Yun Xiaoran froze when he saw the private message.
"Audrey Cat?"
He clicked through to the profile behind the comical duck avatar and found videos of her showing off her figure to music. Though her figure was lovely, the videos were oddly amusing, making her a "breath of fresh air" on VA Site.
Her comment sections were full of remarks like:
"Honestly, this girl... (facepalm, wry smile) We're practically an old married couple, and she still manages to surprise me?"
"This creator is pretty out there."
"You can use the music from my videos however you like, but please don't pair it with dance videos like these. (toothy grin)" Yun Xiaoran replied. He really didn't want his music used that way. All he wanted was to post his songs in peace.
"He replied?"
Zhao Ruoxi had been bored out of her mind, but his response annoyed her. She liked this song and had already come up with a new dance to go with it, yet the creator she had just followed had said something like that.
Unable to help herself, Zhao Ruoxi sent Yun Xiaoran the draft of her practice dance.
After sending the video, she had nothing else to do, so she opened Lone Cloud's profile again.
"Linshun City?"
Zhao Ruoxi stared at the IP location on Lone Cloud's profile, delighted. She had already been curious about this rising creator. This man in white with a guitar lived in the same city as her! She had to find a chance to coax his address out of him!
"Ring, ring..."
While Yun Xiaoran was chatting on VA Site, his father called.
"Son, you..."
"Dad, Li Qingxi and I have already broken up."
Yun Xiaoran told Yun Xiang this with a heavy heart. Though he had transmigrated, he had retained the original owner's feelings.
"You broke up? Breakups are perfectly normal. Don't be so down. If you're free next week, come home for a blind date. A relative arranged it, so I can't really turn it down."
"But I'm already married."
It took Yun Xiaoran a long time to explain his marriage. Yun Xiang had initially been beside himself with anger, but since they had already registered the marriage, he asked to come and see what his daughter-in-law was like.
After hanging up, Yun Xiaoran went back to idly browsing videos on VA Site, only to discover that Audrey Cat had sent him another video in his private messages.
"This..."
Yun Xiaoran scrolled with his mouse, staring at the computer screen in exasperation.
His song had been preserved in its entirety, but paired with a suggestive dance video, it just looked wrong no matter how he viewed it.
Yun Xiaoran tapped at the keyboard, hesitating over what to say. After a long think, he settled on a short reply.
"Pretty good."
"Pretty good?"
Zhao Ruoxi's almond-shaped eyes widened. Before she could angrily type a retort, a notification appeared saying Lone Cloud had gone offline. Just how badly did he want to avoid replying to her?
Looking at Yun Xiaoran's message, Zhao Ruoxi let out an incredulous laugh. This creator really was something.
Ever since she had posted her first suggestive video, none of the VA Site creators with millions of followers she approached had ever refused any of her requests.
For a pretty girl, they would help no matter how big the favor was. Yet this Lone Cloud was in a hurry to log off when she approached him. She had sent him a dance video before even sharing it with her followers, only to receive such a dismissive reply.
Playing hard to get, are you?
Zhao Ruoxi narrowed her eyes at Lone Cloud's main page, her gaze flicking toward his follower count of 210,000.
That's right.
Every year, VA Site selected its Top 100 Creators-creators who gained a million followers that year.
It was only April. At Lone Cloud's current pace, posting one video a month would easily get him to a million by the end of the year.
She checked her own follower count. After a year on VA Site, she only had 600,000.
A bold idea came to Zhao Ruoxi.
If she worked hard at posting suggestive dance videos, she might very well stand on the Top 100 Creators stage alongside the great Lone Cloud this year.
Raised in a wealthy family and pampered since childhood, Zhao Ruoxi had never met a boy who would reject her. Now, her competitive streak had been stirred.
Shen Jin had already arrived at the company, completely shedding yesterday's dejected air. Having bought an original song from a VA Site creator, she was brimming with confidence.
"Jin, Lone Cloud has sent over the lyrics and sheet music. I'll forward them to you. Take a good look."
Sister Hua sent Shen Jin a message, followed immediately by another.
"I didn't expect Lone Cloud to have already worked out which instruments should play each part of the song. I suppose limited energy or space was why he could only perform it with a guitar."
Holding her phone in her slender, finely boned hands, Shen Jin stared at the message on the screen and inexplicably thought of Yun Xiaoran.
Last night, his understanding of this song had been no less than hers. He loved music too, yet all he had was a guitar in his arms.
Forget it. Stop thinking about that obsessive fan.
The thought of having registered her marriage with this man irritated Shen Jin immensely, wiping away the good mood she had been in that morning.
Still, he did have some uses. For example, he could feed the cat in Sister Hua's place, saving her from having to hire someone specifically to look after it.
That thought eased Shen Jin's anger a little. Meanwhile, she kept an eye on the discussions on VA Site. To her surprise, a huge controversy had erupted overnight, with accusations of plagiarism aimed at Lone Cloud.
The video on VA Site had already passed a million views. Even in the morning, more than a thousand people were watching it at any given time. Its momentum was certainly cause for celebration. Not counting the money from viewer coin donations, the creator incentive payments alone had risen by another twenty to thirty thousand since last night.
"This is rough, bro. Lone Cloud has spoiled everyone who comes to listen to music. Which big shot made a new account?"
"But that song really is good. I wonder if Lone Cloud is some big shot's alt, and which company he'll sign with down the road.
"If this guy can turn out a song that awesome every month, he'll be set for decades. When's he coming over? I'll get him a few girls from a foot spa, and the two of us can have a good chat."
Yun Xiaoran stared at Zhou Zeyu's message in exasperation. Although he was still a virgin at his age, he certainly wasn't the sort to visit those clubs.
Seeing his good buddy still fawning over Lone Cloud, Yun Xiaoran finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to tell Zhou Zeyu the truth.
Revealing his identity now would at least tone down Zhou Zeyu's idol worship. Otherwise, once he passed a million followers, it would be even harder to say it.
"Oh, right, didn't you say you posted a song on VA Site? How did it go? Let me give you some pointers."
A message from Zhou Zeyu popped up.
Yun Xiaoran paused briefly, then smiled as he sent Zhou Zeyu a screenshot of his profile.
In a lavishly decorated villa on Drum Wave Island in central Linshun City, a well-dressed man sat at his computer and froze at the familiar profile page.
"If you don't want to share it, just say so. Why send me Lone Cloud's profile..."
Zhou Zeyu fell silent for a moment. Then, staring at Lone Cloud's profile before him, he completely lost his composure.
Before you continue