Chapter 51: Let’s Plan a Base
“Forget it, forget it.”
Lin Tian hurriedly waved his hand.
As long as Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu put their heads together, making money wouldn’t be such a big deal in the future. Living a relatively comfy life wouldn’t be too much trouble either—unless they decided to start a business.
Let’s be real: opening a café or even a breakfast joint, selling some noodles or rice vermicelli, wasn’t as easy as pie!
Besides, the two of them were already swamped with their music endeavors—no energy left for other tasks.
“I just… don’t want Grandpa’s café to be left to rot,” Gan Yan Yu stared blankly at the table.
Lin Tian froze.
That sentence struck a chord in him.
Sometimes, did he not also nostalgically think about strolling past Grandpa Gan’s shop after school, chatting with the old man for a few minutes?
Grandpa’s café might not have been bustling, but a couple of regulars would show up in the evenings, chatting away with him while sipping coffee.
That time in his life was, once upon a time, the only warmth he could feel as someone with no family or friends.
Ever since Grandpa Gan went into the hospital, the café had been shut down.
In less than half a month, it had gone from bustling to a ghost town.
The truth was, Grandpa Gan owned the place, so there were no rent issues.
It would be a shame to let it remain abandoned like this.
“How about we renovate the café and set it up as our shooting location? What do you think?”
Not that Lin Tian knew how to make coffee.
Running a shop was no walk in the park either.
But a café could still serve other purposes.
“Recording at my place all the time is too cramped, and the background looks awful.”
Lin Tian’s living room wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox.
Ever since Gan Yan Yu showed up, the TV cabinet had been dumped on the balcony, crammed with lights, stands, a piano, speakers, and recording equipment.
If they had a new, spacious place to sh**t videos, they could really explore their creative potential. They could film their videos in an MV style or set up a beautifully classical performance backdrop.
In fact, the layout of Grandpa’s café was already pretty artsy.
“But what if Grandpa wakes up and sees we’ve messed up his café?”
“That’s easy! We just won’t touch Grandpa’s stuff!”
Lin Tian exclaimed, “We’ll leave the coffee machines and utensils in place, only move the tables and chairs. We can set up a photography studio and create our own music base!”
Our own music base?
Hearing Lin Tian say that, Gan Yan Yu’s interest was piqued.
Let’s be real—when it came to crafting their own cozy little nook, girls were totally defenseless.
“What if one day we become popular? Then we could even hold a little concert there! Guests must buy ‘Gan Yan Yu’s Coconut Sago’ to watch us perform—98 bucks a cup! We could launch some desserts and drinks to rake in their cash!”
Lin Tian was getting all fired up, leaving Gan Yan Yu dumbfounded.
The girl murmured, “Sounds pretty good…”
“Right?” Lin Tian puffed up with pride.
When Grandpa Gan returns to see this scene, he’d probably just shake his head and say he’s not cut out for running a shop.
“But it’s going to cost a lot, right?” Gan Yan Yu asked.
That was a solid point.
Since they needed a big setup, decorating the place would definitely require a pretty penny.
And and, they’d need to upgrade equipment like lights and stands. Right now, Lin Tian was using cheap lights that cost barely a few bucks—just bright enough to get the job done.
If they wanted Gan Yan Yu’s outfits to pop on camera, they couldn’t avoid these upgrades.
Moreover, Lin Tian was borrowing recording equipment from SYC. It was only a matter of time before he had to return it, so it’d be better to buy their own.
Lastly, since they were recording performance videos, the quality mattered—always relying on a phone was far from ideal.
They’d need to consider a camera too.
Lin Tian winced at how broke they were.
Adding all that up meant they would need at least tens of thousands. No doubt about it.
“No worries.”
Lin Tian patted his chest, trying to reassure Gan Yan Yu. “We’ll make money with the next video.”
“How?”
“Check this out.”
Lin Tian opened Douyin, switching to the backend for Gan Yan Yu to see.
In fact, after dinner, he had been planning to discuss this with her.
Since “Can-Can” blew up, Lin Tian’s backend had filled up with messages from advertisers.
In just two videos, he had racked up 320,000 followers!
The quality of the “Moonlight and Cat” video had left many in the industry astonished.
Naturally, that made Lin Tian a hot commodity for advertisers.
A slew of advertisers had reached out to him.
Lin Tian carefully sifted through the messages, tossing out offers from those he had never heard of or seemed shady.
That left him with a solid eight options, and he had no idea how to choose.
The issue was that it was his first time navigating Douyin, so he didn’t know much about it.
If he messed up, it’d be a real hassle.
He wanted to see what Gan Yan Yu thought.
“I have no idea,” Gan Yan Yu shook her head, “I don’t usually watch short videos. Forget promoting on Douyin; I don’t understand anything related to monetizing music either.”
For Gan Yan Yu, she had always been pure.
Pure enough that she played because of her love and her grandpa.
As long as she could keep playing the cello, that was enough for her.
Anything else didn’t pique her interest.
“Well, that complicates things.”
Lin Tian pondered.
Relying on someone like Gan Yan Yu, who was still on the 2G Internet plan, was really not an option.
But, lo and behold, he had a Douyin whiz right beside him.
And apparently, he knew a lot about Douyin content creation, having previously critiqued Qingzhou City’s influencer culture.
Lin Tian quickly called Xu Yong.
After understanding Lin Tian’s needs, Xu Yong’s first reaction was to excitedly offer his congratulations:
“Dude! You’re landing ads that fast?! I’m impressed! The advertisers chasing you must be top-notch, right?! You’re not telling me you’re going to collect Curry pieces tomorrow, are you?! You seriously rock!!”
He was worried about his buddy hitting it big but didn’t want his friend rolling in wealth either.
That was the sum of Xu Yong’s feelings!
“Breakfast tomorrow is on me at McDonald’s.” Lin Tian said seriously.
“Lunch too!”
“Alright, alright!”
“…”
After a moment of venting, Xu Yong steered the conversation back to business.
“Honestly, I’m not really sure about the Douyin ad stuff…”
“Then why are you talking?”
“Dude, let me finish!”
Xu Yong gritted his teeth, “But I know someone who does, and you know her pretty well.”
“Who?”
“Su Ran, the girl who sits in front of you.”
Xu Yong said, “She’s quite the sensation on Douyin! A real firecracker among firecrackers!”
“Wait, hold on!”
Lin Tian quickly interrupted Xu Yong, glancing at the puzzled Gan Yan Yu.
Once he confirmed she couldn’t hear Xu Yong, he continued, “We’re not that familiar; we’ve just talked a few times.”
“Su Ran has around 100,000 followers on Douyin! If you haven’t added her on WeChat, I can connect you now! You should ask her!”
(The End of This Chapter)
