"Hello everyone, today we're at the Butterfly Theater in Hangzhou."
"They haven't come out yet, so let me show you around the area."
Ali Don't Cry's video went viral, gaining 100,000 fans in just two days.
How could she not seize this opportunity? If she could film JiangHua, her popularity would skyrocket.
Perhaps heaven was helping her. After the performance, Jiang Hua left with his small bag.
Working for a public institution had its perks - either evening performances or afternoon work.
The actors had it tough, but his position was quite relaxed.
This time he was prepared, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap from the backstage.
He walked out of the theater through the back door.
But after just a few steps, he noticed a girl suspiciously holding up a phone.
"Little brother, wait, are you here to watch the opera too?"
What was this girl doing with her phone? Was she secretly filming?
Ali Don't Cry approached him and turned her phone, saying, "Little brother, I'm livestreaming. Do you mind being on camera? I have 10,000 people in my livestream."
"10,000 people?"
Jiang Hua immediately thought, if each of those 10,000 people donated 1 yuan, that would be 10,000 yuan!
About the same as his income from writing novels.
He leaned in to take a careful look at the livestream.
Damn, there really were 10,000 live viewers. Comments and gifts were flooding the screen.
"Wow, why does this person look familiar?"
Soon, people realized something and immediately sent several rocket gifts.
"Host, host, this is Jiang Hua! Quick, grab him!"
This was trouble. Jiang Hua wanted to leave, but Ali Don't Cry immediately grabbed him.
"J-Jiang Hua, I'm your biggest fan! I grew up listening to your songs."
This claim was ridiculous. Jiang Hua debuted at 18 and started singing at 15. How could she have grown up listening to him?
Sister, couldn't you lie more convincingly?
The livestream audience burst into laughter, seemingly able to see Jiang Hua's helplessness through his sunglasses.
"Host, it looks like you've been dismissed. Jiang Hua baby is only 23, the same age as you."
Ali Don't Cry quickly whispered, "Great Jiang Hua, could you help out? The audience wants to see you. I'll give you all of today's donations, not keeping a cent for myself."
Jiang Hua was stunned for a moment. Give me the donations? How much was one rocket worth anyway?
But he knew that money earned by oneself was the sweetest. Livestreaming could be a good method too.
He quietly asked, "Sister, how much do you usually earn from one livestream session?"
Ali Don't Cry hesitated, then said sheepishly, "I'm just a small streamer. Before, I only had a few hundred viewers and didn't earn much. But with 10,000 viewers, a single stream could earn at least 10,000 yuan."
Perfect. Jiang Hua thought of a win-win solution - he could livestream while writing his novel at night.
Earning from two sources, haha. Making money wasn't shameful, and it was great to earn money while standing.
"Can you teach me how to livestream? I'll appear on your stream in exchange."
"Sure, sure!"
With the deal made, Jiang Hua finally took off his sunglasses. The livestream was immediately flooded with gifts.
"Hello everyone, I'm Jiang Hua from the Little Hundred Flowers Art Troupe."
"Jiang Hua, Jiang Hua, everyone's wondering, did you take an exam to rejoin the workforce and enter the art troupe?"
Jiang Hua rubbed his nose and said, "Of course. I ranked second in the written test and first in the professional test to enter the art troupe."
This guy wasn't modest at all.
Someone in the livestream asked again.
"Jiang Hua, doesn't your Huayi contract still have 5 years left? Can getting a public service position really terminate the contract?"
Jiang Hua glanced at the comment and chose not to answer directly.
This was clearly a hater. If it were that simple, how would entertainment companies survive? They relied on breach of contract fees.
Ali Don't Cry quickly changed the subject: "Jiang Hua, everyone's curious about your life. What's different between the entertainment circle and the opera circle? Also, in your two performances, you played the vertical flute and the pipa. What other instruments can you play?"
This hit the mark.
Jiang Hua finally smiled: "Well, the opera circle is purer in a way, and I prefer it. As for instruments, I can play a bit of most things."
This subtle boast was too much. The livestream audience couldn't take it anymore.
Life is about subtly showing off a little.
"This guy is too showy. 'A bit of most things'? If I remember correctly, he can also play guitar and piano."
Just then, a group of enthusiastic fans rushed over, having tracked down the livestream location.
"Ah, Jiang Hua, Jiang Hua, I've finally found you!"
Jiang Hua quickly put on his sunglasses and fled in panic.
...
Back in the dorm, Jiang Hua felt he had missed out. He looked up online and saw how much a rocket gift was worth.
This opened up a new train of thought for him.
However, all his previous platform accounts had been managed by his agent and were now taken back.
Jiang Hua immediately registered a new account. What should he name it? He was a civil servant now, after all.
Using his real name online wouldn't be good for receiving gifts. So he decided to create one account for streaming and another under his real name for promoting Yue Opera.
Conveniently, he had two phone numbers.
Jiang Hua was impressed by his own cleverness.
Account name: Jiangnan's Most Affectionate
He was a sentimental person with a touch of nostalgia. This username couldn't be more fitting.
The second account was simply his unit name + his real name, nothing special about that.
After setting up the accounts, he verified them to avoid future troubles.
Once done, Jiang Hua first uploaded a video of himself playing the erhu on both accounts.
Relatively speaking, the erhu was his best instrument.
As for livestreaming, given his current limitations, he opened the livestream and set it aside.
He began his daily writing. With about 10,000 yuan income per day, reaching 1 million in 3 months shouldn't be a problem.
Old Wei was in a tough spot too. At 28, he was still single, and that 1 million was his savings to get married.
As a friend, Jiang Hua couldn't let him down.
Immersed in writing, Jiang Hua paid little attention to the livestream. Soon, several viewers joined.
[Qiqi: Holy crap, look what I've found! Isn't this that recently re-employed idol? Quick, call everyone to come watch!]
[Peach: Wait, have you noticed what he's doing?]
[Qiqi: Looks like he's writing a novel. Look at his notebook.]
This caused a stir. Peach immediately sent two rocket gifts, attracting a large group of viewers to the livestream.
Jiang Hua was oblivious, fully focused on writing. Today he wasn't using voice-to-text.
The livestream chat became lively, with viewers explaining Jiang Hua's story to newcomers - how he was banned, then took the civil service exam.
These netizens were truly amazing. The Little Hundred Flowers had just posted the list of new hires on their website, and people had already dug up the information.
After writing 6,000 words, Jiang Hua stretched and glanced at the livestream.
Damn, there were 5,000 people watching! And they were chatting away, able to keep the conversation going even without Jiang Hua's participation.
"Thank you, thank you all for watching. Thanks to Peach for the rockets. I was writing and didn't notice."
[Peach: Brother Jiang Hua, what are you writing? Can we see?]
Jiang Hua rubbed his head: "Let's not do that, it's embarrassing. To thank everyone, how about I sing 'Lin Daiyu Descends to Earth' for you?"
[Great, great, sing it! Let's hear the gold standard of the professional first place.]
...