A lone man and a lone woman!

"This is just the number of followers gained from the live stream. Once I post a few videos, the follower count will increase even faster!" Yu Heng said.

Bai Xinran took off her headphones, stretched, and suddenly pouted, "Some people are just so rude."

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"

"Look at these comments," Bai Xinran pointed at the screen, "If you don't like them, just don't watch them. Why do you have to leave a comment to get attention?"

"You're already upset?" Yu Heng pulled up a chair and sat down. "The most important thing for a live streamer is mindset."

Bai Xinran frowned: "But they spoke so rudely."

"So what if it sounds bad?" Yu Heng shrugged. "Can you control what other people say?"

He pointed to the number of followers in the backend: "Look, you gained more than two thousand followers today. Some people don't like you, but some people do."

Bai Xinran was still not very happy: "But..."

"No buts," Yu Heng interrupted her, "I'm asking you, were you happy with those fans you interacted with today?"

"I'm happy..."

"That's good," Yu Heng patted her shoulder. "Focus your attention on the people who support you. Those trolls, they're not your audience, and they won't spend money on you."

Bai Xinran sighed: "I'm just a little depressed."

"What's bothering you?" Yu Heng laughed. "You've already made almost ten thousand yuan in gifts today, and you're still upset?"

He opened the gift list: "Look, so many people are willing to spend money on you. What can those trolls do besides type a few words?"

Bai Xinran looked at the gift list and her expression softened slightly.

Yu Heng continued, "You have to be open-minded in this line of work. Some people like it, and some people don't; it's perfectly normal."

"I know..." Bai Xinran said softly, "It's just that it's the first time I've been scolded by so many people, and I'm not used to it."

"You'll get used to it," Yu Heng grinned. "Once you become famous, even more people will criticize you."

Bai Xinran glared at him: "Is this your way of comforting me?"

"Let's be honest," Yu Heng said, shrugging. "Look at those top streamers, which one hasn't been criticized? The more popular they are, the more they get criticized, and the more they're criticized, the more popular they become!"

He stood up and poured himself a glass of water: "If you care about these things, you'd be crying every few days."

"That's not quite right!" Bai Xinran pouted.

"Actually, if you look at it from another angle," Yu Heng continued, "if someone criticizes you, it means you have attention. It's scary if no one criticizes you, because that means nobody is even watching you."

Bai Xinran chuckled: "What kind of twisted logic is that?"

"That's true," Yu Heng said matter-of-factly, "Black and red are still red. Besides..."

He leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Those people who are cursing you might actually be the ones watching your livestream the most. They're sending these kinds of comments just to get your attention and get you to curse them out!"

Bai Xinran raised an eyebrow: "Huh? Someone's looking for a fight?"

"Of course!" Yu Heng looked at her and said with a smile, "Shouldn't you understand best?"

Bai Xinran was taken aback by these words, and surprisingly stammered, "Boss! I should go back!"

Yu Heng smiled and said, "It's already past 10 o'clock, why go back? They don't check dorms during the holiday."

"That won't do either," Bai Xinran grabbed her backpack, "a lone man and a lone woman!"

Yu Heng grabbed her backpack strap: "What are you afraid of? I'm not going to eat you. Besides, the dorm building will be locked by now."

Bai Xinran frowned and glanced at her phone: "It's only 10:30. The dorms don't lock up until 11:00."

"It takes more than twenty minutes to walk back to school from here," Yu Heng raised an eyebrow. "What if we run into a pervert along the way?"

Bai Xinran curled her lip: "I've practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), who's afraid of who?"

Yu Heng clicked his tongue inwardly, then simply slumped onto the sofa: "Whatever!"

Bai Xinran stood there hesitating for a few seconds, when her stomach suddenly growled.

She rubbed her stomach awkwardly: "I didn't eat dinner..."

Yu Heng laughed: "There's instant noodles in the kitchen, go cook some yourself."

"You're just feeding your employees instant noodles?" Bai Xinran glared at him.

"What do you want to eat? I'll order takeout for you." Yu Heng took out his phone. "Barbecue? Fried chicken?"

Bai Xinran's eyes lit up: "Barbecue! Extra spicy!"

As Yu Heng placed his order, he muttered to himself, "Great, we've made a lot of money today anyway, let's eat our fill!"

Having received nearly ten thousand yuan in gifts, half of that would be four or five thousand yuan. According to the profit-sharing arrangement, Yu Heng would still get a little over a thousand yuan.

While waiting for her takeout, Bai Xinran packed up her live-streaming equipment.

"Will you still play this on-demand service tomorrow?" Yu Heng asked.

"Hmm," Bai Xinran said without looking up, "but I need to go back to the dorm to get a few changes of clothes."

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow: "You really plan to stay permanently?"

Bai Xinran paused in her work: "Didn't you say you could move in?"

"I was just thinking about the live stream," Yu Heng grinned. "Don't get me wrong."

"Who misunderstood!" Bai Xinran neatly unwound the sound card cable. "I just wanted convenience, and I'm only staying here for a couple of days! From now on, I'll only come over on weekends!"

The takeout arrived, and the two sat on the living room carpet eating barbecue. Bai Xinran was starving, gnawing on chicken wings until her mouth was covered in grease.

Yu Heng handed her a tissue: "Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."

Bai Xinran mumbled, "You know, doing a live stream for so long is quite tiring."

"So we need to replenish our protein," Yu Heng deliberately picked up a skewer of kidneys. "Here, try this."

Bai Xinran pushed it away disdainfully: "You eat it yourself!"

Yu Heng found it amusing. If it were He Mengyao, she would have blushed and called him a pervert long ago.

Bai Xinran is indeed frank, but too frank, which makes her less interesting.

Of course, it's also possible that Bai Xinran's contrasting side is hidden quite deeply.

By the time we finished eating and cleaning up, it was almost midnight.

Bai Xinran glanced at the time: "There's really no going back..."

Yu Heng pointed to the guest room: "The sheets are in the closet, make your own bed."

Bai Xinran carried the bed sheet into the guest room, and Yu Heng followed, leaning against the door frame: "Need any help?"

"No need," Bai Xinran said quickly, making the bed. "You can leave now; I'm going to take off my clothes and go to sleep."

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow: "Just take it off, why are you being so formal?"

"Get out!" Bai Xinran pushed him out and slammed the door shut.

Yu Heng stood outside the door and touched his nose.

This woman has considerable strength; it seems her Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) skills are not just for show.

He went back to his room and lay on his bed scrolling through his phone.

A new message popped up on WeChat; He Mengyao sent an emoji: "Want to grab some milk tea?"

Yu Heng replied, "Tomorrow afternoon, where should we meet?"

He Mengyao replied instantly: "The school's milk tea shop?"

Yu Heng: "Okay."

Is it because we met in a different way this lifetime?

He Mengyao's initiative is different from when she was pursuing her in her past life.

At this moment, Bai Xinran knocked on Yu Heng's door, her voice muffled through the door: "Boss, are you asleep?"

Hearing the noise, Yu Heng sat up abruptly: "No, what's wrong?"

He opened the door, and Bai Xinran stood in the doorway, her hair a little messy.

"Um... do you have any extra bath towels or hand towels?" she asked with an embarrassed smile. "I want to take a shower, but I didn't bring anything."

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over her: "A bath towel... let me think..."

Bai Xinran rubbed her toes on the floor: "Never mind, I can just wipe it with a tissue."

Yu Heng chuckled upon hearing this, thinking, "Another one so stubborn."

"Wait here." Yu Heng turned around and pulled a gray bath towel from the closet. "It's new and unused."

Bai Xinran took the towel and muttered softly, "Thanks..."