The weekly regular meeting was underway.
Everyone sat in their usual seats, staring at their laptops and tablets while occasionally looking up at the whiteboard projection.
Shi Jingyan sat at the head of the long table, expressionlessly watching the marketing manager report on recent turnover and core progress. Sales were rising steadily, which was a positive trend. While it was not an overnight explosion, it was far more stable.
“Alright, that covers most of what I wanted to say.”
The marketing manager spoke as his gaze swept across the faces of the employees before landing on Shi Jingyan. His voice paused slightly.
“One more thing regarding the first livestream we held a few days ago. It was aimed at expanding our marketing reach and promoting our new products. Although there was a small mishap at the very beginning, the overall issue was negligible. Our transaction volume that day was far ahead of other brands livestreaming during the same period!”
Shi Jingyan’s hand stiffened slightly.
The air in the meeting room went silent for a moment. Then, starting from someone unknown, a burst of applause actually broke out. The marketing manager smiled, intending to continue, but he was suddenly interrupted.
“Is the calculated transaction volume the total, or was a portion excluded?”
Shi Jingyan looked up at him, his gaze darkening slightly.
“Uh,” the marketing manager stammered, “according to the information submitted by the department in charge of the livestream, it is the total sales volume from the start of the broadcast until the end.”
“What if you exclude that person?” Shi Jingyan asked again.
That person?
Seeing the manager’s confused expression, Shi Jingyan frowned. “The one named ‘Host, Add My WeChat’.”
As he uttered the name, a mixture of slight embarrassment and shame welled up in his heart. Shi Jingyan pursed his lips.
The manager suddenly realized. “We compiled two sets of data. Even if we remove the turnover generated by that viewer, the remaining portion still firmly ranks in the top three among brands in the same period. I believe we can focus on development and marketing in this area in the future.”
Was the brand truly suited for this direction, or was it just because that person was causing a stir in the livestream room?
Shi Jingyan did not say another word; he simply raised his hand and massaged his temples, which had begun to throb again.
Night fell. Inside a clubhouse private room.
Figures were scattered across a massive circular sofa. The air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume and top-tier champagne. The table was piled with empty bottles of Armand de Brignac alongside several opened bottles of Macallan Lalique series whiskey, their amber liquid flowing like molten gold under the lights.
“This is boring!” someone shouted. “Let’s place a bet! For the next round of drinks, whoever finishes last lets the winner take that Lamborghini SVJ downstairs home tonight! Do you dare?”
This triggered a wave of cheers.
Just then, the heavy, soundproof door was pushed open, and a figure walked in.
She scanned the room, her brow furrowing in irritation as she spotted a small group whose expensive collars were already soaked with alcohol. She went on the offensive immediately.
“Tong Sheng!”
Her voice was not particularly loud, yet it cut clearly through the noisy crowd, reaching the ears of the boy surrounded in the center.
He jumped up with a start and looked over. Upon seeing her, his drunken expression instantly vanished, replaced by a fawning smile. He shook off the female companion clinging to his arm and hurried over to the girl.
“Sister Lu! You should have called me before you arrived so I could come out and get you. Why did you just walk in by yourself?”
Ling Lu stood with her arms crossed, her face full of displeasure. She looked at the scene inside with disgust and was about to speak when another person walked in behind her.
The expression on Ling Lu’s face changed in an instant, turning from anger to joy. She grabbed the person’s arm, her smile sweet and syrupy. “Brother Yan!”
Tong Sheng had not yet recovered from Ling Lu’s quick-change act and instinctively looked up at the person who had just entered.
The man was very tall; Tong Sheng had to tilt his head back slightly to see his face clearly at such close range. His breath hitched. He considered himself someone who had seen plenty of attractive men and women, but they all paled in comparison to this face.
A pair of golden eyes swept lazily over him before settling on the scene inside the room.
“Quite lively,” the man said. His voice carried its usual tired, playful tone, making it impossible to tell if he was pleased or annoyed.
Ling Lu suddenly glared at Tong Sheng, her eyes narrowing with distaste.
“Tong Sheng, your taste is getting worse and worse. You do not even look at the venue when you organize a gathering. You bring in all sorts of random people; the atmosphere is foul.”
As soon as she spoke, the rowdy crowd fell silent. The second-generation rich kids who had been playing looked over with annoyed expressions, but after seeing who was speaking, they exchanged glances and none dared to speak up first.
Tong Sheng froze for a moment, then explained with a forced smile, “Not at all, Sister Lu. Most of them are people we have hung out with before. Just a small group joined us last minute today. I just thought since Brother Yan was coming, I would gather a crowd to show support.”
As he spoke, he instinctively stole a glance at the man beside Ling Lu, then quickly looked away.
“You knew you were supposed to be accompanying Brother Yan,” Ling Lu huffed. “It is one thing to invite people with no class, but the venue is so subpar too. It is a complete waste of mine and Brother Yan’s time. Did you not bother to do any research? Brother Yan hates noise the most.”
She seemed to lose interest in looking at the groveling Tong Sheng. She turned back to the man beside her, her face once again blooming into a smile.
“Let’s go, Brother Yan. Let’s change locations. The air here is disgusting to breathe.”
Despite such blunt insults, no one present dared to talk back. Instead, they peeked at the figure by the door and whispered among themselves.
“Who is that guy with the red hair? I did not even dare to look closely at his face; he is way too handsome.”
“I think I heard them call him Brother Yan. I do not recognize him.”
“Is that Yu Yanzhuo? For real? He actually showed up?”
Yu Yanzhuo heard all the whispers. A lazy smile remained on his face. “Where are we moving to?”
Ling Lu smiled brightly. “Huan Lian said his family just opened a new bar. He has saved the biggest private room for us. Let’s go there.”
“Sure, wherever works.”
Yu Yanzhuo spoke as his gaze fell on Tong Sheng. He smiled and said, “It was a lot of trouble for you to prepare this. We will take our leave first. You guys enjoy yourselves.”
His tone was still pleasant, showing no sign of anger.
“Uh, I…”
Tong Sheng was stunned. Meeting those smiling golden eyes made his heart skip a beat. He instinctively wanted to ask them to stay. “Um, Brother Yan, we…”
However, before he could finish his sentence, Ling Lu grabbed Yu Yanzhuo’s arm and coquettishly pulled him away.
Yu Yanzhuo did not look back. He casually raised his hand behind him, his wrist hanging loosely, and gave a lazy wave with his long fingers as a parting gesture.
Tong Sheng stood frozen in place until someone tapped him from behind to ask what he was looking at. Only then did he return to the room as if waking from a dream, his mind replaying the rumors he had heard about the Crown Prince of Huanya.
Why does it feel like the real person is even more overwhelming than the rumors?
Ling Lu rested one hand on the steering wheel and glanced at the person in the passenger seat.
Yu Yanzhuo rarely chose not to drive himself today. The passenger window was cracked open, and the wind swirling through the gap made his slightly long hair look a bit messy.
He held his phone, swiping away the chat notifications that popped up one by one, showing zero interest in opening them. However, when he saw one specific notification, his eyes paused.
[Bensu] Livestream room you follow is now live.
That was right. After watching Shi Jingyan last time, he had conveniently followed the account.
However, logically speaking, the usual host would not be Shi Jingyan.
Despite thinking this, Yu Yanzhuo tapped the notification. The screen immediately jumped to the livestream.
As expected, it was the host who had filled in during the second half of the last stream.
With an enthusiastic smile, the host was holding a jar of cream, introducing the product clearly to the audience. He did look more professional.
But it was boring.
Yu Yanzhuo glanced at the comments. A small portion of people were asking when the previous host would return.
“The last host was so handsome. I cannot forget him. Please bring him back!”
Seeing this, the male host on screen gave a slightly apologetic smile. “I am sorry, the host from last time is not usually responsible for this area, and he is very busy. I am afraid I have to disappoint everyone.”
“That host’s physique was so good I could eat three bowls of rice just looking at him. I cannot believe we will not see him again.”
“And that host had such great screen presence! Plus, there was that big spender supporting him.”
There were many people in the room, and they did not seem to notice the entrance notification when Yu Yanzhuo joined.
“The Big Bro left the room right after that host finished his shift last time. It seems like they know each other.”
“Really? Do they actually know each other?”
Facing the increasingly derailed discussion, the male host could only force a smile. “Sorry, I am not too sure about that. But they probably do not know each other. Perhaps that viewer just supported our products on a whim, so…”
Before he could finish, he noticed the comments in the bottom left corner suddenly exploding, scrolling so fast it was like a boiling pot. Even the viewer count began to surge.
Confused, he reached out to scroll up through the comments until he saw the message that had set everything off.
“Host, Add My WeChat”: Bring that other host back.
“Host, Add My WeChat”: If he comes back, I will order another thousand units.