Chapter 12
THE RENT WAS CURRENTLY Zheng Weize’s most pressing concern.
He tried various methods of begging for money in his live streams, but none of them worked. The settlement date next month was fast approaching—the day on which the platform would disburse the proceeds of his live streaming earnings, minus service fees. As of today, the combined earnings for both his accounts were a measly ¥205.73. This number seemed to mock Zheng Weize for overestimating himself, and it was a harsh indictment of his looks.
He’d been eating nothing but instant noodles for half a month. Well, almost nothing: There was the one time he got to feast on Chang Jinxing’s gourmet cooking. Zheng Weize considered borrowing some money from his roommates, but Yan Jun had a baby to care for and seemed to be hard up, and Zheng Weize couldn’t bring himself to ask Chang Jinxing; after all, he wanted to woo the guy, so he had to keep up appearances. Borrowing money from Zhang Yuwen to pay the rent was pointless, so he set his sights on Chen Hong…until he accidentally discovered that his fitness trainer roommate was also living on instant noodles. Disheartened, he went back to live streaming.
Zheng Weize alternated between two accounts every night, one male and one female. The female account sold skincare products. When he was logged in as the female streamer, he wore a wig and used a voice changer. The intention was initially to promote products to other women through his streams, but gradually, straight men who thought with their dicks came to outnumber his female viewers. In the end, he was forced to resign himself to it, and he switched tactics to humoring them for tips.
He couldn’t get into the role, though, and he struggled to act cute. Playing a different gender went against his nature, making him feel restricted and ill at ease. Sometimes, he even slipped back into masculine speech and mannerisms.
The other account—a gay university student whose client base was gay men and fujoshis—was much easier. He felt more at ease being a guy. At night, he opened some books and read them bedtime stories, developing the persona of a gentle student and hoping his target audience would tip him generously for lulling them to sleep.
However, a gay without a boyfriend was like an over-boiled chicken breast: healthy-looking but dry and tasteless. Not even fujoshis, who could even ship a pair of Transformers, showed any interest in him. There were only a few dozen viewers watching his live stream, and at least half of them were views from the platform. Worse, Zheng Weize couldn’t focus during his live stream because he kept straining for any sound of Chang Jinxing’s return.
He was also a bit distracted. Sometimes, he thought he could bring in the money faster if he acted cute and asked for gifts, so he swapped to his female account, put on his wig, and hustled to keep the money coming. At other times, though, he worried he would miss out on a match made in heaven with a tall, rich, handsome gay man, so he switched back to his male account and waited for his destined one to fall into his lap. The constant switching between accounts made it even more likely that he’d slip up, and finally the day came when he forgot to turn on the voice changer as he swapped over to the female account, scaring away his few remaining horndog viewers. He spent that night in utter despair.
Zheng Weize sighed. Hang in there, he told himself. Perseverance is crucial in everything you do, including live streaming. But persevering was easier said than done. The only thing he’d consistently done all these years was charge his phone every day. Moreover, while some types of perseverance were commendable, others ought to be scorned. It was tricky to know which kind you were dealing with until the final moment of triumph.
Should he find someone to fake date? If he did that, no one would ever try to woo him through his live streams. Zheng Weize still held out hope that his ideal partner would check out his live stream, feel moved by his intellect and gentleness, and ask him out.
Today, he was eating instant noodles in the living room, reflecting on his career.
“Instant noodles again?” asked Chang Jinxing, who was back early.
He had a camera around his neck, having just returned from an outdoor shoot. A group of girls dressed in period costumes had rented a ride and hired him for a photoshoot in the early winter ginkgo grove.
These girls had met through an interest group and were close friends online, but in real life, they vied and schemed against each other. In addition to putting up with their bizarre demands, Chang Jinxing also had to navigate their overt and covert warfare. His good looks were useless in times like this; everyone was too busy with their imperial palace strife to pay attention to him. After playing the eunuch for the whole day, Chang Jinxing was exhausted, physically and mentally.
“I’ll cook an egg for you,” he offered.
“I’m almost done eating,” said Zheng Weize. “Don’t bother.”
Chang Jinxing sat down at the table. “You can’t keep eating like this.”
“I don’t know how to cook,” Zheng Weize said with a smile, “and I don’t want to cause Auntie Liu any trouble by using the kitchen.”
With a hint of a smile playing on the corners of his lips, Chang Jinxing looked down at the photos he’d taken today on his camera. So handsome… Zheng Weize thought. From this angle, Chang Jinxing’s side profile was even more attractive. He had a high nose bridge, great skin, and soft lips. His clothes fit him perfectly, too, making him look neat and trendy.
Zheng Weize’s reliance on Chang Jinxing was genuine, but he didn’t dare to make it obvious. Chang Jinxing would always flirt with him, but just as Zheng Weize was about to take him seriously and the others were about to make fun of them, Chang Jinxing would go back to his usual self. Their relationship oscillated between friends and something more, like a swing that couldn’t stop but was bound by the pull of gravity, preventing Zheng Weize from flying high into the sky.
Chang Jinxing looked up at Zheng Weize and smiled. “Are you still live streaming these days?” Zheng Weize had told him about the live streams before.
“Yeah, just for fun. I don’t have that many fans. Everyone’s like a friend; we just chat.”
“What have you been streaming lately?”
“Nothing much, just casual chats. You wanna join?”
He was just asking for the sake of asking, and in truth, he expected Chang Jinxing to decline. To his surprise, Chang Jinxing asked, “Now?”