Chapter 804

Planning Before the Birthday

December 2nd, Saturday.

Early in the morning, Li Luo took Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng out for a morning run; after returning home, he quickly finished today's writing quota.

Around nine in the morning, Xu Youyu finally woke up from her lazy sleep, and after all four of them got ready, they set off for the company's address in the Shidai Tianjie office building.

"So today is Zhusheng's first official livestream?" Xu Youyu, sitting in the front seat and yawning, asked curiously.

She didn't need to come along—she could just stay home and write.

But since Li Luo helped her outline the later plot structure, she hadn't suffered from writer's block anymore and had recently become idle again.

Hearing that Yan Zhusheng was going to start livestreaming today, and knowing Li Luo would be visiting the Kaiduan drama crew, she decided to tag along for a stroll.

"The livestream room is all decorated, and all the equipment was tested yesterday," Ying Chanxi said with a smile while driving. "You promised the audience in Aunt Yuan's livestream room that you'd go live."

"Her fan count has already surpassed four million—over a hundred thousand more than Li Luo's."

"So many fans are urging her in the comments—she can't break her word."

"You're already a capitalist now," Yan Zhusheng said from the back seat behind Ying Chanxi, addressing Li Luo. "You're always thinking of ways to make me earn money for the company."

"That's an exaggeration," Ying Chanxi snapped, hearing this. "Since we came back from Jingzhao City, I've only had you take one advertising deal."

"By the way, how much does Zhusheng earn per ad now?" Xu Youyu, beside her, asked with sudden curiosity.

"Not that much," Ying Chanxi replied, gripping the steering wheel. "Douyin's fan counts have a lot of inflation, so rates range from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand."

"This time we picked a skincare product—it's on the higher end, worth two hundred fifty thousand total. After the company takes fifty percent and deducts taxes, she'll get around one hundred thousand."

"But to maintain account quality, we can't take too many ads—no more than one or two per month."

"That much?" Xu Youyu was surprised. "Even if you only do one or two, that's still ten to twenty thousand a month on average."

"So won't Zhusheng's annual income easily surpass one million?"

"That's so awesome…"

Xu Youyu's face showed envy.

Although Xu Youyu's income wasn't necessarily less than Yan Zhusheng's—after all, Gu Dao Changqing had an average subscription of over twenty thousand, and the completed Literary Era had also risen to twenty thousand, keeping her monthly income above one hundred thousand—

Xu Youyu knew well that online novel authors' incomes fluctuated wildly.

Especially after a book ended, income often plummeted sharply.

Unless the new book maintained its performance, last year's million-yuan royalties could easily drop to two or three hundred thousand this year—that was normal.

Unlike Yan Zhusheng, whose Douyin fan count had surpassed four million, her income would remain a stable long-term source no matter what.

"Why don't you just reveal your identity?" Li Luo, sensing Xu Youyu's envy, chuckled. "If you were willing, we could do a collaboration."

"I guarantee your Douyin account would hit one million fans—your monthly ad income would be at least tens of thousands."

"What do you say, EarlySleep? Think about it?"

"Get lost, get lost!" Xu Youyu waved her hand vigorously, as if shooing away a demon. "I don't want any of that!"

"We writers should earn our living honestly with our hands—why should we show our faces?"

"Don't try to corrupt me—stop talking!"

Li Luo sighed helplessly: "You're just afraid of social death—your roommate still doesn't know you write novels?"

"Hmph~ I've hidden it perfectly," Xu Youyu said, smug. "Don't ruin my secret—I won't verify my Douyin account with my real name."

"Fine by me," Li Luo said, seeing her firm stance, and stopped trying to persuade her.

At this point, Ying Chanxi had driven into the underground parking garage of the Shidai Tianjie office building.

Arriving, the four got out and went up to the tenth floor, entering Chongran Culture's office space.

After renovations, stepping out of the elevator and turning right led directly to a massive wall logo bearing the words "Chongran Culture."

To the right of the logo wall was Chongran Culture's main entrance.

Ying Chanxi pulled out an extra access card and handed it to Xu Youyu, then took another and swiped it lightly on the door's card reader before pushing the door open.

"Sister, keep this card—you can come to the company anytime and just swipe to enter."

"Oh, okay," Xu Youyu nodded, took the card, and fiddled with it near the card reader before quickly following them inside.

The main office area was the large hall directly ahead upon entering.

Against the floor-to-ceiling windows, three "square cubicle" desks were placed front to back, totaling twelve workstations.

The four near the entrance were for the Business Department staff.

The middle four were used by Xiao Wen and the new assistant, with two still empty.

The four at the back currently had only one accountant seated.

The office environment was quite spacious.

Li Luo had been here many times before; he walked in, nodded to the employees, and led Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng deeper inside.

Inside was a long corridor with offices on both sides.

The one closest to the corridor entrance was Ying Chanxi's current personal office.

Further in, to the right, was the break room.

Deeper still were the dedicated livestream rooms for company artists and Li Luo's own oversized CEO office.

But since Li Luo rarely came to work, the so-called CEO office was actually used by Zhao Rongjun's team.

Xu Youyu, visiting for the first time, looked left and right, wandered around inside and out, and was very interested.

Yan Zhusheng walked straight into the livestream room, followed Ying Chanxi to check the equipment, confirmed everything was fine, then turned to Li Luo.

"What do you think I should stream tonight?" Yan Zhusheng asked, blinking.

"What else? Singing," Li Luo laughed. "You want to do something flashy?"

"Singing alone is fine, but it's a bit boring," Yan Zhusheng admitted honestly. "Last time Mom's livestream was really interesting."

"What do you mean by 'interesting'?"

"It's just about interacting with the comments," Yan Zhusheng said. "Chatting with everyone is kind of fun."

"Don't go thinking of saying something reckless again," Ying Chanxi warned immediately. "Just sing properly."

"You're not doing this livestream just once—you'll be livestreaming every week from now on."

"If you keep acting this recklessly, you'll get yourself into trouble. Can't you just be sensible?"

"Xixi's right," Li Luo nodded in agreement, raising a hand to ruffle Yan Zhusheng's hair. "Don't act up on things like this. Just do your job properly."

"Oh…" Since Li Luo had said so, Yan Zhusheng could only nod obediently, putting aside his little schemes.

"This livestream room is only temporarily assigned to you," Ying Chanxi continued. "Once we move to the villa, we'll set up a full livestream setup on the fourth floor for you."

"This livestream room here can be left for other company artists to use."

"If you want to livestream in the future, you can just do it at home."

"Will you livestream too?" Yan Zhusheng asked again. "A beautiful university student who became CEO of the company in her first year—wouldn't that be popular too?"

"I think you should say less," Ying Chanxi waved her hand in exasperation. "Not everyone likes to show off. Look at your senior."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded, wearing a slightly wounded expression. "So you're making me show my face to make money for the company while you sneak behind the scenes counting it?"

"Then go tell Li Luo yourself—ask him to let you never show your face again," Ying Chanxi snapped.

"No way," Yan Zhusheng grabbed Li Luo's arm. "I want to make money for Li Luo."

Li Luo: "... Stop acting so dramatic. If there's nothing wrong with the livestream, I'm heading to the set."

"Take them with you," Ying Chanxi said. "I still have work to finish here. Remember to come pick me up at noon—we'll eat at home."

"Mm, give me the car keys."

"Here."

Taking the Audi A8 keys from Ying Chanxi, Li Luo left the company with Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu.

Driving toward the studio where the Chongran set was located, Li Luo glanced at the two whispering in the rearview mirror and asked curiously, "What are you two talking about?"

"Girls' business. Men shouldn't ask," Xu Youyu chuckled, then leaned close to Yan Zhusheng's ear.

Soon after, Yan Zhusheng also leaned close to Xu Youyu's ear and whispered something.

Immediately, Xu Youyu's expression changed drastically: "What? When did this happen?"

"Not long after we came back from Jingzhao City," Yan Zhusheng recalled. "Your senior doesn't know yet, does she?"

"How would I know if you didn't tell me?" Xu Youyu snapped. "Xixi wouldn't tell me something like this. I didn't expect you two to… hmm~"

"Senior, you mentioned the plan for Li Luo's birthday last time, but you didn't give details," Yan Zhusheng asked again. "Could you explain more?"

"Well… some details are still in my mind. There's still time, isn't there?" Xu Youyu whispered back. "I have a few ideas, but not many—if you think of anything, feel free to suggest."

"I don't have other ideas, but…" Yan Zhusheng hesitated for once, glancing at Li Luo in the rearview mirror, then whispered softly into Xu Youyu's ear, "On the plane last time, I asked my mom—she said…"

The two girls chattered endlessly in the back seat; Li Luo couldn't make out a word they said.

Every time he asked curiously, Xu Youyu shut him down.

So Li Luo stopped asking and drove quietly.

When they arrived at the studio, Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu fell silent in the backseat and obediently followed Li Luo out of the car.

"Teacher Chongran, Zhusheng~" Xiao Wen had already been informed and waited at the studio entrance. Seeing them step out, she hurried forward to greet them. "Ah, Miss Youyu, you're here too."

Long ago, when casting for Xiao Huanxi, Li Luo had brought the three girls to Huayue Film and Television.

Xiao Wen had met Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu back then; later, Xu Youyu appeared at several of Yuan Wanqing's concerts, so Xiao Wen knew her.

But Xiao Wen didn't know the special relationship between Li Luo and Xu Youyu.

After vaguely sensing something odd between Ying Chanxi and Li Luo, Xiao Wen had already thought that was absurd enough.

How could she imagine Li Luo was so outrageous as to pursue three girls at once?

"Take them around the set," Li Luo said. "I'll go meet Director Wang."

Saying this, Li Luo walked straight inside toward where Wang Jun was.

At that moment, filming was underway in the studio—a bus interior set had been built, and the actors were performing scenes inside.

The exterior scenes of the bus would be handled later with green screen and VFX, far more efficient than renting an actual bus and filming repeatedly on the road.

Wang Jun spotted Li Luo immediately, waved at him, and held up a finger to signal silence.

After the scene ended, Wang Jun paused filming and took Li Luo to a nearby bench to rest.

"Is everything going smoothly on your end, Director Wang?"

"Fine, fine," Wang Jun chuckled. "Since Ruan Lin started school, she's picked up some good habits—she's adapting quickly."

"Her character's background matches her real life closely, so it's easy for her to adjust."

"If I didn't know you hadn't pre-selected the lead actress, I'd suspect this script was written specifically for her."

"That's not the case," Li Luo laughed. "But as long as filming goes smoothly, that's what matters."

"Ruan Lin's availability is only for this month, but after her final exams, she can come during the winter break before the New Year."

"So Director Wang, prioritize quality—no need to rush."

"Don't worry," Wang Jun patted his shoulder and smiled. "We have plenty of time. The script isn't long—we'll finish before the New Year."

After some conversation, Li Luo walked around the set with Wang Jun and greeted several key supporting actors.

After checking the set thoroughly and confirming everything was fine, Li Luo stayed with Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu to watch a few scenes. As noon approached, they bid farewell and returned home.

He picked up Ying Chanxi at the company, bought groceries on the way, and cooked with her at home.

At lunch.

Xu Youyu ate heartily and casually brought up a topic: "By the way, after you finish Night Patrol next year, what's your next novel? Are you just going to keep writing I Am Really Not a Star and never start a new one?"

(End of Chapter)