30,000 viewers in his livestream room.

Gao Xiaofan frowned as he looked at some of the anti-fan comments in his livestream.

"Hehe, he just stepped in dog shit luck to recruit staff so quickly before. What about now? In the end, it all comes down to actual strength."

"Yeah, just wait to be the last one picked."

Fans of other stars mocked him incessantly in the bullet chat, but Gao Xiaofan didn't refute them. Indeed, compared to those stars with the financial backing of their companies, he was clearly outmatched.

Seven o'clock arrived quickly, and the influencers instantly got hyped. Exploding Watermelon shouted continuously, Cheng Seventeen even started dancing, and Liu Yunning found a quiet spot to start singing. Their hard-working demeanor formed a sharp contrast with the stars beside them.

The stars were much quieter, occasionally greeting the audience or chatting, while the gifts on the bullet chat never stopped.

Gao Xiaofan watched Cheng Seventeen dancing not far away and couldn't help but rub his chin.

She looked pretty good online, but how did she turn into a different person offline? Watching her made Gao Xiaofan so embarrassed he wanted to curl his toes.

He looked at the gift leaderboard rankings on the pad in his hand.

First: Hua Hua (Gift value: 3.87 million)

Second: Mi Mi (Gift value: 1.68 million)

Third: Han Han (Gift value: 490,000)

...Gao Xiaofan watched the fluctuating numbers and couldn't help but click his tongue. This was pure hard cash.

The influencer guests got 100% of the gift revenue as their appearance fee, but the stars only got 50%, meaning half went to the two platforms.

While Gao Xiaofan was dazed, he saw a vaguely familiar ID emerge among the many gift notifications.

Yu Yu Yu Yu Ling sent 1 Show Water Bright Mountain in Gao Xiaofan's livestream room.

"Xiao Fan Ge, good luck~"

Gao Xiaofan blinked. It was Zhao Yuling. This little girl was actually in the livestream room too.

"Thanks for the gift, Sister Yu."

This girl is a real rich lady, sending a ten-thousand-yuan gift just like that.

"Some people are just used to acting tough. Our Ning Ning is already first, while the person talking big is still at the bottom of the list."

"Yeah, he dares to brag with only two million followers, even saying he can do things my Ning Ning can't. It's hilarious."

Suddenly, a large wave of people flooded Gao Xiaofan's livestream room and began to mock him.

This stunned him. Liu Yunning's fans? Liu Yunning is first? For real?

Skeptical, he navigated the pad, exited his own livestream room, and saw Liu Yunning at the top of the section, with his numbers still soaring.

First: Liu Yunning (Gift value: 5.82 million.)

Gao Xiaofan couldn't help but glance at Liu Yunning in the corner, who was singing soulfully.

At this moment, Liu Yunning looked at the pad screen on the stand. He was indeed first on the list, leading the second-place Hua Hua by nearly 3 million.

While singing with a calm exterior, his heart was both aching with the cost and racing with excitement.

Ever since he entered the entertainment industry as an influencer, he had been mediocre. This time, his company actively contacted the Agency, hoping to team him up with Reba to create a 'CP' (Couple) hype.

With his 189cm height and handsome looks, he believed this CP hype would definitely bring him significant popularity.

The Agency had also agreed. After all, there were only two choices: the ordinary million-follower Gao Xiaofan, or the top influencer with 20 million followers. In terms of looks, Liu Yunning was clearly more suitable for CP hype than the average-looking Gao Xiaofan.

It was a win-win situation.

As for why Liu Yunning's heart ached, it was because he had already entered the entertainment industry, so the Program Production Crew gave him an 80% cut of the gifts. Of course, this split was not made public.

The company had also talked to him, saying they could help him boost his gifts, but the remaining 20% had to come out of his own pocket.

He had agreed without hesitation. After all, according to the rules, his only competitor was Gao Xiaofan. He just needed to surpass Gao Xiaofan to choose Reba as his teammate.

But on his first day with the crew, he had been humiliated by Gao Xiaofan. That night, he called his company, saying they should play big and go straight for first place.

For 10 million in gifts, he would receive 8 million, which he would return to the company in full. He only needed to pay the 2 million difference himself.

The company naturally agreed immediately. This was also an advertisement for them, and they wouldn't lose a cent.

While singing, Liu Yunning watched the leaderboard data. It seemed the company was boosting so hard that Hua Hua's gift value had stopped moving.

The time reached 7:05, with only five minutes left. It seemed Hua Hua wasn't planning to fight for first place anymore.

Seeing this, he finally let out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but look toward that annoying Gao Xiaofan.

He found the other party was also looking at him. Liu Yunning's lips curled into a smirk.

A defeated opponent.

Gao Xiaofan tilted his head, yawned, and focused back on his livestream's bullet chat.

"Why aren't you talking? Weren't you quite arrogant? What did you say a few days ago? You can do things Ning Ning can't? You're not interested in what Ning Ning does?"

"Does your face hurt? I'm asking if it hurts! Don't be so arrogant~ Hahahaha!"

Watching Liu Yunning's fans continue their charge, although his own Wo Zi Army was defending in the chat, they were completely overwhelmed by the 20 million fans.

Just as he couldn't help but want to jump in and start flaming them himself, the pad began to vibrate wildly.

Intentional Punch sent 3 Show Water Bright Mountains in Gao Xiaofan's livestream room.

Intentional Punch sent 18 Show Water Bright Mountains in Gao Xiaofan's livestream room.

Intentional Punch sent 39 Show Water Bright Mountains in Gao Xiaofan's livestream room.

Intentional Punch sent 99 Show Water Bright Mountains in Gao Xiaofan's livestream room.

Gao Xiaofan stared blankly as Intentional Punch spammed gifts without a word of warning. He was completely stunned. Even the pad in his hand almost froze due to the gift animation loop; the only thing changing was the combo counter on the gift effect.

In the blink of an eye, it reached 287 before stopping.

Gao Xiaofan's hands trembled slightly. Intentional Punch was a rich guy, that was for sure, but there was no need to send this many~

2.87 million yuan.

After sending 287 Show Water Bright Mountains, Intentional Punch finally said one thing in a full-screen bullet chat.

"Why do people always love sticking their faces out to be slapped?"