Chapter 176: Unexpected Harvest

Chapter 176: Unexpected Gains

The evening broadcast was once again dedicated to painting, though, as with the night before, it was peppered with banter and singing. Naturally, the banter took center stage; the singing was little more than humming to tease the viewers in the chat.

A flood of new viewers poured into the stream, many of them fans of Bai Zhi, all burning with curiosity about this concert guest she had suddenly invited. They wondered what kind of streamer could possibly be qualified to share the stage with her.

Upon entering, they were immediately struck by Meng Fan’s lightning-fast brushstrokes and his superb technique.

Soon after, most were utterly captivated by his mesmerizing voice.

Although Bai Zhi is a female singer, her fanbase remains predominantly female, and consequently, the new arrivals were mostly women.

Meng Fan’s narrative tone carries a lethal charm for women; as for men, well, it might be just as lethal for a small portion of them—perhaps even more so than for most women!

Striking while the iron was hot, Meng Fan rushed to the Huanglong Sports Center the afternoon after his classes. He posted an announcement on his stream that he was going to watch Brother Shan Jin rehearse, though he didn’t promise that Su Qingcen would appear on camera.

As it turned out, broadcasting Su Qingcen’s rehearsal was impossible, given the confidentiality involved. However, Meng Fan treated his viewers to something even more spectacular: a live broadcast of himself having dinner and chatting with her!

The viewers in the chat all knew Meng Fan was a fan of Brother Shan Jin. They remembered him traveling from Hangzhou to Shanghai just to see her concert, followed by his infamous, infectious laughter during the show. Their most recent interaction had been Su Qingcen retweeting and congratulating him after he shattered the world record on the basketball arcade machine.

To the viewers, Meng Fan was undoubtedly a lucky fan—one who had used his own efforts to catch his idol’s eye, earn her recognition, and finally sit down to share a meal with her.

Envy was inevitable, but there was no jealousy; if anything, they found it rather inspiring.

This, they decided, was the correct way to chase after an idol. In the eyes of the viewers, Meng Fan had set a perfect example.

What is most important when chasing an idol?

It is to make yourself better!

What is an idol? It is someone who provides proper guidance to their fans, encouraging them to strive alongside them to become better versions of themselves.

Well, at least that is what the viewers believed.

If only they knew that the biggest reason Meng Fan could meet Su Qingcen and dine with her was that he had an older sister with even more clout than she had... ah, so much for the inspiration!

Meng Fan’s broadcast was actually quite brief. It began with the two of them appearing together at a restaurant, followed by Su Qingcen greeting the camera and answering a few suitable questions from the chat. It was little different from an interview, just a bit more casual.

Next came the conversation between Meng Fan and Su Qingcen. Meng Fan wasn’t naive; having watched Meng Caiwei’s long career, he knew exactly what could be discussed and what couldn’t. He maintained a perfect balance, keeping the topics strictly within the realm of what an idol could publicly share.

Moreover, Meng Fan was deeply attentive to his idol, naturally showcasing her best side—including her charming personality—to the viewers through their chat.

Truth be told, when Meng Fan put his mind to it, his emotional and social intelligence were well above average.

The stream ended once the food arrived; it wouldn’t do to broadcast the actual act of eating.

The following day, Meng Fan rushed to watch Bai Zhi’s rehearsal in the afternoon, practiced his own part once more, and then, at dinner time... he broadcasted his meal with Bai Zhi.

Another day passed, and the final dress rehearsal before Bai Zhi’s concert arrived.

During the rehearsal, the lighting and everything else were in place. Meng Fan had been there since the morning, focusing primarily on his stage movements, while the afternoon was reserved for a full run-through of the concert flow.

Su Qingcen was there, and so was Tao Tao. When they went to dinner after the rehearsal, they held another "eating broadcast," though this time the content wasn't just idle chatter; it was primarily to promote the concert starting at 7:30 the next evening.

One shouldn't think Bai Zhi was just giving Meng Fan face; this was a serious promotional effort. Even Bai Zhi found it hard to believe, but over these past few days, Meng Fan’s channel had inexplicably become one of the most important promotional windows for the concert.

Bai Zhi’s agency and the Huamao platform were promoting it too, but theirs was official, whereas Meng Fan’s channel had become a "hub for insider news," where all sorts of interesting, unofficial tidbits originated.

And it worked surprisingly well. A huge portion of the credit for the volume of the #BaiZhiConcertLive# topic on Weibo belonged to Meng Fan’s stream.

The number of concurrent viewers wasn't massive—only a few hundred thousand—but the video clips of the stream circulating on Weibo were numerous, with view counts and share rates far exceeding the live viewership numbers.

Meng Fan hadn't even thought of this; if Bai Zhi hadn't told him, he wouldn't have known at all!

For such unexpected gains, Meng Fan could only attribute it to his sheer presence.

The day of the concert, November 5th.

After his morning classes, Meng Fan headed to the Hangzhou Concert Hall. After dinner, there was one final rehearsal in the afternoon, mainly to test the on-site equipment.

By four in the afternoon, the backstage area was buzzing with activity. At five, Meng Fan began his makeup. He couldn't really resist this; he knew full well the difference makeup made on camera.

Don't think male stars don't wear makeup. Often, their makeup is even... heavier than that of female stars. This has nothing to do with being effeminate; even a "Wolf Warrior" has to wear makeup, just perhaps less delicately, all for the sake of the lens.

Meng Fan’s makeup was simple—just deepening his facial contours and defining his eyebrows. Yes, contours; Meng Fan’s face now had structure, his double chin was long gone, and if you looked closely, he even had sharp edges!

Meng Fan’s current image was already charming in reality, and on camera, thanks to his "camera presence" attribute, he was slowly becoming truly handsome.

After six in the evening, Qin Jiu drove to the girls' dormitory. She rolled down the window and asked the waiting girls, "Is everyone here? Four of you, it’ll be a tight squeeze."

Wu Tong, Wang Yanan, Wei Zhixue, and one other girl climbed into the car, and they headed toward the Hangzhou Concert Hall.

Meng Fan had asked Bai Zhi for five tickets. He gave three to his roommates, one to Wu Tong, and the last to Qin Jiu.

Because the "King of Trash Talk" Zhang Zhouwei had brandished his ticket to show off to Wang Yanan in an attempt to escape the library that night, the ticket in his hand had promptly ended up in hers.

Then, Wang Yanan sent a WeChat message to Chen Daqiang’s girlfriend, Wei Zhixue, and Chen Daqiang’s ticket was handed over as well.

As for Xing Tage, his current girlfriend didn't know Wang Yanan or Wei Zhixue, but he voluntarily gave her his ticket anyway. With Chen Daqiang and Zhang Zhouwei unable to go, he saw no point in going alone.