Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Chapter 16 – General Lu
Even after midnight, the popularity of [Lu Fei’s Broadcasting Room] did not decrease by much.
Although 1975 number of viewers wasn’t much compared to other well-known anchors on StarryLive, it was a great achievement for Lu Chen, a new anchor.
He relied solely on his abilities – without signing a contract, getting recommendations nor promoting – to gain these viewers.
With 7120 Starry Fans, the 10,000 followers needed for the contract wasn’t too far away.
Taking advantage of the atmosphere, Lu Chen released his second self-composed song, << Cinderella >>.
Lu Chen once again managed to conquer the online viewers with the simple yet touching melody and his sincere and honest interpretation of the lyrics
However in terms of popularity, <<Cinderella>> lost to <<You Who Sat Next to Me>>.
“This song sounds great, I love it!”
“How does this sound good? It’s basically an abusive song for single dogs!! *Bark! Bark!*”
“This anchor sure likes to torture single dogs! Cheers to the monthly salary!” (TL Note: The love song reminds them of their single status... So they’re cheering for their monthly salaries instead.)
“A lonely programmer craving for a partner to pass by~, Why haven’t I found my own Cinderella?”
“I feel like beating up the anchor... How am I supposed to go to work tomorrow after I’ve cried like this?”
“I’m heartbroken... I’m going to leave.”
“...”
Looking at the comments flying across his screen, Lu Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry (TL Note: In China, comments run across the screen on streams)
If you think about it, those that are watching the broadcast at that hour were basically all single. The impact of <<Cinderella>> on singles clearly surpassed <<You Who Sat Next to Me>>.
Lu Chen thought for a moment and spoke into the microphone, “Actually, I’m the same as everyone here, I’m also single.”
“Let me tell you guys a joke. I went to a restaurant to eat this afternoon, and after eating two bites, my chopsticks had actually caught a worm! Angrily, I called the boss over to question him why there was a worm inside the dishes.”
The comments on the screen became sparse as the curious viewers waited for Lu Chen to continue his joke.
Lu Chen continued, “The boss nodded after taking a look and said, ‘Well, having one worm is correct, because you’re a single dog! The couple sitting beside you had eaten a pair of worms!’ ”
As soon as his voice stopped, the comments suddenly shot back up and flooded the screen in the blink of an eye.
“Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter!”
“Just another single dog passing by. You guys chat, I’ll just watch.”
“Originally I wanted to laugh, but after listening to the anchor’s joke, I feel like crying again...”
“Not only is the anchor really handsome, his jokes are funny too!”
“Where’s this restaurant located at? I’ll head over tomorrow to grab some worms!”
“The person above that’s going to eat worms, wait for me. Let’s head together!”
“Since there’s two of you, you would get a pair of worms...”
“Scram, you gay guy!”
“...”
The atmosphere in the broadcasting room recovered its original liveliness, and it became even rowdier.
Lu Chen took the opportunity to announce, “It’s quite late now, even for those who are single. It’s time to sleep since everyone still has to go to work or go to school tomorrow. I shall end today’s broadcast here. For the next broadcast date, please check out the announcement board! Once again, thank you to everyone for the support!”
Although several viewers wanted Lu Chen to continue singing a few songs and make more jokes, the majority of the viewers expressed their understanding and that they are looking forward to his next live broadcast.
The last wave of starlights covered the screen and caused the whole screen to sparkle.
Lu Chen took a look at the statistics and saw a value of 2.8T. According to the 50% allocation of the money, 1,400 yuan will enter his account. He had neither broadcasted during the prime time nor was the duration of his broadcast very long yet he was able to achieve such results...
If the broadcasts followed this trend, repaying his family’s debts would no longer be a dream. This path is undoubtedly the correct one!
“Anchor, please private message me. I have important things that I want to discuss with you!”
Just as Lu Chen was about to log out, he spotted a comment left by ProphetEmperorLiBai.
Online viewers can privately chat with the anchor through the broadcasting room. However, to prevent the commotion from affecting the quality of the live broadcast, the feature was usually switched off and Lu Chen was no exception.
ProphetEmperorLiBai was undoubtedly a rich spectator. His star rank within Lu Fei’s Broadcasting room has always been the top of the list, since he gave Lu Chen two star battleship previously, helping Lu Chen gain considerable popularity.
Therefore, Lu Chen did not hesitate and immediately sent a private chat invitation.
Lu Chen: “Hello.”
ProphetEmperorLiBai: “Hello, General Lu!”
Lu Chen: “General Lu?”
ProphetEmperorLiBai: “Heh heh, this is the highest military rank within our Lu Family Army!”
Lu Chen: “Huh?”
ProphetEmperorLiBai: “Head over to the Star Circle and you’ll see!”
ProphetEmperorLiBai sent a link to the community forum of StarryLive.
The forum for StarryLive is called Starsea Community but it’s usually referred to as Star Circle because there are different groups within and each circle represented a different anchor.
Within the Star Circle community, any contracted anchor can establish their own circle – similar to an individual forum. Once the fans join the circle, they can freely chat with each other inside the circle.
Star Circles are extremely important for an anchor since it allows fans to gather and develop the fan base. The substantial number of daily visitors makes the Star Circle a good place to advertise with broadcast video clips or photos.
Gold members in StarryLive also can establish a group for their favorite anchor, promote that anchor, and recruit members to the group. Therefore, the number of fans an anchor has in their group reflects the popularity of that anchor.
Lu Chen was aware of the existence of the Star Circle. However, he has yet to officially sign a contract. Until he has 10,000 followers and signs a contract, Lu Chen is only an ordinary visitor and unable to set up a circle.
Lu Chen did not expect ProphetEmperorLiBai to give him this surprise.
Lu Family Army — this was the fan circle’s name, domineering enough to blind people’s eyes!
ProphetEmperorLiBai was the founder of Lu Family Army and gave himself the title “Chief of Staff”. He also set Lu Chen’s account title as “General Lu”, giving Lu Chen full rights of the circle.
This was how the name “General Lu” came about.
Understanding the situation, Lu Chen felt touched and amused.
There were numerous ridiculous names and titles in the Star Circle, so Lu Chen quickly became accustomed to his new title.
What caused Lu Chen to be surprised was the fact that it hasn’t even been 24 hours since the establishment of the Lu Family Army, yet there were already 2860 members, and, looking at the number of posts and replies, the activity level is very high.
The top two posts are both Lu Chen’s broadcast video clips.
<<Anchor’s Original Song – <<You Who Sat Next to Me>>, a great song that can’t be missed!>>
The eye-catching title of the post was in bold red font. The content of the eye-catching post exhibited Lu Chen’s performance of <<You Who Sat Next to Me>> with a comment from PropetEmperorLiBai.
The comment claimed something along the lines of the song being this year’s best ballad, composed by a genius, and being the brightest up and coming star of StarryLive...
ProphetEmperorLiBai spared no effort to flatter Lu Chen, making Lu Chen’s face turn red when he read the post.
In this post alone, there were over 2000 replies from Star Circle members and guests alike. They expressed their support, praising the song for its atmosphere and Lu Chen for his wonderful composition and singing.
Lu Chen finally understood why his fan count drastically increased despite him not broadcasting when he saw the post.
Lu Chen said to ProphetEmperorLiBai: “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done!”
ProphetEmperorLibai replied: “You’re welcome! I love your songs and original works. I believe that you will definitely become a big star in the future and I will be your number 1 fan!”
Lu Chen chuckled and said, “I promise that I will work hard!”
ProphetEmperorLiBai: “It’s not very convenient to use private messages. Let’s move to QQ – the group number is 494193990.”
1
Lu Chen opened his QQ and added the group number.
His request was instantly accepted. The group name is also called Lu Family Army, with Li Bai, of course, as the Chief.
“Everyone, let’s welcome our General Lu!”
The first thing Li Bai did was add an administrative title for Lu Chen, and release fireworks in the group chat.
All at once, the group began to stir.
“Wow! Mr.Anchor is here!”
“Requesting for anchor’s personal information, his three measurements – age, weight, and height – and bare-faced photos!”
“The anchor is a huge hottie, and all hotties belongs to me!”
“My mom made me shut down the laptop, but luckily I didn’t. (*^__^*)”
“The mighty Chief!”
“...”
Compared to the broadcasting room, Lu Chen is undoubtedly more familiar with QQ. He skillfully replied with a few sentences and mingled with the members, creating a cheerful atmosphere.
The group chat ProphetEmperorLiBai had set up could accommodate 5000 members, one of the most pricey options. There were only currently 400+ members and clearly inferior compared to the Star Circle.
ProphetEmperorLiBai spoke in the group chat, “currently General Lu’s star fans count is around 7200, very close to the 10000 follower requirements to sign a contract. I hope that everyone can pull in your friends! We do not buy fans. What we want are true fans!”
Having 10000 star fans followers is an unchangeable requirement to sign with StarryLive. After signing on, the anchor’s earnings percentage would be increased and have the chance to be promoted by the platform. Therefore, many anchors who lack the followers would resort to purchasing followers.
Some anchors easily obtained few tens or hundreds of thousand star fans. However, after removing the purchased fans, what is left would only be about one-tenth of that number.
In comparison, Lu Chen’s follower’s count was extremely high, and, more importantly, these star fans had been attracted by his two live broadcasts, other than the small portion that was Li Fei’s original followers.
Without any promoting or advertising, yet having these results in StarryLive was quite rare amongst the numerous anchors.
No one doubted that Lu Chen would sign a contract with StarryLive. ProphetEmperorLiBai was merely trying to speed up the process and allow more people to know about Lu Chen.
That’s how intriguing the internet was. Two days ago, this “nouveau riche” was unacquainted with him. Now, he has been actively planning for Lu Chen, as if he was the number one fan of his!
Everyone enthusiastically responded to ProphetEmperorLiBai’s suggestion and several members stated they would promote Lu Chen amongst their QQ and Feiton friend circle.
Their enthusiasm tonight made Lu Chen feel touched!