“The stream was so lively today!” Zheng Weize exclaimed, in part out of envy and in part out of jealousy. “The viewership was over 6,000 when it ended.”
“Really?” Chang Jinxing felt a little pleased with himself, but he said, “That’s only because you’re so popular.”
Zheng Weize didn’t deny it. Chang Jinxing didn’t know that Zheng Weize’s viewership was closer to two digits without him, but after today, he had a strong sense that live streaming basically just involved meaningless babbling.
“I have to go out now,” said Chang Jinxing. He said nothing about splitting the tips from the gifts they received; to him, the whole endeavor had just been about hanging out with Zheng Weize. In that moment, Zheng Weize was certain he really had fallen for him.
“Okay,” Zheng Weize said. “You gonna be back for dinner?”
“Nah, I’ve got plans with a friend. Bye.”
This conversation could so easily have been an exchange between a couple—it made Zheng Weize feel like they really were one. Then Chang Jinxing pinched Zheng Weize on the cheek, got up, and left. Zheng Weize lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling melancholic.
For a while, when they were just starting the live stream, he really saw Chang Jinxing as his lover. He’d boldly hugged Chang Jinxing, which Chang Jinxing was gracious enough to allow, and they touched each other frequently, petting heads or holding hands like a couple. These suggestive gestures made Zheng Weize’s heart flutter—until the broadcast ended, and he returned to reality.
Zheng Weize wistfully pulled up his earnings page and promptly sprang to his feet. ¥4,200! He was shocked. They had earned ¥4,200 from the live stream!
His hand trembled as he clicked the button to withdraw his earnings, but he received a final sum of only ¥3,000 in his account—which was still ¥700 short of the rent. He cursed those unscrupulous capitalists. At least he was one step closer to the rent, though. All he had to do was ask Chang Jinxing to do another live stream and he’d be able to pay the next month’s rent. Maybe he could even pay off the debt on his credit cards, which he’d racked up paying off other bills.
But…Zheng Weize didn’t want to ask Chang Jinxing to do another shipping live stream. He didn’t want Chang Jinxing to feel like he was being used to boost Zheng Weize’s popularity. He knew now that he was in love with Chang Jinxing, and if he wanted to confess his feelings, he would have to maintain equality between them, or at least the appearance of it.
If Chang Jinxing were his boyfriend, Zheng Weize could pull him into a live stream whenever he wanted.
He wavered for a while, then ordered takeout for dinner and got ready for a second round of streaming. When he went online again, even more gawkers and fans showed up to ogle the handsome Star, only to be disappointed when only Zheng Weize materialized. When they saw him reading a book like a monk reciting scriptures, they cyberbullied him and dispersed.
Zheng Weize was none too pleased, but he had to grit his teeth and bear it. Disgruntled with lecherous fans who made impertinent remarks about the man of his dreams, he ended the stream early and switched to his female account.
When all was said and done, most fans were unlikely to unfollow, so his follower count still increased by the thousands—an order of magnitude more people than before. While it wasn’t precisely accurate to say that his popularity skyrocketed with it, at least he now had a glimmer of hope. Streaming with Chang Jinxing made Zheng Weize realize that he might be able to save the situation another way.
Thus, he set his sights on Chen Hong as his next target. He could do a fan service stream where he got someone to “service” his “fans” by having Chen Hong appear in a gym tank.
“What?” Chen Hong looked utterly bewildered.
He was pumping iron in the home gym. These days, he rarely went out other than to give lessons to a few members, supplementing his income with the meager hourly rates. At home, he read, worked out, and reflected upon himself, lest others accuse him of being all brawn and no brains. After all, he had to keep active mentally as well as physically.
Zheng Weize sat down beside him. “Have you heard of Sohee Lee?”
Chen Hong gestured for him to say no more. “How many followers does your channel have?”
“Uh… Over 20,000?” Zheng Weize said. In truth, he’d only had a few thousand until last night. More than half of the current number were horndogs Chang Jinxing had lured over the day before.
Hearing this gave Chen Hong a start. “Over 20,000? That many?”
Zheng Weize didn’t dare tell him that they were mostly ghost followers. He came to Chen Hong intending to do a knowledge-sharing session and a casual chat with the fans. Chen Hong didn’t even need to think about it; he agreed at once.
Chen Hong had tried shooting short videos on Douyin and TikTok to promote his classes, hoping to sell some lessons online, but few people went to the gym these days, much less took online classes. He was clueless when it came to short videos and streaming platforms, and had no idea that the key to boosting traffic was to shed his clothes—the more skin he showed, the more views he’d get. He couldn’t cast aside his pride, either, and the videos he filmed in all seriousness raked in only a few dozen to a hundred, tops.
Now that Zheng Weize had offered him a generous opportunity, he readily agreed. That night, he changed his clothes and joined Zheng Weize’s channel as a special guest.
Chen Hong’s appearance elicited a chorus of catcalls. Zheng Weize wanted to play up the bromance with Chen Hong, but that turned out not to be feasible: The juxtaposition of a delicate bottom wrapping his arms around the neck of a muscular man under an array of touch-up and face-slimming effects wouldn’t be as cute as Zheng Weize had thought. It might even make people uncomfortable.
Zheng Weize said, “This is—”
“Hi, everyone. I’m Labrador.” Knowing the trick was to cutesify everything, Chen Hong gave himself a stage name. “You can call me Lab.”
Zheng Weize renamed the channel: Xiao-Tu & Lab. According to Zheng Weize’s script, they would start by playing up the “romance” in “bromance” and wait for their online popularity to soar before Chen Hong started dishing out tips on physique. But the fujoshis didn’t buy it. Most of them weren’t interested in muscular men, preferring pretty boys like Chang Jinxing, so they fled the stream, leaving behind a smattering of pervs to chat with them. The viewer count plummeted, but right as Zheng Weize began to worry, the gay army arrived to liven up the stream.