When the live-streaming sales began after dinner, the director finally witnessed the popularity they had garnered that day.
No professional explanation is needed. As long as Ren Yifei holds a bowl and eats double-skin milk without even looking up, the local specialty ingredients in the live broadcast room sell out like water.
"As we all know, Feifei is a picky eater, so this bowl of double-skin milk pudding in his hand must be very delicious. If the double-skin milk pudding is delicious, it means that the local water buffalo milk and eggs are delicious, which means that the local ingredients are delicious. That makes sense."
Saman followed the same path as Ren Yifei, but he cooked on-site and promoted local ingredients.
After the two of them left, Wenli and the others came out. They had no experience with live-streaming product sales, so they just gave their introductions in a very standard way. However, they were good-looking, had pleasant voices, and spoke with a unique personal style, making even ordinary product introductions interesting and engaging. As a result, a lot of viewers in the live stream still made purchases.
"A mascot!" The old village chief touched his face repeatedly, his face scrunched up like a dried orange from smiling.
Although these guests have to leave the day after tomorrow, he believes that as long as their village's products have a solid foundation and good service, they will definitely have repeat customers.
"The government is really good. They not only built houses for them, but also found ways for them to get out of the city. Now they're even sending people to spread the word."
However, after He Jun took the stage, the old village chief finally witnessed what it meant to be 'first come, first served'.
"I'm not good at explaining, so I'll make a few small paintings instead to thank my friends from afar for their attention." After he finished speaking, as if by magic, he waved his hand and several dishes of powdered paint appeared on the table, along with a mixer, a brush washer, brushes, and a brush holder.
"Holy crap." The viewers in the live stream were amazed by this move.
"Holy crap." Those in the know were amazed by the stacks of brightly colored mineral powder.
"Is this pigment made from ground gemstones?" Ren Yifei dipped his fingertip in turquoise and rubbed it together. "Turquoise, malachite, giant clam shell, cinnabar, lapis lazuli, realgar..."
The ancients were truly extravagant when it came to painting.
No, that's not right. Ancient demons were really extravagant when it came to painting.
He Jun smiled slightly. He stood there, holding a brush in one hand and laying out paper in the other, using a red sandalwood weight to press down the curled edges. Then he mixed the paint, without needing to draw any outlines; he had the picture in his mind, and his brushstrokes were extremely steady.
To outsiders, He Jun seems to be painting at double speed, depicting distant mountains, thick fog, and villages appearing and disappearing among the hills, with the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking. However, his focus is on the old man playing chess under the tree and the old woman threading a needle. The painting is a blend of reality and illusion, possessing both vividness and elegance. Even those who don't understand art would recognize it as a masterpiece.
More than half an hour passed from the moment the pen was put down to the moment it was put back down, yet both the viewers in the live broadcast room and the people at the scene had expressions of wanting more.
The director, carrying his wobbly belly, ran all the way from the office: "This painting is so meaningful, I wonder if I have the honor..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ren Yifei spread his arms to protect the painting behind him: "At most, we'll keep one replica." Forget about the original.
He Jun washed the brush, placed it on the brush holder, and said with a smile, "I have another gift for A Fei, so I'll leave this one for the production team. It's also a lot of hard work for them to travel all this way to promote this place."
The director was overjoyed and almost rushed over to snatch it.
"In that case," Ren Yifei thought for a moment, "shall I write you a note?"
Crane Lord nodded.
At the same moment, the director let out a scream as if his toe had been stepped on: "No!!!"
Ren Yifei had already picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and was writing furiously on the paper.
The director was devastated, already imagining the agony of having Emperor Qianlong's personal seal stamped on the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion," but he was strong-willed and insisted on seeing the masterpiece's "death" before he could rest in peace, so he leaned closer and said: "...Eh?"
Ren Yifei's calligraphy is elegant and unrestrained, seemingly casual yet not careless, which complements his paintings perfectly, enhancing each other's work.
His writing was quite simple; the gist was that on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, his group of people were invited to this village, and He Jun, in high spirits, painted a picture, for which he wrote annotations.
"Alright." Ren Yifei put down his pen. "It's just a pity that a few seals are missing."
Several livestreaming flies flew over, displaying the calligraphy and painting completely to the audience. Those who didn't quite understand clapped, bewildered, saying, "I don't really understand, but it looks amazing!"
Those in the know didn't have time to speak; they were all taking screenshots and videos, exclaiming, "Great painting! Great calligraphy!"
These screenshots leaked onto forums for calligraphy and painting enthusiasts, immediately attracting a large number of viewers who don't watch variety shows. Suddenly, many middle-aged and elderly people flooded the live stream, offering lengthy, seemingly professional, critiques that sounded impressive but were actually quite incomprehensible.
In just one day, this little-known variety show went viral, leaving its peers baffled as to how such a show, lacking any exciting or noteworthy elements, could become so popular.
They couldn't resist watching the replay, and then...
"What incredible luck!"
The reason this variety show was successful wasn't because of its brilliant program design, but simply because the guests it invited were so outstanding! To put it bluntly, they won without lifting a finger!
This is practically cheating.
Seeing his colleagues so angry they couldn't eat, the director couldn't help but eat an extra bowl: "I must say, the local rice tastes really good, not too soft or too hard, and the spring water is excellent too."
In the following two days, the variety show continued to attract more traffic and attention, and in just three days, the actor's non-celebrity friends each had their own fan groups.
However popular it was, this variety show eventually came to an end.
After finishing their last dinner in the village, they were about to leave.
The live-streaming mishap was brought back, and the director personally drove them back to Ren Yifei's residence. On the bus, the director apologized to them for the bus accident on the first day: "Due to our internal issues, your journey has been complicated."
Ren Yifei and others only then realized that the seemingly harmonious production team also had some internal struggles.
Finally, He Jun took out his painting, which was no longer than the first one. The painting depicted distant mountains, bamboo forests, and seven people chatting idly in the bamboo forests. They were the same people who had come from the desolate corner.
They walked over to look, and saw that the people in the painting looked relaxed, with smiles in their eyes.
He Jun's painting skills can be described as masterful; with just a few strokes, he can depict a close and carefree scene of friends gathering together.
"It's just that the two of you are missing," Ren Yifei couldn't help but say. "Otherwise, next time we'll travel all over those gemstone and pigment mining areas and use the best gemstones to make the best pigments. I'm quite curious to know if emeralds can be used to make pigments."
"Okay." He Jun was a little indulgent towards Ren Yifei, a rare friend.
Peacock puffed out her cheeks beside him, only to be silently criticized by Saman for having "no emotional intelligence."
Saman didn't like these guys who were always bothering them, but he always gave them face in public. If you love someone, you have to accept their friends too. If you can't even do that, how can you expect to win them over? No wonder you haven't succeeded yet.
Then he thought of Ren Yifei's ghost cards that would occasionally come to visit, which were also a real headache. Fortunately, he had managed to get those guys to live far away. Now, he only had two noisy guiding spirits and a cub from the Cosmic Library System left.
"Just keep this one at my home, you can all see it when you come over." Ren Yifei held the scroll with great affection, reluctant to return it to its original owner.
He Jun nodded: "It was originally a gift for you."
The bus returned to Ren Yifei's neighborhood amidst laughter and conversation; by then it was already dark.
After saying goodbye to the production crew, they arrived at Ren Yifei's home. Unexpectedly, when they opened the door, the house was brightly lit.
Ren Yifei's row of ghost cards had returned at some point, sitting in a row on the sofa, with a simulated desolate corner opposite them—a short-legged little girl floating in mid-air.
He Jun spotted He Gui with his cheeks puffed out almost immediately. His young face, which looked remarkably similar to He Gui's, was flushed, and Grandma Chunzhi was taking care of him.
When Star Goddess saw Ren Yifei at the door, she waved and said, "Sorry for coming uninvited."
The fallen angel in the red cloak turned his gaze from the desolate corner to Ren Yifei, and nodded: "I watched the variety show." As for the others, such as the Moon Elf and Teacher Wang, none of them spoke at this moment.
Whether it was Guika or Wenli and the others at the door, their expressions were not good at the moment. Seeing the desolate corner reminded them of those dark and hopeless days.
Ren Yifei took off his shoes and put on slippers: "Wasteland?"
"Hmm." The desolate corner bared its teeth at him.
Saman and the others then entered, but they all stood in the living room looking at the desolate corner and did not sit down.
"You came to pick them up in person?" Ren Yifei thought to himself, "A few employees aren't that important, are they? Didn't they say there are dozens of Soul Reapers serving the Desolate Corner? Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt comfortable borrowing five people at once, for three days at a time."
"I came for you." The desolate corner's words immediately created a tense atmosphere in the room.
"You came for me?" Ren Yifei pulled a stool out from under the coffee table and sat down. "I've been behaving myself lately, haven't done anything." Was he going to be dragged into this desolate corner again?
The corner of the desolate place twitched: Can't people be a little kinder? Stop reminding it of the stupid things it did back then.
"I recently connected with a super system in another dimension. It also has a group of hosts who no longer want to continue their missions and are waiting to retire. I need to go there and discuss with them to see if there are any opportunities for cooperation," said the Desolate Corner.
Ren Yifei thought for a moment and understood: Given the nature of the Desolate Corner, which wants to devour the weak, why is it being so polite this time, talking about discussing?
"You can't beat him?"
Veins bulged on the desolate corner: "Because I'm still young! I'm still a cub in the system!"
"…Eh?!" Ren Yifei pointed at it, "So turning into this isn't just trying to look young?"
The desolate corner was once again furious and wanted to kill this guy. It began to doubt whether it had made the right decision to come.
"Because of this matter, I need to leave, so I have to find a proxy to take care of the basic operations here while I'm away. They don't have that capability yet, maybe you could give it a try."
When he said "them", the desolate corner glanced at Wenli and the others, then turned to Ren Yifei: "Didn't you want to try a management mechanism that combines rules and human relationships? This is an opportunity."
Agent? The people in the room were somewhat surprised, but Ren Yifei remained calm: "Aren't you afraid I'll break it?"
"That's my true form." The desolate corner wasn't worried at all.
"I don't get anything out of it," Ren Yifei said again.
The desolate corner gave a disdainful look, as if to say, "Who are you trying to fool now?": "Didn't you want to create an infinite game mode like a mini-game? Such a great opportunity to visit and learn, are you really not going to give it a try?"
This struck a chord with Ren Yifei, who reached up and touched his forehead: their lifespans were far too long, and he didn't want to slumber for hundreds of years like other evil gods. Creating an infinite game was a good way to pass the time.
The operating model of the desolate corner can provide him with inspiration.
He turned to look at Saman, who smiled back at him. Ren Yifei understood; Saman was creating virtual games as preparation for this. They were experimenting with suitable game modes.
However, they won't become 'mini-games'; Ren Yifei would rather become the nightmare of academic failures—how about an endless exam hall? As long as you don't die from studying, study like there's no tomorrow.
Parents can send their children in, and children can send their parents in; they will both be very 'happy'.
"Okay," he said, extending his hand. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
"It's a pleasure working with you." The desolate corner reluctantly placed its hand on it.
Author's Note: Ye Zi, the academic underachiever: Achoo!
·
This story is now officially finished!
Thank you everyone for being with me all this way. I hope you have a happy day every day! I'm working hard to sav
e up some chapters, and I'll start pre-orders in three months.