Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Just an Influencer

After a moment’s thought, Gao Yuan accepted Tongtong’s friend request.

He didn’t have a beautiful influencer with over a million followers on his friends list yet.

Note: Influencer-Tongtong-A

The ’A’ was Gao Yuan’s personal rating for Tongtong.

Despite Tongtong being a major influencer with over a million followers and a "domineering female CEO" persona, Gao Yuan sensed almost no powerful aura from her.

The difference between her superficial air and the kind of temperament Lin Wanyu had cultivated over many years was still quite obvious.

The two chatted for a bit and settled on the general content for the shoot.

A little after four in the afternoon.

Li Mengqing arrived at No.1 Courtyard with Tongtong and her camera crew.

It was only then that Tongtong and her operations team realized Gao Yuan lived in such a top-tier residential complex.

They had thought Gao Yuan was just a small-time blogger, not some hidden powerhouse. This realization made Tongtong’s operations manager frown.

With their arrival, Gao Yuan realized for the first time how many people it took to shoot a single short video. There was a whole crew for lighting equipment, props, and makeup, as well as an operations manager to control the overall direction of the content.

His previous shoot felt like a child’s game in comparison.

At the same time, Tongtong’s operations manager showed Gao Yuan the script.

Gao Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly as he held the script. The content had been changed so that Tongtong would replace Lin Wanyu as his girlfriend, which made him very uncomfortable.

He was making this meal for Lin Wanyu in the first place, and now they wanted to replace her.

It was simply ridiculous.

"Sorry, but I don’t agree with this script."

Gao Yuan refused outright, not about to compromise just because she was from Wuyou Media or a major influencer with a million followers.

The operations manager’s fears had come to pass. He had indeed adjusted the script later, selfishly trying to make Tongtong stand out more in the short video.

Faced with someone who could afford to live in No.1 Courtyard, he could only go glumly to Tongtong, hoping she could get Gao Yuan to change his mind.

"Tongtong, Mr. Gao won’t agree to the script. What do we do?"

"He won’t agree? Why?"

Tongtong was quite surprised. She had clearly gone over the script with Gao Yuan before, and he had agreed to it.

The manager handed the script to Tongtong. The moment she saw it, she understood why.

But this script was definitely to her advantage. The resulting short video would be centered on her, and she was confident it could attract a lot of traffic from the topic.

Tongtong looked over at Gao Yuan, who was getting things ready in the kitchen. After a moment’s thought, she said to her manager, "I’ll go give it a try."

With that, Tongtong walked into the kitchen.

"Brother Yuan, you don’t want to use this script?"

Gao Yuan turned to look at the major influencer, Tongtong, beside him.

He’d come across Tongtong’s videos while scrolling before. The woman was genuinely beautiful and could pull off the vibe of a corporate executive. In the past, he would have been eager to cooperate with such a major influencer.

But now, he had no need to do so.

She was just an influencer. To put it bluntly, just another worker, earning a bit more than the average person.

He didn’t need to worry about money now; he was only shooting this video to complete a system task.

There was no need to please anyone.

Even if he had to shoot it himself to get a thousand followers, worst-case scenario, he’d just pay for promotions.

If a thousand wasn’t enough, he’d spend ten thousand. If it came down to it, he’d throw down a hundred thousand yuan. He refused to believe he couldn’t get a thousand followers for that much.

"This meal is mainly for my girlfriend. I don’t want to mix in all these other elements."

Facing such a polite and beautiful woman, Gao Yuan didn’t want to sound too harsh.

Tongtong glanced at Lin Wanyu happily chatting with Li Mengqing on the sofa, a flash of envy in her eyes.

’We’re both women, and I’m not bad looking, so why do they get to relax and enjoy themselves while I have to keep struggling like this!’

Suddenly, she looked at Gao Yuan beside her.

’He was tall and carried himself well, with a steady temperament that had more of a powerful air than any company boss she’d ever met. Plus, he wasn’t even old. Wasn’t this a powerful backer, ripe for the picking?’

’She thought about the long road she’d traveled. She had worked so hard to ride the short video wave and become an influencer. Wasn’t it all just for the sake of a better life?’

’Why not take a shortcut and save herself ten years of struggle!’

She glanced outside at Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing, who were engrossed in their conversation, then suddenly hugged Gao Yuan’s arm. Her face broke into a wide smile. "Brother Yuan, we’ll do everything just as you say."

"Hm?"

Gao Yuan hadn’t expected Tongtong to be so agreeable.

But as she hugged his arm, Gao Yuan distinctly felt a foreign softness pressed against him. It wasn’t small, and there was no padding.

’This woman is trying to seduce me!’

The thought instantly popped into Gao Yuan’s mind.

Gao Yuan looked at Tongtong again. On her pretty face, her soft, pink lips were only a few inches away. If he bent his head just slightly, he could taste them.

At the same time, Gao Yuan noticed her gaze seemed to be sending him some kind of signal.

Meanwhile, as Tongtong looked into Gao Yuan’s deep eyes, her resolve hardened.

’Who says a man this charismatic and wealthy has to belong to just one woman!’

’She was an influencer pursued by countless people. Besides, wouldn’t her ’domineering female CEO’ persona stir a man’s desire for conquest even more?’

No one outside noticed that an ambiguous tension was already brewing in the small kitchen.

Seeing a major influencer he used to enjoy watching on video now looking at him like this, Gao Yuan felt a playful impulse rise up.

"Not today. Next time, we’ll shoot it according to your script."

Gao Yuan said softly, giving Tongtong a slight smile.

"Okay, brother. I’ll polish the script some more, and we can discuss it together then."

This time, Tongtong didn’t even use his name, calling him ’brother’ directly. After speaking, she seized the chance to lightly trace his palm before walking out, all smiles.

’For her, this shoot wasn’t that important anymore!’

Just then, Gao Yuan glanced outside at Lin Wanyu.

Thankfully, Lin Wanyu was still chatting with Li Mengqing and hadn’t noticed what was happening in the kitchen.

Gao Yuan sighed, turning back to continue preparing the ingredients.

’He knew he was about to make the same mistake that all men make.’

But.

’Looking at it from another angle, it’s better for me to take on this pain than to let this Tongtong go out and hurt someone else.’

’At least with his money-is-a-superpower ability, he would only get richer. He wouldn’t be driven to ruin over a woman!’

Gao Yuan didn’t know what Tongtong said to her team, but in the end, they decided to shoot according to his idea.

At five in the afternoon.

Gao Yuan officially began cooking, and Tongtong’s camera crew started filming.

He started with a cordyceps flower and chicken soup, which needed to simmer for an hour and a half.

While the soup simmered, Gao Yuan and the three women sat around the dining table and played some small games.

Tongtong’s camera crew filmed this part as well. While the four of them were playing, the editor was already cutting that segment of the video together.

An hour later, Gao Yuan began making three more dishes: stir-fried okra with meat, hand-torn cabbage, and flash-fried pork liver.

One delicious dish after another was brought to the table as the sky outside gradually grew dark.

When the final dish, a red date and white fungus congee, was placed on the table, the dinner was complete, and the recording came to an end.

Gao Yuan picked up his phone and transferred two thousand yuan to Tongtong, telling her to give it to the crew so they could go get some dinner.

He hadn’t cooked enough for them, but since so many people had been working for him for so long, he couldn’t just let them leave on an empty stomach.

Gao Yuan didn’t realize it, but this gesture made Tongtong even more certain of her idea.

After thanking him on Tongtong’s behalf, the crew packed up their equipment and left Gao Yuan’s home. The remaining four sat down at the dining table to eat.

Before they had even finished their meal, Tongtong announced that the video was already edited.

It turned out that after her team left, they had rushed back to the office to work overtime and finish the edit. Now, as long as Gao Yuan gave the okay, they could go out for a big meal.

Such was the allure of money, perhaps.

Not only did they not complain, but they took the initiative to finish the job with high efficiency.

Gao Yuan watched the video with the three women. The shooting and editing were both perfect, and they had even made a special thumbnail for it.

He opened his laptop, received the raw file, and published the video directly, choosing the "collaboration" feature to post it with Tongtong.

After publishing the video, Gao Yuan didn’t pay any more attention to it.

He never expected, however, that this video would later stir up considerable controversy.

...

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