After Li Mengqing sent a message in the group chat saying she was off work, Gao Yuan changed into some loungewear and started making dinner.
Because the powerful boss persona projected by his account avatar was so distinct, Gao Yuan maintained a confident, domineering CEO vibe throughout the entire cooking process, making sure to embody the character completely.
His cooking skills were already quite good, and each movement he made while cooking was as smooth as flowing water. Combined with this special aura, Lin Wanyu, who was recording the video, found herself completely mesmerized as she watched the footage on the camera's display.
They say a man who's focused is the most charming, which means a man who's focused on cooking can capture the hearts of most women.
Every time Gao Yuan finished a dish, Lin Wanyu would get a close-up shot. Just as Li Mengqing arrived, the final dish, a steamed yellow croaker, was also brought to the table.
"Wow, you're amazing!"
"Thank you for the magnificent dinner, Mr. Gao!"
With their cooperation, the video recording was complete, and Gao Yuan sat down to eat as well.
Even though it was for a short video, the spread Gao Yuan had prepared was undeniably a feast for the senses, and the three of them polished off every last bite.
"If this keeps up, I won't be able to control my weight."
Rubbing her round, full belly, Lin Wanyu flopped directly onto the sofa.
Gao Yuan smiled and started clearing the table and cleaning the kitchen.
Ever since he started using his High-tier Execution Ability, he had grown more and more accustomed to this highly efficient way of doing things. He would always finish one task completely before starting the next. This lack of procrastination had actually boosted his productivity quite a bit.
When he came out of the kitchen, he was holding two glasses of fruit juice he had specially prepared for Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing.
He himself preferred Maojian tea; even drinking it at night didn't stop him from falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Seeing the two women chatting at one end of the sofa, Gao Yuan didn't join them. Instead, he started editing the video footage they had shot today.
While editing, he discovered that Lin Wanyu had also recorded the part where Li Mengqing entered the apartment.
Today, Li Mengqing was wearing a gray plaid overcoat with a white turtleneck sweater underneath.
You could feel her powerful, mature aura coming right through the screen. Gao Yuan made a point to keep this clip, figuring the video would be much better with it.
After finishing the edit, he deliberately placed the two women's compliments at the beginning. Generally, when a short video starts with beautiful women, the three-second completion rate increases significantly.
Title: An ordinary day, a magnificent dinner for the one I love #dinner #documentinglife.
He hit publish.
After publishing, Gao Yuan went over to the sofa and showed the video to the two of them.
But they were only concerned with whether they looked beautiful in the video and if there was anything to criticize about their appearance, completely ignoring everything else.
After watching it two or three times, they were both satisfied with their own performances in the video and finally gave their approval of Gao Yuan's editing skills.
A little while later, Gao Yuan received two notifications on his phone. Only then did he realize that each of the women had spent 1,000 yuan to promote the video.
'Thank goodness the system's mission didn't restrict gaining followers through paid promotion, otherwise I'd be crying my eyes out in the bathroom right now.'
As the video was promoted, more and more people saw Gao Yuan's first post, though there weren't many comments yet.
It was hard to gauge the video's performance in such a short time, so Gao Yuan didn't dwell on it. If worse came to worst, he would just produce one video a day. He refused to believe he couldn't gain a thousand followers within a week.
And if that didn't work, he would just have to throw money at the problem.
No longer concerned with the short video's performance, and having rested for a while, Gao Yuan prepared to tackle his workout for the evening.
Dinner had already pushed his workout back by two hours, and Wang Lin was still waiting for him at the gym.
When they heard Gao Yuan was going to the gym, the two women announced they wanted to go see his beautiful personal trainer.
Gao Yuan had no objection. His relationship with Wang Lin was completely professional; it was purely a client-trainer arrangement and could withstand any scrutiny.
When they arrived at the gym, the appearance of the two beauties drew many eyes, and a number of envious gazes were cast in Gao Yuan's direction.
With two beauties like that by his side, he really had no choice but to get in shape!
Even Wang Lin, upon seeing Gao Yuan arrive with two stunningly beautiful women with seductive figures, began to question his motives for working out.
But she also understood now why Gao Yuan hadn't reacted to her like other men did.
Gao Yuan began his workout according to Wang Lin's plan. Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing watched from the side, whispering to each other about something. After a short while, they said goodbye to Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan continued his workout.
What he didn't know, however, was that Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing hadn't left No.1 Courtyard. After leaving the gym, they had turned into another building.
Over an hour later, Gao Yuan finished his workout.
He saw their "home safe" messages in the group chat and sent them an update about his workout, but unexpectedly, neither of them responded.
After washing up and seeing still no reply from either of them, Gao Yuan went straight to bed.
Even though he hadn't been to the office these past two days, besides whatever may or may not have happened last night, today had been a real grind without any system boosts.
When you reach middle age, it's not just money that's a struggle!
The real pain is your body not functioning like it used to when you were young.
...
Moonlight, like a faint mist, enveloped the soft pink bedroom. On the bed, two women with delicate, fair shoulders snuggled together.
They were none other than Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing.
"Qingqing, fess up. Did you do something last night?!"
"It was just that. We've been best friends for so many years; it's not like I was going to eat you."
"Mhm."
The room fell silent for a moment before a soft reply was heard.
"I knew it! You little minx, you couldn't resist. Your mouth says 'no, no,' but your body is very honest, isn't it?"
"So how was it? Quick, tell me."
At this response, Lin Wanyu grew excited. Lying on her side, her eyes gleamed in the darkness as she stared at her best friend's face.
Li Mengqing let out a soft sigh. "It was all because you kept egging me on, plus I had a little to drink..."
Hearing Li Mengqing's words, Lin Wanyu immediately pouted in frustration.
Plenty of men get drunk and hit their wives, but you never see one hit his boss. People get drunk and have a smoke, but you don't see them trying to smoke a firecracker. People get drunk and start fights, but you rarely see them fighting to pay the bill.
"Stop using booze as an excuse! Poor alcohol gets blamed for everything!"
"I admit I encouraged you, but wasn't there a part of you that wanted it too?"
Lin Wanyu had a disdainful look on her face. She knew her best friend all too well.
Her own personality was more carefree and outgoing, but Li Mengqing was the complete opposite—inwardly passionate. To put it bluntly, she was the "still waters run deep" type.
Usually, she appeared colder and more aloof than anyone, but that was just a protective shell she had put up after her divorce.
That's right.
Like Lin Wanyu, Li Mengqing was also a young divorcée!
The only difference was that Li Mengqing's was a flash marriage and flash divorce; she'd gotten divorced not long after getting married.
Her marriage had been a marriage of convenience arranged by her family. After the business partnership between the two families ended, she couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore and divorced him immediately.
She had been single for four or five years now and hadn't dated anyone since.
The giggling that came from Gao Yuan's master bedroom after the two women had washed up last night was Lin Wanyu constantly egging Li Mengqing on to try Gao Yuan's "doubled happiness."
As for why she would do something like share her boyfriend, it all stemmed from the first meal Gao Yuan ever made for her.
As a rich girl, Lin Wanyu faced no financial pressure even after her divorce. She had initially treated her chance encounter with Gao Yuan at the bar as nothing more than a one-night stand.
But she never expected the man to be so thoughtful as to make her a magnificent breakfast.
That breakfast made her feel a sense of love she hadn't felt in a long, long time.
And just like that, Gao Yuan, this somewhat handsome older man, had found his way into her empty heart.
Women are truly impossible to understand with common sense sometimes. When she dislikes someone, she can find countless reasons why, but when she falls for someone, all she can see are his good qualities.
That was why when she had her honest talk with Gao Yuan last time, telling him she wasn't considering marriage again, it was also for his own good.
She hadn't expected Gao Yuan to feel the same way. At that moment, her thoughts had immediately turned to Li Mengqing.
She knew her best friend's situation very well. She figured it was better for Gao Yuan to benefit than some other man.
"Tell me!"
Faced with Lin Wanyu's relentless probing, Li Mengqing slowly opened her eyes.