Hou Wenjie naturally couldn't see the comments.
The live stream was being filmed using a new, high-end camera phone, which was in Lin Le's hands.
Of course, even if Hou Wenjie saw it, he wouldn't have much of a reaction.
This doesn't mean he's magnanimous, but rather that he's experienced too much and understands the complexities of human nature.
In the previous primitive world, he had personally controlled the fate of many people. If he were still entangled in some people whose names he didn't even know, then his state of mind would be too poor.
After all, in that primitive world he had lived through, although many people revered him, there were also many fugitives who went against the tide of time and hated him to death, yet he could still sleep peacefully.
Lin Le glanced at the barrage of insults and disdain in the live stream, then looked at Hou Wenjie, whom he had woken up, and asked, "What do we do now?"
Hou Wenjie smiled and asked, "Are you hungry?"
"A little."
As he spoke, Lin Le took out a brand-new 100-yuan bill. This was all the funds each player had at the start of the game.
Hou Wenjie took the money, put it in his pocket, and said, "Let's fill our stomachs first before we think about anything else."
As he spoke, Hou Wenjie stood up and began looking for a place to eat, with Lin Le following closely behind, in charge of the live broadcast.
Soon, Hou Wenjie spotted a noodle shop.
The noodle shop has a sign that reads "Yuncheng Old Noodle Shop" hanging above its door.
Hou Wenjie went into the noodle shop first. It looked rather deserted, with only an old man eating vegetarian noodles.
In the inner kitchen, a young couple was talking quietly, their behavior appearing very intimate.
Seeing that guests had arrived, the man came out of the kitchen and asked, "What would you like to eat?"
Hou Wenjie said, "Two bowls of beef noodles, please."
"Okay, please wait a moment." The man turned and went back into the kitchen to get busy.
Hou Wenjie casually pulled up a stool and sat down.
Lin Le, who was standing next to him, also sat down. She looked at Hou Wenjie and whispered, "We only have 100 yuan. Isn't it too wasteful to eat beef noodles right after the broadcast starts?"
Hou Wenjie glanced at her: "You don't eat beef?"
Hou Wenjie told another joke that nobody in the world knew, and continued to relax.
Lin Le shook his head: "Eat!"
Hou Wenjie laughed and said, "That would be terrible. As my photographer, I can't possibly let you eat better than me."
But I can't be too stingy and let you eat too poorly. It's better to have the same food so you don't have to put yourself in a difficult choice.
Lin Le glanced at the menu on the wall: "A bowl of vegetarian noodles is 6 yuan, and beef noodles are 25 yuan! We've already eaten half of it, and this is just lunch! What about dinner? Where will we stay tonight?"
As she spoke, Lin Le's pretty face began to droop.
She had indeed watched Hou Wenjie's videos, and the thought of herself, a girl, possibly sleeping under a bridge with him made her feel instantly down.
In fact, she had already considered this situation when she applied for the job as a photographer for the program.
But when the time came, I still couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.
But she was powerless to change it; as the photographer, she couldn't overshadow the subject.
Not long after, the owner brought out two bowls of beef noodles.
Hou Wenjie broke open a disposable chopstick, then picked up a large mouthful of noodles and put it in his mouth.
Slurp!
Hou Wenjie chewed the noodles in his mouth, and surprisingly, they tasted quite good.
Then, looking at the somewhat distracted female photographer across from him, he chuckled and said, "What are you thinking about? Eat your noodles! This noodle shop is pretty good!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Le snapped out of her daze and met Hou Wenjie's gaze. For some reason, the worry in her heart seemed to suddenly lessen.
She lowered her head and ate a bite of noodles, then looked up at Hou Wenjie. Suddenly, she realized why she had that inexplicable feeling earlier.
In the videos she saw, Hou Wenjie's eyes always had a numb look towards life, and he always seemed to subtly reveal a kind of resentment.
The video's tagline, in a nicer way, reads, "Be content with your lot; wherever my heart finds peace is my hometown."
It actually depicts people wandering in the corners of the city, without a place to call their own.
They suffer from the cold in winter and from mosquito bites in summer.
The fake smile in the video, the unspeakable forcedness, only made it seem ridiculous.
However, when Lin Le saw him in person, he found that he was completely different from the person he appeared in the video.
At first, she just felt something was strange, but now she was finally sure that it was a kind of aura.
Aura, what a mysterious thing!
Especially the smile on his face when he looked at me.
A very poetic word naturally came to Lin Le's mind: carefree!
Lin Le was certain that he wasn't mistaken, because the eyes don't lie.
She never imagined that one day she would so clearly sense something called "aura" in someone—a quality that seemed to transcend mere temperament and become a tangible presence. [Refer to Wang Zhiwen eating noodles in the novel "The Way of Heaven"]
In her original imagination, Hou Wenjie might have been a somewhat introverted and self-conscious person.
Suddenly facing a girl who is actually quite good-looking, he might feel a little shy, try to please her, and exhibit a slightly clumsy, manly behavior.
These possibilities are not just Lin Le's wild imaginations, but rather based on his personal experiences during a blind date at home earlier this year.
The boys who came to my house, some of whom seemed not very talkative, were awkwardly telling some not-so-interesting stories in an attempt to steer the conversation.
One boy was very talkative, talking about how he had traveled all over the country, seeing the aurora borealis in the northernmost place and the Cape of the South in the southernmost place.
There are also those who are completely silent, just secretly looking at themselves, and then repeating the same few awkward sentences over and over again.
Lin Le didn't actually dislike any of these people; it's just that she didn't want to get married and have children so soon.
She didn't want her college degree to be a bargaining chip in marrying into a good family.
She wanted to find a job that would allow her to support herself through her own efforts.
Then, she applied for the job.
Although she was initially devastated when she saw the profiles of the players she was matched with, after looking at the profiles of the other players, she felt that she might be able to salvage the situation.
It was only then that she suddenly realized that perhaps things weren't as bad as she thought.
Perhaps a brief period of wandering is also a form of spiritual practice?
Thinking about these things, she felt better, picked up her chopsticks, and continued eating her noodles.
By the time she finished half a bowl of noodles, Hou Wenjie had already finished eating and took out a brand new 100-yuan bill to pay the bill.
After taking the change from the young male owner, Hou Wenjie smiled and said, "Boss, your noodles taste pretty good, but you don't seem to have much foot traffic!"
The male shop owner said with a wry smile, "Now many are linked to food delivery platforms. Our store doesn't cooperate with any platform, so this is how our customer traffic is."
However, if I go to a platform, I've calculated that after deducting fees, I won't earn much.
"It's better to just muddle along like this, sigh!"
Hou Wenjie laughed and said, "Has the boss thought about promotion? Actually, I work in online marketing, and this girl is my secretary."
The male shop owner looked suspicious, thinking about all sorts of scams on the internet, and forced a smile: "No need, my shop is so small."
Hou Wenjie shook his head: "Boss, I know what you're worried about. You're afraid I'm a liar, aren't you?"
There's nothing to be ashamed of. You shouldn't have the heart to harm others, but you can't be without the heart to guard against them!
It's understandable that the boss has concerns.
How about I create a proposal for the boss for free, as a first step to test the waters?
The male boss was still somewhat hesitant, but the woman standing in the kitchen had already overheard the entire conversation between the two.
She came out, holding up her phone, and looked at Hou Wenjie with a suspicious expression, saying:
"Are you really doing this promotion for free? You're not lying? I have a Twitter account, you know. If you're lying, I'll record it!"
Hou Wenjie looked at the woman holding up her phone and laughed, "Really!"
Seeing the undisguised suspicion in the couple's eyes, Hou Wenjie looked at Lin Le and said, "Lin, give me your employee ID!"
Lin Le was initially a bit bewildered by everything that had suddenly happened, but upon hearing Hou Wenjie's words, he instinctively took out his employee ID from his pocket and handed it to Hou Wenjie.
Hou Wenjie took Lin Le's employee ID card and handed it to the man, saying:
"See this? This is a work ID from Flash Sound Company! I'm just a junior employee at Flash Sound Company! This is an intern at the company, who's basically my assistant."
As you all know, e-commerce platforms like FlashEasy are incredibly popular right now, with many top livestreamers selling products.
The woman glanced at the employee badge, her doubts lessening slightly. She turned to the man and said, "Honey, this is the first time I've ever seen a staff member from Shanyin in person."
Then she tried to communicate with Hou Wenjie, and said with a smile, "I also bought a lot of things on Flash Music."
Hou Wenjie nodded: "Yes, because e-commerce is booming, those of us who do on-the-ground marketing have been overshadowed."
The department head has developed a new plan, which is to have us personally create some healthy and culturally rich online celebrity stores.
For some outstanding online celebrity stores, our official FlashPlay platform will also provide them with regular traffic support.
"Really?" The woman was instantly intrigued.
Hou Wenjie laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's true, and we absolutely don't charge in advance! You only pay after it works! Okay?"
The man frowned, thought for a moment, and asked, "How do I know if it's effective?"
Hou Wenjie replied without much hesitation, "How about exceeding fifty percent of your usual profits?"
The man thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."
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