Chapter Thirty-Seven: Unable to Connect? There’s Definitely Something Fishy!

The music charts in October were far less competitive than in August and September. Since it was National Day month, the rankings featured a number of patriotic songs. Generally, renowned singers avoided releasing new tracks during this period, steering clear of competing with the red-themed songs. Winning wouldn’t be ideal, and losing would be even worse.

Wang Mo felt a subtle stir in his heart. “In this red month, ‘Dragon Scales of Heaven and Earth’ would also be quite fitting for release.” But after considering it, he abandoned the idea. Firstly, his current focus was on streaming. Secondly, releasing ‘Dragon Scales of Heaven and Earth’ rashly would be wasteful. He needed to find the right opportunity to maximize the song’s impact.

The next morning at work, Wang Mo was surprised to find a cup of soy milk and two large meat buns on his desk as usual. “What’s this?” He looked puzzled—Su Xueyao was supposed to be attending an event; who brought breakfast? Could it be that some girl in the company secretly admired him? It made sense, given his dashing charm, handsome elegance, and refined demeanor. If a few girls weren’t secretly in love with him, it would be unrealistic.

But soon, Wang Mo realized that both the soy milk and meat buns tasted familiar. Beneath the buns was an order slip from a delivery service. “Hmm?” He thought for a moment and dialed the number on the slip. “Hello, I’d like to ask about the breakfast delivery to Yunhai Media, Building X, Floor X. Did your shop send it?”

The staff replied, “Yes.” Wang Mo asked, “Who ordered the delivery?” The staff answered, “A girl named ‘Susu’ subscribed to our monthly breakfast package, instructing us to deliver breakfast to you every day. If you have any special requests, feel free to let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.”

“No requests for now,” Wang Mo replied, hanging up and blinking. As expected, it was Su Xueyao’s doing. She had already paid, so he could only accept it with reluctant gratitude.

It was the tenth day of the month. At ten in the morning, his phone buzzed with an alert: “Your savings card ending in 1314 received a salary deposit at 10:01 on October 10th. Amount: 310,188.89 yuan. Balance: 351,878.13 yuan.”

His September earnings were 310,000 yuan, close to what he’d estimated. Adding in the 100,000 yuan reward for ‘Invisible Wings’ making the top ten of the new song chart, after lending money and covering basic expenses, he now had 350,000 yuan in his account.

“Beautiful!” Wang Mo snapped his fingers in delight. His villa’s monthly mortgage was around 450,000 yuan, meaning once ‘Invisible Wings’ income soared next month, his monthly earnings should exceed 500,000 yuan. The mortgage would no longer be a problem.

His villa was saved!

At the same time, Hao Mingxing, resting in a hotel, stared at his pay slip in a daze. His September income: 483,500 yuan. An amount he could never have imagined before. Even as a newcomer, with an extremely high company cut, his commercial performances and appearances had been nonstop, landing him tens of thousands in earnings—more than Wang Mo.

After all, Hao Mingxing’s main income came from commercial events. The split for these, after the company’s share, was 8:2 between singer and songwriter, with the singer taking eighty percent.

“So much money…” Hao Mingxing turned to his agent. “Brother Zheng, how’s the matter I asked you to handle last time?”

Agent Zheng Lai replied, “Generally, a celebrity hoping for a good reputation uses the most common method: charity. Charity comes in many forms—donating money, supplies, helping special groups, building Hope Schools. According to your wishes, you want to keep it discreet but achieve the best reputation. Donating to build a Hope School is the best choice.”

“How much does it cost to build a school?” Hao Mingxing asked.

“In remote areas, a donation of over 200,000 yuan can establish a Hope Primary School, and local government will match some funds. But if you want the school to bear the donor’s name, you usually need to donate over 500,000 yuan,” Zheng Lai explained.

Hao Mingxing nodded solemnly. “Let’s do it. Brother Zheng, from now on, you’ll manage this salary card for me. You know singing was never about money for me; it’s just sitting idle anyway. There’s over 500,000 yuan in the card now, so contact the authorities immediately and donate 500,000 to build a Hope School. Whenever the card’s balance exceeds 500,000, use the excess to build more Hope Schools. The name of each school will be ‘Wang Yan Hope School.’ Do you understand?”

Zheng Lai replied, “Understood. Should this be kept confidential?”

Hao Mingxing said, “Let it be. No secrecy, no publicity.”

“Alright,” Zheng Lai agreed.

Wang Mo left work early. Though his colleagues in the composition department envied him, none dared to comment. What they didn’t know was that Wang Mo hadn’t truly finished work; after leaving the company, he headed straight to the adjacent building to prepare for his second Douyin live stream that evening.

The team had long prepared the content, even arranging who would ask the first and second questions. Wang Mo, ever the laid-back type, was happy to let the company handle everything for the broadcast.

To his slight surprise, he found his Douyin followers had jumped from over four thousand last night to twenty-six thousand—a surge of more than twenty thousand in just one night.

Yuan Xiong pointed at the numbers. “These new followers are almost all here for ‘Wang Mo,’ not ‘West Tower.’ So tonight’s stream should be lively. Stick to the plan, don’t lose your composure.”

At eight o’clock, as Wang Mo started the broadcast, the viewers began to flood in. Ten… a hundred… five hundred… a thousand.

Within just a minute or two, the audience exceeded a thousand. The barrage of comments grew dense and overwhelming.

“It’s starting!”
“Quick, come!”
“Heard Wang Mo is back, checking it out.”
“Damn, wearing a ghost mask at night, scared me to death.”
“This mask is adorable, I love it.”
“Is this really Wang Mo? Doesn’t look like him!”
“Mo bro, don’t be afraid, we’ll always support you.”
“Brother, we’re here!”
“……”

The variety of comments dazzled the eye.

Wang Mo cleared his throat. “Good evening, everyone. I am the knowledge streamer ‘West Tower,’ and have nothing at all to do with the celebrity some of you are discussing. It’s just my voice that sounds similar. Please don’t misunderstand. Of course, I know many won’t believe me, so now I’ll use my talent to show you that I am truly just a talent streamer.”

Just as last night, Wang Mo began connecting with viewers, using knowledge to display his skills.

Meanwhile, at Qiming Entertainment.

In the music department, several men in suits gathered behind one person, staring at his computer screen. On the screen was the live broadcast of ‘West Tower.’

The man at the computer was furiously tapping the keyboard, his face full of concentration. After a long moment, he looked up, his expression grave. “I’ve tried everything, but still can’t connect with ‘West Tower’ successfully.”

The manager beside him frowned. “Is it because too many people are trying to connect?”

By now, ‘West Tower’ had been live for half an hour, and the viewer count had reached fifty-six thousand, with extremely high activity. Conservative estimates suggested that every second, over a thousand people were frantically clicking the connect icon after the streamer opened the option.

So the chance for an ordinary viewer to connect was extremely low.

The technician said, “It’s not about the numbers. I’m using special technical tools. If ‘West Tower’ truly allowed random connections, then ten thousand ordinary users wouldn’t beat me to it. Since even I can’t connect, it’s almost certain the connections are controlled by his team.”

The manager’s eyebrows rose. “You mean…”

The technician explained, “That is, every viewer who connects with ‘West Tower’ is carefully selected by him or his team.”

“So there’s something fishy going on!” The manager was not surprised but pleased, laughing loudly. “Since there’s a trick, it’s easy to handle! Ha, go inform the relevant people, start the plan immediately. Whether ‘West Tower’ is Wang Mo or not, tonight I’m going to tear off his mask!”