Call Me Daddy

Zhang Lang’s livestreaming organization had directly rented half a floor in an office building located in Dongcheng District. It looked quite sizable.

Dongcheng District developed relatively slowly compared to Xijiang, but the rent for half a floor in an office building was still not a small amount. The building Zhang Lang rented was already quite rundown. Currently, half of the building was leased to some small companies, and the other half was transformed into apartment-style units rented out to young people who couldn’t afford houses.

Zhang Lang was very clever. He spent 40,000 a month to rent this small half-floor office space. Besides keeping one office room, he divided the remaining space into rooms of around 15 square meters each. After setting them up, these rooms served as livestreaming spaces for the broadcasters as well as areas for them to rest and wash up. This way, he could also charge these broadcasters who didn’t have houses a rental fee to share his own rent burden.

Because his setup was very well-equipped, those small broadcasters were willing to spend this money and simply lived in the company.

As a result, with the rental costs shared by these small broadcasters, property management fees and utility bills could also be partially recovered from them. Every month, the expenses Zhang Lang incurred on renting were reduced to almost nothing.

Su Tianyuan didn’t think much about it. He looked at the company’s grand reception area decoration, and under Zhang Lang’s guidance, he toured the broadcasters’ rooms. Watching each broadcaster busy livestreaming in their rooms, he felt a burning determination.

Little did he know, these small broadcasters earned money solely based on their broadcasting hours. While someone might livestream for 3 to 4 hours, they stayed online for over 10 hours, excluding time for eating, sleeping, and using the restroom. Their throats would dry out; after deducting organization and platform fees, they might only earn a few thousand yuan, or if they were lucky, tens of thousands.

As for real big broadcasters, who would stay in rooms like these?

But for ordinary people, this amount of money was already considerable. Would Su Tianyuan be satisfied with just a few thousand yuan?

He hadn’t really understood this at all. He had been misled by Zhang Lang’s appearance, thinking that all the broadcasters he had just greeted could easily earn tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands per month.

“You’ll stay in this room these days. If you like any particular style, just tell Xiao Wang at the front desk, and he’ll help you change the background for your livestream.”

Zhang Lang brought Su Tianyuan into an empty room.

“You know how to use livestreaming equipment, right?”

Seeing Su Tianyuan looking confused, Zhang Lang just smiled.

“No worries, Xiao Wang will show you how to operate it later. Today, try livestreaming for a few hours. If you’re free, you can also visit other broadcasters to see what they’re doing and how they keep their audience engaged.”

The room Zhang Lang allocated to Su Tianyuan was quite basic, but it had all the essential supplies. After carefully inspecting the room’s furnishings, Su Tianyuan reluctantly agreed considering his current situation.

“Shall we sign a contract first? Transfer the money you have to the company’s account. Based on your performance, the company will help boost the popularity of your livestreaming room.”

This was Zhang Lang’s true intention.

30,000 yuan, while not much, was better than nothing.

“Okay.” Su Tianyuan agreed without hesitation. Seeing how easily he could be fooled, Zhang Lang showed his first sincere smile today.

The contract Zhang Lang prepared for Su Tianyuan wasn’t favorable at all; it was essentially akin to a tyrant’s terms.

The money Su Tianyuan transferred to the organization was defined in the contract as training fees. Even if Su Tianyuan discovered later that the organization was actually a scam and never got off the ground, this fee couldn’t be refunded. Even if taken to court, any refund obtained after lengthy disputes would be extremely limited.

Additionally, the contract stipulated hefty penalties. If Su Tianyuan failed to meet a certain amount of livestreaming hours as per the contract, he would be in breach and liable to pay the organization a sky-high penalty.

Of course, the organization wasn’t afraid that Su Tianyuan might accidentally become successful.

According to the contract, after deducting the platform’s share, Su Tianyuan would receive one-tenth of his earnings, with the organization taking the remaining nine-tenths. Furthermore, the organization could also manage all of his endorsements and tangible assets. If Su Tianyuan was dissatisfied with this revenue split, it would again relate to the breach of contract issue mentioned earlier, leaving the organization unscathed.

These critical clauses were embedded in a thick stack of contracts that most people wouldn’t bother to read thoroughly. Naturally, before signing, Zhang Lang would also gauge the other party’s temperament. Contracts like these would never be presented to those astute enough to question them.

But clearly, Su Tianyuan wasn’t one of them. Zhang Lang realized this the moment he interacted with him; a naive youth.

“Look here, this is the organization’s initial cultivation of you. In your first month as a newcomer, the organization will ensure your livestreaming room has at least around a thousand active viewers.”

Zhang Lang pointed to clauses in the contract that seemed advantageous to Su Tianyuan.

In reality, these were just alt accounts created by the organization, continuously circulating through various broadcasters’ rooms under the organization’s umbrella. They didn’t provide substantial help to newcomers like Su Tianyuan at all.

“Also, the organization will arrange for senior members to connect with you and help boost your popularity.”

This sounded somewhat reliable, but the contract didn’t specify which level of seniors would be involved or how often they could connect, so it was still a potential pitfall.

The contract was too thick, and swayed by Zhang Lang’s persuasion, Su Tianyuan didn’t scrutinize it closely before preparing to sign.

***

“Do you have your ID with you?”

As Su Tianyuan uncapped the pen, Zhang Lang asked.

“Yes, I do.”

Su Tianyuan instinctively reached for his pocket, where his ID was usually kept in his wallet. But to his surprise, it was empty.

“I’ve lost my wallet.”

He panicked; it contained his ID and a few bank cards.

Fortunately, his phone was still with him, and the bank cards were linked to his mobile banking. If they were truly lost, he could transfer the money out now and report the loss later for replacement.

But he distinctly remembered his wallet was in his pocket. Could it have been left at home?

“My ID was in my wallet, but now the wallet’s gone.”

Today seemed to be going wrong in every way for Su Tianyuan.

“It’s okay. Let’s hold off on signing the contract for now. Once you’ve replaced your ID tomorrow, we can proceed. The contract requires a copy of your ID.”

Contracts like these are most afraid of legal disputes blowing up, so for safety’s sake, they insist on making the contracts as detailed and formal as possible, and a photocopy of an ID card was essential.

Although Zhang Lang felt somewhat disappointed that they couldn’t sign the contract smoothly, he reaffirmed Su Tianyuan’s easy manipulation once again and felt that such a naive and sweet person wasn’t worth worrying about.

“Even though we can’t sign the contract for now, what I mentioned earlier still stands. You can start livestreaming today. By the way, do you have any special talents, like singing or dancing?”

Zhang Lang sized up Su Tianyuan once more.

One had to admit, this young man did have a marketable appearance. What if he really became popular?

Suddenly, Zhang Lang felt it was actually good that the contract hadn’t been signed yet. It would be a good opportunity to test the livestream’s response for a few days. If Su Tianyuan indeed had the potential to become popular, it wouldn’t be wise to bind him with an overtly tyrannical contract. Compared to making a penalty fee, nurturing a long-term money-making asset would be more profitable.

With this thought in mind, Zhang Lang’s expression relaxed considerably.

“Singing? I’m tone-deaf. Dancing? Not my forte either.”

Su Tianyuan chuckled awkwardly.

“No worries. Nowadays, not all popular broadcasters rely solely on talent. How about chatting? Can you keep the audience engaged for a few hours without it being boring? Or eating? Eating broadcasts are popular now too.” Zhang Lang suggested a few ideas.

“Eating, I may not be able to eat too much. Chatting… I’m not sure if what I talk about counts as interesting.”

Su Tianyuan usually found live streamers relaxed when he watched them, but now that it was his turn to go live, he suddenly felt a bit nervous.

With all these limitations, Zhang Lang’s smile faded slightly. Indeed, making a strict contract with this little waste of space was the right decision.

However, he was still planning to make money off Su Tianyuan. Of course, he couldn’t intimidate him. He could only use kind words to coax him a few more times, then called Xiao Wang from the front desk to teach him how to use the equipment.

Su Tianyuan was like a puppet, foolishly starting his first livestream.

***

The lighting setup in the room was really good. Su Tianyuan looked at himself in the camera, with smooth and fair skin. The faint acne scars left from adolescence were completely invisible under the appropriate lighting.

Even without using any beauty filters, what appeared on camera was a fresh-faced youth at the perfect age.

Su Tianyuan ran his fingers through his silver-white hair. In truth, his appearance leaned towards a cat-like young man, with large almond-shaped eyes. His naturally brown irises seemed to naturally possess the effect of colored contacts. Unfortunately, this teenager, who had been in a rebellious phase for a long time, insisted on appearing cool and handsome. He dyed his hair in a non-mainstream color, constantly tilted his neck and pursed his lips, forcing himself into a dark and mysterious style.

His inherently innocent appearance, combined with his preference for mature and dark aesthetics, created a somewhat incongruous image.

But overall, he was slightly above average in looks, at least.

In order to successfully deceive and secure money, initially, the organization’s investment was quite good. Moreover, it wasn’t fake exposure; just like before, Su Tianyuan had spent real money to buy exposure opportunities from the platform.

As Su Tianyuan watched the number of viewers entering the livestream room increasing, he became so excited that he couldn’t speak properly.

120, 170, 189… 432…

Su Tianyuan’s face turned red, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Should I introduce myself?

“Hello everyone, I’m Su Tianyuan.”

So, what were those broadcasters I used to watch doing?

Playing games, singing, male broadcasters even demonstrating fitness routines to shape their bodies. He touched his own soft and flabby “abs” and dismissed that idea.

[Little Maruko]: The broadcaster’s face is red; is he shy? Oh, he’s really a newcomer, haha, kinda cute.

[In the Water]: He’s the cute little brother I like, such a tasty guy.

People are visual creatures. Seeing a broadcaster who matched their preferences, some viewers who were about to leave after randomly entering because of the homepage stayed for a while.

There were many compliments about Su Tianyuan’s appearance in the barrage, which inexplicably boosted his confidence.

Look, he didn’t have to do anything; those girls who liked his looks would watch his livestream.

The number of people in the livestream room was still slowly increasing. Su Tianyuan felt that livestreaming wasn’t as difficult as he had thought.

[Prince Tian]: Is the broadcaster just sitting there? Why not perform something?

[Little Snow]: Kinda boring.

Su Tianyuan tried to throw out a few topics, but it was clear that the viewers in the livestream room weren’t very interested. Many people cheered for Su Tianyuan to show off his talents.

But he really didn’t have any impressive talents to show. The most remarkable thing he had done in his 20 years was relying on his parents.

More and more people began to urge him, so Su Tianyuan reluctantly performed a solo singing segment.

As a result, the online viewership, which had been increasing, started to rapidly decline.

[Little Snow]: I prepared myself for a broadcaster’s singing level, but I didn’t expect it to be so off-key. I really have to ask; what song were you even trying to sing?

[Little Maruko]: Uh, nice appearance, but singing is really not your thing. This is beyond just bad.

However, soon after, the numbers began to rise again.

[Crazy Fan]: I heard there’s a broadcaster here with a strangely mesmerizing singing voice. I want to experience what kind of ‘mesmerizing’ it really is.

[Haha Weirdo]: Where’s the expert who can’t get a single lyric or tune right except for the song? Here to witness the spectacle.

It turned out that his terrible singing attracted a wave of curious viewers.

For other broadcasters, this might have been seen as a unique way to attract traffic, but not for Su Tianyuan; he felt it was humiliating.

Seeing the barrage of comments criticizing his singing, Su Tianyuan, in a fit of anger, chose to end the livestream.

He had never been mocked by so many people before in his life, and his fragile emotions couldn’t handle it at that moment.

This was definitely an unexpected turn.

Next time, he would avoid singing altogether.

Su Tianyuan slept with his head covered that night.

The next day, after adjusting his mood and dressing up carefully, he went online again.

Without showcasing any talents, what else could he do? Su Tianyuan could only dryly engage in online chatting.

Thanks to his good looks, under sufficient exposure, the number of viewers in the livestream room remained at a somewhat decent level.

[Straw bag beauty!]

Someone dropped a bomb on him, and at the same time, left this chat section.

For a moment, Su Tianyuan couldn’t feel any joy from the tips he received. Instead, he felt extreme embarrassment.

***

Su Quangen and Miao Yinhua had no idea their beloved grandson was being mocked and watched as a joke. After finishing lunch, Su Quangen found his wife and whispered a secret in her ear.

“I suspect… our son is actually a genius!”

A culinary genius with an absolute sense of taste.

Miao Yinhua listened to her husband’s words and gave her a skeptical look.

She also suspected that her husband might be suffering from senility.