Chapter Fifty-Six: Could It Be She’s Acting Like a Diva?

Several hours earlier.

Evening, inside the World Trade Center.

A dozen men and women were gathered in the conference room. If any Stardust Platform employees had been present, they would have been astonished to find nearly all of the company’s senior executives seated together here.

Most of these executives wore grave expressions, with only a few appearing somewhat composed.

“All of you are Stardust Platform’s top management. You must know that the platform’s profits have been declining in recent years, with no hope of improvement in sight. Tell me, what’s going on?” The man seated at the head of the table, a slightly portly middle-aged man in his fifties, addressed the group.

“Recently, the content on the platform has become increasingly vulgar, formulaic, and explicit. This not only hinders management but is also boring and repulsive to many loyal viewers.”

“Even our star streamer, Huang Ying, is seeing a decline in popularity.”

“And the number of complaints we’ve received has been rising steadily in the last few quarters. It seems a lot of newcomers are pushing boundaries to gain fame.”

“This trend must not be allowed to grow. Any streamer who crosses the line must be banned immediately. The higher-ups are already dissatisfied with us; we absolutely cannot let any fundamental issues arise.”

The sluggish popularity had prompted Xingyu Entertainment to reevaluate the platform’s value. At such a critical juncture, further problems could not be tolerated.

“Each department, report your data and status for this quarter,” the portly middle-aged man said, gently rubbing his forehead. No matter how bad things were, he needed to understand the situation.

“Live streaming revenue is down fifteen percent compared to last quarter.”

“Gaming revenue is down five percent.”

“Music revenue is up four percent.”

“Remix content revenue is up twenty percent.”

“Overall, Stardust Platform’s third quarter revenue is up seven percent from last quarter.”

What? Revenue actually increased this quarter?

The middle-aged man shot up from his chair in astonishment. He had inspected the platform just last month, and performance was abysmal. How could things have changed so drastically in less than a month? Had some major celebrity started collaborating with them?

“What’s going on?” Although the increase wasn’t huge, in the midst of a downward trend, any growth was worth paying attention to.

“A remix maestro has recently risen on the platform, releasing four high-quality works. The most popular has nearly fifteen million views,” Han Yinglan, the head of the Remix Division, replied with a smile as she stood up. Her department had finally made a mark, and she couldn’t help but feel pleased.

“Fifteen million?” The middle-aged man was stunned. Stardust Platform had never had a video break ten million views before—the best was a gaming commentary by their pillar streamer, Huang Ying, which had just over nine million views.

Now a newcomer had surpassed that number? Impossible. Though remix videos usually had higher view counts, this was outrageous.

“Are the numbers legitimate?”

He turned to ask, and then, under the scornful looks of the others, realized that only a fool would fail to notice such a massive data tampering; the employees were certainly no fools. Besides, Stardust Platform’s network security was excellent—it was unlikely a loophole this big would appear.

“In any case, let’s play these four videos by the new remix maestro for everyone.”

Whether the numbers were real or not, a single viewing would reveal the truth. It was the best way to verify.

Han Yinglan, confident in the newcomer’s quality, brought up the data at the conference room control panel and returned to her seat. She had high hopes for this new creator.

The videos, originating from another world and already widely popular, were played one by one. Even the seasoned department heads, familiar with countless masterpieces, nodded in satisfaction.

“The emergence of this newcomer has undoubtedly injected fresh blood into Stardust Platform. Especially the remix Three Kingdoms theme, which is now one of the hottest genres.”

“Yes, someone with ideas, capable of innovation, not just chasing trends—it’s extremely rare.”

“That’s right. I recall the remix division hadn’t produced any new genres for several months.”

“Indeed, it’s rare to find someone talented and flexible.”

After watching the love story of Lang Lang and Liang Liang, as well as the similarly themed Loyal Yet Treacherous, the middle-aged man realized this was a rare talent. Only someone with literary depth and humor had the potential to become Stardust Platform’s next pillar, maintaining consistently high popularity.

As the atmosphere in the conference room gradually relaxed and the executives breathed a sigh of relief, a flamboyantly dressed woman at the edge of the room interjected with a sardonic tone.

“Too bad the newcomer is quite the diva.”

“A diva? What do you mean?” The middle-aged man glanced at the woman, then turned to Han Yinglan, since the remix division was her responsibility.

“Just that we can’t get in touch with the creator.”

Han Yinglan was puzzled too. The platform had sent messages long ago, but there had never been a reply—something that had never happened before.

“Can’t get in touch? I bet the creator thinks our offer is too low,” the flamboyant woman sneered. What kind of creator ignores platform messages? In her opinion, Han Yinglan had poor judgment and offered a rookie contract, so the creator simply refused.

“That’s not it. The creator genuinely hasn’t responded—I haven’t even sent the contract yet.” Han Yinglan ignored the shallow woman’s provocation and calmly addressed the middle-aged man.

“Could it be another platform contacted the creator first?” The middle-aged man frowned. That would be bad. Stardust Platform might be the largest streaming platform in the country, but it had rivals.

Though Stardust Platform’s industry leadership was still solid, there were plenty of big companies eyeing the market. A promising newcomer like this absolutely couldn’t be poached by a competitor.

Special thanks to Empty Horn for the 500 Starting Point Coins tip, and to Taiyin Sky and Big Foodie Yoyo for the 100 Starting Point Coins tips. Showering flowers.