111: Internet celebrities are switching jobs

Soon, the internet celebrities at Xingyao Media suddenly discovered that their backend was eerily quiet.

Videos that normally got thousands of likes per minute suddenly had almost no engagement!

The viewer counts in each Internet Celebrity's livestream also gradually dwindled from tens of thousands to just thousands, then hundreds!

"Tao Tao, what's going on this afternoon? Why did the traffic suddenly vanish?"

"I don't know either. I posted a video at noon. Normally it would get tens of thousands of likes! Today it only got 200!"

"I only made 50 bucks from my livestream this afternoon! There were only 20 people in the room!"

"It's so strange. It seems like none of us sisters have any traffic."

"I didn't violate any rules either! I even covered my cleavage with tissue paper!"

...The livestream department at Xingyao Media suddenly erupted into chaos.

With just one phone call from Lin Zhengtian, the TikTok traffic adjustment had taken effect!

Given Lin Zhengtian's power, he could ensure Xingyao Media received zero promotion for the next three days!

Don't underestimate just three days; it was absolutely terrifying!

Xingyao Media was at the peak of its popularity. This sudden traffic restriction was essentially cutting off the income streams of all its internet celebrities!

You have to understand, internet memory is incredibly short!

No matter how viral you are, if you get no promotion for three days, you can basically be declared finished!

Because TikTok quickly pushes out new content; a constant stream of fresh news is enough to make netizens forget all about Xingyao Media's hype.

Who would pay attention to a tiny little media company?

And those viral videos like Cao Lang's DJing...

were just one among countless music videos, nothing particularly special. Soon, new 'trick masters' would dominate TikTok, and everyone's attention would shift.

At this very moment, the Internet Celebrity company under the Qin Group was actively poaching talent from Xingyao Media!

Their benefits package was surprisingly identical to Xingyao Media's: not only high salaries and high commissions, but also social insurance and housing fund!

Tao Tao received a message from a Headhunter right then.

"Hello Tao Tao, I'm an HR representative from Qins Media. We greatly admire your livestreaming skills. Would you be interested in joining our company? We can discuss the salary details."

It wasn't just Tao Tao; Qiao Qiaozi, Jiang Xiaofan, Mingbao Is Well-Behaved, Lobster, Remained Alone, Tun Tun—they all received recruitment messages from Qins Media Headhunters!

Livestream department.

Everyone was heatedly discussing the sudden traffic loss!

"Ugh, this is so annoying! Without traffic, is my livestreaming career over?"

"I don't know why, but my followers can't see my videos on their 'Following' page anymore. They can only find me by searching my name..."

"Do you think... maybe our boss offended some big shot?"

"Xingyao Media got too popular too fast. Someone must be unhappy about it..."

These internet celebrities had been in the TikTok game for years; they'd heard some rumors from the grapevine.

Real capital can block anyone, any organization!

And as internet celebrities, their true reliance wasn't the media company Xingyao Media, but the big tree that was TikTok itself.

Because it's easy to stay cool under a big tree's shade.

To put it bluntly, as long as you have traffic, even a pig could make money!

Without traffic, even if you were the most beautiful woman in five thousand years, no one would appreciate you!

Li Na also noticed this sudden development!

In her CEO office, she was looking over various reports and information from different channels.

She finally came to a conclusion!

This was a premeditated business war!

They were clearly targeting Xingyao Media!

You can't get a share of the pie in the entertainment industry, and you won't get one in the Internet Celebrity livestreaming field either!

They're determined to crush you!

Li Na calmed down and tried every way to contact TikTok's upper management to get a clear answer.

But the other side claimed it was a normal market reaction and they had no right to interfere with the algorithm's recommendations!

That was complete bullshit!

Why would the algorithm specifically target Xingyao Media?

But Xingyao Media was just a creator on the platform; they had absolutely no power to intervene in the platform's decisions!

Although Li Na didn't accept this explanation in her heart, the final say was in their hands. There was nothing she could do!

For now, she could only focus on stabilizing her employees.

Li Na immediately decided to let everyone leave work early today and return tomorrow. Everyone should go home and rest first.

The female internet celebrities whispered among themselves, discussing the changes in the company.

Tao Tao was wearing a new, tight-fitting white dress she had just bought. She had planned to cash in on her popularity today, but ended up with nothing... Qiao Qiaozi sidled up to her, her prominent peaks drawing attention, and whispered, "Tao Tao, did you get a message from Qins Media?"

"I did."

Tao Tao replied without changing her expression.

"What are you thinking?"

"Let's go home. We'll see if the traffic comes back tomorrow."

It wasn't just these two; the other internet celebrities were also secretly exchanging opinions... The next day.

The entire Xingyao Media still had zero traffic!

The group of internet celebrities started to panic. Normally, the moment they started a livestream, hundreds of people would be online instantly, and the numbers would reach thousands within minutes.

This current desolation made them extremely uncomfortable!

By now, some had already started considering jumping ship.

"I figured it out! As long as you're associated with Xingyao Media, you get no traffic!"

Someone finally broke the silence.

"Then what do we do? We just signed contracts; we can't breach them."

"Did you forget? Our contracts don't have sky-high penalty clauses. If we don't want to work here anymore, at worst we just lose this month's salary." someone quietly reminded.

Back when Xingyao Media was showing goodwill, the contracts indeed had no hidden clauses. Professional lawyers had confirmed this for them.

"But wouldn't that be unethical... A company this decent is hard to find."

"How much is decency worth, sister? If you can't get any traffic here and only make a few thousand a month, will they even pay you that 50,000 yuan base salary?"

This question was very realistic!

If an employee's created value is far less than their salary, why would the company still pay you a base salary?

Xingyao Media might even go bankrupt in a month!

"Then... I'll wait and see a bit longer. If it's still like this in a few days, I'll make a decision then..."

"I don't want to wait. I'm resigning this afternoon. This place isn't for me!"

Li Na was overwhelmed. She couldn't get any share in the entertainment industry, and just as the Internet Celebrity livestreaming business was taking off, it hit a major setback!

She had no idea when the traffic would return to normal. What if it stayed like this forever?

Should they still pay the base salaries?

...Soon, the head of the HR department called Li Na.

"CEO Li, over twenty female internet celebrities want to resign now. Should we try to delay them? I'm worried it will create a bad precedent and cause everyone to follow suit and leave."

Li Na was troubled; she couldn't make a decision easily either.

She asked the HR head to wait and said she'd reply shortly.

Li Na turned to Cao Lang for help again.

"CEO Cao... It's my incompetence. Our Internet Celebrity venture has run into trouble again..."

Li Na's voice was full of frustration. Ever since taking over the company Cao Lang bought for her, nothing had gone smoothly! And she kept causing trouble for Cao Lang.

Cao Lang listened, unfazed.

He gave the same response he did during the actor contract terminations.

"Anyone who wants to leave can get out now! We don't need employees like that! For those willing to stay, the benefits remain unchanged. We're not afraid of losing money; we need to think bigger!"

Hearing Cao Lang's domineering reply, Li Na's eyes welled up, tears nearly spilling out.

Her heart was filled to the brim with the immense sense of security Cao Lang provided! It felt solid! Comforting!

Cao Lang had already guessed that this was a joint scheme by Lins Group and the Qin Group.

He couldn't care less how many internet celebrities resigned.

Did they think his 'system bro' was just for show?

The more you spend, the less money you have. The more I spend, the more money I get.

How do you even compete with that?

And as for TikTok, I wasn't planning to compete with you in the first place!

Cao Lang made a call to Jiang Mengyuan:

"Hey, how's the plan I asked you to prepare coming along?"

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