Gao Yuan called Lin Wanyu his good luck charm because she truly brought him good fortune. Ever since they met, everything had gone smoothly for Gao Yuan—it was as if he was blessed by the God of Wealth. His life felt like a video game with cheat codes enabled.
Today, while she was just casually scrolling through short videos, she had once again triggered a new system quest for Gao Yuan.
At this point, Gao Yuan was a little thankful that Lin Wanyu was single. If she hadn't gotten divorced, it really would have been difficult for him to make a move.
At this stage, Gao Yuan's thirst for system quests was stronger than his desire to chase women. He needed to escape his barely-scraping-by state of earning three thousand a month and achieve financial freedom as soon as possible.
When he used to read novels, other protagonists in his situation would already be driving Porsches, or even Bentleys with their winged emblems.
Yet here he was, still stuck in the starter zone. He could put up with it, but could his fellow readers?
Especially with a young, wealthy woman like Lin Wanyu by his side. Although she had never said anything to suggest she looked down on him, Gao Yuan couldn't stand the thought of being seen as a mooch.
If he had managed to get to this point in his life without the system, Gao Yuan might have been content for the rest of his days.
In all his past relationships, he had always been the one spending money on women; he'd almost never received a gift from any of them.
So when Lin Wanyu bought him a gift, he was genuinely touched. It was a balm for his weary heart.
In this regard, men are actually more hypocritical than women. They might say, "Oh, you don't have to," but in their hearts, they're screaming, 'Please buy it for me!'
The difference is, men don't have high standards. They just want to feel like they're being thought of. As for the gift itself, most guys don't fuss over the details.
When the system issued this new quest, Gao Yuan didn't check it immediately. 'It's not going anywhere,' he thought. 'It'll be there when I'm ready.'
Rewarding Lin Wanyu—now *that* was the urgent task at hand!
He pulled Lin Wanyu into his arms and kissed her luscious lips.
His sudden move caught Lin Wanyu off guard, but with just a hint of confusion, she slowly closed her eyes.
As Gao Yuan kissed her, her arms wrapped around his neck.
The sun was still shining brightly outside, its rays pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows and onto the sofa, where the two of them...
After they had both washed up, Gao Yuan told his smart assistant to close the sheer curtains. Then, wrapped in a single blanket, they cuddled together.
Only then did Gao Yuan finally check the newly issued system quest.
[DING! Charming Uncle - Influencer Quest 1.0 has begun.]
[Quest]: Create a TikTok account to showcase your cooking skills as an "uncle." Reach 1,000 followers within one week.
[Quest Reward 1]: A top-tier virtual livestream lighting package.
[Quest Reward 2]: 5 experience points.
[Note: The top-tier virtual livestream lighting is not a physical object. Broadcasting with any device will automatically achieve optimal visual effects.]
He had a feeling this quest would be related to the video Lin Wanyu had just shown him, but he hadn't expected the system to issue a quest chain.
Influencer Quest 1.0... 'There must be a 2.0 and 3.0 coming after this,' he thought.
The rewards had also shifted from direct personal enhancements to a virtual livestream lighting package.
'Looks like the system wants me to start livestreaming,' he mused. 'Otherwise, it wouldn't give me a reward like this.'
According to the note, the lighting wasn't a physical object. As soon as he started broadcasting, it would automatically create the best visual effects. That was a pretty convenient feature.
It wouldn't take up any space or be affected by his streaming location.
Looking back at the quest details, it was clear: he had to build a TikTok account with his cooking skills and hit 1,000 followers within a week.
The task wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't a walk in the park, either.
A few years ago, you could go semi-viral just by posting a decent-quality video. Gaining tens of thousands of followers overnight was child's play.
But the TikTok ecosystem was completely different now. The underlying algorithm made it much harder for videos to go viral, and gaining followers was far more difficult.
Now the system was asking him to create short-form videos, and the five experience points from the reward were exactly what he needed to reach level two. He was taking this very seriously.
"Alright, I'll listen to you. I've got some free time lately, so I'll make a TikTok account."
"Okay! I'll help you look for some ideas."
They both grabbed their phones and started searching for cooking-related short-form videos.
After watching for a while, they found that most of the videos featured professional chefs teaching viewers how to make home-style dishes.
There were also some influencer types who did restaurant reviews, trying out everything from fancy meals to more rustic, down-to-earth street food.
The video Lin Wanyu had first shown him, for example, fell into the "couples' vlog" category.
Gao Yuan pulled out his laptop and logged into a social media analytics site to look up the data and performance of these creators and their videos.
Ultimately, his analysis concluded that the cooking niche was indeed worth a shot.
But his positioning had to be different from what was already out there. He couldn't just teach people how to cook; he definitely couldn't compete with the master chefs from five-star hotels on that front.
Making that kind of content would just be setting himself up for failure, making it nearly impossible to complete the system quest on time.
He also needed a unique selling point. The so-called "selling points" could be things like having attractive people in the video, or making lavish meals that ordinary people rarely get to eat.
He could manage both of those things pretty easily, but Gao Yuan still felt like something was missing.
"We could ask Qingqing for her opinion," Lin Wanyu suddenly suggested. "After all, her company is the top MCN Company in the country."
The next moment, the "Utopia" group chat was buzzing with activity.
Li Mengqing wasn't exactly an expert on making videos go viral, but she had picked up some of the lingo just by being around the industry.
She couldn't come up with any good ideas off the top of her head.
However, as the styling director for Wuyou Media, Li Mengqing held a pretty high position in the company. Everyone from the biggest influencers to the operations staff would give her some face.
She immediately found a supervisor in charge of short-form video operations at her company, added him to the Utopia group chat, and asked about the feasibility of making cooking videos.
As it turned out, after asking a few questions in the group chat, the operations supervisor directly stated that Gao Yuan didn't have what it takes to make it in this business.
Being an internet influencer, he said, was a young person's game.
This immediately infuriated Lin Wanyu. Exercising her authority as the group admin, she kicked the supervisor out of the chat.
"What a jerk!"
They had asked him for ideas, not for him to shoot them down.
However, the supervisor's questions had given Gao Yuan a few new ideas.
The man had asked if Gao Yuan was a professional chef, which he definitely wasn't.
But he had already completed 30% of the system's basic cooking quest. It wouldn't be long before his skills were at a professional level.
The supervisor thought this was a weak point, but Gao Yuan saw it as a strength. He could show his gradual progress from the perspective of an ordinary person learning to cook.
Also, a major reason the supervisor had angered Lin Wanyu was because he'd implied that Gao Yuan wasn't handsome enough and was a bit too old to make a living on the internet.
While that might be true, as far as Lin Wanyu was concerned, Gao Yuan was her boyfriend, and she wouldn't tolerate anyone criticizing him.
Gao Yuan figured he could turn his looks into a selling point too. He could wear a mask in the beginning. Once he completed the "Charming Uncle" physique quest, there would be a fundamental transformation.
The mask reveal later on would create a surprising contrast.
With the outsider gone, the three of them discussed a while longer in the Utopia group chat. In the end, Gao Yuan settled on a direction for his short videos.
He would take on the persona of a mature uncle making exclusive dinners, add in the "beautiful woman" element with his girlfriend, and build his account around that concept.
Now that they had a plan, Gao Yuan and Lin Wanyu started getting ready to go out.
They needed to buy a DSLR camera and a few lights suitable for use in the kitchen. That way, the food would look more appetizing on camera.
While they were out, they would also stop by the supermarket to pick up ingredients for tonight's dinner.
...