Chapter 57: 57: The Cousin Who Wants to Become an Internet Celebrity

The conversation carried on until after nine o’clock when Xu Yang and Zhao Yuxin decided to take a shower and retire to their room.

Xu Yang called his classmate Han Yanghui.

Soon, the call connected.

“Xu Yang, are you coming back for the Mid-Autumn Festival?”

From the phone, Han Yanghui’s voice could be heard.

“Yes, I arrived at six o’clock, and I just heard from my mom that you’re back too. It’s been almost two years since we last saw each other.”

Talking to this high school classmate, Xu Yang was quite happy.

“Yeah, it’s been almost two years. Since you’re back, let’s meet up sometime soon and have a chat,” said Han Yanghui.

“Tomorrow’s the Mid-Autumn Festival, so definitely not then. How about the day after tomorrow? I’ll call you then,” Xu Yang said.

Tomorrow was the Mid-Autumn Festival; he couldn’t just wander off.

His uncle’s family would be coming over too, to have dinner together for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Each year, for two holidays, Mid-Autumn Festival and the New Year, his family celebrated together with his uncle’s family.

Last year, they had dinner at his uncle’s place; this year it was his uncle’s turn to come over.

And since he rarely came back, he definitely wanted to spend time with his parents.

“Alright, I’ll wait for your call,” said Han Yanghui.

The next day.

In the morning, Xu Yang and Zhao Yuxin, along with his mother, went to the market to buy groceries.

Jiang Qiuping was especially delighted, greeting people and occasionally pointing at Zhao Yuxin, saying, “This is my future daughter-in-law.”

Then, they would receive compliments in response.

After buying the groceries, practically the entire market knew Jiang Qiuping had a beautiful future daughter-in-law.

This made Zhao Yuxin somewhat embarrassed.

As they left the market, Xu Yang couldn’t help but say resignedly, “Mom, is all this necessary?”

Jiang Qiuping glared at him, “What do you know? I have such a beautiful future daughter-in-law, should I keep her hidden instead?”

Xu Yang was left speechless.

After buying the groceries, all that was left was to chat at home.

By 3 o’clock in the afternoon, his uncle, aunt, and cousin had arrived.

Xu Yang introduced Zhao Yuxin to the three of them, and Zhao Yuxin greeted them politely.

The three of them had already learned from Jiang Qiuping that Xu Yang had brought his girlfriend back.

“Sister-in-law is really beautiful.” The cousin, Xu Xiaoyu, had good looks but was known for her quirky personality.

Xu Dewei and Jiang Ying, her parents, found her quite troublesome.

Xu Xiaoyu’s academic performance was not great; she didn’t make it into a university and ended up in a junior college instead.

She was a year younger than Xu Yang and had also graduated that year.

After graduating, she didn’t look for a job but instead said she wanted to become an internet celebrity and started filming short videos and streaming.

In the end, she hadn’t made any money but had actually spent over ten thousand yuan.

The equipment for live streaming and filming had cost that much.

Several months had passed, yet she hadn’t even earned back the cost.

Xu Dewei and Jiang Ying didn’t know how many times they had told her to get a job, saying that streaming was unreliable, only to be lectured by her that one must persevere in their endeavors, not give up halfway, and that if she kept at it, she would inevitably succeed.

This totally exasperated Xu Dewei and Jiang Ying.

If she had been doing something else, they would have admired their daughter’s persistence.

But with streaming and short videos, it all felt too airy and groundless, without a glimpse of hope in sight.

In the end, they simply let her be, leaving her to her own devices.

They wanted to see when she would tire out; it was just the beginning. If it went on for a long time without hope for half a year or a year, she would probably have a change of heart—consider it a waste of six months to a year.

“You are very pretty too,” Zhao Yuxin smiled.

“Bro, I saw a Rolls-Royce Cullinan parked downstairs; whose is it?” Xu Xiaoyu asked curiously.

In a small county town like theirs, they had never seen such a luxury car before.

She was really curious about who owned the Rolls-Royce.

“It’s mine,” Xu Yang said.

“Huh?” Xu Xiaoyu was stunned and somewhat incredulous, “Brother, what are you saying, that Rolls-Royce is yours?”

“Yes, it’s mine,” Xu Yang nodded.

“Impossible!” Xu Xiaoyu’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Aren’t you working for a listed company? I heard from Uncle that your salary is just over twenty thousand, how could you afford a Rolls-Royce Cullinan?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xu Yang said, “I made some money on the side. I no longer work for that company; I’ve acquired a company instead.”

Xu Xiaoyu was even more surprised, “So, you’ve become a boss?”

Xu Yang nodded briefly, “Yes.”

Although it felt a bit strange being called that, it was the truth.

Xu Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up, “Quick, tell me where you made your money from, and which company have you acquired?”

Xu Yang could only repeat the conversation he had with his parents the night before.

Xu Dewei and Jiang Ying listened with their eyes wide and mouths agape, marveling at Xu Yang’s abilities and luck.

Xu Xiaoyu then suddenly stood up, grabbing and hugging Xu Yang’s arm excitedly, “Brother, did you say you acquired a livestreaming guild?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Xu Yang didn’t understand why Xu Xiaoyu was so excited.

He didn’t know that his cousin was now doing livestreaming and short videos.

“Bro, I’m currently doing livestreaming and short videos too, we’re in the same line of work! Mom and Dad always tell me I’m not pursuing a proper career, that this has no future—I’m so tired of it. Now that you’re doing this as well, can you talk to them for me?” Xu Xiaoyu said excitedly.

“Uh…” Xu Yang was taken aback; his cousin also did livestreaming and short videos, “How should I say this; if Uncle and Aunt think you’re not engaged in a proper career and it has no prospects, it must be because you haven’t achieved any results, right?”

Xu Xiaoyu said with some pride, “Who says I haven’t achieved anything? I’ve only been doing this for a few months, and I’ve already broken through ten thousand fans!”

Xu Yang couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Ten thousand fans, and you’re so proud. I don’t care how many fans you have; I only ask you, how much money can you make a month?”

This was the only standard by which success in this field was measured.

Actually, it was the standard for most industries and jobs.

If you can’t make money, everything else is useless.

“Uh…” This time, Xu Xiaoyu was at a loss for words.

Her monthly income was sometimes a mere pittance of tens of yuan.

There was only one month when she broke the hundred-yuan mark, and even then, it was just one hundred and twenty yuan.

It was a dismal sight.

“See, you’re speechless, you must not have made any money,” Xu Yang shook his head with a smile.

“If she could make money, your Uncle and I wouldn’t be so frustrated. Xu Yang, now that you’ve succeeded, you need to talk some sense into her, get her to take a proper job and stop messing with this,” Aunt Jiang Ying said.

“Hmph, as long as I persist, I will definitely succeed, and I will surely make money,” Xu Xiaoyu, hearing her mother’s words, snorted defiantly, her stubbornness flaring up.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Jiang Ying trembled with anger, seriously considering picking up a feather duster to hit Xu Xiaoyu.

At home, it wasn’t like she had never spanked her, but when it proved ineffective, she eventually stopped trying.

But now, seeing Xu Xiaoyu like this made her feel the itch to discipline her again.

“Aunt, don’t get angry; let me first look into Xiaoyu’s situation. Actually, if done correctly, this line of work can be quite successful and the earnings quite substantial,” Xu Yang reassured Jiang Ying.

“Mom, did you hear that?” Hearing Xu Yang support her, Xu Xiaoyu felt vindicated.

“The key is, you haven’t succeeded,” Jiang Ying rolled her eyes at her daughter.

“I may not have succeeded now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t succeed in the future,” Xu Xiaoyu remained just as headstrong.