diff --git a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
index 87ad007a4..306bbaf25 100644
--- a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 import "server-only";
 
-import { GetObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
+import { GetObjectCommand, PutObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
 import { createOpenAI } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
 import sharp from "sharp";
-import {
-  getDefaultStorageConfig,
-  getStorageConfigById,
-  getSystemSetting,
-} from "@/lib/db/queries";
+import { getDefaultStorageConfig } from "@/lib/db/queries";
 import {
   bindVip98kImages,
   selectVip98kTaskInvocation,
@@ -22,11 +18,12 @@ import {
 import { createLogger } from "@/lib/observability/logger";
 import { createDeferredUploadedImage } from "@/lib/storage/image-archive";
 import {
+  buildS3PublicUrl,
+  buildStorageObjectKey,
   createS3Client,
   type S3UploadConfig,
   toDbS3UploadConfig,
   uploadFile,
-  uploadFileWithS3Config,
 } from "@/lib/storage/service";
 
 const logger = createLogger("vip98k-provider");
@@ -68,13 +65,11 @@ const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_ATTEMPTS = 3;
 const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
 const MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES = 40 * 1024 * 1024;
 const REFERENCE_STAGING_CACHE_MS = 60_000;
-const STORAGE_FAILOVER_CONFIG_KEY = "storage_failover_config";
+const REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX = "vip98k-references";
 
 type ReferenceStagingConfig = {
   sourcePublicUrl: string;
-  sourceDownloadConfig?: S3UploadConfig;
-  targetPublicUrl?: string;
-  uploadConfig: S3UploadConfig;
+  storageConfig: S3UploadConfig;
 };
 
 let referenceStagingConfigCache:
@@ -468,22 +463,6 @@ async function archiveOutputImage(imageUrl: string): Promise<UploadedImage> {
   );
 }
 
-function readStorageFailoverConfig(value: unknown) {
-  let parsed = value;
-  if (typeof parsed === "string") {
-    try {
-      parsed = JSON.parse(parsed);
-    } catch {
-      parsed = null;
-    }
-  }
-  const record = toRecord(parsed);
-  return {
-    enabled: record?.enabled === true,
-    backupStorageConfigId: String(record?.backupStorageConfigId || "").trim(),
-  };
-}
-
 async function resolveReferenceStagingConfig() {
   const now = Date.now();
   if (referenceStagingConfigCache?.expiresAt && referenceStagingConfigCache.expiresAt > now) {
@@ -492,29 +471,13 @@ async function resolveReferenceStagingConfig() {
 
   let value: ReferenceStagingConfig | null = null;
   try {
-    const [sourceStorage, failoverSetting] = await Promise.all([
-      getDefaultStorageConfig(),
-      getSystemSetting({ key: STORAGE_FAILOVER_CONFIG_KEY }),
-    ]);
-    const failover = readStorageFailoverConfig(failoverSetting?.value);
-    if (
-      sourceStorage?.publicUrl &&
-      failover.enabled &&
-      failover.backupStorageConfigId &&
-      failover.backupStorageConfigId !== sourceStorage.id
-    ) {
-      const targetStorage = await getStorageConfigById({
-        id: failover.backupStorageConfigId,
-      });
-      const uploadConfig = toDbS3UploadConfig(targetStorage);
-      if (uploadConfig) {
-        value = {
-          sourcePublicUrl: sourceStorage.publicUrl,
-          sourceDownloadConfig: toDbS3UploadConfig(sourceStorage) || undefined,
-          targetPublicUrl: targetStorage?.publicUrl || uploadConfig.publicUrl,
-          uploadConfig,
-        };
-      }
+    const sourceStorage = await getDefaultStorageConfig();
+    const storageConfig = toDbS3UploadConfig(sourceStorage);
+    if (sourceStorage?.publicUrl && storageConfig) {
+      value = {
+        sourcePublicUrl: sourceStorage.publicUrl,
+        storageConfig,
+      };
     }
   } catch (error) {
     logger.warn("reference staging config lookup failed", {
@@ -596,7 +559,6 @@ async function downloadReferenceImageFromStorage(
   mediaUrl: string,
   stagingConfig: ReferenceStagingConfig,
 ) {
-  if (!stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig) return null;
   const objectKey = getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl(
     mediaUrl,
     stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl,
@@ -604,9 +566,9 @@ async function downloadReferenceImageFromStorage(
   if (!objectKey) return null;
 
   try {
-    const response = await createS3Client(stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig).send(
+    const response = await createS3Client(stagingConfig.storageConfig).send(
       new GetObjectCommand({
-        Bucket: stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig.bucket,
+        Bucket: stagingConfig.storageConfig.bucket,
         Key: objectKey,
       }),
       { abortSignal: AbortSignal.timeout(REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS) },
@@ -642,6 +604,27 @@ async function downloadReferenceImageFromStorage(
   }
 }
 
+async function uploadReferenceImage(
+  buffer: Buffer,
+  stagingConfig: ReferenceStagingConfig,
+) {
+  const key = buildStorageObjectKey("reference.jpg", REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX);
+  await createS3Client(stagingConfig.storageConfig).send(
+    new PutObjectCommand({
+      Bucket: stagingConfig.storageConfig.bucket,
+      Key: key,
+      Body: buffer,
+      ContentType: "image/jpeg",
+      CacheControl: "public, max-age=31536000, immutable",
+      ...(stagingConfig.storageConfig.provider === "qiniu-kodo"
+        ? {}
+        : { ACL: "public-read" as const }),
+    }),
+    { abortSignal: AbortSignal.timeout(REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS) },
+  );
+  return buildS3PublicUrl(stagingConfig.storageConfig, key);
+}
+
 async function normalizeReferenceImage(buffer: Buffer, mimeType: string) {
   try {
     const normalized = await sharp(buffer, { failOn: "none" })
@@ -673,19 +656,14 @@ async function stageReferenceImage(
     downloaded.buffer,
     downloaded.mimeType,
   );
-  const suffix = `${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
-  const uploaded = await uploadFileWithS3Config(
-    `vip98k-reference-${suffix}.${normalized.extension}`,
-    toArrayBuffer(normalized.buffer),
-    stagingConfig.uploadConfig,
-  );
+  const uploadedUrl = await uploadReferenceImage(normalized.buffer, stagingConfig);
   logger.info("reference image staged", {
     sourceHost: getUrlHost(mediaUrl),
-    targetHost: getUrlHost(uploaded.url),
+    targetHost: getUrlHost(uploadedUrl),
     sourceBytes: downloaded.buffer.byteLength,
     stagedBytes: normalized.buffer.byteLength,
   });
-  return uploaded.url;
+  return uploadedUrl;
 }
 
 async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string, mediaKind: "image" | "video") {
@@ -693,12 +671,15 @@ async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string, mediaKind: "image" | "vide
   if (/^https?:\/\//i.test(normalized)) {
     if (mediaKind !== "image") return normalized;
     const stagingConfig = await resolveReferenceStagingConfig();
+    const sourceObjectKey = stagingConfig
+      ? getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl(normalized, stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl)
+      : null;
     if (
       !stagingConfig ||
+      sourceObjectKey?.startsWith(`${REFERENCE_STAGING_PREFIX}/`) ||
       !shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
         mediaUrl: normalized,
         sourcePublicUrl: stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl,
-        targetPublicUrl: stagingConfig.targetPublicUrl,
       })
     ) {
       return normalized;
@@ -717,13 +698,12 @@ async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string, mediaKind: "image" | "vide
   const extension = detectExtension(parsed.mimeType);
   const suffix = `${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
   const stagingConfig = await resolveReferenceStagingConfig();
-  if (stagingConfig) {
-    const uploaded = await uploadFileWithS3Config(
-      `vip98k-ref-${suffix}.${extension}`,
-      toArrayBuffer(parsed.buffer),
-      stagingConfig.uploadConfig,
+  if (stagingConfig && mediaKind === "image") {
+    const normalizedImage = await normalizeReferenceImage(
+      parsed.buffer,
+      parsed.mimeType,
     );
-    return uploaded.url;
+    return uploadReferenceImage(normalizedImage.buffer, stagingConfig);
   }
   const uploaded = await uploadFile(
     `vip98k-ref-${suffix}.${extension}`,