Chapter 130: A New Price

Judging by the results, Bai Renjun and Han Jiayi’s little display of “interaction” had been a tremendous success. It had coaxed more than a thousand comments out of the viewers in an instant, and the stream’s popularity had surged as well.

“All right, it’s already half past eleven. Let’s call it a night,” Bai Renjun said, glancing at the time.

The viewers were reluctant to let him go, flooding the screen with comments:

“Stay on a little longer!”

“When will you stream next?”

“We really have to go. Jiayi still has to work at the restaurant tomorrow.” Bai Renjun gently stroked Han Jiayi’s head as he explained, “As for the next stream, we’ll see. We’ll decide on a platform as soon as possible and let everyone know. You can follow our official Weibo account for details. Xiao Bei is in charge of it, so feel free to pester her as much as you like. Bye-bye.”

Han Jiayi stood beside him, smiling shyly as she waved at the camera. “Bye, everyone.”

Bai Renjun stopped the stream and closed the broadcasting software, finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

“Hmph! You big bully!” Han Jiayi immediately changed her expression and thumped him unhappily on the shoulder. “You were picking on me during the stream!”

“Sorry. You were just too cute, and I couldn’t help myself.” Bai Renjun lightly scratched her chin, teasing her.

“Oh, come on! Don’t tease me like I’m a kitten!” Han Jiayi slapped his hand away, somewhat exasperated. Then she suddenly remembered something, and her face flushed bright red. “You! That time we were playing a game, were you hinting that I was a cat?”

“You waited this long to bring that up? How am I supposed to respond now?” Bai Renjun sighed.

“You— you— you!” Han Jiayi grabbed his arm and refused to let the matter go. “Do you see me as your girlfriend, or as some little cat you keep?”

“Actually, there isn’t all that much difference between the two, is there?” Bai Renjun held her face in his hands and smiled.

“Don’t try to fob me off! Explain yourself!” Han Jiayi widened her beautiful eyes in warning.

“Well then…” Bai Renjun suddenly caught her hand and pulled her into his arms. Leaning close to her ear, he murmured, “Do you need me to prove through my actions just how genuine my feelings are when I treat you as my girlfriend?”

“I…” Han Jiayi’s face turned crimson. “I think… well, that’s too fast…”

“That?” Bai Renjun pretended not to understand. “I only wanted to kiss you. What did you think I meant?”

Han Jiayi’s face grew even redder, and she looked as though she were about to cry.

“All right, all right, silly girl.” Bai Renjun put his arms around her shoulders and gently stroked her head to comfort her. “I’m done teasing you. It’s getting late. You should go to bed early, all right?”

“You’re awful…” Han Jiayi glared at him, aggrieved and resentful.

Bai Renjun lifted her chin and leaned toward her. Han Jiayi did not pull away. She closed her eyes and adjusted her angle slightly, feeling the touch of their lips meeting and the warmth of his breath.

It lasted only a few seconds, yet it was so sweet and satisfying.

“Good night,” Bai Renjun said with a smile.

Han Jiayi bit her lower lip and glared at him for a moment before replying softly, “Good night… I love you.”

With that, Han Jiayi hurried downstairs and returned to her room.

I’m definitely going to marry this girl, Bai Renjun thought with a nod.

That night, his stream’s popularity peaked at twenty-five million. Of course, only D-Station itself knew how many actual viewers that figure represented.

But every streaming platform knew exactly what such popularity meant: this was the kind of traffic commanded by a top-tier streamer—and this had only been a trial broadcast. With proper cultivation, he had the potential to become one of the biggest names in the field.

The next morning, while Bai Renjun and Han Jiayi were having breakfast, Wang Bei cheerfully pushed open the door.

“Boss Bai!” She placed her laptop on the table and smiled smugly. “Those people have raised their offers!”

“It would have been strange if they hadn’t.” Bai Renjun added some scrambled eggs to his wrap. “The stream was so popular last night.”

“How much are they offering now?” Han Jiayi asked curiously after taking a sip of porridge.

“D-Station is offering eight million a year…” Wang Bei sighed sympathetically. “I can understand their position, though. Live streaming isn’t D-Station’s main business. It’s really just an extension of the work done by its content creators…”

“I’m not signing with D-Station,” Bai Renjun replied. “It’s not about the money. Our styles simply don’t match. D-Station’s livestreams still lean heavily toward anime and manga culture, and that section is clearly more popular than the others. If I stream, it’ll mainly be games and outdoor content. That style won’t develop very well on D-Station. What about the other two?”

“Cat House is offering twelve million a year.” Wang Bei looked at the figures on her laptop. “And Doghouse is offering fifteen million, but they require Sister Jiayi to appear on camera with you for more than seventy percent of your total streaming time.”

An offer of more than ten million was roughly what Bai Renjun had expected.

After all, moving from being a content creator to becoming a streamer was still a kind of crossover. It was impossible to receive a contract worth tens or even hundreds of millions right from the start. After streaming for six months or a year, once he had built up his popularity, it would not be too late to renegotiate.

“Turn down Doghouse’s contract.” Bai Renjun lifted a lock of Han Jiayi’s hair and spoke with concern. “My Mu Mu is already exhausted from working at the restaurant every day. Streaming occasionally is fine, but how could her body handle four or five hours every day?”

“That leaves us with only one choice…” Han Jiayi said with a wry smile.

“Yes. Cat House…” Wang Bei pressed her lips together, looking hesitant. “Their competition is actually pretty fierce, and they’re especially notorious for squeezing money out of everyone. They hold events like the Streamer Championship, the Annual Streamer Rankings, and the Most Popular Streamer contest four times a year. Each one lasts three months. They bleed their followers dry all year round.”

These so-called streamer rankings were essentially a way for streaming platforms to squeeze money from both streamers and their fans.

If a streamer wanted a raise and more publicity, the fastest way was to climb the rankings. To climb the rankings, fans had to send gifts. If the fans did not send enough, they had to pay out of their own pockets. In the end, the streamer spent money but gained popularity, while the platform filled its coffers. The only ones left were the fans, reduced to withered little chive shoots after being harvested again and again.

“Can you handle that kind of competition?” Wang Bei asked worriedly. “Bleeding the fans dry isn’t really your style, is it?”

“Of course not.” Bai Renjun smiled. “We’re going there to harvest the platform’s chives. If we can’t get the first-tier salary, we’ll take the second-tier one. I don’t mind. It just means earning a little less. Besides, I still have income from my videos. Streaming is only a side business.”

The streaming platforms were not fools, of course. They had long since revised the formula used to calculate popularity. Gift revenue and paying users were now the primary sources of popularity. The popularity provided by the Connoisseur app alone would not be enough for him to qualify for the first-tier salary.

But Bai Renjun did not insist on getting the first-tier salary. As long as he could secure the second tier, he would be satisfied.

In any case, he would never bleed his fans dry. If anyone was going to be harvested, it would be the platform.

“Actually, we could privately send some gifts ourselves to qualify for the first-tier salary,” Wang Bei explained. “That way, we wouldn’t need the fans to inflate our numbers. As long as the difference between the first- and second-tier salaries is less than what we spend on gifts, it would be worth it. After all, roughly forty percent of the gift money can be returned to us. What do you think, Boss Bai?”

“That makes sense.” Bai Renjun nodded. “Do it your way. Let’s reach an agreement with Cat House as soon as possible.”

“Got it. I’ll speak with their streaming coordinator.” Wang Bei nodded.

“Today is September twenty-third, right?” Bai Renjun calculated. “Mu Mu and I started dating on the nineteenth… We have one week left. If we make three more videos, that should give us enough material for two weeks…”

After doing the math, Bai Renjun turned to Wang Bei. “Let’s try to schedule our debut stream during the National Day holiday. More people will be watching then… Though perhaps not on the first day. National Day should be treated with a little more solemnity. Let’s make it October second. Reach an agreement with Cat House before then.”

“Will do.” Wang Bei nodded enthusiastically.

“Boss Bai…” Han Jiayi said softly. “Didn’t I mention before that I’m not planning to pursue a third Michelin star? So starting next month, I’m going to train the other chefs at the restaurant. I want to make sure they can maintain the restaurant’s current level of service even without me. That way, I’ll have a little more free time next month…”

“Are you saying you want to stream with me?” Bai Renjun asked with a smile, lifting her chin.

“Mmm.” Han Jiayi pressed her lips together and nodded with a smile. “We’ll work hard together.”

“But not today.” Bai Renjun turned to Wang Bei. “Xiao Bei, Jiayi and I are going on a date today. You can finish up whatever you need to do and head home afterward. Take the day off and spend some time with your boyfriend.”

“Sure thing.” Wang Bei smiled. “I’ll grab something from the sample room before I leave.”

Afterward, Han Jiayi went to the restaurant to give the staff a brief explanation of the day’s arrangements, while Bai Renjun stayed home and recorded a gaming video. The game he chose was Green Hell, officially released that September—a hardcore wilderness survival game.

Since survival games made up the majority of the titles Bai Renjun currently recommended, he intended to maintain that style.

Once the footage had been recorded, it was nearly time. Bai Renjun and Han Jiayi met outside Willow Pavilion.

They exchanged a glance. Bai Renjun nodded, then took Han Jiayi’s hand and led her into the restaurant, calling out warmly, “Sister Xiaoxiao! Brother Xing!”

“Darling, they’re here!” The proprietress excitedly called to her husband, who was wiping down the tables nearby. “Look! It hasn’t even been two months! I won!”

“You never actually bet me anything, so what do you mean, you won?” the owner said dismissively. Then he folded his arms and smiled at the two of them, his gaze falling to their joined hands. “Looks like you two are dating now, huh?”

“That’s right.” Bai Renjun nodded. “It’s all thanks to the two of you for bringing us together.”

Strictly speaking, they hadn’t been the ones to bring them together… Han Jiayi thought to herself, but she had no intention of exposing the truth.

“Oh, what an adorable little pair. You’re so shy.” The proprietress clasped her hands and smiled at them. “You remind me of when we first started dating. When did you get together?”

“September nineteenth.” Han Jiayi smiled brightly. “We only had time to come by and tell you today.”

“Since you’re here…” The owner handed them the menu with a smile. “Why not stay and have something to eat?”