"No way! Beihai was perfectly fine this afternoon. How could he suddenly end up in jail, especially arrested by the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations?"
The Kuaishou executives were baffled. Beihai might not have been a saint, but he didn't deserve to be thrown in prison, especially not by the Bureau.
With the immediate crisis resolved, the focus shifted to signing Miss Robin to a live streaming contract. A female executive volunteered, "I'll handle it. I'll contact Miss Robin."
Back in the present, this executive, Yun Luo, was the one currently messaging Robin. After a moment's hesitation, Robin accepted the friend request.
The moment they became friends, Yun Luo launched into a rapid-fire barrage of messages:
Yun Luo: "Miss Robin, are you interested in continuing your career in live streaming?"
Yun Luo: "I believe your streams have tremendous potential. Kuaishou can definitely offer you a contract you'll be happy with."
Yun Luo: "I can send you a preliminary draft of the contract now. Take a look, and if you have any concerns, feel free to raise them. Everything is negotiable."
Robin: "I'll take a look first."
Yes, Robin's WeChat username was simply "Robin," essentially using her real name online.
While the attachment Yun Luo had sent was downloading, Robin continued working on her computer. After her song finished uploading to NetEase Cloud Music, she registered an account on Douyin and posted her second song, which she had just uploaded to Kuaishou.
The Kuaishou livestreaming contract Yun Luo had sent outlined the following requirements: Robin had to stream for a certain number of hours each month and refrain from any livestreaming-related activities on other platforms for three years.
These terms weren't particularly stringent. If she signed the contract and met the minimum streaming hour quota, Robin would receive a base salary of 100,000 yuan per month.
And that was just the base salary. Gifts received during her streams weren't included. Upon signing, her previous 50/50 revenue split would improve to 70/30, with Robin retaining 70%—the lion's share.
Moreover, the contract stipulated that Robin's base salary could increase further based on her future streaming popularity.
From Robin's perspective, the contract seemed reasonably fair. If she were truly interested in pursuing a career in live streaming, she probably would have accepted it by now. But live streaming was merely one of her methods for increasing her visibility and popularity; she had no intention of being tied down to it.
While downloading VPN software, Robin replied, "I'm sorry, I might be streaming more frequently for a short while, but it's only temporary."
As she typed, Robin glanced at the System. The Songstress mission completion rate had already reached 0.05%, indicating that the progress was accelerating as her fame grew.
Regardless, she had no intention of staying in the live streaming industry for three years. Yun Luo seemed to have misunderstood her intentions.
Yun Luo responded, "Is it because you want to enter the entertainment industry? Miss Robin, with all due respect, top-tier influencers earn nearly as much as mainstream celebrities these days. And frankly, I don't think you'd thrive in the entertainment industry's environment."
After all, everyone familiar with the entertainment industry knew about its unspoken rules and underhanded tactics, which could be particularly harsh on female stars without powerful backers. Yun Luo's reasoning was simple: Robin's afternoon ban of Beihai alone demonstrated her stubbornness.
Yun Luo thought that someone like Robin entering the entertainment industry would likely end up shelved. Honestly, she believed that sticking to live streaming was far better than diving into the murky waters of show business.
While the live streaming world wasn't exactly pristine, it was still much cleaner than the entertainment industry.
Robin paused upon reading Yun Luo's message. She had never even considered pursuing a career in entertainment; Yun Luo's words had inadvertently given her a new perspective.
Having never been a celebrity fan in her previous life, Robin's limited knowledge of the entertainment industry came solely from sensational headlines, most of which revolved around scandals like infidelity or drug use. This had left her with a deeply unfavorable impression of the industry.
She typed back, "No, I have no intention of joining the entertainment industry. It's just that I might not have time for live streams in the future."
Yun Luo: "Oh... So, how long do you plan to keep streaming?"
Robin: "Three or four months? It depends on how things go."
To be more precise, it depended on whether she could complete the Cosmic Songstress objectives assigned by the System. For now, she had simply given a casual estimate.
Yun Luo: "I see..."
With those words, their conversation ended. Yun Luo hadn't actually left; she remained staring blankly at her phone screen, puzzled. Why only three or four months of streaming? What's the reason?
If Robin had struggled with streaming for that time and then given up, it would have been understandable. But everything about her current trajectory seemed promising. Yet she had stubbornly insisted on this limited timeframe from the very beginning.
Yun Luo pondered for a long time, unable to grasp the reason. Finally, she sighed helplessly. "It can't just be a casual thing, right?"
Meanwhile, Robin had bypassed the Great Firewall, logged into YouTube, created an account, and uploaded her second video. After completing these tasks, she couldn't help but feel like she had finished work and clocked out.
Her first instinct was to find a game to play, but she quickly remembered that her gaming buddy was gone—or rather, she was gone. Solo gaming just wasn't the same.
"Ugh..." Robin sighed, logged into Kuaishou, and began searching for music tutorials.
With gaming no longer holding her interest, Robin decided to focus on self-improvement. Unlike her previous casual attempts to learn songs, she now planned a systematic study of music theory, covering everything from vocal techniques—breathing control, vocal production, pitch accuracy, and rhythmic precision—to more advanced subjects like basic music theory, harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, and musical form.
Mastering these concepts would undoubtedly enhance her singing skills. Beyond music, Robin also felt she should learn hairstyling and fashion coordination.
Remarkably, perhaps due to her current body's inherent talents, Robin absorbed musical knowledge at an astonishing rate. The tangible sense of gradual progress was almost addictive, like leveling up in a video game. She was now immersed in "Earth Online," a real-world game of personal development.