37: Chapter 37 successfully broke out of its niche and became a viral hit.
The group chatted while Livestreaming, and soon arrived at their destination.
Ah Min didn't drive them to the hotel, but instead dropped them off at a sour soup beef hot pot restaurant.
Cao Mo, Tong Jingchen, and Tian Jiu got out of the car, while Ah Min waited inside.
Inside the restaurant, Zhilong, Ying Xiaojie, Wang Ziyan, Zisheng, Xiao Er, and Wen Bin were also there.
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Today was another "Arhat gathering".
As expected, except for special circumstances, men prefer to be with other men.
"Oh! Brother Yi is here, we've been waiting for you to start the feast!" Ying Xiaojie said.
"Brother Jie, stop that!" Cao Mo replied.
Zhilong stood up, pulled out the chair opposite him, and said fawningly: "Come, Brother Yi and the boss, take the seats of honor."
Cao Mo and Tong Jingchen sat down at the table, and Wang Ziyan immediately picked up the liquor and poured it for Cao Mo.
As Wang Ziyan poured the liquor for Cao Mo, he said: "Here! Master Mo, let me fill it up for you."
"Wang Ziyan, so you're only pouring for Cao Mo and not for me, huh!" Tong Jingchen said with a smile.
"My Master Mo is on the same platform as me, you're just from Gouya, and you want me, a noble Douyin streamer, to pour you a drink?" Wang Ziyan replied.
"Heh! Fine, fine, fine! My friend, you are so realistic!" Tong Jingchen said, pointing at Wang Ziyan with a smile.
The audience in the Livestream Room was amused by this scene:
"Hahahaha!"
"A-Dou is trying to recognize a new father again!"
"Lu Bu is about to recognize a new foster father."
"Hahahaha! Is my friend really that realistic!"
"Brother Mo is about to usurp the throne."
"Brother Mo can take the throne, let's start a new 798!"
"Worthy of being Lu Bu! Hahahaha!"
"Zhilong's position as Brother Yi has been taken! If not for Cao Mo, Zhilong would definitely be the number one male streamer under the 'Six Sons'."
"Is 'Licking Dragon' going to lick two people now?"
"How long has it been since I last watched? Is this newcomer that badass now? Already calling him 'Master'?"
This was naturally just for show. Just as Wang Ziyan was about to pour liquor for Tong Jingchen, Tong Jingchen covered his glass and said: "No, you don't need to pour! Don't ever appear in my Livestream Room again, you hear me, you noble Douyin streamer."
"Oh! Brother, that was all a joke, I am forever loyal to you." Wang Ziyan pushed aside Tong Jingchen's hand and said.
Tong Jingchen said to Wen Bin: "Tripod, don't film A-Dou during tomorrow's group Livestreaming, you hear me? Our HY Livestream Room isn't worthy!"
"OK! OK!" Wen Bin immediately agreed.
"Brother, I'll punish myself with a drink." Wang Ziyan immediately picked up his glass and downed the liquor inside in one gulp.
"What does you punishing yourself have to do with me!" Tong Jingchen remained unrelenting.
Although their dialogue made it seem like Tong Jingchen was angry, everyone present and most of the audience in the Livestream Room knew that the brothers were just joking around.
At this moment, Ying Xiaojie spoke up to break the tension: "The pot is boiling, put in the beef, put in the beef!"
As they put the beef in, Cao Mo looked at Tong Jingchen and asked: "Brother Tong, when does it start tomorrow?"
"It's already past midnight. We'll go to the village this afternoon, then assign rooms, and the group Livestreaming event will officially begin tomorrow." Tong Jingchen replied.
"Actually, it starts tomorrow!" Zhilong said.
"Is there going to be another bag search?" Zisheng asked.
"We're having a late-night snack, no discussing the show, and no spoilers. We're Livestreaming!" Tong Jingchen said.
"Drink! Drink!" Cao Mo stood up and raised his glass.
"Brother Yi, sit down, if you stand up, we all have to stand up." Zhilong said as he stood up.
"Sit, sit, sit." Tong Jingchen pulled Cao Mo back down.
Everyone clinked glasses and downed the liquor in one gulp.
This late-night snack ended a little after one o'clock, as it was getting too late.
The hotel wasn't far from here, so they arrived back at the hotel right at 1:30.
The company had already booked a room for Cao Mo.
Cao Mo carried a large suitcase back to his room, then took out his pajamas to wash up.
Cao Mo had brought several sets of clothes, but mostly various seasonings and some easy-to-carry ingredients.
Since he had promised to cook a delicious meal for the people in the group Livestreaming, Cao Mo naturally had to take it seriously.
But with so many people in the group Livestreaming, this task was quite challenging.
After showering and changing into pajamas, he lay on the bed and, as per his routine, took out his phone to check Douyin.
Douyin follower count: 1.813 million.
Even at this late hour, Cao Mo still gained tens of thousands of followers, which shows his current popularity; breaking two million would happen today.
Satisfied, Cao Mo put his phone on charge, placed it on the nightstand, and closed his eyes to sleep.
10:30 AM.
Waking up, Cao Mo habitually reached for the phone charging on the nightstand.
There was another pile of messages on WeChat.
Cao Mo took a look; it was a bunch of messages from Lei Wenjing.
First, there were a bunch of screenshots.
The first of these screenshots was of the number one spot on the Douyin Music Chart.
The second screenshot was of the third and fifth spots on the Douyin Trending Chart.
The third spot on the trending chart was a video of Cao Mo Singing "the old man and the sea".
The fifth spot on the trending chart was titled "Cao Mo's Talent". Clicking into this trending topic, it was full of videos of Cao Mo playing various instruments, Singing, as well as his original single "the old man and the sea".
The third screenshot was of the sixth and eleventh spots on the Weibo Trending Search.
The content was similar to the Douyin Trending Chart.
Cao Mo had indeed broken out of the niche relying on his talent, looks, and "the old man and the sea".
The popularity was still fermenting; today, Cao Mo had a chance to hit the number one spot on the Douyin Trending Chart and the top three on the Weibo Trending Search.
Douyin also seemed to have started truly valuing Cao Mo, and began pushing a large amount of traffic to him.
Therefore, when Cao Mo checked his backend, his Douyin followers had already exceeded two million.
It was currently 2.016 million.
At 2:00 AM, it was only 1.81 million, but now, just eight and a half hours later, it had already exceeded two million.
Thus, it was evident that Cao Mo had truly begun to take off.
In addition to these screenshots, Lei Wenjing also told Cao Mo that quite a few business collaborations had already reached out to him.
Cao Mo's Douyin account was about to open a showcase, and Lei Wenjing had helped Cao Mo filter out the two most sincere merchants from the many business collaborations—one selling sunglasses, and one selling shoes.
The sunglasses brand wasn't a major one, named Yunguang Glasses, while the shoes were actually quite famous, named Tom Cat, focusing on being accessible and affordable.
In addition to having these two brands' products on his showcase, both brands also invited Cao Mo to be their brand ambassador and offered a substantial endorsement fee.
There was no helping it, who told Cao Mo to be so handsome! He was just too perfect to be a brand ambassador, and he didn't have the price tag of those top-tier celebrities.
These merchants also knew that Cao Mo had great potential, possessed top-tier looks, outstanding talent, and creative ability, and could remain popular for the next decade.
Most importantly, when Cao Mo had only hundreds of thousands of followers, his Livestream Room already had tens of thousands of viewers, which showed that his fan stickiness was very strong.
In addition, major music platforms had also reached out, wanting the streaming rights to Cao Mo's song.
Once Cao Mo returned from the group Livestreaming, he would be able to reap a large sum of money, and by then, he would truly be financially comfortable.