On that day, just as Zhang Yang finished his livestream, Chen Xiu's WeChat call request came through.

Zhang Yang glanced at it and casually picked it up.

"Hey? What's the command, Brother Show?"

"Hehe, boss, don't tease me! How would I dare to order you around!" Chen Xiu's attitude towards Zhang Yang was especially respectful, treating him as not just a peer, speaking with a tone reserved for talking to a leader.

"I just finished streaming and was about to grab a bite! What's up, just spill it, don't keep me guessing!"

"Um, so, the platform's got the little yellow car feature now, just like you said before! I'm pretty shocked, what you said when we signed up wasn't an exaggeration at all! We have real insiders!" Chen Xiu rambled on, clearly avoiding the main topic.

After interacting for some time, Zhang Yang had basically figured out what this guy was like. If he called, it definitely wasn't just for a casual chat.

So Zhang Yang said directly, "Stop beating around the bush, get to the point! What do you want?"

"Hehe! Didn't you say last time that if I do a good job streaming, you'd tell me a way to make big money! See, I've been working hard lately, the number of followers has gone up, and I'm eager for more!" Chen Xiu didn't hold back any longer and got straight to the point.

"Oh, it's about that! I thought you might be thinking of leaving for another job!" Zhang Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not stupid, why would I leave such a good deal! You knew about the little yellow car thing so far in advance, how could I not keep tabs on platform policy changes!"

"Alright then, although it's not quite the agreed-upon time, you've been performing well since signing on, so no harm in telling you early! On Taobao, there's a feature called Taobao Affiliate! Also known as the Affiliate Alliance, simply put, sellers post affiliate tasks on there for affiliates to help promote products and achieve sales. Each successful sale comes with a commission! For this business, you just need to ensure the quality when choosing products, no need to handle shipping or bear costs, making it a lightweight operation! Many tasks are meant to boost sales and rank, where sellers trade losses for traffic. You just need to carefully select products with the best value-for-money ratio to earn money while maintaining your followers' trust! It's a win-win!"

With your smarts, take care of those big sponsors on Taobao and Tmall, and you'll be raking it in!"

"Taobao, Affiliate Alliance..." Chen Xiu murmured to himself, firmly remembering this completely unfamiliar field.

"Exactly! Taobao Affiliate, also known as the Affiliate Alliance! Research it, and you'll understand! A heads-up, in the next half year, there'll surely be a competitive frenzy, make money with integrity! Don't ruin your reputation in the fishing community for quick cash, the company needs you at critical moments!" Zhang Yang specifically advised.

The reason Zhang Yang emphasized this point was because in his past life, Chen Xiu had made some profit from unscrupulous quick cash at this stage, which left a stain on his reputation and affected his later achievements. With Zhang Yang guiding him in this life, he certainly wouldn't let him take the wrong path!

"Got it. I'll hang up and start looking into this Taobao Affiliate thing right away!"

"If that's all, let's call it a day. Keep up the good work!"

"Alright, bye, love you, muah muah!"

"Get lost!"

...

Ending the call, Chen Xiu wasted no time, immediately opening his home computer and using Baidu to search for information about this Taobao Affiliate business.

Smart and business-minded, researching this straightforward business model posed no difficulty. After thoroughly searching for information and looking through the official site, Chen Xiu quickly understood what it was all about.

In essence, this Taobao Affiliate is like a salesperson abroad. As long as you sell a product using a special link, you'll earn a commission shared by the sponsors, varying from a few cents to dozens of cents to a few dollars per sale depending on the product type.

In 2016, fishing tackle products were still relatively high-profit categories on Taobao. Selling a fishkeeping net could earn a few bucks! Bait and ground bait commissions were decent too.

That afternoon, based on intuition, Chen Xiu picked some relatively reliable tasks from the platform and placed orders himself. Following Zhang Yang's advice, he planned to first get a sample to check quality before considering selling.

Over the next few days, the various samples Chen Xiu ordered from Taobao arrived one after another. He assessed the value-for-money from an angler's perspective and selected the highest value-for-money products with decent commissions.

Having chosen the products, Chen Xiu energetically got to work.

Links to the Taobao products were shared in fan group chats and prominently promoted on the livestream's little yellow car feature. Meanwhile, he sought out suitable locations to livestream fishing, embarking on his journey as Brother Show, the influencer.

...

Back to Zhang Yang, things at the company and the livestream were pretty much on track. Wang Yan and others streamed pond fishing sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Zhang Yang and Han Qiang covered reservoir fishing on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Occasionally, when the weather or fish conditions weren't ideal, Zhang Yang would do an indoor livestream just to chat with friends.

Under this stable yet high-output regime, the fan base and online influence of the major account Mingyang Tianxia steadily grew.

As the company's head, Zhang Yang found himself quite free apart from his livestreaming duties, enjoying a laid-back and relaxed lifestyle.

However, such carefree days didn't last long. On May 14, while Zhang Yang was having tea and chatting with fellow anglers in the shop, he unexpectedly received a call from Meng Fan.

"Hey? Little Fan, are you back? How did it go?"

As soon as he picked up the call, Zhang Yang inquired about the competition results. Meng Fan and Liu Zi had been out for several days pursuing a competition, and today was the day results were announced, so Zhang Yang was particularly concerned.

"Don't ask, Brother Yang, I'm embarrassed!" Meng Fan's voice was low, with an unmistakable undertone of frustration.

"What happened? Didn't perform well, messed up?" Zhang Yang frowned, finding it hard to believe.

Since the temperature started warming up after the new year, Meng Fan and Liu Zi had participated in several competitions, winning one championship and finishing in the top five in several others. To Zhang Yang, this performance indicated they'd surpassed the beginner's stage, and achieving more was only a matter of time.

Zhang Yang had never heard Meng Fan so downcast, no matter how well or poorly they performed before.

Could there be something else?

"Before the competition, during familiarization and testing, I was a bit too high-profile. As a result, during the competition, someone deliberately sabotaged my fishing spots! Three rounds scored nothing, and in one round I didn't even catch any fish, not even finishing in the top ten!" Meng Fan reported truthfully.

"Who? Was it an individual or a small group that set you up? What's the name?" Upon hearing about the sabotage, Zhang Yang instinctively clenched his fist.

In his past life, Zhang Yang loathed those anglers who had no bottom line just to win in competitions.

Sabotaging fishing spots or maliciously disrupting were some of the darker aspects of competitive fishing. Despite the significant change in Zhang Yang's mindset in this life, hearing such incidents happen to his people still upset him.

"Qian Wenjun! Their group had about five or six people, seemed to be members from Dongxing Fishing Tackle! Not only did they set me up, but after the awards ceremony, they even taunted and mocked me! Damn, if I come across that bastard again in a competition on our turf, I'll definitely show him!" Meng Fan said through gritted teeth.

"Dongxing Fishing Tackle, Qian Wenjun? Got it, come back safely, we'll figure things out when you're home!" Zhang Yang didn't continue, giving a few reminders before ending the call.

After hanging up, Zhang Yang muttered to himself, "Dongxing? Again with Dongxing! It's like we're destined to clash!"

Despite appearing calm, a small flame had ignited within Zhang Yang. In his past life, he had lost a championship and a thirty-thousand-dollar prize because of this group's dirty tricks. In this life, he never expected his team members to run into them again.

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