She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

Nine Percent's tour concluded at the Shanghai Sports Center.

At the celebration banquet, the nine people were forced to drink in turns. Fan Chenchen drank so much that he squatted in a corner and called his mother. Chen Linong, with a red face, was pulled onto the stage and sang "Girl" again. Even Zhu Zhengting, who usually doesn't drink much, was forced to drink half a glass by Bu Fan.

Xiao He leaned back on the sofa, holding a glass of soda in his hand, looking at his brothers who had fought their way out of the big factory together.

The end of the tour means the boy band is entering the next phase – individual development and less time together.

Everyone knew this principle, so tonight, some were drinking heavily, others were hugging each other's necks, and no one mentioned breaking up.

He slipped out of the banquet hall during a break, leaned against the corridor wall, and scrolled through his phone. Liu Yifei's WeChat message popped up—"When are you coming back?" "Tomorrow, early flight." "I've made plans at the recording studio. Come back and listen to the master tape of 'Mohe Dance Hall'."

Before the conversation on the screen had ended, a hand reached over from the side and moved his phone back half an inch.

Cai Kunkun had followed us out at some point, holding two glasses of red wine, and leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor.

Her center-parted black hair was a bit longer than during the first show of the tour, and her bangs were hanging down, covering half of her eyebrows.

He handed one of the glasses to Xiao He, who took it, touched the rim of the glass to his lips, but didn't drink it.

"Brother He, you're such a great songwriter, could you write one for me?"

"No time. Liu Yifei is still urging me to release her next single." Xiao He straightened up. "Can't you write it yourself?"

Cai Kunkun laughed, shook his head, and said that they were different. He wrote his own work based on his trainee days, while Xiao He wrote it at the level of a professional singer-songwriter. You could tell the difference.

During each show of the tour, I stood on the rising platform to listen to him sing "Qilin". As soon as the suona prelude started, the whole audience stood up.

Xiao He interrupted him, saying that it was just for stage effect, and that the suona itself has the property of creating a sensation.

"That's why I'm contacting you. You dare to cram the suona into pop songs and actually make it work. Write me a song without the suona, just something new. I can trade you something. I'll teach you how to create a super topic and manage your fans."

Cai Kunkun leaned back against the wall, revealing a meaningful smile.

"Your current number of die-hard fans is less than one-tenth of mine. You've released so many hit singles, but your numbers aren't going up. The problem lies in fan engagement."

Xiao He looked at him and said, "How do you suggest we run the business?"

"You need to make your fans feel that their support is worthwhile. It's not just about saying thank you; it's about real interaction. Do you know that fans can stay up all night to vote? Do you know that they'll spend their own money on support activities to improve their ranking in the Super Topic?"

Cai Kunkun placed the red wine on the windowsill in the corridor, turned around to face Xiao He, and the smile on his face faded a bit.

"They don't want money or fame, they just want you as a person. You have to make them feel close to you. After I debuted, the fan organization 'Cai Kunkun Data Station' split into five groups: Weibo voting group, ranking group, copywriting group, and comment control group. Each of them was spontaneously organized. They used 4761 million votes to send me to the center position and then used 9 days to get my birthday Weibo post forwarded over 100 million times. They did all that, so I had to give them something in return."

Xiao He fell silent. Of course, he knew what "sweetness" meant.

In their previous lives, which of those top idols didn't have a few ambiguous relationships they dared not make public?

A few extra seconds of handshake at the autograph session, a private photo in the backstage dressing room, and hours of "exclusive perks" in a hotel room late at night.

In the name of love, they indulge in desire.

He didn't respond, but leaned against the corridor wall, waiting for him to continue.

"I'll teach you a few tricks," Cai Kunkun said, holding up a finger.

"First, offer handshake tickets at autograph sessions. Each ticket allows for a five-second handshake, and buying ten tickets grants a one-minute handshake. This isn't about selling tickets directly; it's about giving them away with album purchases. Fans will buy ten albums just to get an extra minute of handshake time, naturally boosting the hashtag's popularity. Second, arrange one-on-one photo sessions at fan meetings. Each person can take a photo with you individually, but afterwards, you must say, 'Thank you for coming to see me.' Just that one sentence will make them happy in the hashtag for a week. Third, maintain a consistent posting time on Weibo, such as 10 PM every night. Once fans get used to it, they'll browse the hashtag before then, stabilizing your activity level. Fourth, occasionally interact with a few fans in the comments section, replying with the message, 'Please give me your best data,' nothing else is required. These things cost almost nothing, but once you give them, they'll work tirelessly for you."

Xiao He listened without interrupting.

He knew that everything Cai Kunkun said was true.

In 2018, the fandom maintained its cohesion through these mechanisms, which were scripted and supported by the idols themselves.

"So how much of a incentive did you give them offline?" He looked at Cai Kunkun.

Cai Kunkun leaned against the wall, his wine glass swirling slightly in his hand.

He stared at the LED screen at the end of the corridor, which was still playing behind-the-scenes footage of the tour. He remained silent for a moment before speaking, his voice so low that Xiao He almost thought he wasn't going to answer.

"When I first debuted, I didn't know anything. I thought that since fans liked me, I had to be nice to them. Back then, I did it once a day."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Later, my body couldn't take it anymore, so now it's twice a week."

Xiao He looked at the person in front of him—a man who had fought his way out of 1908 people, was sued by his former company for 320 million yuan, and walked into the big factory alone with an enormous debt.

IKUN used 4761 million votes to put him on the throne, and in return, he gave away everything.

Such transactions appear to be mutually agreeable, but in reality, each one has a price secretly set in advance.

"You're awesome." Xiao He placed his wine glass on the windowsill. "If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Watch out."

"Look at my current fan engagement." Cai Kunkun ignored his reminder and held up his phone in front of him. On the screen was a comparison chart of fan data—Cai Kunkun had about 120,000 people checking in on his super topic, ranking first in activity.

Xiao He, with a score of just over ten thousand, ranks outside the top twenty.

"It's more than ten times as many as yours. You've released so many hit singles, like 'Wild Wolf Disco,' 'Qilin,' 'Insomnia Flight,' and 'Crossing the Boundary,' each one of them has become a hit, but you still don't have as many die-hard fans as I do."

He put down his phone.

"Brother He, let's complement each other's strengths. You write songs for me, and I'll help you manage your idol image. The quality of your songs speaks for itself; what you lack is fan loyalty. I'll help you build up your fan community, which will increase the reach of your songs. It's a win-win situation for both of us."

"I just want to sing well."

Xiao He leaned against the wall, his voice steady, as if stating a fact that had already been decided.

"Singers don't rely on checking in on supertopics, they rely on their works. When I accumulate enough, the entire music industry will make way for me. Supertopics are the platform's data, not yours. If the platform changes its algorithm today, your ranking will change tomorrow. But songs are different—once a song is written, sung, and remembered, it's yours. Nobody can take it away."

Cai Kunkun remained silent for a long time.

The LED screens in the corridor stopped playing, leaving only the closing music lingering softly in the empty hall.

He looked at the glass of red wine in Xiao He's hand that he hadn't drunk a drop of, and then at the empty glass in his own hand.

Then he laughed.

"Okay. It's fine if you don't write songs for me, but you're right about one thing: once the song is written, it's yours. If you change your mind someday, feel free to contact me."

Xiao He turned and walked to the other end of the corridor.

He has already tested this path.

"Wild Wolf Disco" taught people across the country how to draw dragons, "Qilin" silenced all doubts with its powerful vocals, and "Insomnia Flight" sang countless couples into their Greenwich dreams.

These songs never needed to be checked in on the super topic, didn't need fan voting, and didn't need any "sweeteners" to maintain fan enthusiasm.