Chapter 78: The Final Push

The argument between the two quickly drew the attention of nearby patrons. In no time, both Bai Renzong and the staff grew anxious that things might escalate, hurriedly stepping in to separate them.

“Han Mumu!” Bai Renzong frowned and called out sternly, instantly silencing Han Jiayi.

“You!” Han Jiayi pointed at him in disbelief. “Don’t call me Han Mumu!”

“Why not? I think it’s adorable,” Bai Renzong replied coolly.

“You—always like this!” Han Jiayi fumed, drawing circles in the air with her finger. “You’re just trying to brush me off! Everything is ‘adorable’ when you want to fool me!”

“It’s not like that—it’s the truth,” Bai Renzong said, signaling to the people from Lanwa House, who promptly dragged Yang Hua away.

Under Han Jiayi’s and Yang Hua’s quarrel, the business collaboration once again ended on a sour note.

“Why did it have to end like this? I really thought I handled it well...” On the way back, Bai Renzong was full of self-doubt.

“You’ve just read too many comics,” Wang Bei laughed as she drove. “In real life, who really gives in to whom? Oh, you’re taking my last hit? As long as you have a mom, Zuan is your home! Come on, flame to the end!”

She smiled slyly. “That’s human nature.”

“You’re right...” Bai Renzong couldn’t help but laugh in spite of himself.

“His cooking’s just all show. Tastes about the same as mine, honestly,” Han Jiayi was still muttering on the side.

“Alright, enough already,” Bai Renzong sighed. “Let’s go home, okay? Time to work on the videos.”

“Okay...” Han Jiayi hummed in agreement.

After dropping the two of them off, Wang Bei hailed a cab home herself, while Bai Renzong went to his room to edit videos.

He thought he heard a faint hum, assuming it was his imagination, but when he turned around, he saw Han Jiayi peeking in through the doorway, half her little head showing and glaring at him resentfully.

Late at night, if it weren’t for how cute Han Jiayi looked, the scene might have been rather spooky.

“What now?” Bai Renzong asked helplessly. “Didn’t I praise you enough today?”

“It’s so boring not being able to play games together...” Han Jiayi pouted in complaint.

“So what did you do at night before we played games?” Bai Renzong asked, curious.

“Just... thought up new recipes and things like that,” Han Jiayi mumbled. “But I’ve been working so hard lately. Nights are for resting!”

“Tsk...” Bai Renzong gave her a look, then grinned. “Alright, come on, let’s play for a bit.”

“Won’t I be distracting you from your work?” Han Jiayi’s eyes lit up, beaming.

“I can edit when you go to the restaurant tomorrow. It’s all the same,” Bai Renzong shook his head.

He was feeling a bit tired himself; after editing the video for ‘To Kill’ during the day and coming home at night to edit more, his mind felt swollen. Maybe it was time to take a break—some things can’t be rushed.

“Hehe, then wait a minute, let me go get my laptop!” Han Jiayi said, bouncing downstairs.

Once they’d logged into the game, Han Jiayi grinned at him. “What are we doing today?”

“Let’s visit some other cities to gather food, and look for tools along the way,” Bai Renzong replied. “Flour, pasta, rice—stuff that won’t spoil. We’ll bring it back for cooking. Sauces, seasonings, vegetable oil—they don’t go bad either. Let’s search every place, one by one.”

“Okay!” Han Jiayi said cheerfully. “Hey, Bai, the strawberries will be ripe in just over ten hours!”

“Let’s go get them the day after tomorrow. I checked the weather forecast: there’s a storm tonight through tomorrow. We’ll wait until the rain passes,” Bai Renzong replied. “Otherwise, if we’re out in the rain too long, we’ll catch a cold.”

“What happens if you get sick?” Han Jiayi asked curiously.

“You’ll sneeze and attract a horde of zombies,” Bai Renzong answered. “But if you have tissues or toilet paper in your bag, your sneezes won’t make any sound.”

“So detailed?! This game is amazing—it’s only a couple gigabytes!” Han Jiayi marveled.

“The developers have been updating it for seven years, refining every detail,” Bai Renzong said, a bit proud.

Bai Renzong found himself completely relaxed after playing games with Han Jiayi; all his worries faded away. With Han Jiayi chattering away at his side, asking questions, he was entirely immersed in the game, thoroughly enjoying himself.

“Alright, alright, it’s almost midnight,” Bai Renzong said, checking the time. “Let’s get some rest. We’ve got things to do tomorrow.”

“Okay!” Han Jiayi nodded happily, clearly in especially high spirits. “Still feels like not enough…”

“We’ll play again tomorrow,” Bai Renzong said with a yawn. “I have to edit videos in the morning.”

“Alright then.” Han Jiayi pursed her lips, then stretched her arms high above her head. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Bai Renzong replied, watching her go downstairs.

After several hours of gaming with Han Jiayi, he felt much lighter, as if a weight had been lifted.

“Balance between work and rest is important…” Bai Renzong sighed, flopping onto his bed.

After a good night’s sleep, Bai Renzong woke up refreshed and got right back to editing videos the next morning.

Once he finished editing yesterday’s footage, He Guang also sent over the edited video for ‘To Kill.’

After giving He Guang a few editing notes, Bai Renzong added, “This week is crucial for our studio—it might get a bit busy. Let’s give it all we’ve got. If we succeed, next month we’ll really be on track.”

“No problem,” He Guang replied, then accepted the video.

Immediately afterward, Bai Renzong uploaded the ‘To Kill’ video review, titling it: “So you all want me dead, huh?”

The response was immediate. Fans who’d watched his last food video flocked to see this movie review.

In truth, Bai Renzong’s fan base wasn’t entirely overlapping. Of his three categories—games, food, and movies—most viewers only followed one. Some who watched his food videos ignored the gaming ones, and vice versa. But this video managed to draw over some of the food fans from the previous episode.

As a result, once the ‘To Kill’ review went live, the food video fans joined in the comments. The video racked up over a million views in two hours—respectable numbers—but the comment count far surpassed previous videos.

Here’s where a key metric for a content creator comes in: “active user count.”

So, even though the view count wasn’t especially dazzling, Bai Renzong’s popularity clearly got a boost.

So far, everything was going smoothly.

Because of D Station’s unique review system, even newcomers who put out a quality video could be featured on the homepage and get huge views. But to turn those viewers into loyal fans, and get them to follow you, required consistently excellent videos.

In other words, the “Connoisseur App” provided Bai Renzong with a vast audience, but only by producing great videos could he convert those viewers into true fans.

The past few videos had all been top-notch; now, all that remained was the final push.

Bai Renzong was confident: the next business collaboration video with Lanwa House would be the one to kick the door wide open.