At the most exciting parts of the speech, Yao Yao led the applause. It was her first time at such an event, and she had been a little reserved at first. But Li Xiang spoke so well on stage that she clapped with all her might. She was just short of standing up to scream and shout!

It was a shame this wasn’t the right venue; otherwise, Sister Yao would have been the undisputed queen of the hype squad.

While Li Xiang was speaking on stage, some of the other streamers couldn’t help but feel a mix of envy and jealousy.

"That kid definitely has a team backing him. How else could he get over two million fans in less than half a year?"

"Exactly. We work ourselves to death and only have a hundred thousand or so fans."

"I don’t think I’m any uglier than him, so why does he have so many fans?"

...

In reality, Li Xiang didn’t have a team at the beginning. If you could even call it a team, it was just his one assistant, Jiang Cai’Er. Things were only slightly better now; he had Zhao Xueqing, Yao Yao, and Lei Xiaohui, three signed artists who also handled filming, editing, and other miscellaneous tasks. Moreover, they were also planning to establish businesses like a National Style Tavern, a teahouse, a coffee shop, and a bubble tea shop.

Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui were all in the audience, taking lots of pictures and recording a short video, which they posted to their respective social media feeds and personal accounts.

Zhao Xueqing also shared the video with Li Xiang. But since he was still speaking on stage, he would have to wait until he was finished to post it himself.

After the meeting, a staff member took them to see their broadcast room.

Each team got a dedicated office, and theirs was quite large. The background and equipment were top-notch, of course, all set up by the event organizers, and included a special poster for this charity drive.

Lunch was in the cafeteria of the county government compound. It was quite good, with a wide variety of dishes, and the listed prices were incredibly cheap. Of course, they didn’t have to pay; they were getting a free meal.

After lunch, they rested for a bit in their guesthouse rooms, and the broadcast started promptly at one-thirty.

The four of them had come prepared. Li Xiang was in a historical costume, as were the three women.

Lei Xiaohui was cosplaying as Hua Mulan in her Female General armor. She wore metallic-toned armor with her hair tied in a high ponytail. She was tall, a full 1.8 meters, but not bulky or stout. Instead, she was slender and well-proportioned. While her looks couldn’t quite match Zhao Xueqing’s or Yao Yao’s, she was still quite pretty. She was the very picture of a woman who was every bit as heroic as any man—both beautiful and fierce.

Zhao Xueqing wore a Tang-dynasty-style *hezi* dress, embroidered with peonies and butterflies. Her hair was styled in a high bun, and combined with her fair, clear complexion, she looked just like a young noble lady from ancient times.

Yao Yao wore a purple, long-sleeved gauze dress. When she walked, the light fabric rippled, and with the slightest movement of her water sleeves, she looked like a blooming iris, exuding an ethereal aura.

Lei Xiaohui and Zhao Xueqing both pouted in unison, thinking, ’Aren’t you afraid of the cold?’ Because Yao Yao was wearing the least.

Li Xiang was dressed as a noble young master from a wuxia novel, an outfit Zhao Xueqing had helped him pick out.

Previously, Li Xiang had given each of them a clothing allowance to buy performance costumes. They were to get at least five outfits each, plus various jewelry, accessories, and so on, to ensure they looked their absolute best.

Zhao Xueqing was very thoughtful and had also picked out two outfits for Li Xiang. When Yao Yao saw this, she helped pick out three for him.

Of course, Li Xiang wouldn’t take advantage of them like that and reimbursed them for the clothes.

"Brother Xiang, wear the outfit I picked for you tomorrow." Seeing Li Xiang was wearing the clothes Zhao Xueqing had chosen, Yao Yao was a little unhappy. She gently took Li Xiang’s arm, leaned in close, and whispered.

"Alright, alright. We still have a few days. I’ll wear them in rotation," Li Xiang soothed.

Behind him, Lei Xiaohui and Zhao Xueqing both rolled their eyes.

The county magistrate had been in high spirits today and was planning to join Li Xiang’s group for the livestream. But when he entered the broadcast room and saw the scene, he offered a few words of encouragement and then left.

"Mr. Magistrate, why did you come out?" a female staff member asked, curious.

The magistrate wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow, pointed inside, and said, "It’s all handsome young men and beautiful women in there. An old codger like me feels completely out of place!"

The female staff member looked inside and saw Li Xiang’s group all in historical costumes. She couldn’t help but suggest, "Why don’t we change into historical costumes too? With your powerful aura, you could totally upstage them."

"Forget it, forget it. It’s not appropriate, the style isn’t right. I won’t join in on the fun." The magistrate mused that if he were to wear a historical costume, it would have to be that of a high-ranking court official; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to command the scene.

But as a mere county magistrate, it would be presumptuous of him to wear the cap insignia of a first or second-rank official.

On the first afternoon, sales were excellent. Li Xiang and his team achieved a great result, pulling in over six million in sales.

The other streamers: "..."

The next best had only sold a little over three hundred thousand, while the worst had sold just over a hundred yuan’s worth. It was an absolute curb-stomp.

The streamer who had sold over three hundred thousand had been feeling quite pleased with himself, thinking, ’I really had a god-tier performance. Thanks to all my fans for the support. I can’t be that far behind that Li Xiang guy, right?’ But when he heard the results, he nearly coughed up blood.

That evening, Li Xiang took the three women to a barbecue restaurant for a late-night snack to celebrate.

It wasn’t entirely for that reason, however. The construction company had sent over the proposal and quote for the "Holy Realm Garden" again, and Li Xiang wanted to discuss it with the three women.

But as a man, it wouldn’t look good to invite three young women into his room. So he had specifically chosen this newly opened, relatively large barbecue restaurant, gotten a private room, and sat down with them to discuss business over a late-night meal.

Li Xiang had brought his laptop. After finishing the meeting with them, he compiled everyone’s suggestions and sent them back to the construction company, asking for further revisions.

For such a large project, they naturally had to strive for perfection. Otherwise, if they started construction rashly and weren’t satisfied later, the rework would be a huge hassle.

Barbecue and beer. Since no one had to drive, they all had a little to drink.

Yao Yao and Lei Xiaohui were heavy drinkers, while Zhao Xueqing had a lower tolerance. After just one small cup, the fair-skinned girl’s pretty face and neck were flushed red, and red patches had even appeared on her arms. It was clearly an alcohol allergy.

"Brother Xiang, I can’t drink anymore, I really can’t," Zhao Xueqing said, scratching her arm with a troubled expression.

"If you can’t drink, then don’t. Let me get you some juice." Li Xiang called a waiter over and ordered a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice to help her sober up.

Yao Yao grumbled to herself, ’She’s such a good actress, quitting after just a little bit. If you won’t drink, I will. Later, when we leave, I’ll pretend to be drunk and get Brother Xiang to carry me back, haha.’

Yao Yao used to be part of the hype squad at a bar, so she could naturally hold her liquor. And Lei Xiaohui, who practiced martial arts, had also developed a high tolerance under Lei Jiaming’s influence. The two women challenged Li Xiang to a drinking contest, keeping him company and ensuring he had a great time.

Yao Yao even wanted to drink with linked arms with Li Xiang, but was shot down by glares from Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Brother Xiang, I can’t... I’m so dizzy." As they were leaving, Yao Yao swayed on her feet and leaned against Li Xiang.

Lei Xiaohui thought, ’You’re terrible at faking being drunk. People who are actually drunk always shout, "I’m not drunk, I can still drink more!" And this is your attempt?’

So, she shouted, "Sister Yao, don’t worry, I’ll carry you!"

She darted forward in a single bound and hoisted the petite Yao Yao over her shoulder. Yao Yao was so startled she "sobered up" instantly, struggling and screaming to be let down.

But Lei Xiaohui wouldn’t let go. She charged out of the restaurant carrying her, causing the other customers in the shop to turn and stare.

Zhao Xueqing covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. She thought, ’With Xiaohui around, you still dare to fake being drunk? I can’t carry you, but Xiaohui is Hua Mulan. Carrying you is more than easy for her.’

She figured that if she and Lei Xiaohui weren’t there, Yao Yao would have probably "gotten drunk" all the way into Li Xiang’s room tonight.

’Faced with such a vixen, even Brother Xiang might not be able to withstand the temptation.’

After taking the three women back to the guesthouse, Li Xiang saw that it was still early, only around 8:40 PM, so he slipped out again.

Jiang Cai’Er’s school had already started, and the county government guesthouse was actually quite close to it. Li Xiang bought three cups of bubble tea and a large bag of snacks to take to Jiang Cai’Er.

However, Jiang Cai’Er didn’t bring her phone to school, and Li Xiang didn’t have her teacher’s contact information. So, he handed a cigarette to the gatekeeper, an older man, and said that a student in a certain class was his little sister. He explained he was in town on business and wanted to drop off some snacks for her.