Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

Shijingshan, Taishan Live Streaming Guild.

This was Chen Pingsheng's first visit here, and he received a warm welcome from Chang Fu.

After clapping his hands in the hall, he gestured for the group of streaming hostesses to stop their work for a moment.

"Let me introduce someone to everyone, this is my brother, and also a major shareholder in our company," Chang Fu said.

Chen Pingsheng stopped him from making a fuss with those unnecessary formalities.

He had a total of twelve female streamers here.

All with good figures, some of them looked average, but after applying a level ten beautifying filter, each one of them became stunning beauties.

Chang Fu took him to meet the top earner of the guild, who was in the number one streaming room.

"Old Chen, this is my ace here, she's called Qiao, and she dances a truly seductive dance," Chang Fu said.

Chang Fu whispered in his ear, "This woman has several big clients; just last month, one guy alone recharged more than three hundred thousand for her."

Currently, there weren't any live-commerce activities, so the income of these female streamers mainly came from tips.

Then it would be split with the platform.

Seventy percent to the guild, thirty percent to the platform.

If the streamers ended up with half in their hands, they were doing well.

Qiao had a great figure and long hair. Her dancing was not particularly professional, but it felt very sexy to the viewer.

According to Chang Fu, those who tipped the female streamers actually didn't have much money.

Most of them were from rural areas.

Chen Pingsheng was somewhat surprised, wondering how hard it could be to earn money in rural areas.

And to spend several hundred thousand on a streamer in a single month?

Were their brains filled with holes?

Although these people made him money, he didn't really like this way of earning it.

If it were someone like himself, even spending ten million a month wouldn't be a big deal.

But the key point was, people from rural areas only made that much after a whole year of hard work.

"Brother, don't pity those people, really," Chang Fu said.

Chang Fu explained, "Even if they don't spend it here, they will just go and tip some other streamer."

"It's not about pity, it just seems a bit foolish," Chen Pingsheng said.

Chen Pingsheng asked him, "So just by dancing a little seductively in front of the camera, the streamers can get them to tip?"

"Of course not, if it were just dancing, they wouldn't earn much at all," Chang Fu replied.

Chang Fu elaborated, "There's also a private chat group. After Qiao and the others finish streaming, someone would manage their accounts from these chat groups, adding those who sent gifts, and then chat with them."

"As you know, the number of singles in society is increasing, and they come to the streaming rooms seeking some emotional comfort; the chat group is exactly for creating this feeling of being in a relationship," Chang Fu explained.

"Once they have this feeling, they're willing to spend the money."

Chang Fu knew very well that the things he did would not be acceptable among Chen Pingsheng's other companies.

It was even something he was embarrassed to talk about.

But this was what he was good at. How did that saying go?

If the fools aren't spending their money here, they'll just spend it elsewhere.

So there was nothing more to say about it.

He wasn't doing anything illegal; earning money legitimately was just a bit shameful to discuss.

That's just how the streaming industry was at the moment.

And there was nothing he could do to change it.

Chen Pingsheng glanced at the people in the chat group, thinking that calling them toe-curling big guys was definitely an exaggeration.

They were all young guys.

Those who topped the tipping charts, if they knew that the ones flirting with them behind the scenes were these young fellows, I wonder if they would be furious enough to spit blood.

The streamers were actually just responsible for showing their faces during the live broadcast, the private chatting was handled by specific people.

Chang Fu felt his guild was relatively moderate, as some smaller guilds out there were more outrageous.

Streamers often invited those top tippers to participate in activities.

As for what those activities entailed, well, adults could guess.

If they didn't give a little sweetness, even the dumbest person wouldn't keep tipping, right?

Ultimately, it was because society was lacking genuine love now.

That's why many people would come onto the internet willing to spend a fortune seeking consolation.

Chen Pingsheng felt that anyone with even a slightly sound mind wouldn't spend the money they worked so hard to earn on these female streamers.

They, the never-fulfilled voids.

Chen Pingsheng no longer cared about his live streaming business and changed the subject,

"When are you and Yang Qian getting married?"

"By the end of the year,"

Chang Fu said, "She doesn't want to go back home to hold the wedding. She prefers to keep it low-key in Capital City."

For a divorced woman, that is pretty normal.

Chen Pingsheng nodded, "When you two have your wedding, I'll give you my wife's red F12."

She now has a LaFerrari and a Phantom convertible. The F12 basically hasn't been driven much.

"Heh, that'd be really nice."

Chang Fu made him a cup of tea and sat down, saying, "My wife Yang Qian also often talks about your company. She likes it there; it's easygoing. My place just can't compare, and the money earned is a bit unspeakable. Anyway, I'm really grateful to you for helping me settle in Capital City."

"Why mention those things?"

Chen Pingsheng said, "We used to fight and mess around together as kids. You should buy a house in Capital City by now. If you're still short of money, I can lend you a few million first."

"Forget it, you've already offered the car, and the investment for the company came from you too. If I let you pay for my house purchase as well, that'd be really incompetent."

Chang Fu's income from the live streaming guild was quite substantial—easily three to four million a year.

With his wife Yang Qian's earnings too, the couple could easily make five or six million a year—a very decent life in Capital City.

Chen Pingsheng didn't stay with him too long; the live broadcasting business still wasn't big at the moment.

In the future, it might grow and develop many legit and bright ways to make money.

Who could say for sure about the future?

He visited Tengying Entertainment next, where for the past half month, he hadn't invested in any film or TV projects.

The number of filmmakers coming to him seeking investment had noticeably diminished.

He also realized that, in both TV and film, aside from the few that break through on their own merit, the success often depends on the lead actors.

Take Zhao Liying, for example. It seemed like any script she picked up made money.

As for the traffic stars, those were the biggest film project investments he'd recently come across.

It was called "Magic City Fortress."

Just the investment cost alone was 360 million, and they came to him asking for a 100 million investment.

They boasted extravagantly of a guaranteed box office of 3 billion.

They planned to use the hottest traffic star as the lead, whose Weibo following was claimed to be a hundred million.

According to their calculations, with the fanbase power of the traffic lead, selling one ticket per fan would bring forty billion at the box office.

He scanned the project with his movie profitability analysis function.

The investment return rate was an astonishingly high 5%.

What does that mean? Investing a hundred million would only bring back about five million, including the principal.

Ninety-five million would just vanish into thin air.

Saying it was a complete loss was no exaggeration.

This was about a movie. There was also a TV series in question, starring a female lead with even higher clout than Yang Mi.

The investment was also extremely high—two or three hundred million.

When he checked it with the TV series profitability analysis function,

He was shocked.

The investment return rate was 0%.

What does that mean? All investments wiped out. It only happens under one circumstance—that the TV series got produced but couldn't air normally.

Permanently banned.

Considering that the female lead is known as a bigshot in the entertainment industry, with her own wealthy background,

It was laughable to think about.

At least Chen Pingsheng himself felt he was still nowhere near the wealthy class.

Could someone who supposedly slept their way to big resources have more power than him?

No way.

In the past half month, he had encountered all kinds of film crews.

Some people brought over famously sexy female leads to ask for his investment.

Others boldly demanded hefty funds just by bringing in a traffic star.

Upon checking, the highest investment return rate was only 90%.

And the female lead of that movie was none other than Fairy Sister Liu Yifei.

Honestly, if any movie starring Fairy Sister didn't lose money, he'd have definitely invested out of childhood affection for her.

But no matter how beautiful, if she made him lose money, he wouldn't hesitate to pass.

Keep in mind, only a 100% return rate is considered breaking even, and only above that can he make a profit.

Chen Pingsheng felt he needed to change his investment strategy. With so many scripts in the entertainment industry each year, Golden Finger could only analyze one per day.

Finding a profitable production was also quite a matter of luck.