Chapter 299

The next day, the hotel bathroom

Yan Li, bare-chested, grimaced as he stared at himself in the mirror from every angle.

Yesterday, Li Bing had gone too far; when he forcibly put out the fire, both of them resented him, scratching and biting him, leaving plenty of marks—some even drew blood.

"Is it really that big a deal? It's not the first time."

Yan Li couldn't help complaining; Li Bing, already awake, ignored him—last time it was half-hearted consent, mutual willingness, but this time was different.

She deserved to be scratched to death!

Still, Li Bing fetched the medicine from her own room—some iodine and such.

Actors often travel for shoots, sometimes for dozens of days; getting sick or sustaining minor injuries on set is normal, and experienced ones always carry basic medications.

"Lie still."

Yan Li obediently lay in the middle while Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang each held a cotton swab to apply the medicine.

As she applied it, Fan Xiaopang started shifting blame, pinning the worst injuries on Li Bing.

The latter wasn't one to be pushed around—she exposed Fan's ulterior motives and began dredging up yesterday's grievances, accusing someone of aiding the oppressor and bullying her.

Still, despite the lingering tension between them,

after a fight and a good night's sleep, their tolerance had risen considerably; they still bickered, but weren't truly angry anymore.

Having figured things out yesterday, they now gave up pretending, their resistance faded, and they seized every advantage while they could—because such beauty might not come again for years.

"I've already arranged it for 'Yanzhi Xue'—the 'Huapi' crew agreed too; today we're all taking a day off to sober up."

Yan Li wasn't worried about people making wild assumptions; after drinking too much yesterday and making such a spectacle, it was perfectly normal to duck out for a while.

But Fan Xiaopang and Li Bing knew he wasn't done—he hadn't had enough last night, and today he still wouldn't let them go.

They'd been scratched too lightly!

Fan Xiaopang, fed up with this absurdity, stood up to leave, but Yan Li grumbled: "Go ahead, leave, and let her reap all the benefits."

At those words, Fan Xiaopang couldn't resist pinching Yan Li several times—but didn't move her butt.

Li Bing, however, found it easier to accept.

She saw Yan Li as a hookup; under these circumstances, she treated it as an occasional thrill—after all, Fan Xiaopang wouldn't tell anyone, so safety was guaranteed, and the other party was Fan, so she wasn't losing face.

More importantly, it had already happened—not once, but multiple times; obsessing over it was pointless, better to just enjoy it.

Once they walked out that door, this chapter closed; afterward, everything would go back to normal.

So Li Bing's attitude was calm—she even opened a bottle of red wine in the suite and took a couple of sips to clear her head.

"Older people really do have a better perspective."

Yan Li complimented her, earning a glare from Li Bing that nearly had her splash wine in his face—just because you think I'm relaxed doesn't mean you get to gush about it.

Li Bing remained composed, Yan Li was pleased, and Fan Xiaopang, feeling like she was putting on airs, gradually softened her mood.

At this point, though Yan Li didn't stop his hands-on behavior, he did chat with them about a few serious matters.

The most important matter? Weibo!

Li Bing and Fan Xiaopang were his two biggest assets—he had to use them well, so they absolutely had to be on Weibo, and not just present, but active.

Fan Xiaopang needed no convincing; for Li Bing, Yan Li had to clearly lay out the benefits.

His relationship with Li was layered: affection, obligation, desire, and profit.

Yan Li never hid that he used both of them to further his own interests, but he also gave them plenty in return—especially Li Bing—he planned generous benefits for her, which was why the Li sisters usually went all out for him.

They were all adults; no matter how charming Yan Li was, he couldn't keep taking advantage for free.

Once or twice was fine, but over time, wouldn't they grow disillusioned?

Give enough benefits, nurture the relationship properly, and privately push a little harder—Li Bing had never let him down.

Sure enough, Li Bing readily agreed to participate in Weibo's activities and promised to post regularly.

She'd always liked blogging—or rather, she'd deliberately cultivated this persona; on her blog she called herself "Boss Li," sharing daily vignettes in little essays; though not as glamorous as Xu Caivü, she was down-to-earth and had solid popularity.

Yan Li didn't push her to abandon her blog entirely.

She'd been running her account for a long time—he couldn't just make her drop it—but he was confident that once Weibo took off, she'd naturally shift her focus.

Fan Xiaopang was curious how many stars Yan Li had recruited, especially the Four Dan and Two Bing.

Yan Li's Weibo was, in a way, a rival's territory—would those few even bother?

Hearing the question, Yan Li's expression turned slightly odd: "Xu hasn't opened one—she has a contract with Sina Blog, won't leave easily. Zhou and Zhang agreed to open accounts, but whether they'll actually use them is uncertain. Zhao was the most straightforward and promised to be active."

Honestly, excluding the Bing duo, Xiao Yanzi had the deepest conflict with Yan Li—he'd once pulled a stunt on her over Fan Xiaopang.

So when inviting her to Weibo, Yan Li had braced himself for rejection.

Unexpectedly, she had great perspective—or perhaps didn't cling to old grudges—and proactively reached out to reconcile with him.

After recalling some intelligence from his system, Yan Li could only conclude she was beginning to transcend the limits of an artist, thinking and acting like a businessperson.

Besides Xiao Yanzi, her old classmate Huang Xiaoming was also skilled at handling relationships; once contacted, he agreed to cooperate without hesitation.

Most who had complicated ties with Yan Li or Yi'an followed the same pattern as Zhang and Zhou: as artists, they gave Yan Li face by opening an account, just enough to show goodwill, leaving room to retreat—whether they'd actually use it remained to be seen.

No matter how powerful or domineering Yan Li was, he couldn't force people to use Weibo.

So the current situation was clear: artists close to Yan Li would be highly active on Weibo and participate in its campaigns.

Those with poor relations either registered for face's sake or ignored it entirely.

The largest group remained neutral—they had no connection to Yan Li, but out of courtesy, might register and even dabble.

Whether they'd stay long-term depended entirely on Weibo's own merits.

Besides celebrities, there were also social figures, internet influencers, and sports stars.

Especially sports stars—the Beijing Olympics next year would be a golden card; Weibo absolutely couldn't waste it.

As long as Yan Li recruited enough people early and built strong retention and moats, the difficulty for competitors would keep rising.

Even if rivals still spent money to carve out a slice of Weibo's pie, it wouldn't strike at its core—and would drain their own funds and resources.

With his eyes wide open, Yan Li wasn't just aiming to make Weibo succeed—he'd already prepared plenty of traps for his competitors.

That's what made it annoying: most entrepreneurs start by focusing on growing their own company, improving competitiveness, then reacting as needed.

But Yan Li? Before his rivals even appeared, he'd already dug the pits and waited.

And the most annoying part? He didn't just plan ahead—he could use his intelligence system to spy and adjust.

For instance, now, as Weibo neared launch and rumors leaked, he already had a rough sense of how Sohu, Sina, and Tencent were reacting—and responded calmly.

So what if he's an outsider? When your opponent plays his cards face-up, what's the problem?

Watching Yan Li's fierce determination, Fan Xiaopang voiced her inner doubt.

"Is Weibo really that powerful?"

At that, Li Bing also looked up—she and Fan Xiaopang alike had only a vague understanding of Weibo.

To them, Weibo was just Yan Li trying to create a new blog to replace Sina Blog.

"Replace blogs?"

Yan Li shook his head; people couldn't imagine things they'd never seen—not just the Bing duo, most who talked to Yan Li saw Weibo as just another blog.

"A blog is just a giant message board; if Weibo succeeds, it'll become the most popular public information platform—combining social interaction, information, and engagement…"

As he spoke, seeing their increasingly blank stares, he opted for the most direct approach.

"If Weibo succeeds, I'll be China's Murdoch!"

That was a bit of bragging—Murdoch's power wasn't ordinary; he owned TV networks, print media, film and TV, internet, telecom—all globally connected, a true media titan who even influenced high-level politics.

Yan Li was nowhere near Murdoch's level yet, but if he kept quietly building, integrating all his industries and deeply cultivating culture, he could become a titan too.

"Murdoch? Who's that?"

Fan Xiaopang felt the name sounded familiar but couldn't place it; Li Bing couldn't help rolling her eyes at her.