Chapter 799: Dad

In the Douyin headquarters in Jingzhao City, Zhang Nan watched the live stream on the large screen and the accompanying data metrics, still replaying in his mind the song Li Luo had just sung.

Only after Li Luo left the live stream did Zhang Nan snap back to reality, then immediately pulled out his phone and called Miao Yifeng in Yuhang City.

"Hello, Boss Zhang?"

"It's me." Zhang Nan spoke calmly into the phone, "Is Chongran still there?"

"He is." Miao Yifeng replied, "He's resting in the lounge. Is there something you need from him, Boss Zhang?"

"Go talk to him. Buy the copyright for that song—just like with 'Wrong Space and Time'—for cover and dissemination rights." Zhang Nan said.

"Huh?" Miao Yifeng raised an eyebrow, then frowned, "Boss Zhang thinks this song is good? But isn't this one Chongran's song reserved for his new drama?"

"Since he released it early, he clearly doesn't mind the spread—consider it a preview for his new drama." Zhang Nan said coolly, "Same as 'Wrong Space and Time': sixty thousand yuan copyright fee, cap at one million. Standard terms—you negotiate."

"Alright, no problem." Miao Yifeng agreed, "Any other instructions, Boss Zhang?"

"After you close the deal, ask about the other songs too." Zhang Nan reminded him, "If possible, get the audio files to listen to."

"OK, got it." After hanging up, Miao Yifeng immediately went to the door of the adjacent lounge and knocked.

Upon receiving permission, he stepped inside and greeted Li Luo, who was resting on the sofa: "Chongran Teacher."

"Boss Miao? What's going on?" Li Luo asked, puzzled, since Miao Yifeng should've been monitoring the live stream while Yuan Wanqing was still broadcasting.

After all, Yuan Wanqing was still live—Miao Yifeng should've been glued to the stream. Why was he here?

Miao Yifeng didn't play games. He straight-up asked: "Chongran Teacher, does that song you just sang have a name?"

"'Live With All Your Might.'"

"Hmm." Miao Yifeng nodded, "Sixty thousand yuan copyright fee—same as 'Wrong Space and Time.' What do you think?"

"That's a song I'm using in my drama," Li Luo laughed, "Why would Boss Miao want to buy this one?"

"Chongran Teacher, you're incredibly talented. Every song you write is excellent." Miao Yifeng praised, "We've done this once before, so it's second nature. I have high confidence in 'Live With All Your Might''s spread potential on Douyin."

Li Luo didn't reply. Instead, he turned and glanced at Ying Chanxi sitting beside him.

Ying Chanxi immediately understood and took over: "Boss Miao, this is a drama song. Performing it once live adds freshness."

"But if it spreads widely on Douyin, using it in the drama later will lose that freshness."

"It'll still have some impact."

This was pure nonsense.

In Miao Yifeng's eyes, Ying Chanxi's reasoning was childish—but this was a seller's market, and creators as high-quality as Li Luo were exceedingly rare.

He also knew Li Luo wasn't short on money; selling or not was just a matter of whim.

So Miao Yifeng didn't press further. He simply said: "Eighty thousand. Is that acceptable, Chongran Teacher?"

"Fine, let's do it."

Li Luo didn't let Ying Chanxi push for more. He nodded in agreement: "Have Xi Xi handle the contract."

"Then let's have a successful partnership."

After seeing Miao Yifeng off, Li Luo stretched out on the sofa and pulled Ying Chanxi into his arms, kissing her.

"What are you doing~" Ying Chanxi weakly pushed him, but he held her tighter, her cheeks flushed, "What if someone walks in?"

"They'll knock first if they come in." Li Luo leaned down and kissed her again, "We just made another twenty thousand. Want a bonus?"

"No thanks," Ying Chanxi whispered, "And why didn't you push harder? We might've gotten more."

"I'm not a businessman—you are." Li Luo said softly, "Next time we discuss this, you handle it. I won't negotiate again."

"You and Miao Yifeng haggle—even if it breaks down, it's just business."

"I keep my dignity intact. No matter how unpleasant your negotiations get, I can always step in and give you both a face-saving way out."

"Is it really that complicated?" Ying Chanxi muttered.

"Ahem… That's not my line." Li Luo whispered, "That's your dad's."

He'd never been a leader in his past life—he had no idea about all these subtle maneuvers.

He'd only picked them up recently, from Ying Zhicheng dragging him to dinner after dinner, party after party, slowly absorbing it all.

"He's always teaching you these bad things," Ying Chanxi complained, "He's terrible."

"You can't say that to his face," Li Luo choked back a laugh, pinching her cheek.

"I'd say it to his face too," Ying Chanxi huffed.

The next second, the lounge door swung open.

Ying Chanxi, still in Li Luo's arms, jumped in surprise, scrambling out and sitting stiffly upright on the sofa.

Ying Zhicheng walked in and naturally saw his daughter leaping out of Li Luo's arms. He tugged at his lips, pretending not to notice.

But his fists had clenched tightly.

Li Luo turned and glanced at Ying Chanxi; she met his gaze. He winked at her, reminding her not to forget what she'd just said.

Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes, then turned to Ying Zhicheng: "Dad~ Why didn't you knock before coming in?"

"This is Wanqing's lounge—why would I knock?" Ying Zhicheng sat on the single sofa beside them, pulled out his phone, and checked the Douyin live stream, "When will they finish?"

"Just a few minutes," Li Luo checked the time, "Why did you come over, Uncle Ying?"

"To pick up your Aunt Yuan," Ying Zhicheng said, "How are you two getting home?"

"Zhu Sheng is driving."

"Oh." Ying Zhicheng nodded, unwilling to dwell on the painful topic, so he changed the subject: "The live stream seemed to go well today?"

"Yeah, judging by Boss Miao's reaction, he's satisfied," Li Luo smiled.

"A lot of the live stream ideas were Li Luo's," Ying Chanxi added, "The results were amazing."

"Oh?" Ying Zhicheng raised an eyebrow, following his daughter's lead, "What did he plan?"

"What did you plan?" Ying Chanxi turned to ask.

She hadn't even read the details of the live stream document Li Luo wrote—no matter what, it was all his doing.

"It's just some revisions and added details," Li Luo said simply. "Although live streaming and online novels are very different, the core logic of dealing with audiences and readers is essentially the same."

"Go on," Ying Zhicheng opened a bag of sunflower seeds, showing genuine interest in this subject.

Although he had abundant experience in social graces and could teach Li Luo many things,

in terms of creation, he was truly far less perceptive than Li Luo.

"In short, it's about breaking expectations, guiding anticipation, and satisfying only a small portion of demands."

Li Luo gave a general summary, then continued analyzing: "Take tonight's live stream, with my and Zhusheng's mid-stream appearance."

"Many viewers didn't know a mystery guest would appear tonight, or even if they did, they couldn't guess who it would be."

"That's far smarter than telling everyone from the start: tonight's live stream by Yuan Wanqing, her daughter and Chongran will both appear."

"That's breaking expectations."

"But when Zhusheng appeared, I didn't show up—everyone assumed the mystery guest was Zhusheng."

"Then Zhusheng said I was also at the company, just busy with other things."

"Naturally, viewers would then hope I'd come onscreen too."

"That's guiding anticipation."

"Viewers think this is what they want themselves, but it's actually what we want them to want."

"Also, viewers asked Zhusheng to sing the theme song of the new drama—she didn't."

"After I entered, I sang another new drama song as compensation, but Zhusheng still wouldn't sing the theme song."

"Even when viewers begged me to stay at the end, I simply bid farewell and left—this is all about not fully satisfying."

"If you satisfy most of the audience's demands and expectations all at once, your appeal to them will instantly drop sharply."

So in reality, Director Wang Jun wasn't at Huayue Film and Television tonight at all.

It was all just Li Luo's script, designed to guide the audience's emotions and expectations as much as possible, making the live stream more effective.

"You're more professional in this area," Ying Zhicheng nodded.

Honestly, even some top industry insiders couldn't summarize this as precisely and plainly as Li Luo—so clear you understand at once.

But only Li Luo knew these insights were all experiences shared with him by Xu Youyu in his past life.

Everything Li Luo said applies equally to online novels.

Why do some clickbait novels start with a bang but collapse quickly?

Because once the clickbait content is used up, the readers' expectations are fully satisfied—and they no longer have any need for your book.

According to Xu Youyu's words from his past life, writing online novels is like dating readers.

You have to be a jerk to keep readers.

Whether breaking expectations, guiding anticipation, or only satisfying a small part each time—it's all the same tactics a jerk uses on a girl.

Honest men are ignored by goddesses precisely because they always obey and fully satisfy.

This principle is universally applicable and often works.

…

As Li Luo and Ying Zhicheng chatted, the live stream in the neighboring recording studio was nearing its end.

Yuan Wanqing and Yan Zhusheng sang "Ru Yuan" together as a finale, then drew one final prize.

After finishing, Yuan Wanqing waved toward the camera and smiled: "Thank you all so much for joining tonight's live stream."

"I've never experienced an online live stream like this before—it's quite fun."

"I hope Douyin opens this live stream feature soon. Let's meet again next time."

【Is it ending already?】

【Wahhh! Don't go! Miss Yuan! Could you leave first and let Zhusheng keep streaming a bit longer?】

【So the daughter inherits the mother's live stream?】

【True, Miss Yuan's older and gets tired easily—we all understand—but Zhusheng's still young, let her stream a bit longer】

"You guys are really…" Yuan Wanqing saw the scrolling comments, sighed and pressed her forehead in exasperation. "I shouldn't have let Zhusheng come in—my popularity's been completely sucked away."

【Hahahahaha】

【Don't be sad, Miss Yuan! I give Zhusheng to them—I love only you!】

【Taking advantage of the moment, huh? Can't I have them both?】

【Don't be greedy—I suggest Zhusheng start her own live stream too. Next time, broadcast both at once. I've got two phones—I can watch one on each】

【How about this: let Zhusheng add my WeChat?】

【Hey hey hey! Don't get too bold!】

Yan Zhusheng leaned toward the camera to read the comments, then turned to Yuan Wanqing: "Is the stream still live?"

"Not yet. What's up?"

"Can I say two more things?"

"Sure."

【What's Zhusheng going to say now?】

【Zhusheng can't bear to leave us either, right?!】

【Can we stream a bit longer?】

"Ahem." Yan Zhusheng cleared her throat with two coughs, wore a serious expression, pulled out her phone, and showed it to the viewers: "Look at this."

It displayed Yan Zhusheng's official Douyin account, with over two million followers.

Then Yan Zhusheng scrolled further and opened Chongran's account—currently at over two and a half million followers.

"Li Luo has way more followers than me," Yan Zhusheng continued. "Can you help me follow him? I want to surpass him."

"If I can surpass him, I promise you—I'll livestream at least twice a month once Douyin opens the feature."

"Will this work?"

{"Twice? A bit too few."}

{"Can we stream every day? We'll help you hit ten million followers!"}

{"I get it, I'm unfollowing Chongran right now!"}

{"How about this: if you surpass Chongran, stream once a week? If you surpass Sister Qing, stream every day?"}

{"You guys are exaggerating! Sister Qing already has over twelve million fans! Zhusheng only has a fraction of her mom's!"}

{"Everyone needs dreams!"}

"I have classes during the week—I only have time on weekends," Yan Zhusheng scratched his head, slightly troubled. "But if you help me surpass Li Luo, then once a week is fine. Deal?"

{"Sure, sure, once a week is about right."}

{"Go go go! If you haven't followed yet, hit follow on my baby Zhusheng!"}

{"I already followed—now I'm unfollowing Chongran right away!"}

"You can't unfollow Li Luo," Yan Zhusheng said firmly. "If his follower count drops, I won't stream anymore."

{"????"}

{"Wait… why are you defending him?"}

{"You two really have something going on, don't you?"}

{"Damn it, Chongran! What the hell did you do to my Zhusheng?!"}

"Alright, alright, time's up," Yuan Wanqing pulled Yan Zhusheng back onto the sofa and waved at the camera. "That's it for today—see you all later."

"Bye," Yan Zhusheng mimicked her wave, but added, "Don't forget to follow me."

{"I'm dying laughing—could Zhusheng have some kind of bet with Chongran?"}

{"Whoever has fewer followers has to bark like a dog?"}

{"That's way too childish!"}

The chat stream kept flooding, but the livestream had officially ended.

Yuan Wanqing exhaled deeply, her body finally relaxing. "Finally over. Streaming is tiring—you have to stay mentally tense the whole time."

"Really?" Yan Zhusheng tilted his head. "I didn't feel that tired at all."