"This is my new home now,"
Liu Xin'an lifted the camera in his hand, turned it around to film a full circle of his surroundings, capturing every aspect of his new house through the lens.
After thoroughly explaining every noteworthy feature, Liu Xin'an finally turned off the camera, his smiling face relaxing temporarily.
He was recording his personal life vlog, a particularly popular video format in recent years that primarily focuses on documenting one's daily life.
However, this wasn't his main profession… His real job was just being a regular game content creator, simply making gaming videos to post online for viewership, earning some revenue from the channel plays.
As for why a gaming blogger suddenly started recording personal life vlogs...
Because during a live stream, the virtual character capture software suddenly bugged out, and his face unexpectedly appeared in front of all the live viewers.
Then...
He became famous.
In this restless world, making someone famous is really simple: just give him a voice full of magnetism and a face handsome enough that people can't look away, and he could conquer most of the opposite sex in this world.
What truly made Liu Xin'an both laugh and cry was the insane increase in the number of fans after his accidental face exposure.
Honestly, the rate at which his followers increased after showing his face did make this gaming channel creator somewhat unwilling to accept it.
Having managed an account for three years to barely reach just over 3 million fans, and now, just by showing his face, his follower count was about to break 5 million.
Most exaggerated was that he also received quite a few program invitations...
Liu Xin'an looked at the successfully imported video in the editing software, pondered for a moment, then eventually shut the computer down.
A common issue with video bloggers is that they tend to film everything they see in life, thinking it might become material someday.
Just like this moving situation now, it was completely something he could use to make a video.
Making money, right!
After neatly organizing his luggage, Liu Xin'an casually grabbed a baseball cap and walked out of his new home.
The surge in fan numbers and the explosive increase in past video views brought him a considerable income, so after careful deliberation, Liu Xin'an decided to change his living environment.
He was a Huaxia man.
His dad was a bona fide Huaxia man, while his mom was a Korean.
However, considering that Koreans' ancestors were still Huaxia people, he could be regarded as a pure-blooded Huaxia man.
From what he understood, the fact that these two unrelated people could meet and even give birth to him, he owed it to his mother's unreliable family background.
He didn't know the specifics; he only knew that his mom had a falling out with her family and then came to Huaxia alone, where she met his dad.
After being saved by his dad, who was just a little over 20 years old at the time, one thing led to another, and they clicked.
Then everything naturally progressed from there, and he was born three years later.
Although his mom was Korean, Liu Xin'an had never seen her hometown; taking advantage of the popularity surge and achievements, he naturally proposed to his family his wish to visit Korea.
Being a video blogger who could support himself, this proposal was not opposed by his parents, so... Liu Xin'an rented this pricey house and planned to live here for about half a year.
Although he grew up in Huaxia, he could also speak Korean, so even coming here wouldn't cause language issues.
"Mom, I've arrived,"
"Mmm... don't forget to prepare some rice cakes to give to the neighbors, four pieces."
Liu Xin'an was stunned. Prepare four pieces? Was there some custom or tradition involved?
He didn't think too much about it; since his mom had said so, he would just prepare four pieces.
With his mind made up, Liu Xin'an ended the call, not hearing the word "bang" that his mother said afterwards.
Rice cakes were relatively easy to buy. Wearing a mask and a hat, Liu Xin'an quickly left his house and then stood in front of the elevator, waiting for it to come up.
After a moment, with a "ding," the elevator doors slowly opened in front of him. Liu Xin'an was startled and instinctively stepped back because there was a petite girl in the elevator, wrapped in an overcoat, wearing a mask and a hat just like him.
Well... it must be a girl, judging by his height of 183 cm, the girl was much shorter than him.
The apartment he rented had two units per floor, located at opposite ends of the corridor, which meant this girl coming up here to this floor must be a resident of the same floor, hence his neighbor.
Being new here, Liu Xin'an quickly stepped aside to let the girl out.
The girl, whose face was unclear, merely glanced at him, a hint of suspicion flickering in her beautiful eyes, but quickly shifted her gaze away.
"I'm the new neighbor Liu Xin'an, now living in 1701, please take care of me from now on,"
This slightly strange greeting made the girl halt in her tracks; she turned her head to look at Liu Xin'an, eyeing him from head to toe.
Liu Xin'an was taken aback by this scrutinizing gaze, then quickly removed his mask to reveal his somewhat rule-breaking handsome face.
It was more polite to greet without a mask on at first meeting.
However, the other party did not do the same, merely nodding politely, and then a voice as fine as a mosquito's whine broke the silence of the corridor.
If it weren't for Liu Xin'an's focused attention, he wouldn't have heard the girl's voice clearly.
"Hello,"
The voice was very soft, the kind that immediately makes you fantasize about the girl's appearance from its sweetness.
Liu Xin'an flashed a handsome smile, but this universally effective grin seemed to have no effect on the girl before him.
The petite girl simply bowed politely again, then walked straight past him to the other end of the hallway.
Seeing this, Liu Xin'an wasn't discouraged; he nonchalantly spread his hands and entered the elevator, realizing his neighbor was not an enthusiastic person.
———
Although the other's personality might be entirely different from his, proper manners were still necessary.
In one afternoon, Liu Xin'an thoroughly tidied up his new residence and then assembled all the utensils needed for eating.
A high-end mainframe, plus two monitors.
One for playing games, making videos; the other for watching live stream comments, serving as a secondary screen.
Indeed, these were his "eating utensils." As a freelance video blogger, he spent sixty percent of his day on this, apart from sleeping.
The other forty percent was divided between eating, drinking, attending to nature's call, and working out.
He had become ill with a frail body when he was very young, and since then, fitness had become an essential part of his life.
"It won't fit…"
Trying to put four rice cakes on one plate was a bit unrealistic. Liu Xin'an pondered for a long time before finally deciding to take out two and cut the other two in half.
Now there were four, but it was a pity about the other two.
He didn't particularly like eating this stuff, feeling it was tasteless.
However, since he had come here, he decided to adapt to the local customs and at least try some of the local food for starters since his purpose in coming here wasn't purely to visit his mother's hometown.
Carrying the plate, Liu Xin'an walked out of his bedroom and went straight to his neighbor's front door.
"Ding dong~"
After the doorbell rang, Liu Xin'an patiently waited.
A few seconds later, the same sweet voice came through the door.
"Who is it...?"
Liu Xin'an's smile began to strain; hadn't they just met a short while ago?
"I am the new neighbor, and this is a gift for you," Liu Xin'an replied, lifting the plate in his hand to show the person behind the door.
One second...
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
As Liu Xin'an randomly guessed what the girl behind the door might be thinking, the tightly closed door suddenly opened a crack.
A small head with loose black hair peeked out; her petite face, even without makeup, was beautifully arranged, making Liu Xin'an's heart race.
But the girl seemed lifeless; she looked up at Liu Xin'an with a calm expression, forcing a smile on her face.
She had to do this, even if she disliked or grew weary of it.
She had already been misled into a recorded conversation that was edited out of context once...
If she were accused of being rude to her neighbor and had her words taken out of context again, who knew how those unscrupulous media would spin it...
The guy in front of her... he was probably someone sent by a newspaper, right?
Otherwise, how could he have moved in next door at such a coincidental time?
"Thank you."
She reached out her fair hand and took the plate from Liu Xin'an, but upon glancing at it, her expression turned peculiar.
"Uh... why are there four?"
Four wasn't a lucky number, was he cursing something?
The question also made Liu Xin'an somewhat embarrassed; he chuckled nervously and carefully asked, "Isn't it the custom here to give four rice cakes as a traditional gift?"
"Eh?"
The odd response left the girl puzzled.
Seeing her strange expression, Liu Xin'an began to understand something; he thought about the background noise he had heard during a phone call with his mother...
She was probably playing mahjong again!
"Ah! I apologize, I might have misunderstood. I'm not a local; I am from Huaxia and just moved in today. If this gift has caused any trouble, I am truly sorry!"
It wasn't just Liu Xin'an who seemed to understand something; the girl also finally realized why this man's accent sounded odd.
Her forcibly arched lips relaxed a bit, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.
She hadn't smiled in many days, and even if this man was indeed one of those annoying reporters, she genuinely appreciated that he could make her smile at this moment.
"Just one would have been enough, but thank you anyway."
"Ah! So it's like that... I am really sorry."
"No problem."