Chapter 12
THE RENT WAS CURRENTLY Zheng Weize’s most pressing concern.
He’d been eating nothing but instant noodles for half a month.
Well, almost nothing: There was the one time he got to feast on Chang Jinxing’s gourmet cooking.
Zheng Weize considered borrowing some money from his roommates, but Yan Jun had a baby to care for and seemed to be hard up, and Zheng Weize couldn’t bring himself to ask Chang Jinxing; after all, he wanted to woo the guy, so he had to keep up appearances.
Borrowing money from Zhang Yuwen to pay the rent was pointless, so he set his sights on Chen Hong…
until he accidentally discovered that his fitness trainer roommate was also living on instant noodles.
Disheartened, he went back to live streaming.
Zheng Weize alternated between two accounts every night, one male and one female.
The female account sold skincare products.
When he was logged in as the female streamer, he wore a wig and used a voice changer.
The intention was initially to promote products to other women through his streams, but gradually, straight men who thought with their dicks came to outnumber his female viewers.
In the end, he was forced to resign himself to it, and he switched tactics to humoring them for tips.
He couldn’t get into the role, though, and he struggled to act cute. Playing a different gender went against his nature, making him feel restricted and ill at ease. Sometimes, he even slipped back into masculine speech and mannerisms.
The other account—a gay university student whose client base was gay men and fujoshis—was much easier.
He felt more at ease being a guy. At night, he opened some books and read them bedtime stories, developing the persona of a gentle student and hoping his target audience would tip him generously for lulling them to sleep.
However, a gay without a boyfriend was like an over-boiled chicken breast: healthy-looking but dry and tasteless.
Not even fujoshis, who could even ship a pair of Transformers, showed any interest in him.
There were only a few dozen viewers watching his live stream, and at least half of them were views from the platform.
Worse, Zheng Weize couldn’t focus during his live stream because he kept straining for any sound of Chang Jinxing’s return.
He was also a bit distracted. Sometimes, he thought he could bring in the money faster if he acted cute and asked for gifts, so he swapped to his female account, put on his wig, and hustled to keep the money coming.
At other times, though, he worried he would miss out on a match made in heaven with a tall, rich, handsome gay man, so he switched back to his male account and waited for his destined one to fall into his lap.
The constant switching between accounts made it even more likely that he’d slip up, and finally the day came when he forgot to turn on the voice changer as he swapped over to the female account, scaring away his few remaining horndog viewers. He spent that night in utter despair.
Zheng Weize sighed. Hang in there, he told himself.
Perseverance is crucial in everything you do, including live streaming.
But persevering was easier said than done.
The only thing he’d consistently done all these years was charge his phone every day.
Moreover, while some types of perseverance were commendable, others ought to be scorned.
It was tricky to know which kind you were dealing with until the final moment of triumph.
Should he find someone to fake date? If he did that, no one would ever try to woo him through his live streams. Zheng Weize still held out hope that his ideal partner would check out his live stream, feel moved by his intellect and gentleness, and ask him out.
Today, he was eating instant noodles in the living room, reflecting on his career.
“Instant noodles again?” asked Chang Jinxing, who was back early.
He had a camera around his neck, having just returned from an outdoor shoot. A group of girls dressed in period costumes had rented a ride and hired him for a photoshoot in the early winter ginkgo grove.
These girls had met through an interest group and were close friends online, but in real life, they vied and schemed against each other.
In addition to putting up with their bizarre demands, Chang Jinxing also had to navigate their overt and covert warfare.
His good looks were useless in times like this; everyone was too busy with their imperial palace strife to pay attention to him.
After playing the eunuch for the whole day, Chang Jinxing was exhausted, physically and mentally.
“I’ll cook an egg for you,” he offered.
“I’m almost done eating,” said Zheng Weize. “Don’t bother.”
Chang Jinxing sat down at the table. “You can’t keep eating like this.”
“I don’t know how to cook,” Zheng Weize said with a smile, “and I don’t want to cause Auntie Liu any trouble by using the kitchen.”
With a hint of a smile playing on the corners of his lips, Chang Jinxing looked down at the photos he’d taken today on his camera.
So handsome… Zheng Weize thought. From this angle, Chang Jinxing’s side profile was even more attractive.
He had a high nose bridge, great skin, and soft lips.
His clothes fit him perfectly, too, making him look neat and trendy.
Zheng Weize’s reliance on Chang Jinxing was genuine, but he didn’t dare to make it obvious.
Chang Jinxing would always flirt with him, but just as Zheng Weize was about to take him seriously and the others were about to make fun of them, Chang Jinxing would go back to his usual self.
Their relationship oscillated between friends and something more, like a swing that couldn’t stop but was bound by the pull of gravity, preventing Zheng Weize from flying high into the sky.
Chang Jinxing looked up at Zheng Weize and smiled. “Are you still live streaming these days?” Zheng Weize had told him about the live streams before.
“Yeah, just for fun. I don’t have that many fans. Everyone’s like a friend; we just chat.”
“What have you been streaming lately?”
“Nothing much, just casual chats. You wanna join?”
He was just asking for the sake of asking, and in truth, he expected Chang Jinxing to decline. To his surprise, Chang Jinxing asked, “Now?”
Surprised but flattered, Zheng Weize said, “I’ll call for you in a bit.”
“What time? I might have to go out later.”
“Now is fine. I’ll go get ready.”
Chang Jinxing was overwhelmed. It was only once he gave up on living off others that he’d realized just how hard it was to make money.
Spending the whole day as a eunuch had only netted him ￥300, and once he deducted food expenses, he was left with ￥130.
To pay the ￥4,000 rent, he would have to play a eunuch for thirty days—he’d be a eunuch for the rest of his life. It was miserable.
He thought about finding other alternatives. Who knew, maybe live streaming could help to supplement his income.
“Wait a moment,” Zheng Weize told him. He tidied up his room, hiding the wigs and bras in his closet, then prepared two seats and turned on the ring light.
Chang Jinxing entered uninvited. Zheng Weize often went to Chang Jinxing’s room to chat, but this was the first time Chang Jinxing had set foot in his room.
“You shouldn’t put the light here.” Chang Jinxing took the light and changed its direction.
“Oh, okay.”
“You can show the window in the back.” Chang Jinxing pulled the curtains open. “The afternoon light is good.”
“I usually stream at night,” Zheng Weize explained.
“I see. Do I need to put on makeup?”
“Nah. There are filters, and besides, you’re already gorgeous… Hi everyone, I’m Xiao-Tu. Welcome to my live stream, Xiao-Tu’s Reading Room…”
“Is it starting?” Chang Jinxing leaned in out of curiosity.
“Yeah,” Zheng Weize said, “no one’s here. You see, at this time of—”
But no sooner did he say these words than viewers began to come online.
Whenever Zheng Weize started a live stream, the software notified his followers.
Today, he was streaming at a different time than usual, in the afternoon instead of late at night; that piqued his regulars’ curiosity, and so they logged on to see what was happening.
“Say hi to everyone,” Zheng Weize told Chang Jinxing.
Chang Jinxing glanced at the phone. While he was not exactly thrilled with his appearance today, he sucked it up and waved his hand. “Hi, I’m Star.”
A barrage of comments flooded the screen: So handsome! Someone even asked, Xiao-Tu, finally saying goodbye to singlehood?
Zheng Weize watched the viewer count rise, hitting 80 percent of his usual late-night audience, and he marveled at the power of good looks.
Attractive guys just seemed to fire people up with the urge to communicate.
His fans, who were usually like zombies, dropped all reserve and dignity the moment they saw Chang Jinxing, typing furiously at the screen.
They spammed him with questions about who he was, what his job was, and whether he was Xiao-Tu’s boyfriend.
“‘Handsome,’ ‘how are you so gorgeous’… Oh, thanks for the rose.” Chang Jinxing started reading the chat screen aloud, thinking that was how live streaming worked, and thanked them for the gifts.
“‘What did you eat growing up to turn out like that?’ ‘What’s your relationship?’ ‘Are you straight?’ ‘Is your real name Star? There are stars in your eyes.’ Thank you, cuv3494, for the rose. ”
Zheng Weize was speechless as he sat to the side, caught in a complex emotional miasma. Chang Jinxing freed a hand and wrapped it around Zheng Weize, and the chat erupted into squeals of omg wat is this flirting I cannot!
“What should we stream?” Chang Jinxing asked Zheng Weize in all seriousness.
“What do you want to stream?” Zheng Weize returned with a grin.
Chang Jinxing flashed him a radiant smile. “I don’t know either.”