The award ceremony continued, and gradually, the other companies present began to sense something amiss.
The awards were almost all handed out, yet not a single person from Yu Tian Culture had stepped onto the stage to receive one.
Yu Tian Culture had arrived in a grand procession of over a dozen individuals, making a spectacular entrance on the red carpet.
Everyone had assumed they were destined to be Cat’s Paw’s strategic partners.
The criteria for Cat’s Paw’s awards were not particularly stringent.
After all, it was primarily for entertainment, akin to divvying up a piece of meat.
Every MCN company present, regardless of size, had received a share.
Yet Yu Tian had come up empty-handed.
Was that fair?
Meng Zhen was still in the corner, preoccupied with a phone call and hadn’t returned.
The table of influencers from Yu Tian were whispering to each other, feeling increasingly uneasy.
Xu Qin noticed and rapped his knuckles on the table, his eyes sharp as an eagle’s.
“Mind your manners and keep quiet,” he said.
The table of influencers glanced at him and promptly fell silent.
“Uuuu, he’s so manly!” Xiao Pan said, cupping her face as she reminisced about the eight small dishes served before the banquet began.
“I wish I could touch him again…”
She spoke in a low voice, but Xu Qin’s hearing was extraordinary, and he heard her clearly.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the humiliation he felt, and looked at Shi Pengpeng with a smile.
“Miss Shi, it seems we’ll have to rely on your kindness in the future.”
“What are you talking about?” Shi Pengpeng looked puzzled.
“How could I possibly help you?”
“You’re too modest,” Xu Qin said, his smile unwavering.
“Mr. Yan is rising rapidly in the ranks. We’ll all have to follow his lead. And he’s so deeply… “
He paused for a moment, then uttered a single word, “Smitten.”
Shi Pengpeng: ‘Why on earth did Yan Jing act like that just now?’
Now the consequences were here.
Would she have to endure such cringe-worthy flattery from now on?
Her heart felt cold, but her face turned shy.
“With words like that, I’d be even less able to help you. If Yan Jing finds out, he’ll ban your account again.”
Xu Qin: “…”
Was she doing this on purpose?
She looked so innocent, yet she said things that struck right at the heart.
At that moment, Xiao Pan’s exclamation came again:
“Wow, Reborn Liu Ruyan is so beautiful!”
“Huh?” Shi Pengpeng heard the familiar ID and turned to look at the stage.
The annual Best Newcomer Award was being presented, and “Reborn Liu Ruyan” was the Cat’s Paw account of the winning blogger.
With the background music playing, a graceful young woman in a red strapless evening gown walked onto the stage, her movements full of charm.
The audience immediately began to murmur.
There was no other reason—Reborn Liu Ruyan was just too stunning.
Shi Pengpeng couldn’t help but look at her a few more times.
She was not only amazed but also a bit surprised.
Several colleagues in their company were fans of “Reborn Liu Ruyan,” and even she had followed Liu Ruyan on Xiao Pan’s recommendation.
It wasn’t that “Reborn Liu Ruyan” was particularly unique.
On the contrary, this account was the most common type of feel-good literature reading blogger on Cat’s Paw.
Cat’s Paw had promotional collaborations with many online literature websites, where users could voice-read these stories and turn them into videos for dissemination.
However, monetizing such accounts was quite challenging.
Most of the videos were mass-produced, with rough AI voices and uniform content, mostly short feel-good stories generated by AI.
“Reborn Liu Ruyan” was such a reading account, but unlike others, this account did not use AI voices.
Instead, the blogger read the stories herself, and the content she shared was carefully selected high-quality revenge-themed feel-good stories.
Her voice was very pleasant, like the melodious chirping of a bird, soothing and invigorating.
Moreover, her enunciation was clear and full of emotion.
Especially when reading the parts about the protagonist’s revenge, her emotions were always particularly high and abundant.
A story that was originally only seven or eight points of excitement was immediately elevated to ten points by her reading.
For example, the top video on her homepage was a quintessential beginning of a web novel:
“I was reborn. In my previous life, I was the gold-digging female supporting character Liu Ruyan, manipulated by the male protagonist.”
“Because of my vanity, I was deceived abroad by him, gave birth to a daughter for him, and was eventually abandoned and died miserably on the street……………….”
“Now that I’m reborn, in this life, I’m going to take back everything that belongs to me………………”
This video was less than a minute long and didn’t reveal the continuation of the plot, but it was full of emotion, with every word hitting the heart.
It could be said to be the pinnacle of her voice acting.
The account name “Reborn Liu Ruyan” probably originated from this.
When Shi Pengpeng first started working, she had a lot of economic pressure and sometimes had insomnia at night.
Once, she mentioned this to Xiao Pan, who suggested she listen to some mindless feel-good stories on Cat’s Paw to help her sleep and specifically recommended the account “Reborn Liu Ruyan.”
Later, Shi Pengpeng found out that several colleagues in the company were also fans of Liu Ruyan, and they all treated her as a bedtime read.
This was understandable.
Modern people have too much pressure and need such simple and pure feel-good stories to relax.
Thanks to her emotionally rich real-person voice acting, Liu Ruyan stood out among the many low-quality AI reading accounts and gained some followers.
However, she never showed her face, and no one cared about the appearance of a reading blogger.
No one expected that she would be so stunning in person!
The audience was full of experts in the field, and many immediately wondered why such a beautiful woman would be a reading blogger.
If she were to read with her face shown, her traffic might have taken off long ago.
Some even suspected that she wasn’t the real Liu Ruyan, perhaps the real Liu Ruyan wasn’t very attractive and had hired an actress to collect the award.
But as soon as she spoke, all doubts were dispelled.
It was indeed Liu Ruyan’s voice.
Now, the MCN companies present began to get restless.
“Reborn Liu Ruyan” was a personal account and had not yet signed with any company.
If they could sign her, with her looks and great figure, there would be so many ways to operate her account.
Liu Ruyan was very satisfied with the commotion she had caused.
Her fox-like beautiful eyes sparkled as she scanned the audience subtly.
Shi Pengpeng keenly sensed that her gaze seemed to linger on their table for a moment.
Soon, Shi Pengpeng’s feeling was confirmed.
After finishing her speech, Liu Ruyan gracefully walked off the stage.
However, instead of returning to her original seat, she sauntered through the crowd and approached Shi Pengpeng’s table.
Xiao Pan became excited at once and stood up, saying, “Hello, Liu Ruyan. I’m your fan. Could I take a photo with you……”
Liu Ruyan didn’t even glance at her, directly bypassing her to greet Meng Zhen, who had just finished his phone call:
“Hello, you’re Manager Meng from Yu Tian Culture, right?”
Her voice was melodious and sweet, completely different from the decisive and exhilarating tone she used when reading revenge stories.
Xiao Pan:”….”
Meng Zhen had just been scolded by Ouyang Jue and was feeling quite down.
Suddenly encountering such a beautiful woman, he felt his spirits lift.
Recognizing her as the Liu Ruyan who had just caused a stir, he quickly perked up and said, “I’m Meng Zhen. What can I do for you?”
Liu Ruyan gave a charming smile:
“I heard that your company is signing new bloggers and I’d like to see if there’s an opportunity for me?”
Meng Zhen’s spirits were instantly lifted: “You want to sign with us?”
“Is it possible?” Liu Ruyan lightly tapped a button on Meng Zhen’s chest with her fingertip, her eyes lifting coquettishly, “I heard that the terms you offer bloggers are quite good…………”
“Of course it’s possible……” Meng Zhen looked her up and down, his mind already racing.
Tonight had been terrible.
Yan Jing’s sudden promotion had caught them off guard.
He had made countless phone calls, but still hadn’t gotten a clear answer, let alone a solution.
Ouyang Jue was very dissatisfied and scolded him, but that was the least of his worries.
This boss was not an easy person to deal with, and Meng Zhen was afraid that he would continue to vent his anger on him, and he didn’t know what would happen next.
Liu Ruyan’s appearance was timely.
This woman was truly beautiful, and she happened to be the type that Ouyang Jue favored.
Ouyang Jue was no longer young, almost sixty years old, but he maintained his body very well.
Not only did he look young, but he was also physically fit, and his demand for women had never ceased.
More than half of the female influencers signed by Yu Tian had been to his bed.
Ouyang Jue particularly preferred beautiful women, but he was fickle, and his interest in a woman never lasted more than a few months.
It wasn’t easy to continuously find women who met his taste.
If he could persuade Liu Ruyan and present her to Ouyang Jue, it might temporarily quell Ouyang Jue’s anger.
Fortunately, this woman was visibly superficial and should not be difficult to handle.
Meng Zhen’s mind raced, and in an instant, he had an idea.
He pointed to Liu Ruyan’s finger and continued suggestively, “You’re so beautiful. It would be a pity to just talk to me. Perhaps you could have a private talk with our chairman…………”
Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan was initially surprised, then her face lit up with delight:
“You mean Chairman Ouyang?”
“Who else?”
Meng Zhen saw her expression and knew the deal was done.
He smiled and said, “Chairman Ouyang appreciates beauties like you the most. If you’re willing to have a private talk with him, I’m sure he’ll offer you a contract that will surprise you……”
A flicker of interest crossed Liu Ruyan’s eyes, but she still feigned modesty, drawing out her words, “In that case——then I’ll trouble you to make the introduction.”
The two reached an agreement on the spot.
Meng Zhen was about to send a message to Ouyang Jue, but then he looked at Xu Qin, as if seeking his opinion, and asked, “What do you think of Miss Liu Ruyan?”
Xu Qin glanced at her indifferently, showing a bit of contempt for Liu Ruyan’s shallowness.
After a moment, he nodded slightly: “Fine.”
Meng Zhen’s face lit up with joy, and he immediately gestured to Liu Ruyan:
“Chairman Ouyang has just gone back to his room to rest. Let me take you to him.”
Liu Ruyan smiled charmingly: “Alright.”
The two left together, and the other influencers from Yu Tian seemed to take it in stride, their expressions as usual.
Only Xiao Pan was somewhat shocked.
Xiao Pan turned to Shi Pengpeng in confusion and asked:
“Pengpeng, are they really going to………………?”
If she understood correctly, Meng Zhen’s words just now implied that Liu Ruyan would engage in a quid pro quo with Ouyang Jue?
Instead of slapping him, Liu Ruyan went along happily?
Shi Pengpeng sensed Xiao Pan’s bewilderment and responded with a faint “Mm,” then said indifferently, “Everyone has their own choices.”
This matter was clearly initiated by Liu Ruyan, and it seemed she had already known about Yu Tian Culture’s modus operandi and had come precisely for that reason.
“Uuuu,” Xiao Pan lamented, “How can she be such a person? With this, how can I continue to listen to her reading?”
Shi Pengpeng comforted her, “Don’t worry, if she really signs with Yu Tian, she probably won’t read anymore.”
Xiao Pan:”……”