Chapter 83: An Inspiration

Though they called it a celebration, time was tight, and Bai Renzong and Wang Bei had been hungry for quite a while. Han Jiayi, exhausted from a busy day, simply prepared a few dishes. Each poured a small glass of the wine from the exhibition, and thus their modest celebration began.

The real festivities would wait for the day they truly became renowned content creators.

"Cheers!" Han Jiayi laughed brightly, raising her glass to clink with Bai Renzong and Wang Bei.

"Do you know," Wang Bei said, her face full of intrigue, "I heard that buying trending topics on Weibo costs hundreds of thousands per hour! But we made it onto the hot search through sheer skill! That’s incredible!"

"Yes..." Bai Renzong replied with a slightly guilty smile.

As they say, the rich rely on technology, the poor on mutation... Bai Renzong felt much the same just now.

"I never imagined our videos on D Station could make it onto the hot search!" Han Jiayi took a sip of red wine, a gentle blush blooming on her cheeks like a small apple.

"You deserve credit for this," Bai Renzong said, offering his glass to Han Jiayi with a smile. "When I posted videos and articles about ‘Cloud Veil,’ it was only because it was truly outstanding that the popularity snowballed across the web, laying the groundwork for us to trend now. Then Yang Hua gave us another push... and we achieved this result."

Though Bai Renzong had planned this ‘combo move’ from the start, even he was surprised by the outcome.

Now he could be sure: he’d left a deep impression on the audience of D Station, and indeed across the internet. Next, he simply had to wait for time to work its magic, turning these passersby into his own fans.

"Let’s cut back on business collaborations for a bit," Wang Bei said joyfully. "Once we ride out this wave of popularity, our rates can go up."

"Yes," Bai Renzong nodded. "But this is only the beginning—just stepping through the door. The real challenge starts now. This time we trended thanks to Yang Hua’s influence. Next time, we’ll rely on ourselves."

Han Jiayi suddenly seized his shoulder, laughing excitedly. "Next time, I’ll get you—"

She abruptly let out a tiny wine hiccup, startling Bai Renzong and Wang Bei.

"—get you trending," she finished, her face growing steadily redder.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, but Han Jiayi stubbornly pretended nothing had happened, cheeks flushed. "I’ll get you trending all by myself! No need for that gloomy guy’s help!"

"Mm... yes," Bai Renzong replied, taking another sip of wine.

"Mm... yes," Wang Bei echoed, sipping her own wine.

Everyone tactfully ignored the incident, but for a moment, the conversation stalled.

Though Han Jiayi’s expression stayed the same, her face turned ever redder.

"Ugh..." Han Jiayi looked on the verge of tears...

Seeing this, Bai Renzong quickly gave her an out: "Let’s seize this opportunity! We’ve made so many memorable videos lately, I believe people already remember us! Now’s the time to press our advantage!"

"Yes, yes!" Han Jiayi seized the lifeline, closing her eyes and leaping onto it. "Press our advantage!"

"Here’s to White Rose Studio’s continued success!" Wang Bei raised her glass with a smile. "Next, we’ll go visiting shops across provinces—even abroad!"

After the meal, Wang Bei went home, leaving Bai Renzong and Han Jiayi to wash dishes in the kitchen.

"La la la..." Han Jiayi hummed a cheerful tune as she rinsed the plates, clearly in high spirits.

Bai Renzong, mechanically repeating his task, thought for a moment before saying, "Happy birthday—though it’s the solar calendar."

"How did you know?" Han Jiayi asked, surprised.

"I saw your ID when we registered the studio," Bai Renzong replied. "Consider this trending topic your birthday gift."

"Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’m not a child anymore—I don’t even want to celebrate. Each birthday means another year older," Han Jiayi muttered. "I’ve just turned twenty-six and am heading into twenty-seven..."

Twenty-six... Bai Renzong mused: she’s actually a few months older than me.

Then, Han Jiayi suddenly asked, "Want to play games tonight?"

"Tonight..." Bai Renzong hesitated, glancing at her expression.

The young lady looked at him expectantly, a look impossible to refuse.

"...Let’s play for a bit," Bai Renzong promptly tossed aside his prior plans. Balance, after all!

So, after finishing the dishes, they each took a shower and started gaming in Bai Renzong’s room.

"What are you doing? Didn’t I help you create a character?" Bai Renzong frowned at Han Jiayi’s avatar.

"You made me an eighty-kilogram woman with only an A-cup! Her chest isn’t even as muscular as yours!" Han Jiayi complained.

"A strong body can carry more! Higher strength, too!" Bai Renzong retorted. "Besides, in this game, the bigger the chest, the fewer ability points you can assign elsewhere! My design is way stronger!"

"I don’t care!" Han Jiayi shook her head, eyes shut, her soft hair swaying and a faint scent of osmanthus drifting over. "If I have to play that character, I’d rather let the zombies eat me!"

"Fine, whatever you want!" Bai Renzong grumbled. "Hurry up, we need to scavenge supplies!"

They began the usual game routine, Bai Renzong teaching Han Jiayi as they played.

This game was especially complex and hardcore, so Bai Renzong patiently explained everything step by step.

Only when teaching someone to play was he ever so patient... Han Jiayi glared at him, cheeks puffed, then pointed at the screen. "What does this icon mean?"

"Oh, that means you need to pee," Bai Renzong explained. "And if this other meter fills up, you need to go number two."

"That’s disgusting! Even these features are included?" Han Jiayi frowned. "Should I say this game is impressive or just boring?"

Then she pointed at Bai Renzong’s screen, "Turn around! No peeking!"

"It’s just an animation; the character doesn’t actually take off their pants," Bai Renzong frowned.

"Still no peeking!" Han Jiayi’s eyes widened. "Pervert!"

"Fine, fine, I’ll search the room, alright?" Bai Renzong replied helplessly.

But then Han Jiayi suddenly screamed, "Ah! A zombie ambushed me while I was in the bathroom! Help!"

"That’s why I made you an eighty-kilogram woman! You chose such a frail character—she can’t even hurt zombies!" Bai Renzong grumbled, quickly maneuvering his avatar to help.

After this commotion, the game gradually settled into its rhythm.

Hmph, this silly pig actually remembered my birthday... Han Jiayi cast a sidelong glance at Bai Renzong, suddenly admiring him. When he’d said he wanted to make a push in the last week of the month, she’d thought it was just motivational talk—never expecting they’d actually trend.

The most inspiring thing in life is simply that hard work brings rewards.

Thinking of this, Han Jiayi felt a surge of motivation: I’m going to earn my second star...

(Thanks to The Overbearing God, Strongest on Earth 0625, Seems Like a Rant, Bandit?, for two monthly tickets; thanks to Reader 20190310095000154, Ancient Elegance Decay, and Caesus for their monthly tickets.)