As Lin Yuan expected

Nine Minutes Sweet Milk Tea Shop.

The crowd gathered was somewhat abnormal. As Xia Ye put it, "Huh~, why are there so many people today, and it's already past seven?"

By the time they strolled to the milk tea shop, it was almost seven-thirty, well past Xia Ye's usual seven o'clock work start time.

Although many people came every day to catch a glimpse of the senior, most of these people were students after all, and not as fanatical as celebrity fans. More often than not, they were just there to join the fun. They wouldn't stand guard outside the milk tea shop if Xia Ye wasn't there.

Lin Yuan quickly noticed the abnormality, "Something's not right. Look at the gear in their hands. They even have professional cameras."

"That's so strange," Xia Ye said, still walking towards the milk tea shop, wanting to investigate.

Lin Yuan pulled her back, "Don't you think this might have something to do with you?"

"Why would it have something to do with me?"

"Because you're the traffic driver for this milk tea shop. I'll go scout ahead. You wait for me here."

"Oh!"

Lin Yuan then walked forward alone, but he realized something was wrong. "Xia Ye, loosen your hand."

"Ah?" Xia Ye was stunned for a moment before realizing, "Oh! I forgot!"

As soon as Lin Yuan's hand was released, he felt a cool breeze on his palm in the night air, because his hand and Xia Ye's were both sweaty from holding hands.

---

Before long, Xia Ye saw Lin Yuan sprinting back from afar, and he wasn't sprinting in her direction.

The direction Lin Yuan was running formed a right angle with Xia Ye's position. Just as Xia Ye was wondering why, she saw a large, dense crowd following closely behind Lin Yuan, the same group that had been gathered at the milk tea shop entrance.

Xia Ye stood rooted to the spot, completely at a loss. Fortunately, Lin Yuan called her shortly after.

"Wait for me back at the tea restaurant where we just ate. Don't ask too many questions. We'll talk when we meet up."

"Oh."

Xia Ye responded, and Lin Yuan hung up the phone.

From the call, it was clear Lin Yuan was running, out of breath.

Xia Ye, utterly bewildered, returned to the entrance of the tea restaurant to wait for Lin Yuan.

After she arrived, she waited for about another fifteen minutes before Lin Yuan finally rushed over, drenched in sweat.

Xia Ye quickly pulled out a tissue to wipe his sweat, but Lin Yuan had no mind to enjoy her service. Instead, he grabbed her hand and started to walk.

"I'll take you home."

"Home where?"

"Of course, to where you live. You can't go to work at that milk tea shop recently."

"What happened?"

"That group of people went crazy, snapping pictures of me. It's about that time you chased me. The time I was riding my e-bike and you were chasing me from behind. Someone filmed it as a short video and put it online. So, you're probably a little famous now."

Xia Ye walked while scrolling through short videos on her phone, "I didn't see anything. I was still browsing short videos while we were eating."

"Search for 'Milk Tea Beauty' as keywords."

Xia Ye did as she was told, and sure enough, she saw short videos featuring herself on short video platform.

"'Reborn Delivery Guy, Milk Tea Beauty Chasing Me?' What is all this nonsense? Lin Yuan, that delivery guy is you, right?"

"Nonsense. Otherwise, why were they chasing me like zombies just now?"

"Then, what should I do?"

"You're about to become famous, aren't you happy? Massive traffic, something ordinary people dream of," Lin Yuan teased intentionally.

But Xia Ye was truly Xia Ye; she even stomped her foot in urgency, "Who wants to get famous like this? What Milk Tea Beauty? Look at how disgusting the comments under the video are. They're saying I was posing provocatively."

Lin Yuan scrolled through the comments, upholding the prevailing atmosphere on online platforms—because speaking directly would lead to account suspension, all sorts of sarcastic remarks appeared.

Some even used Xia Ye as an example, implicitly asking about the market price for a girl of her caliber.

Xia Ye couldn't endure such a situation. Lin Yuan immediately turned off her phone screen. "Don't look anymore. The more you look, the more uncomfortable you'll feel."

"Why are they like this? I didn't provoke them. Why are they saying such things about me?"

"That's how the internet is. Actually, strictly speaking, most of them are good people in real life. It's just that there are too many monsters and demons online that have influenced them this way. You don't need to pay attention to them; just handle it with a cold shoulder."

"Oh!" At this moment, Xia Ye was like a helpless child. This also made Lin Yuan even more convinced that she was a good girl. If it were Song Xiaoxiao, Lin Yuan only needed to imagine a little. Then, Song Xiaoxiao would definitely want to 'upgrade her personal industrial structure.'

Song Xiaoxiao would definitely seize this wave of traffic and transform herself from serving a select few to serving the general public. Just like the usual path of many female streamers, she would rely on tips and live-stream sales for her daily income, which would be far better than working in a business KTV.

"You should stop working at the milk tea shop for now, and don't go to any other milk tea shops either. You can go to work at the training institution as usual, but absolutely do not let them use you to gain traffic. You must wear a mask when commuting. This video can currently only be found by keywords and hasn't made it to the local short video platform's hot searches yet, so it probably doesn't have much popularity.

Just give it the cold shoulder. Once this period passes, and you no longer have traffic, those crazy people will naturally stop looking for you."

Lin Yuan did not tell Xia Ye to stop going to the training institution because, firstly, Xia Ye needed to work to earn money; secondly, although training institutions wanted traffic, they definitely didn't want this kind of chaotic traffic. Most training institutions couldn't withstand close scrutiny, let alone a group of crazy people blocking their doors and filming randomly, which training institutions would absolutely not tolerate.

"What about you? What will you do?" Xia Ye had already learned to start caring about Lin Yuan.

"Me? I... I can wear a mask when delivering food as usual."

"Then you must be careful on the road. I just saw how they were; it was really scary. It really was like you said, zombies chasing people."

"I know. Oh, by the way, you'll definitely tell your best friend about this later, right?"

Xia Ye nodded, "Of course."

"Then guess what her reaction will be."

"Her reaction?" Xia Ye was very confused.

But Lin Yuan didn't say much more, so as not to seem like he was stirring up trouble.

---

After taking Xia Ye home, Lin Yuan returned to his dormitory.

After falsely telling Xia Ye that he still had deliveries to make, he could finally settle down and continue the work he hadn't finished during the day.

Lin Yuan recalled that this meal had been quite a roller coaster. First, Song Xiaoxiao, an experienced woman, appeared out of nowhere and invited him to get something for free. Then he formally met Xia Ye and held her hand for the first time. After that, he encountered a 'zombie horde attack.'

Lin Yuan shook his head slightly, opened his laptop, and cast all these interruptions aside. Next, he had to figure out how to get computing resources from OCR for free, which was the real business he needed to do for his future.

---

Meanwhile, on Xia Ye's side, after Song Xiaoxiao returned, she naturally recounted her encounter at the milk tea shop entrance to her.

After listening, Song Xiaoxiao immediately cursed Xia Ye for being a fool, "Why would you not want this massive traffic? Getting famous for a year could earn you enough money for a lifetime. Isn't that better than you slaving away trying to get into graduate school?"

"I don't want it," Xia Ye stubbornly refused.

Song Xiaoxiao then thought for a moment, "Never mind. With your personality, you wouldn't be able to handle this situation anyway. It would be an uphill battle if you really entered the internet celebrity circle..."

Then, just as Lin Yuan expected, Song Xiaoxiao said, "But, this wave of traffic can't be wasted..."

"Xia Ye, quickly tell me all the details."

"Tell what?"

"Tell me all the details, before and after, of your work at the milk tea shop. Say whatever comes to mind, try not to leave anything out."

Xia Ye was very confused, "Xiao Xiao, what are you going to do?"

"Uh... I can't waste this wave of traffic."

Xia Ye immediately looked a bit scared, "I definitely don't want to."

"I didn't say I'd make you do it. Sigh, just let your sister here bear all of this for you."