Growing influencers

The next evening, Lin Yuan, as usual, walked Xia Ye along the street.

"What's wrong? You look really tired."

"I was researching last night and didn't sleep until very late."

"Researching?" Xia Ye was very curious.

Lin Yuan immediately explained, "I'm still preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam."

"Oh? You're still continuing?"

Looking at Xia Ye's expression, her plan to apply to Purple Gold Art School seemed to have been thrown to the winds.

Because the two of them had originally agreed to work hard together for the postgraduate entrance exam.

"I've been too lazy lately; I need to start working hard too. I went to Nine Minutes Sweet Milk Tea Shop during the day to see Xiao Xiao and realized no one recognized me. So I can find another milk tea shop to work at; I need to save money for tutoring classes."

Lin Yuan was long used to Xia Ye's on-again, off-again state of being lazy then suddenly motivated. Otherwise, why would he call her his "23-year-old big daughter"?

"Is Song Xiaoxiao still playing your previous role?"

"Xiao Xiao has always been livestreaming, and she just reached 100,000 followers. She's a small internet celebrity now."

"My goodness," Lin Yuan was a bit disbelieving for a moment, "She really changed careers? And succeeded?"

"That's right. And she also said that once she gains more popularity, when she starts livestreaming with products, the first two people she'll hire are us."

"Hire us to do what? Is she worried I can't support you?"

"Hmm~~, Xiao Xiao does have that idea. Haha. But I'm very easy to support."

"Alright," Lin Yuan was a bit speechless, "Let's just assume she's being kind."

A small internet celebrity who transitioned from a KTV attempting to be his boss? Lin Yuan found the thought magical.

"Lin Yuan!" Suddenly, a familiar low growl came from beside him.

Xia Ye looked over in confusion, "Xiao Xiao, why are you here?"

"I was afraid this pig would take advantage of you."

"No way."

"You shut up." Song Xiaoxiao then looked at Lin Yuan, "You, come with me."

A few minutes later, Lin Yuan was called aside by Song Xiaoxiao for a solo talk, while Xia Ye was shooed away by Song Xiaoxiao like a child.

"You and I both know what kind of personality Xia Ye has. I won't pursue the fact that you're coveting her beauty, but can you at least act like a man?"

Lin Yuan faced the complaint with a confused expression, "How am I not acting like a man?"

"You're so young, yet you deliver food all day without ambition. Do you look like a man who's about to support a family? If you occasionally delivered food as a side job, that would be one thing, but buddy, you've been doing it for over a year, and I see you want to keep doing it. Do you want to deliver food your whole life?

You're not focusing on important matters, always calling that silly girl Xia Ye out every night. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking?

You'll have plenty of time to sleep with her after you get married. First, think about how you're going to support her."

"You..." Lin Yuan was momentarily unaccustomed to Song Xiaoxiao's way of speaking, "Do you have to be so blunt?"

"I know exactly what you men are thinking. This old lady is trying to help you now, so can you please make an effort?"

Lin Yuan looked at Song Xiaoxiao's serious expression and couldn't help but laugh, "Society is so hostile towards food delivery drivers."

"Nonsense. How much money do you earn in a month? Diapers and formula, which one doesn't cost money? Don't just think with your lower head, like a hooligan."

"Hold on, Song, you're a university student, after all."

"This old lady is exasperated by you and Xia Ye. She's silly and doesn't think about the future, so that's fine. But you, a grown man, can you think more about the future?"

Lin Yuan deliberately teased, "So what do you think I should do?"

"Keep delivering food for now. Once I figure out a way to monetize, you can come and help me."

"Be the hype man for your livestream?"

"What? You're not willing? This old lady has 100,000 followers now."

"Oh? Really?"

"I'll show you."

Song Xiaoxiao really opened her Douyin account—Nine Minutes Sweet Senior Sister, followers: 101,000.

Lin Yuan was somewhat incredulous, "How the hell did you do that? 100,000 followers in such a short time?"

"Don't worry about how I did it. Act like a man and take responsibility."

Out of curiosity, Lin Yuan immediately followed Song Xiaoxiao's account on his own phone.

In the videos on the account, Song Xiaoxiao appeared as a sweet and endearing confidante senior sister. She was either working selling milk tea or practicing dance.

Lin Yuan noticed the text description in the video.

"Oh, you're also preparing for the Purple Arts postgraduate exam?"

"Exam my ass, this old lady is building a persona. Just finding a high-sounding reason to publicly sway my hips and butt."

"Insightful!" Lin Yuan almost couldn't help but give her a thumbs up.

Unintentionally, Lin Yuan noticed that many of Song Xiaoxiao's videos had the same tag—"College Student Social Animal Employment."

He then scrolled through the comments under several other videos.

The comments were either coveting Song Xiaoxiao's looks or discussing the difficulty of college student employment.

"Why are you touching on topics like college student employment?"

Song Xiaoxiao said as a matter of course, "To increase traffic, of course. There are so many girls wiggling their butts online, I have to find a way to differentiate myself."

"So, you thought of starting with the common problem of college student employment, then attaching a 'motivational' label to yourself, and then subtly using your looks to create a chemical reaction in terms of spread effect?"

"You... how do you know so much?"

"There are so many college students struggling with employment, and there's no shortage of good-looking girls online. But combining the two is a very good '1 plus 1 is greater than 2' idea. You're stuffing meat into tofu. It's the 'pear blossoms with rain, selling oneself to bury father' script.

So smart. Losers feel sympathy after watching, big brothers want to open their wallets. Even parents will feel a bit of pity for this girl."

What Lin Yuan didn't say aloud was that Song Xiaoxiao incorporated the body display segment into her dance practice for the Purple Gold Art School exam. Isn't this just Pan Jinlian openly being provocative?

"You... since you understand so much, then I don't need to say more. Do well, don't let Xia Ye down."

"I know. And I wish you a bright future. Oh, right. Remember to hide your past well. So it doesn't become a reason for you to crash and burn in the future."

"Hmph, it seems you're not too bad after all, you even care about this old lady. Don't worry, the places I used to work, the people I entertained were all people who cared about their reputation; they're more afraid of being exposed than I am. As for earning extra money at a maid cafe, that's not a big deal to talk about.

So don't worry, I can help you and Xia Ye get a foothold here. If you dare to let her down, I'll definitely find someone to kill you."

"Oh! I'm so scared!" Lin Yuan was amused by Song Xiaoxiao. 'Damn, I'm someone who deals with international NGOs.' He felt as if he was being warned by a child to take good care of his older sister.

"Don't be silly, listen carefully."

"Alright! No need for you to worry, old lady, I'll take Xia Ye to look at houses by the end of this year."

"You're bragging. Even if you don't eat or drink for a year delivering food, you won't save enough for a down payment."

"What if I'm Musk's lost son in Dragon Country?"

"Then I was Empress Dowager Cixi in my past life."

Xia Ye, who was off to the side, finally couldn't resist walking over, "You two didn't argue, did you?"

"No, we're just joking." Song Xiaoxiao smiled at her.

Lin Yuan also chimed in appropriately, "I'm just admiring Sister Song's greatness. How did Sister Song think of taking this unconventional path of college student employment?"

"At first, I just casually tried a few tags to test the waters, and this tag had relatively high traffic, so I've been using it ever since. It's really funny, I never acted like a student when I was in school. But after graduating, I have to pretend to be a student."

"Watch your words! So many internet celebrities have crashed and burned because of a single sentence."

Song Xiaoxiao then very sensibly took out a mask from her bag and put it on.

"I won't bother you two anymore, I still have to go busy myself with the livestream, I'm leaving now."

After Song Xiaoxiao left in a hurry, Lin Yuan, out of curiosity, looked through the various videos on her account.

"Life is like a play; it's all about acting."

"What is it?"

Lin Yuan pointed at the video, "It's a pity her acting isn't used for filming. The pure white lotus tone mixed with a hint of seductive charm from her peach blossom eyes—many people fall for this."

Xia Ye was a little displeased after hearing this, "You... you're not allowed to look."

"I'm purely curious."

"Alright. If you like Xiao Xiao's kind of makeup, I can do it too."

"Don't be silly." Lin Yuan said seriously, "I really was just curious."

After watching several videos, Lin Yuan's brows gradually furrowed.

"What's wrong with you? Why that expression?"

Lin Yuan murmured, "She seems to be... crossing the line a bit."