Chapter 289 - 234: Xingchuan 001’s Debut

Chapter 289: Chapter 234: Xingchuan 001’s Debut

Xingchuan International Group, Headquarters.

After more than two months of renovations, the once-empty third and fourth floors had been completely transformed.

"Chairman Gu, as of now, we have built a total of three standardized large-scale live-streaming studios. Each one is over 300 square meters and is equipped with a variety-show-level camera system, a director’s station, capture cards, and teleprompters. They also support multiple camera angles, including overhead, long-focus, roving, and close-up shots."

"Additionally, our audio, lighting, and network systems are all top-of-the-line. We’re using Sony ECM-W3 wireless microphones, Aputure professional fill lights, Shanke E2 professional sound cards, and so on. In terms of hardware, we are every bit as good as the professional MCN agencies in the south."

On the floors belonging to Xingchuan Entertainment, numerous employees hurried through the hallways.

However, when they came across the group of people walking slowly toward them, they all instinctively moved to either side of the corridor, looking slightly reserved and lowering their heads in a show of respect.

This was because the two men leading the group were none other than Zhou Gang, the president of Xingchuan International Group, and Gu Heng, one of its directors. To these low-level employees, the two men were practically figures beyond their reach.

"Equipment is just the foundation. The most important thing is the people."

Gu Heng casually glanced around, responding to Zhou Gang’s introduction in a calm voice.

Today was the official launch of Xingchuan International Group’s group-streaming project.

Two hours ago, the Xingchuan 001 team had already begun their debut livestream.

As a director with real power in Xingchuan International Group, Gu Heng naturally had to come and see things for himself at such a crucial moment. After all, the group had invested a significant amount of money into this group-streaming project, and a portion of that money belonged to him. He needed to see where the money had been spent and what results it had yielded.

"Chairman Gu, rest assured."

Zhou Gang immediately replied, "Our debut team has undergone over two months of professional training, following the South Korean trainee model completely. Each member has mastered dozens of dances, as well as platform rules, group-streaming scripts, and facial expression control."

"Our behind-the-scenes team is also a professional crew we poached from Hang City. Each standardized studio includes a director, cinematographers, camera operators, a lighting technician, a crowd-control host, and operations managers, among other professionals, to ensure the group stream proceeds smoothly."

Following Zhou Gang’s introduction, Gu Heng, surrounded by the group, walked toward the studio where the Xingchuan 001 team was currently streaming.

As the doors were pushed open from both sides, the full view of the studio, which the group had spent millions to build, was revealed before Gu Heng’s eyes.

A ten-meter-long transparent screen was positioned in the center of the studio. The seven girls of Xingchuan 001 stood in a triangular formation in front of it, with numerous professional cameras pointed at them. Behind the cameras was a four-meter-long professional director’s station.

The crowd-control host sat in the center, his speaking style humorous and witty.

On either side sat content operators and technical support staff. Each person had two computers in front of them, one vertical and one horizontal, with streams of professional data scrolling across the screens.

In addition, there were two vertical, double-sided LED screens on either side of the director’s station.

One screen displayed the real-time feed of the livestream, allowing the team members at the front to see the audience’s live reactions.

The other screen showed various professional metrics for the current stream: real-time viewer count, total unique viewers, track ranking, audience retention, and many other dazzling figures.

The scene was quite novel to Gu Heng.

Who would have thought that the livestream displayed on a small phone screen was supported by such a massive team behind the scenes?

As Gu Heng entered the studio, he saw the senior management, led by Chu Zhengxiong, standing in front of the professional data screen, overseeing Xingchuan Entertainment’s group-streaming debut.

The moment Chu Zhengxiong and the others saw Gu Heng arrive, they immediately went to greet him.

"Chairman Chu, how are the numbers?"

Gu Heng was already very familiar with Chu Zhengxiong, so he skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"The numbers are okay, but not up to expectations."

Chu Zhengxiong led Gu Heng toward the professional data screen, responding in a low voice.

Gu Heng stood before the data screen, looking over the various metrics.

Currently, the real-time viewer count was 8,384. For a team with no prior following, this was already a very good result.

However, looking at the numbers on paper alone was meaningless.

Ultimately, it all came down to the return on investment. If you had only spent a hundred thousand on traffic and achieved these results, it would be an incredible value and a resounding success.

But if you had spent millions on traffic, then this result could only be considered barely passing.

Clearly, Xingchuan International Group had not been stingy with its spending on traffic.

Not only had they invested heavily in attracting viewers, but to maximize audience retention, they were also giving away a "lucky bag" every five minutes containing two of the latest iPhones to entice viewers to stay longer.

In other words, Xingchuan International Group was spending over ten thousand yuan every five minutes on audience retention. Since the stream had been live for over two hours, this meant the group had already spent nearly three hundred thousand yuan just to keep viewers watching.

"Where is the problem?"

Gu Heng asked directly.

"Traffic generation."

Chu Zhengxiong answered truthfully, "Chairman Gu, all of our traffic comes from paid promotions. We’ve spent nearly a million on it already. Logically, our real-time viewer count should have surpassed ten thousand by now."

"However, the reason we haven’t broken ten thousand is that someone has hired a troll army to spam our chat with insults aimed at our streamers and regular viewers. They then use this as a pretext to mass-report our stream, which has severely diminished the effectiveness of our paid traffic."

At this, Chu Zhengxiong’s eyes practically burned with anger.

He spent his days hunting geese, only to be pecked by one himself.

It was always Chu Zhengxiong who played dirty tricks on others; when had he ever been wronged like this?

Unfortunately, his reach was too short.

Even if he knew who was sabotaging them and pulling the strings behind the scenes, he could only watch helplessly, completely unable to counterattack effectively.

"They also hired hackers to maliciously attack our stream. Fortunately, when the group was setting up the studios, we planned ahead for this possibility. We installed a dedicated network with primary and backup routes and loaded an automated anti-hacking system. That’s the only reason their attack didn’t succeed."

"Otherwise, if they had really gotten in and used our broadcast controls to play some prohibited content on the transparent screen, our stream would have been instantly banned by TikTok’s moderation system. All our initial efforts would have been for nothing."

A hint of lingering fear could be heard in Chu Zhengxiong’s voice.

If the group-streaming debut had really been banned, then Xingchuan International Group’s so-called industrial transformation plan would have become a laughingstock.

’What would Gu Heng think of me then?’

’Even if Gu Heng didn’t say anything, his trust in me would surely plummet.’

For Chu Zhengxiong, that was the most fatal blow.

If he lost Gu Heng’s trust, Gu Heng would surely be extremely cautious about giving him any future responsibilities. After all, Gu Heng had already given him a chance, and he had proven himself incompetent.

Once trust was cracked, mending it would be next to impossible.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario had not come to pass.

"Do you know who’s behind this?"

Gu Heng stood in the center of the crowd with his hands behind his back. His gaze shifted from the data screen to the seven girls in the middle of the studio.

Among them was Lin Qingge, with whom Gu Heng was acquainted.

For today’s debut, she wore a white slip dress with a French ballet-style design. Her slender waist, so slim one could wrap a hand around it, was cinched tightly. Below the hem of the skirt were two delicate, snow-white, and perfectly straight legs that left no gap between them when she stood tall.

Lin Qingge was an arts student from Jilin University’s vocal music department and was known as the top arts student among the 2023 freshmen. This white, ballet-style slip dress perfectly showcased her exceptionally superior physique.

Perfect 90-degree shoulders, delicate collarbones, and a constantly straight back. Standing gracefully in the center of the seven girls, she was like a young poplar tree. Her naturally approachable smile, paired with her expressive, bright eyes, made anyone who saw her feel at ease.

Although the other six girls standing with Lin Qingge in front of the transparent screen were also natural beauties, each with her own unique charm and youthful energy, it had to be said that they were a tier below her.

This was evident from Lin Qingge’s gift revenue, which was far ahead of the others.

At that moment, Gu Heng’s gaze swept over them.

He could clearly sense the tension and anxiety hidden beneath the girls’ bright smiles. After all, they were all young women around twenty years old. To face such a large-scale barrage of insults and attacks during their very first livestream, it was already a testament to their resilience that they hadn’t broken down.

"Yes."

In response to Gu Heng’s question, Chu Zhengxiong replied in a low voice, "It’s Qingcheng Entertainment, a large MCN agency from Hang City, pulling the strings."

"Qingcheng Entertainment?"

"Why would they attack us?"

"Do we have some kind of feud with them?"

Gu Heng asked Chu Zhengxiong, a hint of confusion on his face.

"Uh..."

Chu Zhengxiong looked a bit embarrassed.

Seeing this, President Zhou Gang stepped in to explain for him, "Chairman Gu, it’s because we poached Qingcheng Entertainment’s team. The people you see here right now were all poached from them. This is their way of retaliating."

Gu Heng was stunned for a moment, then he smiled and shook his head.

’You poach my team, I’ll ruin your debut.’

’After all, Qingcheng Entertainment is a major MCN agency in the country. Having suffered a loss at Chu Zhengxiong’s hands, how could they not retaliate? Otherwise, how would they maintain their standing in the industry in the future?’

"So that’s how it is. No wonder..."