Chapter 64: The Lord of Guiding Currents

"That goes without saying," Bai Renzong replied. "This dessert is simply extraordinary."

Han Jiayi giggled sweetly, then asked curiously, "Did you eat yet?"

Bai Renzong shook his head.

Han Jiayi frowned. "It's already seven-thirty, you know?"

"There were so many fan comments under today's video that needed replies," Bai Renzong glanced at the time, "and before I knew it, it's already this late."

He had spent time reading private messages, answering fans, and sharing links to other creators' videos. He hadn't even had a chance to order takeout before Han Jiayi arrived.

"So what would you like to eat? I haven't had much for dinner myself," Han Jiayi rolled up her sleeves.

"You must be exhausted today. Let's just order some takeout," Bai Renzong took out his phone. "What do you want? I—"

"Oh, it'll be ready soon!" Han Jiayi interrupted impatiently. "Just wait!"

Ten minutes later, a steaming bowl of fried rice was placed in front of Bai Renzong. It was packed with eggs, sausage, and a bit of leftover shredded pork in garlic sauce from last night, making the dish both rich in flavor and free from waste.

Bai Renzong especially admired this about Han Jiayi: unlike some Michelin chefs who waste ingredients for the sake of perfect dishes, she made delicious meals by perfectly utilizing leftovers and less-than-ideal ingredients.

"I watched your video at the restaurant and thought the game seems really interesting," Han Jiayi said, sitting across from him with a radiant smile. "Why don't we play together tonight?"

"Of course," Bai Renzong smiled. "I didn't expect that I actually managed to promote this game."

But Bai Renzong realized he might have been too modest.

That evening, as he prepared to create a server to play with Han Jiayi, he discovered that the game's public servers had added a domestic server.

He found it odd, because "Survivors of the Apocalypse" was a niche game with only two public servers, both overseas. Usually, players needed an accelerator to connect.

He checked the game's forum and finally understood what had happened.

Because he had promoted the game, starting from last night, a surge of domestic players flooded the servers, forcing the developers to open a dedicated domestic server.

Forum users even posted screenshots: the game had just over forty-three thousand reviews a day ago, but tonight, that number had jumped to fifty-six thousand.

Bai Renzong's single video had led to over ten thousand sales in one day.

The game, after six years of bumpy updates, had only sold forty thousand copies, yet a single promotional video from him generated more than ten thousand sales in twenty-four hours.

Bai Renzong knew that, though his follower count wasn't yet high, his influence was enormous. The Connoisseur App didn't just give him a boost in numbers—it actively delivered his video to viewers through some powerful recommendation system.

It felt almost like a forced advertisement.

"What's wrong?" Han Jiayi asked, hugging her laptop as she sat on his bed. "Is the server ready?"

"Not really... Let's just play," Bai Renzong said, not thinking too much about it. He set up a server and started playing with Han Jiayi. It occurred to him that this was the first time he'd played a game with a girl in real life.

This girl was truly remarkable... Bai Renzong thought, shaking his head.

Once they joined the game, Bai Renzong reminded her, "You've finished the beginner tutorial, right?"

"Yes, I know the basics," Han Jiayi smiled, then pouted, "If I'm bad at the game, you can't scold me."

"I won't scold you. It's hard to get started in this game; you need guidance," Bai Renzong replied. "Just follow me to search for supplies. I'll tell you what's important—just pick those up. If you see zombies, run. Don't get bitten. You've had a long day, and I went to the gym too. Let's just play a little and call it a night."

Yet that "little" became four hours in the blink of an eye...

"Wow, it's impossible to stop once you start playing this game..." Bai Renzong complained, looking at the half-built house on the screen.

"This game is so much fun!" Han Jiayi exclaimed. "Why don't we stay up all night?"

"You're not going to the restaurant tomorrow? I'm coming to check out your place, remember?" Bai Renzong retorted.

"Why are you being so fierce..." Han Jiayi looked at him with aggrieved eyes.

"Sorry... Let's play again tomorrow night," Bai Renzong quickly corrected himself. "Tomorrow we'll bring back a generator and install it, so the house will have power. Then we can cook for ourselves instead of eating canned food."

"Yay! I'll cook! I always thought the cooking system in this game was interesting—so many dishes, pasta, rice, stir-fries, barbecue..." Han Jiayi said excitedly, then couldn't help but yawn.

Like a little kitten... Bai Renzong thought, watching her yawn, then found himself yawning as well, infected by her.

Both of them ended up laughing.

"I'll go to bed now..." Han Jiayi said, rubbing her eyes and waving a small hand at him. "Good night..."

"Good night," Bai Renzong smiled, cursing himself inwardly: It's just a game, why are you so happy? You've been living together for more than half a month already!

Yet the next day, when Bai Renzong checked his private messages, he realized he hadn't just directed traffic to "Survivors of the Apocalypse." Even a reply under his video had sent a flood of viewers to a creator named Hot.

The tens of thousands of new players had turned to Hot's tutorial videos for the game, and many became his fans.

Hot himself was baffled by the sudden surge in his video's popularity. After learning the reason, he left a special thank-you comment under Bai Renzong's video, and Bai Renzong gained his first creator friend on D-Station.

Other creators on D-Station, as well as MCNs and business collaborators who followed the platform, all began to pay attention to this newcomer called "Old Bai."

They noticed that anything Bai Renzong reviewed—Yijiaxuan, "Desecration," Wang's Pancake, "Survivors of the Apocalypse"—became explosively popular. Even a simple video link could net another creator ten thousand new followers.

They couldn't understand: How could a creator with only a couple hundred thousand followers have such magical influence and drive so much traffic?

From then on, Bai Renzong earned a new nickname on D-Station: "The Lord of Traffic."

But today, Bai Renzong had a proper task: a second visit to Yijiaxuan.

He knew that if his "traffic magic" really worked, this review would be Yijiaxuan's ticket to two Michelin stars. They had to seize the opportunity.

That afternoon, around three o'clock, Bai Renzong arrived at the entrance of Yijiaxuan with Wang Bei.

Though the peak dining hours had passed, the restaurant was still nearly full, all drawn by the dessert "Cloud Veil."

"Let's go in," Bai Renzong waved to Wang Bei and pushed open the door to Yijiaxuan.

(Thanks to readers 20210930141425592, Xuanji Unicorn, Egg Sad丨Light Sorrow, Reflection, Huaye for patrolling the mountain, Zhang Yang’s rain, Yun Yingxiang for two votes, vxvg for the reward and votes)