When they arrived at the destination and met up with the TV station staff, everyone was quite surprised. What kind of master of molten iron striking brings along two such beautiful young secretaries? 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

That night’s molten iron striking performance was, of course, a stunning spectacle that dazzled the entire crowd.

Yao Yao and Zhao Xueqing helped film plenty of videos and behind-the-scenes clips, posting them all on Li Xiang’s account as well as their own.

Many fans left comments and likes.

One comment in particular received a lot of likes: "Brother Xiang is really making it big now! He’s even getting invited by TV stations to attend galas like this."

Someone replied, "It’s just a pre-recorded Lantern Festival gala for a small county. What’s there to be so proud of?"

The fan replied, "You don’t get it. I was one of the first people to follow Brother Xiang. Just last September, he had just quit his job in the big city and come back home, riding a little motorized trike. He was flat broke, with less than a hundred followers. I watched as he quietly fixed up his backyard, chopped bamboo, and cut up a huge vat to build the Overlapping Waterfall. It’s only been a few months, and now he has over 2.6 million fans."

The reason for such a huge increase was that he had captured a massive wave of traffic during the village gala, gaining four to five hundred thousand new followers.

Many people sighed in amazement. It really was impressive. An average person could never grow that quickly. They brought up a risqué streamer who was gorgeous and even held a world champion title. But after more than half a year of pushing the boundaries with her content, she still had barely any followers. And she was even signed with a management company; she just couldn’t get popular.

Then, something bizarre happened. She got called out by a junior streamer, and after the two of them went back and forth with passive-aggressive comments for a couple of rounds, she instantly blew up!

It just goes to show that this sort of thing really requires a stroke of luck and the help of a benefactor.

It’s not like you’re guaranteed to get famous just by showing some skin, being pretty, and knowing how to dance and shake your hips.

Yao Yao read this and couldn’t agree more. She deeply sympathized with that champion streamer.

It’s not just people; the same goes for things.

A certain tomb-guardian beast artifact sat in a museum for years after being unearthed, completely ignored. Then, because "there are always two similar flowers in the world," it suddenly went viral!

Coincidentally, not only did this tomb-guardian beast have a strikingly similar face, but its foot was also "injured" in the same way.

Meanwhile, the other "flower"—the one who was a livestreamer—was an expert at appraising relics and antiques, especially "items from tombs." He could tell authentic from fake at a glance through the camera and was always shouting, "Open the door! Open the door!"

Legend says that tomb-guardian beasts come in pairs: one to close the door, and one to open it. The door-opening one supposedly gained sentience, ran away, took human form, and became a streamer...

The night grew late, and the buses had stopped running. After the four of them finished a late-night snack, Li Xiang told Jiang Jianguo to drive the tractor back on his own while he called a cab to take the two young women home.

It was mainly because it was so late; he didn’t feel comfortable letting two beautiful young women take a cab by themselves.

Li Xiang suggested they get their driver’s licenses too. He was about to buy some cars, and if they needed to run errands or go shopping for the business, they could borrow one.

Yao Yao said, "Brother Xiang, when you go to buy the cars, take us with you. We can help you pick them out and haggle on the price."

"No problem!"

"Brother Xiang, what kind of cars are you planning to buy?"

"An SUV, a seven-seater minivan, and a pickup truck!"

"Wow, three cars at once? You’re such a big spender!" Yao Yao said in surprise.

Zhao Xueqing’s pretty eyes blinked in surprise as well.

Li Xiang replied, "They’ll all be registered under the company."

’When you’re in business, image is everything. I can’t keep driving that motorized trike forever.’

’Registering them under the company means I can write them off on taxes, and all the usual expenses like gas and maintenance can be reimbursed with receipts.’

Zhao Xueqing lived nearby, so she was the first to get out. As she left, the young woman glanced back at Li Xiang several times.

Yao Yao was inwardly delighted. She knew exactly what Zhao Xueqing was thinking. With a mischievous giggle, she called to Li Xiang in the front passenger seat, "Hey, Brother Xiang, come sit in the back. I have something to tell you."

Zhao Xueqing: "..."

...

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Li Xiang prepared another grand feast. However, with just him and his grandmother present, it was much quieter than their New Year’s Eve dinner. Li Xiang watched the Lantern Festival Gala with his grandmother for a while and brought up his plans to build the new house. He explained that she might be inconvenienced for a few months, having to move into the utility room next to the kitchen.

His grandmother was thrilled. She had long been hoping they would build a new house. Of course, what she hoped for even more was that a few more people might come to live in such a big house.

"I just don’t know if I’ll live to see that day~" his grandmother said, shooting him a look. ’So many girls around, and you can’t find a single one you like?’

Since Li Xiang was so picky, and there was no shortage of girls flocking around him anyway, people had stopped trying to set him up.

Li Xiang just smiled. "You’ll see it, I promise you will."

His grandmother usually went to bed quite early, but tonight she had stayed up late specifically to watch Li Xiang’s molten iron striking performance. Li Xiang told her she could just watch the rerun tomorrow, but she refused, insisting she wouldn’t sleep until she saw her grandson on TV.

’Tomorrow? Tomorrow I have to go brag to the other villagers! I have to tell everyone my grandson was on TV. How could I not watch it live tonight?’

...

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the weather was clear and fine. The construction company arrived as scheduled to survey the site and discuss the plans.

A team of eight people arrived: the manager he’d met before, four other men, and three young women. They were all professional technicians and brought a lot of equipment with them, clearly taking the project very seriously.

Li Xiang gave them a tour and explained his requirements in detail.

The massive, football-field-sized backyard would be divided into two sections. About two-fifths would become the Li family’s private backyard. The rest would be designated as a scenic area, separated by a wall, and transformed into a Jiangnan-style garden. This area would feature a National Style Tavern, a National Tea House, a coffee shop, a bubble tea shop, and more.

The original surrounding wall would be repurposed and modified. For instance, they would install decorative window frames, give it a fresh coat of paint, and commission murals of beautiful traditional landscapes in certain spots.