Chapter 138: Is the Box Office About to Explode? (1)

As if things weren't awkward enough, someone in the crowd specifically shouted, "Surround his parents, then he won't be able to leave!"

Hearing this, Yang Xiaofan was so furious he nearly coughed up blood. He almost turned around to kick the guy. Was this person devoid of any morals? Was there no bottom line to being a fan? You can chase me if you want, but why surround my family?

Just as Yang Xiaofan was nursing a headache, the KTV owner suddenly rushed over with a group of staff. "Brother-in-law, you go first! We’ll hold them off for you!"

Yang Xiaofan cast a look of gratitude toward them. "Thank you."

With the owner's help, his family finally managed to escape the KTV safely. Only after they were back in the car did both families let out a sigh of relief.

"That was terrifying. Those people were like lunatics. I’ve seen debt collectors, but they weren't this aggressive!"

"No wonder celebrities are so protective of their privacy. This is truly frightening."

In the back seat, Qin Nanxin couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow! Short videos of us at the KTV are already being uploaded to Douyin, and the view counts are still climbing. It's insane. Brother-in-law, your traffic is absolutely explosive."

Yang Xiaofan felt a splitting headache coming on and rubbed his temples hard. He immediately called the CEO of Douyin.

"Hello, this is Yang Xiaofan."

"Oh, Mr. Yang! Hello, hello. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? Is something the matter?"

"I was at a KTV with my family today, but someone filmed us and uploaded the clips to your app. I don't want my family to be exposed. Could you please have your technical department block them for me?"

"Of course, no problem."

"Thank you."

"It's nothing. Just make sure to come by and do some livestreams on our platform more often. I’ll contact the tech team right away and send you a message once it's done."

"Understood. Goodbye."

In truth, Yang Xiaofan could have used his own computer skills to scrub the content himself. However, this was different from the incident with Mu Shuyu. Mu Shuyu had no connection to him, so no one would suspect him. But if he were to act in his own interest, and someone traced the activity back to his high-level technical skills, wouldn't he be doomed? Often, it is better not to flaunt such dangerous skills casually.

Not long after hanging up, the Douyin CEO messaged him to say it was taken care of. Yang Xiaofan asked Qin Nanxin to search again; sure enough, all the short videos of him at the KTV had vanished. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"From now on, we can't go out in big groups like this. We need to split up. Even if we do gather for a meal, we should prioritize booking private venues. And I definitely won't be singing or performing anything anymore. I'll stay as quiet as possible to avoid being recognized, understand?"

Everyone nodded in unison. After this experience, they had a visceral sense of Yang Xiaofan's terrifying popularity and no longer dared to underestimate his influence.

"With so many people obsessed with Xiaofan, I suppose he'll never have trouble making money in his life," Qin's mother remarked with a sigh. Qin Nanxin chimed in again, "Of course not! And it’s not just 'no trouble'—it's unbelievably easy. If my brother-in-law registered on Weibo or posted a short video with an advertisement now, his endorsement fee would start at two or three million at the very least."

"Hiss! My goodness, is it really that lucrative?" Everyone was stunned.

Qin Nanxin continued, "Of course. Many celebrities who aren't even as popular as my brother-in-law can make tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a simple ad. Isn't it perfectly normal for him to command millions?"

Yang Xiaofan retorted, "It’s not as simple as you think. Do you know that if you endorse a bad product, all that hatred will be directed at you? That’s not a game. If you're not careful, you could ruin your reputation entirely and be branded a villain for eternity."

"That’s true. Money is never that easy to earn," Yang's father added with a nod.

Little Yang Xiaoqing, however, couldn't wrap her head around it. She tilted her head and frowned. "Are these people crazy? My brother is such a loser, why are they chasing him?"

Yang Xiaofan rolled his eyes at her. "What did you say?"

Yang Xiaoqing wasn't afraid of him at all and retorted defiantly, "I said you're a loser! You’ve done so many embarrassing things in the past—don't think you can stop people from talking about them."

Before Yang Xiaofan could speak, his mother turned around and glared at her. "You brat, stop talking nonsense. Or I’ll smack your hands."

"Hmph! You’re just biased because he’s a boy!" Yang Xiaoqing grumbled indignantly, turning to look out the window.

Meanwhile, Qin Nanxin felt she had caught onto some useful information. It seemed Yang Xiaofan had done a lot of foolish things in the past. If she could expose some of that on her livestream, she might be able to ride the wave of his massive popularity and go viral herself! And Yang Xiaoqing was just a little kid—surely she could handle her?

Thinking this, Qin Nanxin looked at Yang Xiaoqing as if she were a mountain of gold. Yang Xiaoqing seemed to sense her gaze, turned back, and glared at her. "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a pretty girl before? Hmph!"

Qin Nanxin felt rebuffed, rubbed her nose, and didn't say anything, but she began plotting in her heart.

The two families didn't return home. As soon as they reached their neighborhood, they saw many unfamiliar faces gathering around, many holding phones. It was clear they were looking for Yang Xiaofan. Naturally, they didn't dare go home, so they headed to a large hotel to find a place to stay for the night.

After an exhausting day, Yang Xiaofan was worn out and fell asleep early, holding Qin Nanyu.

Elsewhere, cinemas were quietly beginning to fill up. At exactly midnight, the movie starring Yang Xiaofan would premiere in theaters across the country. For the sake of this film and a glimpse of Yang Xiaofan’s big-screen debut, people were fully prepared. Some planned to stay up all night, while others had specifically taken leave for the next day, just to watch Yang Xiaofan's movie.