Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

After refreshing two videos both featuring the song "Fragrance of Rice", Xu Qingyan's first thought wasn't that his bro's piece had blown up, but that there must have been a bug in this damn app, right?

He checked the privacy settings to make sure he had blocked everyone he knew. After some thought, he simply started actively searching for the "Fragrance of Rice" duets.

After buffering for a while, four duet videos popped up.

All the publishers without exception were colleges that had bought the copyright, and the sales of "Fragrance of Rice" weren't high. It just so happened to coincide with the end of military training for college students, and it unexpectedly became popular.

Xinghai University, Bluebird University, Xing Normal University... these universities were all relatively close to each other. A bunch of brother schools, where the student leaders have some sort of schoolmates relationship to one another.

It just so happened to be the welcome party, and "Fragrance of Rice" was well-received for its intentions, and accidentally got chosen.

He watched the other two videos, and both had a decent number of likes. One was a finger dance, and the other was a sign language version, both having comments and shares exceeding two thousand.

This was just the data for one night. Continue to push it for a few more days, and the data could probably triple.

After logging into the backend to check the sales data, this song had now hit roughly 350,000 in sales, leaving him with about 120,000 to 130,000 after taxes.

As a complete amateur and non-exclusive, to be able to get this amount after the platform's cut was already considered a very high income.

Each music website pays out on different dates, and if the assets that he hadn't yet received were also counted, not including what he gave to his family, he would've crossed a net worth of over a million by now.

So far, he had sold a total of eight songs. He gave one to Lin Wanzhou, who in return, registered as a musician and was compelled to release his debut work.

It's no exaggeration to say that if someone else wrote the same eight songs, making 600,000 would be tough. Most would have been bought out by some small company, and then merrily they would continue to transcribe music at their desks.

Fame, status, growth, breaking even—all would be challenging.

This world isn't an ivory tower, and there aren't that many kind-hearted folks around. A newcomer with no background, holding a few good songs, can get swindled to the point of losing everything, even the shirt on their back.

Join a big company up front, or struggle starting from a small workshop. Face round after round of plagiarism and copyright infringement, either silently endure or find out lawsuits are futile.

These were things Xu Qingyan never worried about; he found the right people from the start. Now, not only is he a partner to two little divas, but he's also entangled in a close personal relationship with both of them.

Partner, friend, ambiguous love interest, childhood sweetheart, meal-sharing buddy—he couldn't be defined by just one relationship.

Deep down, Xu Qingyan also had his answer: on one hand was the contrast queen, on the other, his childhood sweetheart. His choice was... to be an undefined postgraduate student!

Weibo! Activate!

"Almost forgot to check-in for Super Topics, that was close," he murmured while hunched over the computer.

It seemed his words were heard, as the clicking of the mouse at the opposite desk ceased. Pei Muchan turned to look at him curiously and couldn't help asking.

"Whose Super Topic?"

"Uh, Lin Chuan's. Didn't I sell him a song last time?" Xu Qingyan instinctively corrected himself, "Had nothing to gift him, so I gave him a seven-day check-in package for Super Topic."

Pei Muchan: "You're really quite idle."

"Yeah," Xu Qingyan replied absently, clicking to complete the Super Topic sign-in.

After browsing for a bit, he realized that half of the pinned posts were his. He suddenly felt like laughing; the world really was one big farce.

In the end, it was all because Ji Chen's fan circle was too chaotic. Those who liked Xinghai were mostly foolish girls with more money than sense, entirely flocking there for Ji Chen's face.

The fan circle kept growing bigger and had almost become independent, forming a separate little ecosystem.

The top fans and managers lorded over all other fans, capable of deciding the fate of a fan with a wave of their hand. Lower-level fans faced bullying and had no choice but to please or join in.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and what's more, backed by a big idol, a simple crowdfunding could reach an astronomical figure. Sprinkling millions around like water, how could it not tempt the heart.

The upper management had abundant talents, while below them were the little fans waiting to be harvested. Middle-tier workers were few and far between; most of them young women in their twenties.

A group of steeds trained by universities, used to the ways of the student council, habitually addressing each other with 'Sister xxx'. They've all become shrewd, so who still wants to do the work?

When Xu Qingyan appeared, he was like a breath of fresh air amidst palace intrigue.

Even though "Pigeon Doesn't Eat Coriander" Sister Yu Yu was temperamental and proud, she actually got work done. No one expected major management to promote "Pigeon" to the major management group.

For those middle-layer managers who hadn't seen much of the world, this was tantamount to ascending to heaven in broad daylight. They weren't angered, but instead got more excited, with dreams of becoming a manager one day.

Not to talk about commanding the wind and rain, but managing a few Copper Coin moneybag groups was feasible. On one hand was the lure of power, and on the other, being a manager had tangible benefits.

At the top of the real fan circle, people generally lose interest in the idol himself.

Xu Qingyan, undercover for many a day, saw their attitudes and tones in group chats and private group conversations. He quickly understood something.

The ones who could make Ji Chen's world crumble, yet least wished for it to happen, were these very managers. And yet, everyone was not very secretive, occasionally gossiping about the idol himself.

After more than a week of promoting articles through marketing accounts, there ought to have been some reaction by now.

Resting his head on one hand, utterly bored, he clicked into a post. Scrolling down a bit, he unexpectedly saw a few sarcastic comments that hadn't been deleted by the management.