Bai Jinyan handed each box over and then folded the thermos bag together and gave it to him, saying, “Alright, to keep it warm and prevent it from getting cold on your way back. Eating cold food can harm your stomach.”
“Okay,” Qiao Huaiyao put everything into the thermos bag, and when he got up, he noticed Bai Jinyan extending his hand as if wanting to touch his head, but he moved too quickly.
Bai Jinyan’s hand was left hanging in the air.
Before Bai Jinyan could retract his hand, Qiao Huaiyao took a step forward, bowed his head, and delivered himself into Bai Jinyan’s hand, bending his eyes and saying, “Go back early and rest, Brother.”
Bai Jinyan’s expression flickered slightly, and he lightly ruffled Qiao Huaiyao’s hair, “Mm-hmm.”
Back in the dormitory, Qiao Huaiyao found that Qiu Shufeng and the others hadn’t returned yet. He pushed the things on the table aside and took out the thermos boxes one by one.
Each thermos box had a partition in the middle, with two dishes on each side, and there was not much staple food since it was dinner. There were both meat and vegetable dishes, but the meat wasn’t too heavy. The vegetables were stir-fried with a glossy appearance, and there were also shrimp and peeled crab meat, both in one of the thermos boxes. Each dish was prepared according to his favorite taste.
Rather than eating directly, Qiao Huaiyao recorded each dish with his phone and took a picture of them arranged together. He then logged into his alternate account and posted the pictures on Weibo without any captions or edits.
While eating, he absentmindedly scrolled through Weibo and noticed a push notification from a popular topic, #BaiJinyanVlog#. He raised an eyebrow, surprised at how quickly it was trending. He figured that the specialized team responsible for editing Bai Jinyan’s vlog clips must be quite efficient, given that they were dedicated to him and had two hours of material to work with. His military training was also not too long, so an hour of footage would be sufficient.
Although Qiao Huaiyao had filmed the vlog himself, he decided to watch it from the beginning to see how the professional editing enhanced the video’s visual appeal and increased its click-through rate and views. It would also be beneficial for publicity.
As he watched, he couldn’t help but be drawn to the barrage of comments. Fans were analyzing every detail to try and deduce who had filmed the vlog. Despite not making an appearance or even speaking in the video, the fans had already guessed with near certainty that it was Qiao Huaiyao behind the camera.
Qiao Huaiyao took screenshots of the comments and sent them to Bai Jinyan, saying, “Brother, take a look!”
Bai Jinyan responded with a simple “Focus on eating.”
Qiao Huaiyao then sent a picture of the half-eaten rice to him, “I’m eating.”
Soon after, Bai Jinyan directly made a video call.
“Uh?” The ringtone of the video call suddenly sounded, and Qiao Huaiyao almost dropped the phone, but he quickly answered, “Brother?”
On the other end of the call, Bai Jinyan was sitting in a car, with half of a script visible in the frame, suggesting that he was reading it halfway.
He said, “The video resolution isn’t enough; I’ll send you the high-resolution version later. For now, just focus on eating.”
As he spoke, Bai Jinyan was managing some of the comments on his own Weibo account.
Qiao Huaiyao obediently took a bite of the shrimp and smiled, saying, “No need to send it; I’ll watch it again to boost the view count.”
Bai Jinyan paused for a moment, a hint of a smile spreading in his eyes, but he maintained a serious expression, “You’ve worked hard, Huaiyao.”
Qiao Huaiyao lifted his gaze, meeting Bai Jinyan’s eyes, and he smiled even more, “It’s not hard to do things for my brother!”
As they were chatting, Qiao Huaiyao received a message on his phone from director Zhao Jiamo. He put down his chopsticks and read the message. Director Zhao asked if he was interested in participating in a variety show and mentioned coordinating schedules with other guests.
Qiao Huaiyao typed a reply, stating that he had free time during holidays and weekends. However, if there were experimental courses or other academic activities during those periods, he would prioritize them. He asked Director Zhao if it was possible to accommodate his schedule.
Director Zhao responded, “No problem, don’t worry, I have the budget.”
Other celebrities might be able to be bought with money and connections, but not Qiao Huaiyao.
Even the previous two seasons were of no use. Unless Qiao Huaiyao agreed, there was nothing Director Zhao could do.
Bai Jinyan noticed Qiao Huaiyao typing and asked, “Who are you chatting with?”
“Director Zhao Jiamo. I agreed to participate in a variety show,” Qiao Huaiyao said after sending the message. He received a new message from Director Zhao, advising him to post about it on Weibo and asking Bai Jinyan to help spread the news.
Bai Jinyan readily agreed, “Sure.” He opened Weibo and asked, “Shall I use your previous account?”
“Yeah,” Qiao Huaiyao replied, realizing that he had mistakenly used his personal account, which was dedicated to photography, and it wouldn’t be effective for promoting variety shows. He then asked Bai Jinyan to forward the post for him.
“Alright,” Bai Jinyan said as he opened Qiao Huaiyao’s previous account and reposted the announcement with Director Zhao’s message.
As soon as he posted it, notifications flooded in, with many fans expressing excitement and joy at Qiao Huaiyao’s decision to participate in the variety show.
Some fans were curious as to why Bai Jinyan’s number of followers hadn’t changed.
One fan mentioned that Bai Jinyan’s account had always had only one hidden follower since his debut, and many marketing accounts had tried to investigate without success.
Seeing the comments flooding in, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t help but smile. Bai Jinyan asked, “What’s going on?”
Qiao Huaiyao shook his head and said, “Nothing. It’s just that fans are saying my only follower has always been you. They seem quite surprised about it.”
Bai Jinyan smiled and asked, “Should I reply?”
“No need,” Qiao Huaiyao typed as he chuckled. “Let them speculate.”
“Alright,” Bai Jinyan said, resuming his serious expression, but his eyes were still filled with amusement.
He then said, “Go ahead and eat; I’ll take care of the Weibo messages.”
As Qiao Huaiyao ate, he couldn’t help but be amused by the comments. It was amazing how fans could turn into Sherlock Holmes, analyzing every little detail to uncover the truth. They truly were passionate and dedicated.