Chapter 100

It was late at night.

The designated driver took Zhang Tan back to the school. At that moment, his leg tingled, and his phone vibrated with a WeChat message.

"Mr. Zhang, have you arrived home? I am truly very grateful to you today. If it weren't for you, I would have been completely drunk. It's the weekend tomorrow, can I treat you to some tea?"

The message was from Yuan Mei, the PR director of Yuan Da Entertainment, who had been at dinner.

She was the only woman present and the one apologizing, so she had to drink quite a bit.

I'm not a playboy anymore.

Zhang Tan replied to the WeChat, politely declining, and put his phone back in his pocket, walking home.

He had also had some drinks tonight. Yang Huan from Yuan Da Entertainment, Yuan Mei, and the two trembling red-eyed dogs had toasted him quite a few times.

It was already 11:30 PM, and Xiaohongma School was very quiet, with most of the children already gone.

To Zhang Tan's surprise, Xiaobai had also been picked up today.

She must be angry with him.

It was Friday, and Zhang Tan had previously promised to show Xiaobai the latest episode of "Little Actors" tonight, but he couldn't because of the banquet.

"In the hall, I showed it to all the children, and they all enjoyed it," Teacher Xiaoliu said with a smile when he asked.

That's good. Xiaobai isn't the type to hold a grudge. She probably won't be mad after a good night's sleep.

"Goodbye, Mr. Zhang~"

A child passed by and greeted him.

Zhang Tan didn't pay much attention and subconsciously replied, "Goodbye."

After saying goodbye to Teacher Xiaoliu, he went upstairs to his room. After taking a few steps, he suddenly froze and turned around. He saw the child who had greeted him earlier being carried away on a woman's shoulder.

It was Chengcheng!

But wait, wasn't Chengcheng usually picked up by her father? She doesn't have a mother.

Just as he was about to chase after them, he decided to ask Teacher Xiaoliu first, maybe it was her grandmother.

"Teacher Xiaoliu, was that Chengcheng just now? Who picked her up?"

Teacher Xiaoliu looked outside and said, "It was Chengcheng, and the one who picked her up was her mother."

"Ah?" Zhang Tan was shocked. He had always thought Chengcheng didn't have a mother!

But then he felt relieved. Who doesn't have a mother? Chengcheng's parents must have divorced. He usually saw her father picking her up, so it wasn't strange for her mother to come this time.

Zhang Tan thought he had it figured out and didn't ask further. He went home and got ready for bed.

Lying in bed, he was about to sleep when he remembered that the fourth episode of "Little Actors" had aired today. He was worried, so he took out his phone to check the comments.

"The issue of illegal child labor has been clarified, so you can rest assured and continue watching the show."

"The famous scene is here, the flower burial!"

"This 'Flower Burial Ode' is so beautiful."

"Goodness, the costumes and props are so well done, and the interlude is so beautiful, it puts other big productions to shame."

"The 'Flower Burial Ode' made me cry."

"Daiyu's performance is amazing, and the song is very touching."

"What a great show."

...

Seeing many positive comments about "Little Actors," especially high praise for the interlude "Flower Burial Ode," Zhang Tan felt relieved and could now browse the comments with peace of mind.

The fourth episode was about Lin Daiyu burying the flowers. Zhang Tan had written two songs beforehand, one being "Wang Ning Mei" as the theme song, and the other, "Flower Burial Ode," as the interlude.

Meanwhile, at the hotel.

Su Lan was lying in bed in a silk nightgown, her body showing an alluring curve. Her white neck was elegant like a swan, and her long legs were crossed, a sight to behold.

On the bedside table was a box of tissues, with many used tissues scattered around.

Su Lan's big eyes were filled with tears, and she was crying.

She wiped her tears with a tissue while staring at her phone, which played the song:

"Flowers bloom easily, but it's hard to find them falling.

The flower-burier stands before the steps, filled with sorrow.

Leaning on the hoe, she secretly sheds tears,

Tears fall on the empty branches, leaving bloodstains."

It was "Flower Burial Ode."

She was an emotional person. Seeing the flower burial scene and listening to the sad "Flower Burial Ode," she couldn't help but cry, tears streaming down her face as she watched the show, unable to stop.

"When did Zhang Tan learn to write songs? And such sad ones, I've never heard of it before..."

She muttered, surprised by the new side of Zhang Tan she was discovering.

"No, I can't cry anymore. I have to be strong. I'm a strong sloth, and I need to sleep. I have to film tomorrow."

Su Lan finally wiped her tears, vowing not to cry anymore. She turned off the light, put her phone away, and tried to sleep.

But her mind couldn't stop, and various scenes kept playing in her head like a movie, over and over, tapping at her heart.

Tears flowed uncontrollably again.

"Zhang Tan! It's all your fault!"

She angrily turned on the light and had to take out another tissue to wipe her tears.

Who would have thought that Su Lan, with her mature and cool demeanor, would be such a crybaby at home.

The next day was Saturday. Because he had drunk last night and returned late, Zhang Tan decided to take the day off and not go to the film set.

Director? The director can't control him.

Coordinator? Dream on.

Zhang Tan stayed at home, preparing the next video for his movie channel.

The previous video explaining "Tomorrow's You" had attracted a lot of attention. The movie was now very popular, especially among young people.

Xilili Video, also known as Xiaoyu Video, recommended Zhang Tan's video on the homepage's film and television section. This brought a huge influx of traffic to his account, increasing his followers from 150,000 to 180,000.

His inbox was filled with various messages. Zhang Tan opened them one by one. Most were from fans, a few were system notifications, and a minority were business proposals. However, when Zhang Tan talked to them, he found that they were either scammers or people hoping he would work for free.

If they had honestly said they had no money and hoped Zhang Tan could help, he might have considered it. But these people started by talking about business cooperation, saying their products could bring traffic to his account, making it a win-win. Their tone suggested that not asking Zhang Tan to pay was already a favor.

Zhang Tan blocked all such people.

After filtering, there were no business proposals left, as if his good luck with Li Rui had run out.

"Huh?"

He saw an official message from the website titled "A Letter to UP Mainers—Xiaoyu Creation Incentive Plan Launching Soon."

"Many years ago, we had an idea—if Xiaoyu could allow original content creators to earn income through making high-quality videos, they could invest more time and effort into creation, and Xiaoyu would have more great content.

This year, we can finally realize this idea and launch the 'Xiaoyu Creation Incentive Plan.' The plan is simple—UP Mainers who join and continue to submit videos will earn income (creation incentive funds) through their videos.

After joining the plan, when a single original video reaches 1,000 views, you can start earning incentive income, which will be settled through the Shell system the following month. The specific incentive income is calculated based on the content's value, including its popularity, user preference, and content verticality.

As long as you have 1,000 followers or 100,000 cumulative views (based on the creation center data), you can join our incentive plan..."

In short, it was about monetizing traffic.

Zhang Tan thought this was a good way to encourage UP Mainers to create more original videos, but it also had significant risks. If not managed well, it could lead to a decline in content quality, an influx of marketing accounts, and sensational headlines to attract attention, which would greatly harm Xiaoyu Video's original content.

But that wasn't Zhang Tan's concern. After reading the message, he applied to join the incentive plan, wondering how much income it would bring him in a month.

The cicadas outside were chirping loudly, and the sunlight coming in was getting shorter and finally disappeared.

It was already noon. Zhang Tan got up, stretched, and prepared to make lunch. He opened the fridge to look for ingredients but found nothing except for a bear drink.

He opened a can of bear drink and drank it in one gulp, burped, and felt even hungrier. He changed into a gray T-shirt, black shorts, and white sneakers.