Perfect Superstar.

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As night fell, the capital city, the largest northern metropolis, was bathed in lights. First, the stars twinkled, and then, within a short time, a brilliant light band formed. The spacious roads were filled with a continuous stream of vehicles, and people hurried home after work, their lives a busy cycle of routine.

In the basement of Building 7 in Jingming Community, Lu Chen swallowed the last bite of his egg-fried rice and dialed his phone again.

Thank heavens, this time the call went through!

On the other end, Chen Jianhao's voice came through: "Little Lu? My phone ran out of battery earlier. Is there something you need?"

Lu Chen quickly wiped the crumbs from his mouth and said, "Boss, I have something to take care of tonight, so I'd like to request a leave if that's okay."

"Leave?"

Chen Jianhao seemed momentarily surprised, then responded, "A leave is fine. Is it something urgent?"

"A bit."

Lu Chen, sensing something in Chen Jianhao's tone that wasn't quite right, asked, "Boss, is there a problem with the bar?"

He could tell that Chen Jianhao's tone wasn't angry or displeased but had a hint of frustration.

Chen Jianhao was a great boss, and Lu Chen didn't want him to think he was getting big-headed just because he had some skills.

The reason Lu Chen requested the leave was that his contract with ''Whale TV'' had been finalized. ''Whale TV'' had happily agreed to his two conditions and prepared a new contract for him.

With the electronic contract confirmed, Lu Chen only needed to print three copies of the physical contract and send them to Shenhai City the next day.

Coral Fish had eagerly set up his streamer account and live streaming channel, with a scheduled premiere at 8 PM, featuring a new streamer recommendation on the homepage!

From 8 PM to midnight was the prime time for online live streaming, and Lu Chen's performance at Daylily Bar was precise during this slot. He couldn't be in two places at once, so he had to request the night off from Chen Jianhao.

He had a preliminary idea for resolving this scheduling conflict but the timing wasn't right. For now, he could only find a way to stagger the two, trying to balance both.

"No problem."

Chen Jianhao said with a smile, "Actually, it's probably a good thing. Some industry peers heard about you and want to come by tonight. If you're busy, they can come tomorrow night instead."

The bar scene in Houhai wasn't too big or too small; many bar owners knew each other well. Vagabond singers often performed at different venues, and bar owners frequently networked and shared information.

Chen Jianhao had strong connections and many friends in the industry. When word got out that his bar had a talented new vagabond singer, some peers had planned to drop by.

News in Houhai spread quickly. If Lu Chen was as good as rumored, invitations to perform would follow.

Lu Chen understood it was a good opportunity and quickly said, "Boss, I understand. I'll be there tomorrow night for sure!"

"Mm."

Chen Jianhao said, "Little Lu, do well. You have a bright future ahead. If you run into any issues, don't keep them to yourself. I'll help if I can."

Chen Jianhao knew a bit about Lu Chen's family situation and was aware of Lu Chen's hard work.

Lu Chen expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Boss!"

After hanging up, Lu Chen reopened the ''Whale TV'' website and logged into his account.

His ID on ''Whale TV'' remained as Lu Fei.

The live streaming interface on ''Whale TV'' was similar to ''StarryLive'', so Lu Chen, with his prior live streaming experience, quickly adapted and learned most of the features in a few minutes.

Though Lu Fei's live-streaming channel hadn't gone live yet, the number of followers had steadily increased from 0 to 100 within two hours of its creation and then surged past 500.

After reaching 500, the growth rate slowed significantly.

This was expected. Given the sudden shutdown by ''StarryLive'', very few of Lu Chen's 10,000+ followers had transferred to ''Whale TV''. If not for Prophet Li Bai's star circle and WeChat group, the situation would have been even worse. He would have to start everything from scratch!

At least now, he had gained a significant number of genuine followers.

With his live streaming channel page retained, Lu Chen clicked into the ''Whale TV'' forum and entered the "Fish Nest" section.

The "Fish Nest" was essentially the fan circle, identical to the "Star Circle" on ''StarryLive''. Fans in the Fish Nest referred to themselves as Fish Fans and it was the liveliest part of the website outside the live streaming platform.

The Lu Family's Fish Nest and Lu Fei's live-streaming channel were established simultaneously. Thanks to the enthusiastic promotion by WeChat group members, the Fish Nest has already attracted over 300 Fish Fans.

Although it was a newly established circle, the activity level among its members was very high. Within just one or two hours, there were over 100 posts and more than 700 replies, with Lu Chen's live streaming video post from ''StarryLive'' still prominently pinned at the top.

The moderators of the Fish Nest were called "Nest Heads." Currently, there are two Nest Heads: Lu Chen and Prophet Li Bai.

Finding it interesting, Lu Chen made a greeting post as a Nest Head.

His post quickly drew numerous replies from online Fish Fans.

"Lu Fei is here! When will you start the broadcast? I can't wait!"

"8 PM! 8 PM! 8 PM! Important things must be repeated three times!"

"I want to hear Cinderella. I love the host's cover songs, and he's really handsome."

"That's our General Lu, of course, he's handsome. By the way, is the person above for real?"

"I don't change my name, nor my nature!"

"Girl, let's get together."

Soon, the thread became a flurry of excitement and activity, with new posts constantly refreshing.

Bang! Bang!

As Lu Chen was happily engaging in the discussion, someone knocked on the door.

Without turning around, he said, "Come in, the door's not closed!"

Without needing to see, Lu Chen knew it was Li Feiyu— he was familiar with the style of knocking.

"Big star, we've got a major problem!"

Li Feiyu burst in, exclaiming, "Our live-streaming channel has been banned!"

Lu Chen turned around with a smile and said, "Didn't you check WeChat? I had a falling out with ''StarryLive'' over the contract, so they banned my live-streaming channel and account. I've signed with ''Whale TV'' now. Look."

He showed Li Feiyu the live-streaming interface on ''Whale TV''.

"F'ck!"

Li Feiyu was stunned, "I didn't check WeChat today and didn't know such a big thing happened. Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Lu Chen had to recount the entire situation in detail.

After hearing the story, Li Feiyu was infuriated. He slammed his thigh and cursed, "''StarryLive'' is really something else. Motherf'cker, they've gone too far. Have you cashed out all the star points from the tips?"

"No."

Lu Chen shook his head with a wry smile, "There wasn't time. They banned the account in one go."

"F'ck! F'ck! F'ck!"

Li Feiyu was even angrier than Lu Chen, "All those star points went to waste?"

In the past, losing over a thousand bucks would have really upset Lu Chen. He would have been very angry.

But now, with a contract worth 50,000 with ''Whale TV'', he was more at ease.

"I won't let them get away with it. If they don't refund the tips, someone will sue them!"

Prophet Li Bai had already said in the group that ''StarryLive'' would have to return everything they took!

"That's the only option then."

Li Feiyu said gloomily, "Luckily, your skills are strong enough. ''StarryLive'' can't completely shut you down."

"''Whale TV'' might be a bit out of the popularity right now, but it's a veteran platform with a lot of members."

"Forget about it. Little Lu, if you need any help, just let me know!"

Lu Chen had already heard the same thing that night, but he was still touched. "Got it!"

They had known each other for quite a while, so there was no need for unnecessary formalities.

Li Feiyu scratched his head and said, "I'll go have dinner first. I'll be cheering for you next door when you start your live streaming tonight!"

After Li Feiyu left, Lu Chen continued chatting with fans in the Fish Nest and WeChat group.

As time passed, he started to feel a bit nervous.

It was like the feeling of waiting to meet a girl in middle school at the edge of a small forest— anticipation and excitement!

(End of Chapter)