Chapter 55 The Fourth Round of Life Evolution

Throughout the entire meal, Wei Lin kept his eyes glued to the data on his phone, looking utterly out of place among the others.

The internet influencers under Zheng Zehui's agency seemed to inhabit a world of their own, chattering exclusively about their recent follower growth and sales figures.

Zhou Rong and Zheng Zehui spoke in low murmurs, presumably discussing matters of collaboration, and did not pay much attention to Wei Lin.

"Director Wei, would you be interested in collaborating with us?"

Once the meal concluded and the influencers had departed first, Zheng Zehui smiled and asked.

"Brother Zheng, I need to go back and think it over."

The two exchanged WeChat contacts and phone numbers, bringing the dinner gathering to a close.

***

Upon returning home, Wei Lin went straight to his study, opened his phone, and reviewed the detailed profiles of those internet influencers.

Following his recent, prolonged sessions of super meditation, he had practically developed a photographic memory. The data from that stack of papers was now deeply etched into his mind.

There were twelve influencer bloggers in total, scattered across Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and official WeChat accounts. The most popular boasted nearly a million followers, while the smallest had only a hundred thousand combined.

They spanned various fields such as travel, eating broadcasts, fitness, and entertainment.

According to the figures provided by Zheng Zehui, these twelve bloggers collectively sold over ten million yuan worth of goods each month through product showcases and livestreaming.

Zheng Zehui's media company took a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on each order.

"Just from these twelve influencers alone, he earns between 1.5 and 3 million yuan a month through merchandise sales. He doesn't even have any mega-influencers on his roster right now. If one of them were to suddenly experience an explosive surge in followers, leaping from one million to several million, or even tens of millions..."

Extremely sensitive to numbers, Wei Lin rubbed his chin in thought, quickly organizing his train of thought.

"Collaboration is certainly possible, but the hats manufactured at my factory are purely contract-based and lack our own brand."

"If one of the influencers under his banner truly achieves an explosive growth in followers, perhaps... I can seize the opportunity to build my own brand."

"A brand!"

"With the backing of a brand, a Maple Forest hat that sells for over 100 yuan abroad only costs around 10 yuan to manufacture."

"A profit margin of over tenfold!"

At the mere thought of brand influence, Wei Lin's eyes lit up.

He had long wanted to establish his own brand, only to see the idea shelved due to various obstacles. Now, the fire and desire within him had been reignited.

"It's just a pity that those influencers currently have too few followers to propel my brand into the spotlight."

***

At around eleven o'clock at night.

The Affection Value successfully reached 500, updating to 500/500.

"Do you wish to initiate life evolution?"

Within the pale green stars of his mind, the clear prompt of his will sounded once more. Wei Lin did not hesitate and murmured softly, "Initiate!"

The fourth round of life evolution took place immediately, and the Affection Value progress bar instantly reset to zero, changing to: 0/1000.

This time, a full five minutes passed.

Five minutes later, Wei Lin was drenched in sweat and overwhelmed by a ferocious wave of hunger.

Even while feeling ravenously hungry, he did not forget to check the available additional enhancement options for the first time, and his spirits instantly soared upon doing so.

The optional enhancement items (two choices) were as follows:
1. An opportunity for a career breakthrough.
2. A short-term money-making opportunity.
3. A permanent increase in height by 1 centimeter.
4. A permanent increase in alcohol tolerance by 50 grams.
5. Acquisition of a new skill, reaching an intermediate level in a short period (Optional items: badminton, singing, combat).
6. Possession of mind-reading ability 3 times.

The breakthrough at 500 Affection Value had introduced two brand-new optional items!

"How should I choose?"

Staring at the six options, Wei Lin grew conflicted and began to ponder deeply.

To keep his mind clear, he immediately commenced a session of super meditation. Once the meditation cleared away the clutter in his mind, he carefully deliberated.

His gaze first fell on the fifth option.

"I've recently been exposed to singing, badminton, and even tried out the boxing ring at Liket Fitness. Clearly, every set of optional enhancement items is related to my recent experiences."

"Singing? I'm already decent at it; there doesn't seem to be any need to develop it."
"Badminton—even if I reach an intermediate level, what the hell is the use of that?"
"Combat—now this has massive utility!"

Sports like badminton and combat required prolonged, repetitive training for muscles to form memory before finally reaching a high level.

The reason he could easily apply his athletic prowess to basketball was that he had been playing since childhood.

The feel of dribbling, shooting mechanics, and driving to the basket had long since left a memory in his body. With the rapid enhancement of his speed, explosive leaping power, and strength, he was able to instantly push his basketball skills to new heights.

Badminton and combat, however, were fields he had never touched before.

Even with his current exceptional physical capabilities, mastering these two skills and reaching a high level in a short time would be impossible.

"Combat is useful! If it truly doesn't require accumulation through long-term training and allows me to enter the inner sanctum in a short time, it's definitely worth choosing!"

"However, three uses of mind-reading ability are also immensely useful to me right now!"

"And..."

Regarding the first choice—an opportunity for a career breakthrough—he felt that given the events of recent times and the people he had been interacting with, new changes might also be on the horizon.

"Combat is indeed very useful, but it might not be the best choice right now. Let's try options 1 and 6!"

With that thought, Wei Lin hesitated no longer and quickly made his decision: "I choose 1 and 6!"

The selection was executed instantly, leaving only the number 3 hovering above the Affection Value progress bar.

The number 3 represented the remaining uses of the mind-reading ability.

Simultaneously...

Six peculiar names, much like the two stocks from before, were deeply imprinted into the depths of Wei Lin's memory.

"Gluttonous Little Pig, Travel-Loving Brother Pang, Dazhuang Teaches You Fitness, Makeup Xiaomu, Photography Uncle Cang, Chef Dabin."

Gazing at those six names, Wei Lin froze for a moment, thinking to himself: "Aren't these the six minor influencers under Zheng Zehui's agency?"

Having just met them earlier, he knew that the follower counts of these six minor influencers ranked at the very bottom among the twelve, each possessing anywhere from tens of thousands to a little over a hundred thousand followers.

Combined, the money generated by the six of them through showcases and livestreaming each month did not even equal that of the single highest-traffic influencer among them.

After rapidly estimating in his mind, Wei Lin arrived at a clear figure, calculating that the combined monthly sales of the six individuals amounted to just a little over one million yuan.

Meanwhile, the top-performing influencer under Zheng Zehui's banner could sell nearly five million yuan worth of goods for him every month, and that person's total follower count barely scraped one million.

That single person's follower count surpassed the combined total of all six.

Calculating with a commission rate of 15% to 30%, the six of them together could yield a monthly revenue of 150,000 to 300,000 yuan for Zheng Zehui.

Factor in the salaries Zheng Zehui had to pay them, alongside planning, filming equipment, camera crews, and online traffic promotion costs, and the actual profit earned would likely shrink drastically.

"I see. These six individuals must be the major influencers of the future, and their follower counts are likely to experience explosive growth in the short term."

Wei Lin's mind cleared instantly, and a surge of excitement washed over him.

After thinking it over carefully, Wei Lin took a deep breath and quickly sent a message: "Brother Zheng, are you free tomorrow afternoon after two? Shall we grab a coffee and chat about a collaboration?"

Before long, Zheng Zehui replied: "Sure. But I'm not familiar with Linjiang City. You go ahead and find a coffee shop and send me the location."

After finishing the communication, Wei Lin boiled two packs of instant noodles before going to bed, adding six poached eggs.

Only after eating every last bite did the bone-deep sensation of hunger recede, replaced by a powerful feeling of overflowing strength within his body.

"The physical evolution reaction brought about by this breakthrough seems much more violent than before."

Wei Lin muttered to himself quietly.

***

On the morning of Thursday, November 14th.

The second batch of goods from Birch, Zhijie, and Tianzhong arrived right on schedule. After a thorough inspection by Wei Lin and Anyuantian confirming that both quantity and quality were flawless, the goods were cleared for warehousing.

"Vroom! Vroom-vroom!"

The roar of an engine suddenly erupted downstairs in the spacious factory building.

A familiar red Ferrari, with a familiar license plate.

"Zhuang Daoyuan!"

Wei Lin frowned.

The car owner did not get out.

Instead, the heavily built Tang Qiang, dressed in a black suit, pushed open the front passenger door. Stepping out, he headed straight upstairs toward the Xinlin offices.

"Qifeng!"
"Tang Qiang!"

Every core backbone member of Xinlin recognized Tang Qiang. The moment they spotted him, their hearts sank.

Anyuantian hurried forward. Despite harboring a bellyful of resentment, he squeezed a fake smile onto his face and said, "Director Tang, what brings you the time to inspect our Xinlin today?"

"Old An, long time no see."

Standing downstairs at the Xinlin office building, Tang Qiang looked up and said, "Xinlin, built single-handedly by my master, is still the exact same old way. I truly feel it's a pity for the old man."

"Thanks to your blessings," Anyuantian retorted sarcastically.

"Is Wei Lin around? I came over specifically today to discuss a few matters with you and Wei Lin." Tang Qiang's expression remained unchanged, as though he couldn't hear the irony in his words.

Upstairs.

Wei Lin pushed open the window and looked down at this formidable rival who had left the competitors in Linjiang City struggling to breathe. Unable to force a smile the way Anyuantian had, he said coldly, "I'm here. Come upstairs if you have something to say."

Those who come with ill intent are never well-wishers, and well-wishers never come with ill intent.

Not only had Tang Qiang paid a visit today, but even Zhuang Daoyuan had tagged along. Nothing good could possibly come of this.

"Fine."

Tang Qiang stepped into the office building alone, yet exuded an overwhelming aura of unstoppable intrusion.

Inside the conference room, Wei Lin was already waiting.

Du Juan, Hong Bin, Duan Yunpeng, and Sun Xiaomiao—the four core pillars of Xinlin—had all arrived ahead of Wei Lin, each wearing a solemn expression.

"Quite a full house, I see."

After entering, Tang Qiang swept a calm gaze over everyone before casually pulling out a seat and sitting down. Without preamble, he announced, "My purpose in coming here today is to represent Qifeng and discuss an acquisition with you all."