Chapter 177

When Qin Wei returned to her dormitory in the evening, she was greeted by a living room filled with numerous gifts. These were the branded products that Li Yao had mentioned earlier, and they were directly sent here for her to unbox during her livestream later at night.

As she opened the door, all four of them were taken aback. The living room was stacked with gift boxes, and the barrage of comments on the livestream screen was overflowing:

"I feel like my sister's career is really taking off. She received so many PR gifts."

"I'm so envious!"

Seeing Qin Wei's return, they urged her to start unboxing quickly. With so many gifts, it was unrealistic for one person to open them all. At Qin Wei's request, the other three agreed to stay and accompany her.

"A set of expensive skincare products."

Sun Tiantian was the first to open a box.

"A jewelry set."

Shen Qingqing also opened the box in her hands and showed it to Qin Wei.

Qin Wei turned around and said:

"Tiantian, the skincare products are for you!"

"Great!"

Sun Tiantian accepted them without hesitation.

Qin Wei then asked:

"Qingqing, do you like the jewelry set?"

Shen Qingqing smiled and replied:

"Well, then I won't be polite!"

Qin Wei herself took out a silk camisole backless sleepwear.

She gestured with it, knowing well that she wouldn't wear it herself.

Qin Wei pondered:

"Should I do a lottery and give this away to a fan?"

Barrage comments:

"It's too small, I can't fit into it."

"Male fans don't need this."

"Give it to Xiaoqiao."

Qin Wei readily agreed, folded it and put it back in the box:

"OK, it's for Teacher Qiao." Youyou opened a small box and took out a watch, inspecting it:

"It's a watch from Tian Shi."

Anticipating what Qin Wei was about to say, Youyou spoke up first:

"It's from the new Flower Moon series, starting at one million. It even has your English name engraved on it, so it's not suitable to give away."

Holy cow, a one million watch...

Qin Wei had to admit that her perspective was limited. Although she had heard of million-dollar watches before, it was still a bit shocking to have one that actually belonged to her.

"In that case, let's keep it..."

Next, she opened another gift, a full set of lipsticks from a brand.

"There are fifty of them, right?"

Qin Wei roughly counted and then said to the camera:

"Let's have a lottery in the livestream room. Fifty people, one lipstick each, random colors! We'll continue with more giveaways like this."

Barrage comments:

"Thank you, Boss Qin!"

"Boss Qin is generous!"

"Lü E is so generous, we can't be stingy either. Have you prepared the money for buying tickets?"

"Are the dates for the fourth public performance confirmed yet? I've already prepared the money!"

"Me too! Rubbing my hands together, I'll use the money I've saved recently to support Lü E in the fourth public performance!"

"You vote for me, I vote for you. Lü E will make her debut tomorrow!"

"Remember to buy tickets if you win a prize!"

Although they were initially discussing the lottery, they started to talk about "buying tickets" later on. Since there were many people discussing it, Qin Wei took notice.

"What tickets? What are they buying?"

Barrage comments:

"Voting for the individual competition in the fourth public performance. Besides the three votes per person using their real names, additional votes can be purchased with no limit."

"Don't worry, Lü E. I've taken out my New Year's lucky money. Once the voting channel opens, I'll rush in. You just focus on your performance, and we'll work hard on getting you to the next round."

【I haven't been spending money recklessly lately. In order for my friend Lu E to make her debut, I have already saved up five thousand yuan.】

【With five thousand yuan, we can buy a thousand tickets. We're so generous, sisters!】

【As student party members, we can only buy ten tickets, but we can make an advance purchase. I estimate that I can buy sixty tickets. Come on, other sisters, let's do our best!】

Qin Wei was somewhat puzzled. Buying tickets? Since when did this competition require spending money?

"Don't buy them yet. Is this reliable? The production team has never mentioned it," she said.

【It hasn't been officially announced, but it's probably true. Last time, they accurately released the details of the filming trip. This time should be similar. Lu E, don't worry. It's all our pocket money. We'll just buy fewer snacks and clothes. We won't ask our parents for extra money.】

【Qin Wei, who is already working, will also act within her means. Lu E, don't worry!】 Qin Wei looked at Sun Tiantian and the others, and they all had confused expressions, indicating that they hadn't heard any rumors either.

So it's difficult to come to a conclusion.

Qin Wei spoke to the live camera and said, "We're not sure about the voting process yet. Let me confirm with the production team first. But for now, let's proceed with the lucky draw. Alright, everyone in the live stream, please click the follow button. I'll give you some benefits!"

Barrage comments:

【Where did you learn all these words from?】

【Folks, today I will tearfully earn one million for you!】

...

The next morning, Qin Wei went to the production team to verify the voting process. However, everyone remained silent and looked at the director.

The director didn't say much, only one sentence:

"Get ready, let's have a meeting!"

...

"Thanks to everyone's efforts, our competition has gained increasing popularity since it reached the halfway mark. In terms of both the level of discussion and participation, it ranks highest among variety shows in the first half of the year. We have invested a significant amount of manpower and resources in the early stages, and we need to earn that money back. Everyone understands that doing a show is for the sake of generating traffic, and eventually, traffic needs to be monetized. This is unavoidable."

During the meeting, after everyone had gathered, the director got straight to the point and said, "Other talent shows also start monetizing their traffic after a certain period of time. I believe everyone understands this."

Qin Wei said, "As far as I know, our show has already started monetizing its traffic. After all, the higher the popularity, the more advertisements we receive. So far, we've been getting advertisements from various fields. Isn't that monetizing enough? Do we really need to introduce paid voting?"

The director didn't plan to explain too much, but considering Qin Wei's status as one of the show's traffic drivers, he patiently explained, "Qin Wei, please don't worry. Let me clarify the logic for you. The paid voting costs only five yuan per ticket, which is not expensive. We don't force anyone to participate; it's entirely up to the audience's willingness. Nowadays, the audience is not naive. They will act within their means. Besides, a hundred or so tickets are just a few cups of milk tea to them. They are willing to spend this money to express their love for you.

The purpose of doing all this is to make money. Who would complain about earning more money?

Furthermore, we will share the revenue from the voting proportionally with you. Of course, this cannot be disclosed to the public."

Youyou looked at Qin Wei and then asked the director:

"What do fans get when they pay for tickets? Like some physical gifts?"

The director shook his head.

"They can gain the idol's debut opportunity and a gratitude video from the idol. Your statement actually reminded me, we should establish an incentive policy, unlocking new benefits for every thousand yuan spent, and also rewarding individuals who exceed ten thousand yuan in voting."

Youyou frowned, trying not to get angry.

"Director, that's not what I meant. It's not fair to the fans this way..."

The director sighed.

"You're still a newcomer, and you don't understand the importance of money. Do you know how difficult it is to produce a show nowadays?

Most of them fail, and it's rare to have one that doesn't. We have to make up for the investment as soon as possible. Have you seen any talent shows that rely solely on advertisements for profit?

If the audience doesn't object to paid voting, why would the production team refuse?

Look at reality shows, if they succeed, don't they release several paid spin-off dramas or movies at the end of the year? Can that be considered the artistic pursuit of a film director?

Both the production team and the fans understand this. It's a mutual agreement, and there's no talk of fairness or unfairness."

Youyou didn't say anything further and secretly glanced at Qin Wei.

At this moment, her displeasure was written all over her face, with no attempt to hide it.

The twisted reasoning and fallacies may sound reasonable, but Qin Wei just couldn't accept it.