Every industry has its own hidden secrets, and the streaming business is no exception. No one wants their rice bowl taken away, and insiders are well aware of certain tricks. Suppression can never be completely eradicated, so people can only look for other ways.

Ethan Foster suddenly remembered—the streamer he watched yesterday seemed to be a newcomer as well?

“Where’s the list?”

The person in charge rummaged around and quickly produced the list—it was the data analysis from yesterday’s livestream.

Ethan Foster took it and glanced at it. Sure enough, he saw the ID “yanxyan” on it.

In yesterday’s livestream data, yanxyan ranked second.

He lifted his eyelids slightly—the first place data was actually dozens of times higher than yanxyan’s.

He looked at the asterisk marked in front of the ID XKTVlaoshu and asked, “What does this symbol mean?”

“Ah, this…” The person in charge’s expression changed.

Ethan Foster looked up at him, his eyes dark and deep, making the person in charge nervous, so he had to come clean.

“Actually, this person is a relative of one of our platform’s top streamers. He’s appeared on that top streamer’s channel before, so he already has some popularity, and his numbers have been great since he started streaming.” The person in charge said, “…So we plan to strike while the iron is hot and give him a recommendation spot in advance.”

Ethan Foster narrowed his eyes.

That sounds nice, but to put it simply, the top spot was already decided just two days into the event.

He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Just as the person in charge breathed a sigh of relief, the man suddenly made a move.

He lifted his hand and, unhurriedly, took a fountain pen from the pocket of his suit jacket, opened it, and gently drew two lines over the asterisk on the paper.

The asterisk was blacked out, and he pushed the paper back.

“Are you the project manager now?”

The person in charge was stunned: “No, it’s Little Michael…”

The employee named immediately sat up straight, just about to speak.

Ethan Foster was concise: “Replace him.”

Little Michael’s face instantly froze.

Ethan Foster didn’t even spare him a glance. He turned slightly and, without any pretense, said to the assistant beside him, “Check if there are any interests tied to that new streamer.”

Even if the numbers are good, on a top-tier streaming platform, it’s still not enough. What right do they have to be preselected?

The assistant immediately noted it in the meeting minutes: “Understood.”

The atmosphere in the meeting room dropped several degrees. The female employees who had previously harbored some fantasies about Ethan Foster now wished they could bury their faces in the floor, for fear of attracting the big boss’s attention.

——

“Let’s take a break, I’m going to have lunch.”

After finishing a game, Brian Clark placed his takeout in front of him, held his mouse, and muttered, “Is there any popular drama lately? Something to pass the time while I eat lunch—anyone want to watch a show together? …‘Legend of Lanfei’? Palace intrigue drama? I’m a grown man, isn’t it weird for me to watch this?”

As he spoke, he had already opened the first episode of “Legend of Lanfei.”

[You say you don’t want to, but your hands are honest enough.]

[A grown man? I don’t believe it, turn on your camera!]

[This show is addictive, it’s basically ‘The Emperor’s Harem Chronicles’—the female lead gets neglected for 65 episodes, then in the last 15 episodes she develops a romance and becomes empress, what the heck… But it’s still worth watching, every concubine’s actress is gorgeous!]

For lunch today, Brian Clark ordered a bowl of snail noodles, the pungent smell filling the whole room and making his mouth water.

He set the video to double speed and leisurely started eating his noodles.

Just as the viewers said, the first episode featured six beautiful concubines, each with plenty of screen time.

“The cast is pretty impressive.” As a famous actress appeared, Brian Clark swallowed a mouthful of noodles and commented casually.

[I like her too!]

[Consort Xian is obviously prettier!! You guys just like big boobs!]

[The bath scene with Concubine Jing is coming up! Super racy, I don’t know how it passed the censors! So spicy!]

Soon, the plot reached the bath scene mentioned in the comments. The actress’s fragrant shoulders were fully exposed, her skin like creamy jade, and there was a faint, alluring cleavage on her chest. With the swirling mist and vibrant set design, the scene was incredibly seductive.

It really was quite spicy.

[Ahhhhh nosebleed!!]

[She gained a ton of male fans from this scene! Her Weibo followers shot up by over a hundred thousand!!]

[Slurp slurp slurp—Streamer, did you mute yourself? Why no reaction?]

Seeing the comments cueing him, Brian Clark swallowed a big mouthful of noodles: “I’m eating snail noodles, it’s really delicious.”

[???]

[Is that how a normal man should react???]

[Turn on your camera, I really don’t believe you’re a man now (PS: camera on the crotch)]

Brian Clark chuckled and cooperated, “No way, I’m not that kind of streamer.”

Since it was a palace intrigue drama, the male lead didn’t appear until the seventeenth minute.

Brian Clark was finishing up his meal when he saw the male lead enter, dressed in dragon robes, with a high nose bridge, bright eyes, and an imposing presence.

“Which actor plays the male lead? Does anyone in the comments know?” he asked while pulling out his phone, ready to follow the actor on Weibo. “A new actor? I don’t think I’ve seen him before. He really has the right vibe in dragon robes—the producer has a good eye.”