"Please understand, everyone. We’re just starting out and aren’t exactly wealthy, so we can’t afford to pay more."

Happiness is always fleeting. The three-day shoot passed in a flash. On the final afternoon, Li Xiang saw off his classmates, giving each of them a small red envelope containing a single hundred-yuan bill.

"Don’t worry about it! We had a great time. Getting paid is just the icing on the cake. We hope we can work together again soon."

"We hope it blows up! Keep it up, Brother Xiang!"

"Bye, everyone! See you at school tomorrow!"

After sending off their classmates, Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er shared a smile. They returned to work on post-production, which involved video editing, special effects, and adding subtitles—bilingual ones, in both Chinese and English.

’Besides, adding subtitles isn’t that hard, and having them in both Chinese and English makes it look more impressive. What if someone reposts it on an international site?’

In addition to the main feature, the two also put together a blooper reel. It was full of scenes where the cast broke character and burst out laughing. After all, none of them were professional actors, so it was often hard to keep a straight face.

They also made a video of everyone eating "big pot rice" together, which had a very slice-of-life feel.

In Li Xiang’s backyard, several tables were set out. People sat or stood, holding large bowls and digging in, chatting and laughing all the while. The fragrant dishes looked absolutely mouth-watering.

It was worth noting that Li Xiang’s action scenes required no special effects. In fact, even after adding effects to some of the other students’ fight scenes, they still didn’t look as good as Li Xiang’s natural, unedited performance.

You had to admit, having a real foundation in martial arts made a huge difference.

Luckily, Li Xiang was the protagonist. The other characters, especially the male supporting roles, weren’t as important.

As soon as these videos were released, they blew up all over again.

A fan commented, "Short dramas are usually so brain-dead, but this one is actually really interesting. The plot, the dialogue, the character portrayals... you can tell the actors really put their hearts into it."

"The costumes, makeup, and props are a little lacking, but you can’t argue with how good-looking the young actors are."

"Damn, for real. Brother Xiang, where did you find all these handsome guys and gorgeous girls?"

"Sichuan-Yu Tyrannosaurus? Why do they all have that cutesy ’pincer’ voice? It’s weirdly pleasant to listen to."

"Even the villains are so adorable."

"I think the costumes are fine, but the swords are terrible. You can tell they’re fake just by looking at them."

Li Xiang replied, "We couldn’t help it. Everything was very rushed, and a lot of things weren’t properly prepared. We appreciate your understanding." ’If only I’d bought them online earlier,’ he thought. ’It would’ve been even more convenient if we were near Hengdian. We probably could have just rented them instead of buying.’

"Brother Xiang is so handsome! He has an even stronger presence than the Golden Snake Young Master, but he’s just as much of a scumbag."

"How is he a scumbag? He hasn’t done anything scummy yet!"

"He’s about to be! Why else would they use a title like ’Devoured by a Myriad of Vipers’? But that’s exactly what we’re waiting for. I can’t wait to see the protagonist suffer, haha!"

A fan worried, "This short series isn’t going to become pay-to-watch at the end, is it?"

Li Xiang quickly replied, "No, it won’t."

’Right now, I’m purely in it for the traffic. There’s no way I’d start charging. I only have a handful of fans, how could I dare to charge them?’

Seeing this, the fans were relieved. They promised to continue supporting him and said they would leave some tips or send small virtual gifts when he went live.

...

In just a few short days, Li Xiang’s social media account’s follower count skyrocketed from over 70,000, breaking through the 100,000 milestone!

Seeing the number "skyrocket," the weight on Li Xiang’s mind was finally lifted. ’The "high-cost production" was a success! The ten-thousand-yuan investment was worth it!’

’Besides, the costumes, props, and fake jewelry can all be reused for future projects.’

Some of the clothes had torn because of the cheap fabric, but Granny Li Xiang said she could mend them. And surprisingly, they looked pretty good after she patched them up. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Almost everyone in the village was following Li Xiang’s account and had seen his latest videos. They thought to themselves that the videos were surprisingly well-made.

There was just one issue. Sure, his follower count was rising, but what was the use of that? He hadn’t made back that nearly ten thousand yuan he’d spent.

Many of the village elders shook their heads and sighed. They felt they needed to find a chance to speak with Granny Li Xiang and ask her to reason with her grandson. Even if he had money, he couldn’t just burn through it like that.

"Let’s all go together tomorrow. If there are more of us, our words will carry more weight. I’m sure Auntie will listen." The "Auntie" they were referring to was Granny Li Xiang.

DING!

Li Xiang received a private message on his social media account. It was from a fan.

To his surprise, the person wanted to collaborate with him. "Brother Xiang, I saw you broke one hundred thousand followers and I’m genuinely happy for you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is He Zhixiang. I’m a coffee merchant from Yunnan Province. I operate my own coffee plantation of over 13,000 mu, with an annual output of more than 3,500 tons of coffee beans. In addition to selling coffee, I’ve recently opened a coffee-themed hotel that combines dining, lodging, coffee-tasting experiences, and educational workshops. Since the new location is just opening, I was hoping to hire you for an advertisement. I was wondering if you’d be interested?"

"What are your rates?" Li Xiang typed back.

After a moment, the man replied with a price: "A 60-second ad for 4,000 yuan. I’ve asked around, and that should be a fair rate."

The man had done his research. For an account with 100,000 followers, the typical ad fee was between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan. His offer of 4,000 was perfectly reasonable.

Li Xiang paused for a moment before replying, "You should know that while my account only has 100,000 followers, my engagement rate is extremely high. You can see that from the number of comments and likes on my videos. Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched my livestreams, but my concurrent viewership is far beyond that of a typical account with 100,000 followers."

"Then name your price. If I can accept it, I’ll consider it."

Li Xiang: "8,000."

He had expected to scare the man off, but to his surprise, the reply came back almost instantly: "Deal! Should I transfer the money to you directly?"

Li Xiang was stunned. "You’re not going to wait to see the quality of the ad first?" ’What if I just slap something together and rip you off?’

"Haha, I’m one of your biggest fans! I even bought Black Truffles from you before. I trust you. I get the sense that you’re a very genuine person."

In reality, He Zhixiang had his reasons. First, Li Xiang had a valid point. Second, 8,000 yuan was a trivial amount to him. And third, if the 8,000-yuan ad delivered value for money, he was determined to deepen his collaboration with Li Xiang.

He had a gut feeling that Li Xiang was going to be huge one day. If he could build a good working relationship with him now, while he was still starting out, it would pay off handsomely down the line.

He was a fairly successful businessman, and he had his own standards for judging people’s character.

"It’s a deal. A pleasure doing business with you."

The two exchanged contact information, since private messages were too inconvenient. Then, the man took the initiative to call and chat with Li Xiang.

Judging by his voice, the man had a rugged personality. His laugh was booming, and he apparently loved to sing, as he serenaded Li Xiang with a song right then and there on the phone.

To be honest, it made Li Xiang feel a little awkward. ’I mean, this is our first time talking. We barely know each other.’

But as far as He Zhixiang was concerned, he and Li Xiang were old friends. He had been following Li Xiang for a long time, ever since his very first video about digging for Black Truffles.

"Little Brother, I’m a few years your senior, so I’ll take the liberty of calling you that. I happen to be on a business trip in Rongcheng right now. I’ll bring some people and stop by for a visit tomorrow. We can chat more in person. I have some ideas for the ad, and we can figure out how to best integrate it into your videos."

"I look forward to your visit!"

He Zhixiang thought for a moment, then added, "It doesn’t seem quite right for me to make a trip all the way over there just for one ad. How about we make it two? 16,000 yuan. I’ll give you the cash in person when we meet, every last cent."

Li Xiang was speechless. ’...’ ’I’ve really run into a big shot. What a spender.’