August third, the livestream’s trial run.
The night before, Su Yi’an barely slept at all. He lay awake until the sky was on the verge of dawn, only then drifting into a shallow sleep.
At seven in the morning, Bai Yunchi knocked on the door of the room next door. When the young man opened it, dark circles hung clearly beneath his eyes. Bai Yunchi looked at him with concern and asked gently, “Didn’t sleep well?”
Su Yi’an nodded. He looked at the man with an anxious expression, his nervousness written all over his face. “I’ve never done a livestream before. What if I mess it up?”
Bai Yunchi reassured him in a warm, steady voice, “You won’t mess it up. When the time comes, I’ll be in the livestream room interacting with you. Just treat it like our usual chats.”
As he spoke, he called over Nuomi.
The little fellow trotted over, sticking out its tongue and acting spoiled toward Su Yi’an. Its soft, adorable appearance made Su Yi’an forget his worries for the moment and a smile finally appeared on his face.
The four of them agreed in the group chat to gather at the farm before nine. By the time Su Yi’an and Bai Yunchi arrived, Yang Jiayang and Yan Yi had already neatly arranged the products, stacking them in an orderly manner inside the livestream room.
When Yang Jiayang saw him come in, he immediately waved him over. “An’an, hurry over here. These are the clothes for the livestream, go change into them quickly.”
After changing, Su Yi’an was dragged by his friend to sit down in front of the makeup mirror.
He watched the makeup artist squeeze out a large dollop of stark white foundation and his entire face filled with resistance.
“I’m a livestream sales host. I don’t need makeup, right?”
Yang Jiayang pressed him down from behind. “Who says that? These days, which livestream sales host doesn’t wear makeup?”
The makeup artist was a young woman. Hearing this, she smiled and explained, “You’re already good-looking. Makeup is just the icing on the cake.”
Su Yi’an thought about it for a moment but still couldn’t accept it. “This foundation shade is too pale.”
“It’s not pale,” the makeup artist said patiently. “Foundation oxidizes. Using a shade lighter actually suits your skin better.”
Su Yi’an still wanted to struggle a bit. Just as he was about to speak, a low, pleasant male voice sounded from behind him.
“No need to put on makeup. Just apply a bit of lip balm.”
Teacher Bai!
His eyes lit up instantly. Through the mirror, he looked at the man with a face full of gratitude.
Bai Yunchi smiled back at him. “Are you ready?”
Su Yi’an took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
But when he actually sat in front of the camera, he started backing out again.
He fidgeted with his fingers, so nervous that he kept swallowing. When he saw people entering the livestream room, he didn’t know what to say at all. He could only stiffly recite from the prepared script.
【Look what I’ve discovered, a handsome guy!】
“Welcome ‘Sleep-Deprived Little Lamb’ to the livestream room. Tianyi Farm’s mountain products are green and safe, with extremely high nutritional value. They’re an excellent choice for gifting to elders and friends. The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, buy them to give to friends or parents. They’re both respectable and healthy.”
【Hahahaha, this little brother is so cute he’s like a robot.】
【Ah? You’re really just selling like this?】
【Little brother, I came in because you’re handsome but this won’t do. Look at so-and-so Tree, then look at so-and-so Ke. You’ve got to move around a bit. Just sitting there without moving isn’t going to work, you know. 【seduction】】
【The sister above knows exactly what I mean [heehee]】
【You two big yellow girls, eat some vegetables already!】
Faced with this flood of comments, Su Yi’an had no idea how to respond. His mind went completely blank. Just then, he noticed a viewer with the username “Three Clouds” asking him a question.
“Is the host a newcomer?”
Out of the ten people currently in the livestream room, this was the most serious and proper question. Su Yi’an ignored the other messages, read this one out loud and replied, “Yes, today is my first time doing a livestream.”
“Seeing that you’re not talking much, are you nervous?”
“Yeah, I am a bit nervous.”
“No need to be nervous. Just treat it like chatting with friends.”
Su Yi’an froze for a moment. Part of him suspected that this person might be Teacher Bai but he still replied, “Thank you, I’ll do my best.”
“Since it’s just entered August, the pears aren’t ripe yet, right?”
“Yes, there aren’t many ripe ones yet. Large-scale harvesting won’t start until the end of August. Everyone can try our mountain mushrooms for now. They’re especially fresh and they’re amazing when stewed with chicken.”
“Which kind of hawthorn do people in the north use for tanghulu? I bought the wrong kind last year. It didn’t taste good at all.”
“The first choice for making tanghulu is Crooked-Handle Red. The second choice is Big Golden Star.”
With Three Clouds guiding the conversation, Su Yi’an gradually relaxed and began to get into the flow.
“Friends who like eating tanghulu can follow the channel. When the hawthorns are ready, the host can teach you how to make tanghulu right here in the livestream.”
【Ahhh so well-behaved and so cute】
【That little voice, it’s making my milk come in】
【Alright, alright, come home with big sister. Teach sister face to face how to make it】 【seduction】【seduction】
【Big yellow girl, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to!】
Su Yi’an usually watched livestreams himself, so he knew they were just joking around verbally. He didn’t take it to heart and even smiled as he joked back with them.
“Going home would count as skipping work. My salary would get docked.”
【What kind of black-hearted boss is that? Baby, come work for auntie. Auntie will take you to drive a Benz】
【Wow, what a handsome stick, no, what a delicious host, no, sorry, I just came to the city, I’m a little nervous】
【Host, can the mushrooms be a bit cheaper? They’re a little expensive】
Half an hour into the stream, there was finally a viewer asking about the product.
Su Yi’an straightened his posture, his eyes lighting up with excitement as he glanced at the three people sitting outside the camera frame.
“Look here,” Yang Jiayang held up a cue card and mouthed silently to him. “Push sales. Raise it back to the original price in a week.”
Su Yi’an shot him a look to show he understood.
“This price is already very low. You all know how expensive northern mountain goods can be. Our shop just opened, so we set the price lower to boost sales. After a while, it’ll go back to the original price.”
He took out a fresh mushroom from the display rack, one that had been picked from the mountains not long ago and showed it to the camera.
“Each mushroom is about as big as the one in my hand. If what you receive is smaller than this, you can contact customer service to apply for compensation, or return it if you want.”
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up soon, followed by National Day and then Lunar New Year. Friends who need mountain goods, my suggestion is to place your orders early. The longer you wait, the faster the prices will rise. Since you’re going to buy them anyway, you might as well lock it in early and save a few hundred yuan, enough for a hotpot meal.”
【The host is really good with words. You’ve got me tempted already and at this price it’s actually very affordable compared to other livestream rooms】
【I can vouch for this. My family is big and we buy a lot of mountain goods every year. The price the host set here is indeed very fair】
【So cheap, this isn’t fake, right?】
【Didn’t you see several mountains behind the host? And there are workers carrying goods down the mountain】
Su Yi’an maintained a gentle smile. “This friend can rest assured. Our Tianjia Farm will never sell fake goods. The shop also promises ten times compensation for any counterfeit products.”
【Does the host have any talents? Perform something and I’ll buy 【seduction】】
【I want to hear the host call ‘zi wu~’】
【I want to hear it too +1】
【Ahhh I want to hear it as well】
【Um, can you call me gege? I want to hear the host call me gege】
【Bro, something’s a little off with you】
【Bro, you’re kinda fragrant hahaha】
One after another, a few viewers placed orders in the livestream room. Most of the others, however, were far more enthusiastic about teasing Su Yi’an in the comment section.
Su Yi’an was a living, breathing person. Once the initial nervousness and stiffness passed, handling these kinds of situations quickly became second nature to him.
“I can call you Gege and Jiejie” he said with a smile, “but I still hope everyone will place orders rationally. Only buy if you actually need it. After all, these are mountain products. If there aren’t any quality issues, returns won’t be supported.”
In less than an hour after the stream began, the number of viewers in the livestream room had already surpassed five hundred and it was still steadily climbing.
Yang Jiayang stared at the backend data, so excited that his cheeks were flushed red. “An’an is amazing at controlling the room. If I’d known he was this good, why would we even bother opening an online store? We should’ve just let him become a full-time streamer.”
Yan Yi, hearing this, said, “There are all kinds of people on the internet. Little Su is too pure-hearted. He’s not suited for this line of work.”
“That’s true,” Yang Jiayang agreed. “And An’an is really timid. If someone sends him gifts worth a few hundred yuan, he doesn’t even dare to accept them. Sitting in front of a computer and asking viewers for gifts? That’s something he absolutely can’t do.”
As the viewer count rose, it was inevitable that a few foul-mouthed people would wander in. Bai Yunchi blocked three users with dirty mouths in a row. When he lifted his gaze and saw the young man smiling brightly at the camera, his expression paused slightly.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three hours had passed and it was time to end the stream.
Su Yi’an waved goodbye to everyone. The moment the stream ended, he heard his friend eagerly asking over and over, “An’an, An’an, guess how many followers our account gained?”
With how happy he sounded, it definitely wouldn’t be a small number.
Su Yi’an guessed, “Two hundred?”
Yang Jiayang shook his head. “Wrong. Guess again!”
“Three hundred?”
“Keep guessing!” Yang Jiayang raised one hand and waved it.
Su Yi’an’s eyes slowly widened. “Five hundred?”
“Five hundred and seventy-two, almost six hundred!”
“So many?!”
“Yeah! And that was just three hours. If we stream another three hours this afternoon, we’ll break a thousand!” Yang Jiayang rushed over, hugged him and shook him wildly. “First day streaming and already gained a thousand followers. An’an, you’re incredible!”
Su Yi’an was still a bit dazed. The livestream room had stayed at around five hundred viewers the whole time. He thought that gaining two hundred followers would already be considered good. He never expected it to be close to six hundred!
When he heard from Brother Yan that nearly a hundred people had placed orders, he was so happy that he hugged Yang Jiayang tightly.
“A hundred, there were actually a hundred people who placed orders!”
“Mm-hm! There’ll be even more in the future!”
Yan Yi shook his head at the side, though there was a smile on his face. “It’s really hard to see the two of them this happy. They’re celebrating like this over such a small amount of money.”
Bai Yunchi shot him a glance. “This amount of money is indeed nothing to Young Master Yan.”
“Hey, why do I feel like there’s some sarcasm in what you’re saying?” Yan Yi looked baffled. “Teacher Bai, did I offend you somewhere?”
He knew his friend well. Whenever Bai Yunchi was in a bad mood, he liked to speak in a sharp, sarcastic way, his words like poison, always aiming straight at people’s chests.
Sure enough,
“The old man called me last night and asked how your self-reflection was going. Do you think I should tell him the truth, or…?”
“Brother, my dear brother!” Yan Yi immediately clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. “I’ve only just managed to live peacefully for a few days. Please, have mercy with your words. If I’ve offended you anywhere, just say it. Your little brother will definitely reform and make amends!”
Bai Yunchi folded his arms across his chest, his gaze landing on the two young men who were still hugging each other.
“Sorry,” he said in a low voice. “My mood suddenly isn’t very good.”
Yan Yi slung an arm around his shoulder. “What happened? Talk to your brother.”
Bai Yunchi himself couldn’t quite say why. He answered casually, “Maybe I’ve just been too tired lately.”
“Because of that student of yours who jumped off a building? Oh right, I haven’t asked you yet, how is he? Is he okay?”
“He was resuscitated but there’s no telling whether he’ll ever wake up.”
Yan Yi fell silent for a long moment. Just then, he received a WeChat message from Song Xiangchen. He hooked his lips into a smile and said with forced lightness, “The old man will accept Chenchen sooner or later, right?”
Bai Yunchi withdrew his gaze and looked at his friend.
“He will.”
His tone was firm and unwavering.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · New neighborsChapter 2 · Let’s just wash it.Chapter 3 · Pretty little girlChapter 4 · It’s impossible for us.Chapter 5 · Not as handsome as Teacher BaiChapter 6 · Happy cooperationChapter 7 · Making breakfastChapter 8 · LostChapter 9 · He’s hopelessly in love.Chapter 10 · Three CloudChapter 11 · Am I Old?Chapter 12 · Victory celebration banquetChapter 13 · Power outrageChapter 14 · Online dating meetupChapter 15 · Am I really that bad?Chapter 16 · Boyfriend?Chapter 17 · ConcertChapter 18 · Use Privileges.Chapter 19 · A night AloneChapter 20 · Do You Like me?Chapter 21 · The End