Chapter 155: Talent

As Jiang Zheng's live stream concluded, Lin Yu stared at the analytics with astonishment.

The viewer count and popularity of this broadcast were in no way inferior to the streams where Jiang Zheng faced off against professional players.

Clutching the data report, Lin Yu hurried into the supervisor’s office and announced loudly, "Supervisor, take a look at this!"

"What's with all the panic?" the supervisor rebuked with a frown of displeasure.

"Supervisor, look at these metrics—this is the data from Jiang Zheng's stream just now," Lin Yu said.

The supervisor took the report and scanned the numbers, exclaiming in surprise, "These figures are incredible! What content did he stream today? Did some pro players come to challenge him?"

"No. He just chatted in his stream room," Lin Yu replied.

"Chatted?" The supervisor looked somewhat taken aback.

Their platform featured all sorts of streamers, and broadcasters focused on conversation were certainly not in short supply.

Yet, to have viewership numbers as astronomical as Jiang Zheng's was truly unprecedented.

"What was he talking about? Games? Daily life?" the supervisor inquired.

Faced with this question, Lin Yu wore a rather peculiar expression as he answered, "Philosophy, literature, history, and subjects like that."

Hearing this, the supervisor's expression turned equally colorful.

"You can get numbers that high just by talking about those things?"

"I wouldn't have believed it either, but the facts speak for themselves," Lin Yu said.

Gazing at the report, the supervisor fell into deep contemplation.

He had already repeatedly overestimated Jiang Zheng, yet it turned out he had still underestimated him.

The previous style of Jiang Zheng's streams had a relatively short shelf life; there were only so many professional players, and not every pro could constantly step up to match him.

The current dilemma was that Jiang Zheng was simply too formidable—virtually no professional player was willing to play against him anymore.

This meant that Jiang Zheng's previous streaming format had essentially reached a dead end.

If he wanted to continue broadcasting, a change in content was inevitable.

Initially, their idea was to have Jiang Zheng play ranked matches or set up various challenges.

However, doing so would make it difficult to guarantee his sustained popularity and hype.

Yet now, simply by engaging in conversation, Jiang Zheng had not only maintained his hype and popularity, but seemed to be growing even more prominent.

The subjects he discussed—philosophy, literature, history, and the like—offered an endless reservoir of topics. One could even say Jiang Zheng had enough material to talk about for a lifetime.

The lifespan of such streaming content was vastly, vastly longer.

Consequently, Jiang Zheng's importance skyrocketed.

He was a veritable money tree that would never fall!

That might sound like an exaggeration, but undoubtedly, Jiang Zheng's streaming career had a much longer projected lifespan than other creators, and for a long time to come, he wouldn't even need to consider transitioning to a different genre.

Broadcasting was a fickle profession; every stream format had an expiration date. Once reached, a creator had to contemplate shifting content and reinventing themselves.

While many streamers successfully reinvented themselves—including quite a few top-tier creators—the vast majority perished in the attempt.

Lin Yu understood this principle well, which was why he brought the data straight to the supervisor for a final decision.

"After this upcoming Battle Night passes, take a new contract over to him... No, wait, I'll go myself," the supervisor declared.

A jolt of shock went through Lin Yu. The supervisor intended to sign Jiang Zheng in person.

Matters of contract signing were typically handled by subordinates like them; the supervisor rarely made a personal appearance unless it involved an exceptionally massive streamer.

Had Jiang Zheng truly risen to such heights already?

"Understood, Supervisor. I know what to do," Lin Yu replied.

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[A top-tier gaming streamer turns out to be this kind of person!]

This headline rapidly dominated the trending searches, its ranking climbing steadily.

Uninformed onlookers assumed the gaming streamer must have committed some unforgivable transgression.

When people clicked through and read the content, however, they realized no such wrongdoing had taken place.

His reputation as a scholar spread far and wide overnight.

A talented individual, regardless of what they chose to do, would always command the admiration of the masses.

Back in the classroom.

Zhou Quanyi and the others sighed. "We originally thought he was just good at video games, but who would have thought his literary talent is this impressive too?"

"Yeah, comparison can be the death of you. You can't beat him at gaming, and you can't beat him at talent either," Liu Hua lamented.

"No kidding. I watched the entire stream yesterday, and I finally learned what a true gap looks like. I've been streaming for so many days and barely managed to stay mediocre, yet he just chats casually and his popularity skyrockets. Forget about everyone else—even I was hooked and watched for hours yesterday," Wang Bing added.

Listening to their discussion, Jiang Zheng still felt a tinge of embarrassment.

His ability to talk at such length yesterday was inextricably linked to the extensive reading he had been doing lately.

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That evening, Jiang Zheng initiated another live stream. True to form, the content for the day was primarily conversational.

He didn't play any games whatsoever; whether it was ranked matches or casual games, he touched none of them.

Yet, shortly after the stream began, the viewer count surged relentlessly.

Jiang Zheng conquered the audience purely with his intellect and eloquence.

Lin Yu watched the data and the chat room with considerable excitement. Simply by chatting, they were pulling in a substantial amount of tips.

As they tallied up these virtual gifts, every single one of them represented pure profit and performance metrics for the company.

Inside the broadcast room, however, Jiang Zheng showed no particular excitement upon seeing the tips, nor did he offer any verbal expressions of gratitude.

Instead, he actively urged minors in the audience not to send tips, while appealing to adults to tip rationally.

Time flew quickly, and right on schedule, Jiang Zheng ended the stream.

As soon as the broadcast cut off, Lin Yu called him.

With carefully chosen words, Lin Yu suggested that Jiang Zheng shouldn't discourage viewers from tipping. While blocking tips from minors was acceptable, he should refrain from discouraging the adults. Not only should he stop discouraging them, but he ought to guide them toward giving more.

Although Lin Yu phrased it tactfully, his underlying meaning was crystal clear.

Hearing this, Jiang Zheng's expression darkened slightly. "People work hard for their money; there's no need to guide or encourage tipping."

Without missing a beat, Jiang Zheng bluntly hung up the phone.

Holding his mobile device, Lin Yu let out a helpless, bitter laugh.

He understood Jiang Zheng's perspective entirely, but these weren't Lin Yu's own wishes—they were orders from higher-ups.

Now that Jiang Zheng had refused, Lin Yu could only report the truth upward. How upper management chose to handle it was beyond his control.

Yet the platform management made no immediate reaction to Jiang Zheng hanging up, acting as though they were completely oblivious to his rejection of tipping incentives.

In truth, given the current circumstances, the platform was certainly unwilling to offend Jiang Zheng. Dispatching Lin Yu to sound him out was merely a tactic, treating Lin Yu as a disposable pawn.

In other words, should Jiang Zheng become genuinely angry or dissatisfied, the platform could shift all the blame onto Lin Yu, claiming it was merely Lin Yu's private initiative and had nothing to do with the company, announcing that Lin Yu had already been dismissed.

This would serve to appease Jiang Zheng's wrath.

Lin Yu had foreseen this outcome, but he had no alternative; he had no choice but to play the pawn.

Fortunately, Jiang Zheng had not been overly enraged, sparing Lin Yu from outright termination.