"Moving vlog? Didn't I upload it? Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe."
"Uh... my current place? Let's not turn on the camera now. I haven't finished decorating yet, so just bear with me and watch the stream without it for now."
Since he had already shown his face once before, Liu Xin'an didn't feel too resistant to livestreaming with the camera on.
However, his current streaming environment was not in a presentable state, so while he was willing to turn on the camera, it would take some time.
"Ah, thanks to boss Chenglu for the 500 SC... But it's not realistic for me to help you stalk a celebrity. I don't even know them."
SC is a type of gift in Bilibili's livestream, but unlike regular gifts, SC also includes a message from the donor.
Some people use this type of donation to make sure the streamer sees their comment.
But this Chenglu... Liu Xin'an immediately recognized this as his childhood friend, Li Chenglu's ID!
That girl really admired Korean celebrities, but helping her stalk stars was something he would never do.
Yeah... it had nothing to do with money!
Yes, it wasn't that he found 500 SC too little.
"I don't follow celebrities, why would I know about all that stuff?"
The livestream comments were starting to drift toward celebrities. Liu Xin'an hurriedly pulled the topic back. He was a gaming streamer, and although he wasn't planning to play games today and just wanted to update his fans on his recent activities, the discussion couldn't stray into areas he wasn't familiar with.
Saying something wrong could easily lead to trouble.
"Alright folks, let's not talk about nonsense. I'm doing great here, there's no language barrier, and I won't miss any livestreams."
"New video... in a few days. Let me take a break. I promise to upload it next week."
Focused on his livestream, Liu Xin'an didn't notice that Bae Juhyun had already replied to his message.
Moreover, since it was his first time using this social media app, he wasn't very familiar with the "read" feature.
So...
...
"Juhyun? Are you constipated?"
Outside, Yerin's puzzled voice made Bae Juhyun, who was waiting anxiously for a message from Liu Xin'an in the bathroom, grit her teeth.
She was now taking back her impression that Liu Xin'an was a decent person.
Leaving a message read without replying was the worst thing to do!
No exceptions!
Her sister's urging made her reluctantly put away her phone, and with a cold expression, she opened the bathroom door.
The moment she opened the door, Kang Seulgi squeezed in.
The girl didn't say a word, sniffed the air briefly, and then wore a knowing smile.
No smell. As expected, this woman didn't come to the bathroom to do what she was supposed to do.
Alright, Kang Seulgi knew her behavior was a bit odd.
But for the sake of Bae Juhyun's safety, she was willing to make this small sacrifice!
Bae Juhyun's facial expressions left the other two girls still confused and clueless.
Son Seungwan walked up to Bae Juhyun and asked curiously, "Juhyun, couldn't go?"
"...No problem."
"Well, I have medicine here. Want to take some?"
"Really, no problem..."
Exasperated, Bae Juhyun inwardly cursed that message-leaving jerk again.
If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be so misunderstood by her sisters!
...
"I won't be streaming games today. Let's just chat for a bit."
"Should I meet up with friends now that I'm here... ah, isn't Snow Cat also around here?"
Snow Cat mentioned in the comments was also a streamer on Bilibili.
With a beautiful face and catchy Tianjin dialect, she was quite popular on the platform. They had met once at a previous award ceremony, so they knew each other.
But she seemed to be studying here, and with just that brief encounter, it didn't seem appropriate to ask to meet up.
"Let's skip the meetup... Ah? Thanks to Snow Cat for the 1000 SC... Boss, you're so generous!"
Liu Xin'an was just about to find an excuse to dodge the topic when an SC message interrupted his train of thought.
The main person had arrived.
Looking at the computer screen, Liu Xin'an smiled wryly. A big collaboration between major streamers could actually benefit both sides.
Liu Xin'an understood this, but his fanbase had diversified.
While Liu Xin'an loved gaming, despite his sudden popularity for his looks, he still hoped to resume his gaming career once the hype died down.
Stuff like vlogs documenting life, he'd make them as rarely as possible.
He didn't want to entirely shift to lifestyle content.
But Snow Cat's appearance disrupted his plans.
Since she directly sent an SC asking if he wanted to meet up and eat, how could he coldly refuse?
If he really did refuse, he'd come off as an absolute jerk, top-tier.
"Sure, we can have a meal, but give me a few days. I just moved here and have a lot of things to handle."
Once he said this, the comments started flooding with terms like "scumbag" and "jerk".
This left Liu Xin'an feeling quite aggrieved.
"Don't say that, everyone. I'm really swamped with things. I wasn't even planning to stream today, but seeing how much you all were looking forward to it, I squeezed in a stream."
"Really, really, no emotional manipulation."
...
This stream lasted for over three hours.
After ending it, Liu Xin'an slumped in his chair, letting out a long breath.
Not streaming games and just answering questions and chatting was actually quite difficult for him.
He hadn't done many streams like this before. The three-hour duration left his mouth dry and his throat sore.
But the stream, after a three-day hiatus, performed quite well.
He received a significant amount of gifts and memberships.
Nobody dislikes earning more money, and Liu Xin'an was no exception.
But thinking about the SC from Snow Cat midway through, Liu Xin'an couldn't help but feel a headache.
He grabbed his phone, intending to message Snow Cat on WeChat about his situation.
It wasn't that he didn't want to meet, but he really had a lot of things to handle.
Besides some deliveries that hadn't arrived yet, he didn't plan to stay for long. His main goal was to seek out his mom's family here.
Although his mom never said it, the fact that none of her relatives attended her wedding when she married his dad had left her quite hurt.
Of course, he hadn't witnessed these things firsthand, but it wasn't hard to discern from family conversations.
Before he could switch to WeChat, he noticed that Bae Juhyun had replied to his previous message.
"If there are any good restaurants, make sure to recommend them to me!"
After sending his message, Liu Xin'an switched to WeChat and texted Snow Cat, whom he hadn't chatted much with after adding her as a friend, saying, "Once things settle down, let's grab a meal!"
Snow Cat simply replied with an "OK."
He planned to send back that 1000 SC when she streamed in a few days.
"Buzz~"
A notification sound made Liu Xin'an pick up his phone again, this time a message from Bae Juhyun.
The reply wasn't substantial, just an "angry" emoji.
Liu Xin'an stared at it for a while, unsure why she sent that emoji, so he naturally assumed she was frustrated with something.
"Feeling down? Did anyone come to bother you today? You still safe?"
On the other side, curled up in her bed, Bae Juhyun looked at the message with a lifeless expression.
If she could do it all over again, she wouldn't have lied so outrageously.
No doubt, he must have thoroughly misunderstood her.
"I'm fine. I haven't offended anyone. It's mainly because I snuck out."
Bae Juhyun decided to explain a bit, at least to prevent Liu Xin'an from thinking she had offended some dangerous organization.
"Snuck out?"
Bae Juhyun clutched her blanket, biting her lower lip as she pondered.
"I'm 30 years old now, so my parents have been eager for me to get married. You understand, right?"
At this point, Bae Juhyun was the perfect example of "the more lies, the less fear of lying."
Since she had already lied so much, adding one more wouldn't hurt.
And this age-appropriate lie naturally didn't arouse Liu Xin'an's suspicion.
Thinking from Bae Juhyun's perspective, he realized it made sense.
"So you're avoiding your parents?"
"Yes!"
"I see, you must be having a hard time."
Bae Juhyun was amused by Liu Xin'an's serious response and asked him in return.
"Haven't your family pressured you?"
"Sure, but my parents are relatively relaxed about it, maybe because I'm a guy..."
"So lucky, I envy you." Bae Juhyun mentally patted herself on the back for her excellent lying skills.
And after this commotion, she temporarily decided not to pursue the read-but-not-reply issue.
There must have been something going on. After all, the subsequent messages she sent were quickly replied to by Liu Xin'an.
The girl glanced at the time shown in the top left corner of her phone, a mischievous smile forming on her lips.
Deciding to let go didn't mean she wouldn't do anything annoying.
When beautiful girls gather for a feast, it's inevitable to snap a bunch of photos of the food.
After all, food is supposed to be "eaten" by the phone first. Naturally, Bae Juhyun knew this.
It was just past dinner time, and although she hadn't interacted with Liu Xin'an for long, she had more or less figured out some of his habits.
It definitely wasn't his meal time yet, so she maliciously opened her photo album, selected all the feast photos she had just taken, and sent them over.
Once again, it was immediately marked as read.
This time, Liu Xin'an did see the message.
But now, he wished he hadn't.
Feeling dry and tired, Liu Xin'an smiled wryly and rubbed his stomach.
Looks like it's time for dinner.