FLME Ch8: Live Streaming

After a burst of commotion, they finally had dinner at nearly nine o’clock.

Although the boss bragged and took full credit for signing Director Gao, Director Gao wasn’t just a contracted director for the company. Using his limited business knowledge to listen in, Yu Wen personally felt that someone holding company shares couldn’t be considered a mere colleague—at the very least, he was one of his direct bosses.

At the dinner table, only Teacher Xie shared his predicament. Yu Wen silently moved his chair next to Xie Heyu.

“Teacher Xie, is it very tiring to help out at the company while going to school?” He couldn’t interject in the middle-aged men’s argument, so resting his chin in his hand, feeling a bit bored, he turned to chat with Xie Heyu.

“It’s alright.”

“You’re a sophomore this year, right? The coursework shouldn’t be easy.”

“Mn.”

“What department is Teacher Xie in?”

“Computer Science.”

“Wow.” Yu Wen clapped like a seal. “It has absolutely nothing to do with the entertainment industry.”

What the heck, dragging this kind of talent to be a helper. Is the boss planning to make him a hacker in the future to strangle internet anti-fans?

It was somewhat a waste of talent.

“Mn. I’m used to it.”

Yu Wen lowered his head and took a sip of his drink—orange juice. He smacked his lips and put the drink back in its place. Too sweet, not good.

After staying quiet for a moment, he still couldn’t resist turning his head to ask Xie Heyu: “By ‘used to it’, you mean…?”

Xie Heyu raised his eyes to look at him thoughtfully, seemingly weighing his words.

“People in my family always have sudden whims. The person who executes these whims is generally me.”

“…May I take the liberty to ask how many people are in your family?”

“Counting the aunts, a lot.”

Yu Wen stayed quiet for a while, then sincerely praised, “Impressive.”

Their Teacher Xie had painstakingly raised a whole family!

It was still Xie Heyu who drove him back.

The half-drunk boss went downstairs to see them off, laughing honestly. “Hehehehehe, Xiao Yu…”

“Xiao Yu is here.”

Xie Jiamao let out a wine burp, waved at Yu Wen, and whispered in his ear like a thief: “Boss has some good news to secretly tell you…”

Yu Wen played along with starry eyes, “What good news?”

“Gao Kaiyu’s next drama. I’ve already agreed with him to tailor-make a likable supporting role for you…”

“Oh my god, tailor-made.”

“Once the drama airs, you’ll definitely become a massive hit and wildly popular!”

“OMG! A massive hit and wildly popular!”

“Hehehehe, but…” The boss rubbed the back of his head and said embarrassedly, “The next drama won’t be for at least three or four months. In the meantime, I have to assist Old Gao, so I won’t have much time to negotiate gigs for you. You might… hiccup… have to sit at home twiddling your thumbs for a very long time…”

Yu Wen gazed at him with peace and love.

He felt the boss had the potential of a magpie—every time he said something like this, a gig would arrive immediately.

That very night, Yu Wen received a new job.

It was a charity live stream to aid farmers.

He opened his phone and took a look. Surprisingly, Chu Han, grateful to him for speaking up to defuse the situation last time, voluntarily lowered his own pay to bring him along to show his face in the live stream.

Although it was a public welfare live stream, in response to the call, the platform took it very seriously, so the exposure tied to this live stream was considerable.

Yu Wen hadn’t expected that a few casual words would make Chu Han remember for so long. The protagonist simply had an obsession with repaying favors.

He obediently sent Chu Han a text to thank him.

Then he briefly scanned the contract. His calm state of mind collapsed with a bang the moment he saw the main product of the charity live stream—

Tangerines.

He closed his eyes.

My life is over.

The charity live stream was scheduled for the weekend, when traffic was at its peak.

The live stream location was right at the orchard, far away in another city. Flights and accommodation were reimbursed by the company, so Yu Wen didn’t need to worry. He only needed to worry about whether he would wear a mask of pain during the live stream and ruin the farmer uncle’s reputation.

Chu Han arrived early. He wasn’t good at socializing, but since he was the one who made the connection, he was currently stuttering while introducing Yu Wen to several platform executives, trying to broaden his network.

Yu Wen wore a serene smile and greeted them one by one, the words “can I not stream” genuinely choked in his throat.

Slacking off at this time was simply a crime.

There were four people appearing on camera in the live stream room: a host, a hypeman, and two background boards eating tangerines.

Yu Wen didn’t want to eat tangerines, but he was too embarrassed to steal the resources of the two in front. Taking ten thousand steps back, he couldn’t out-compete them anyway. Thinking about it, he felt the only thing he could do was peel tangerines.

The other background board was quite good-looking, with a bit of an androgynous vibe. He was probably also a newcomer stuffed in to show his face. Before the stream started, Yu Wen solemnly shook his hand and entrusted him:

“I’m relying on you later.”

Background Board Number Two scratched the back of his head in confusion and gave him a friendly smile.

At 2 PM, the live stream began.

“Hello everyone, welcome to XX live stream room, I am actor Chu Han…” Following the process, Chu Han greeted the audience slightly stiffly.

The hypeman next to him was a staff member arranged by the platform, very good at livening up the atmosphere. In just two or three minutes, his witty remarks immediately mobilized the enthusiasm of the bullet comments.

“Babies, if you have any questions, you can type them on the public screen. Are they sweet? Of course they’re sweet. Trust us and trust the farmer uncle, the ones with poor appearance won’t be sold at all. What everyone can see and what gets to your hands will definitely be the best…”

As he spoke, he peeled a tangerine. Chu Han chimed in, peeling one too and eating it slowly, nodding vigorously from time to time.

[Oh my babies, cute to death]

[Eating until his cheeks bulge, who gets it, who gets it]

[Host, show us some abs]

[How many days to get to XX City?]

[Is there an insurance policy that compensates if it’s not sweet? People afraid of sourness really need it]

Looking at the bullet comments, Chu Han would smile shyly when teased, and earnestly answered every product-related question.

The host was working hard, and the background boards were also alive.

Yu Wen quickly peeled a whole tangerine, carefully removed the pith, and handed it to his colleague with the pious posture of offering up the imperial jade seal.

His colleague was very moved, tears already welling up in his eyes.

Before entering the industry, he had heard that the waters of the entertainment circle were deep and everyone only had interests in their eyes, but it turned out to be all rumors! This friend he had just met by chance was incredibly warm-hearted.

He accepted the tangerine with the respectful posture of receiving an imperial edict, savoring each segment carefully, as if contemplating the true meaning of life.

[Ah…]

[Those two in the back. Those who know would think you’re selling tangerines. Those who don’t would think you’re swearing a blood oath of brotherhood in the Peach Garden]

[Though of different surnames, having become sworn brothers, we do not ask to be born on the same year, same month, same day, but we ask to die on the same year, same month, same day…]

[He has appeared! The enthusiastic netizen!]

[Just bow, I asked Mazu, she tacitly approved.]

Yu Wen paid no mind. From where he stood, he couldn’t clearly see the fast-scrolling bullet comments, at most catching a keyword or two. He had paid attention when the stream started, but later felt he was just a background board, so he stopped paying attention.

Background Board Number Two’s surname was Li, everyone called him Xiao Li. Like Yu Wen, Xiao Li was immersed in his own world, turning a deaf ear to matters outside the window.

The platform was happy to see the bullet comments making jokes; the atmosphere instantly lightened up. Especially since Chu Han didn’t seem to have any objections. If the staff hadn’t stopped him, he would even have wanted to call Yu Wen to the front.

Yu Wen peeled with unwavering focus; Xiao Li ate with solemn dedication.

Half an hour passed.

Yu Wen continued to strictly peel every tangerine. Every time Xiao Li made eye contact with him, his expression grew a bit more solemn, as if what was being handed over wasn’t a tangerine, but a friendship heavier than a thousand catties.

[Let’s be reasonable, the tangerine-eating bro’s face has turned yellow]

[Big fool Chun! Stop feeding him!]

[The internet eldest son I just acknowledged is attacking the internet second son I just acknowledged]

[Do you guys have some kind of KPI…]

[I’ll buy! I’ll buy, alright?! God damn it, I’m calling the police to arrest you guys!]

Seeing the bullet comments starting to stray, the hypeman, signaled by the staff, called the two background boards to the front and asked them to introduce themselves.

“Ah?” Yu Wen opened his cat eyes wide.

Chu Han signaled him to look at the bullet comments.

Yu Wen leaned his face close to the screen. His thick, curled eyelashes drooped with his line of sight, casting a shadow on his lower eyelids. The tear mole at the corner of his eye added a bit of charm to this overly childish face.

Purity and desire coexisted; innocent yet enchanting.

The bullet comments entirely filled with “Big fool Chun” suddenly vanished without a trace. From a long string of “…” popped out a “Hi, wife.”

The reason a background board is a background board is that the lighting doesn’t hit them, and the angle isn’t clear either. From the live stream camera, one could only vaguely tell he was a pretty, delicate-looking beauty.

But when this face suddenly leaned into the camera, the impact was strong.

[What is your name? Zhen is asking for your name!]

[Bestow the title of Consort, you will attend the bed tonight!]

[Brother, you know, I haven’t had a wife since I was little…]

[Do you like foreigners? Hmm? Sis has made a fool of herself abroad before, speak.]

“My name is Yu Wen. ‘Yu’ from ‘known to every household’ (jia yu hu xiao), ‘Wen’ from ‘unheard of’ (wen suo wei wen); Attending the bed on the first meeting? That’s not appropriate, Your Majesty; I don’t have a wife either, I haven’t had a wife since I was little; I don’t like foreigners, I like the Xiongnu, the Xiongnu are tall…”

Yu Wen rested his chin on one hand and let his little mouth output a barrage of words, as relaxed as if he were chatting casually with friends.

The key was that he could reply to every single sentence. Chu Han’s eyes widened in amazement as he listened.

[This is Zhen’s Empress! This is Zhen’s Empress!]

[Wanwan truly has an orchid heart and a poetic soul.]

[Seeing you peeling tangerines for so long, I thought you were a tangerine spirit. I didn’t expect you also knew how to use the internet]

[What is the commenter above saying, what kind of good tangerine spirit peels itself to give to people to eat?]

[Sis is buying ten catties! Let’s chat for a bit, Sis just fancies a Sweetheart like you]

“Sigh.” Seeing the last sentence, Yu Wen crossed his hands and said righteously, “No, this subject will retreat first. This one retreat is for a lifetime.”

[Help…]

[Who taught him these terrible memes?]

[And he’s saying them so seriously…]

[With all due respect, if my Zihan speaks like this now, everyone sitting here is responsible.]

[The world is a giant Zihan.]

“Then I’ll go back to peeling tangerines. Thank you all for your love.” Stealing someone’s spotlight was a sign of low emotional intelligence. Yu Wen had a clear sense of his position. He bowed to the audience as if it were a serious matter, then went back, grabbed a handful of tangerines from the basket, and tucked them in his arms.

A whole handful.

Xiao Li’s soul had already halfway floated away, yet he was still waiting to be fed.

The audience in the live stream room lost their calm.

[Stop him, stop him! Don’t feed my other wife to death!]

[Big foo… First wife, come back!]

[Look at what his face has become! And you’re still feeding him!]

[Don’t be afraid everyone, I’ve already called.]

[Called the platform?]

[No, called an ambulance.]