The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

The Seven-Handed War God stopped in front of a small courtyard house, the brakes whistling angrily.

This area was indeed desolate, mostly filled with houses awaiting demolition, some with collapsed mud walls. But it wasn't entirely as "completely deserted" as Han Yang described. As the car drove in, Ye Shu noticed a few elderly people sitting in front of their courtyards.

Han Yang took out his key and opened the courtyard gate. The courtyard wasn't large, but it was clear that no one had taken care of it; many weeds were sprouting from the cracks in the cement floor. Directly opposite was a row of three single-story houses. The windows were in relatively good condition, but they were quite dirty.

"This is it. The conditions are basic, but you'll have to make do."

Han Yang led the group into the largest room.

The room was practically bare, but the preparations for the live stream were quite hardcore.

A patch of off-white wallpaper was pasted on one wall, presumably to make the background look cleaner. In front of the wallpaper was a table covered with a tablecloth. Further in front of that was a fill light and a phone stand.

Besides that, there were only a few chairs in the room, and a few cardboard boxes piled up in the corner.

The entire live stream room exuded a simple and unpretentious atmosphere, like... the greatest truths are the simplest.

Ye Shu and Han Yang went back and forth several more times, carrying all the things from the car in and arranging them on the table.

With everything ready, Han Yang looked at the phone clipped to the stand, then at the three people sitting opposite him. His initial excitement seemed to have vanished, replaced by nervousness.

He circled the table a few times, then said to Ye Shu and the others:

"Um... I'm still not entirely sure. How about we rehearse once? You guys can be the audience, take a look, and point out any flaws."

"Okay."

Ye Shu cooperated by arranging the chairs in a row and sitting behind the phone stand.

Zhi Qiu sat down next to Ye Shu and leaned against him. Tang Xiao Tao, carrying her bag of snacks, found a chair in a corner, tore open a bag of potato chips, and became an audience member.

Han Yang sat behind the table and took a deep breath, but when people get nervous, they tend to fidget a lot.

Ye Shu noticed that Han Yang was constantly adjusting his clothes, shaking his neck, coughing to clear his throat, and rubbing his hands on the table, though she didn't know what he was rubbing.

Then, he looked up at the audience and forced a perfectly standard, insincere smile. His mouth was wide open, revealing two rows of big white teeth, but his eyes kept blinking, and the muscles in his face seemed to be out of control, making the whole smile look awkward.

Tang Xiaotao ate potato chips, her eyes crinkling with laughter:

"Brother Han, you...you shouldn't laugh like that, it's too scary! Relax."

"Okay, okay, relax, relax..."

Han Yang himself realized something was wrong. He rubbed his face with his hands, opened his mouth, and moved his stiff cheeks. Then he closed his eyes, silently counted to three, looked back at the camera, and his lips curled up again—that stiff, bright, fake smile was back.

"Hey everyone, welcome to... uh, Yangzi's... department store? Oh well, never mind!"

He clearly hadn't even decided on a name for his livestream yet, so he skipped that and got straight to the point:

"What I'm bringing you today is something everyone loves to eat... apples!"

As he spoke, he quickly picked up an apple from the box next to him, held it up, and shook it:

"Look everyone, these apples are big, red, and sweet and sour! They're incredibly cheap! Order now and you can even enjoy a discount! Don't miss this rare opportunity!"

"stop."

Ye Shu couldn't stand it any longer and raised his hand to interrupt. He had already taken on the role of the director; his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his expression was serious.

The assistant director, Zhi Qiu, continued to smile as she watched Han Yang, finding it amusing.

Meanwhile, Tang Xiaotao, the assistant on set, was still happily munching on snacks.

Ye Shu stood up, walked to the table, picked up the apple from Han Yang's hand, and said:

"Yangzi, this is too dry. Your introduction sounds like you're reading a product manual, it's not interesting. And you're too nervous, you can't even speak properly, and your expression is too stiff. Relax a bit, chat with them, interact with them, you see, all the other live streamers interact, right?"

With the guidance of the director, assistant director, and on-set assistant, Han Yang has made some adjustments. Although he still occasionally gets stuck, at least it doesn't sound like he's chanting scriptures anymore.

Han Yang glanced at his phone; it was already past three in the afternoon.

"No, it's time to start, we have to go."

After composing himself, Ye Shu sat behind the camera, gave an OK sign, and started the live stream.

Han Yang sat in front of the camera, holding an apple, his eyes glued to his phone used to view the live comments. The screen was completely blank; occasionally, two people would glance at the comments and leave, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Ye Shu was also worried for him, so she came up with a solution. She took out her phone, entered Han Yang's live stream, gave him a bunch of likes, and then started acting as a shill.

[User 1234]: "Host, what kind of products are you selling in this live stream?"

It's easy now that someone has asked a question:

"Welcome new friends! Welcome to 'Yangzai's Department Store'! Today we're having a live-streaming event to support local farmers, mainly selling our local apples—big, crisp, and sweet! We also have some daily necessities from our local supermarket, which will be available via links later! Thank you for your support!"

I don't know if it was because of the hype that Han Yang invested before the broadcast started, or maybe it was because of Ye Shu, the shill, but people started to enter the live stream and the number of comments gradually increased.

Are the apples sweet?

The price is okay, but I don't know about the quality.

[The host seems a little nervous. Is this their first time broadcasting?]

As long as someone spoke, the conversation could continue, and Han Yang gradually got into the zone, answering questions from the live chat. To demonstrate the apple, he even cut one on the spot.

Although we haven't seen a single order yet, things are finally getting lively.

After about forty minutes of broadcasting, Han Yang's expression suddenly changed. He said to the camera, "Everyone, please wait a moment," and then quickly ran to Ye Shu's side, clutching his stomach.

"I can't hold it in anymore. Can you cover for me for two minutes and say anything?"

After saying that, without waiting for Ye Shu's reaction, he rushed out in a hurry.

"Huh? I..."

Looking at Han Yang's retreating figure, Ye Shu had no choice but to step in first.

People are all talk and no action when it comes to others, but when it comes to their own situation, they're a complete mess.

Facing the somewhat dazzling fill light, and looking at his own face on the phone screen, which looked a little caught off guard, he subconsciously adjusted his expression, resulting in a stiff smile just like Han Yang's.

"puff......"

Tang Xiaotao quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. Seeing Ye Shu's expression, Zhi Qiu's smile deepened.

Ye Shuqing cleared his throat, picked up an apple, and spoke into the phone:

"Uh... hello everyone, the host... uh, the previous host had something come up, so I'll fill in for him for a bit. This apple of ours is indeed... um, quite delicious."

At first, the comments were quite normal, mostly consisting of questions like, "Where's the streamer from before?", "What kind of package is being sent?", and "Is shipping free?". But gradually, the comments started to go astray.

The host has a nice voice.

Can the streamer sing?

Is the young man single?

Ye Shu was overwhelmed by these comments:

"Uh... thank you everyone, but let's... let's still sell apples, sell apples..."

Just then, a sports car effect appeared on the screen:

[One Leaf Tells of Autumn] is giving away a "sports car" x1

Ye Shu was taken aback by the sudden donation. Before he could even thank them, he saw a comment from [一叶知秋]:

[Host, you haven't answered yet, are you single?]

One leaf falling heralds autumn...

Ye Shu subconsciously looked up at the opposite side, and Zhi Qiu was also smiling at him, waving her phone at him.

Sure enough it was her!

There was nothing wrong with it, but Ye Shu's face still flushed a little when she asked this question in front of the camera.

He opened his mouth, and under Zhi Qiu's gentle gaze, nodded towards the camera:

"Um... I have a girlfriend."

Immediately afterwards, a sports car effect appeared on the screen.

[One Leaf Tells of Autumn] is giving away a "sports car" x1

Immediately following, another comment appeared:

How much do you love your girlfriend?

Ye Shu suddenly realized, "Why is this fill light so bright? It's shining so brightly that I have nowhere to hide."

Zhi Qiu's smile deepened, and she tilted her head slightly towards Ye Shu, as if she were listening attentively.

Tang Xiaotao looked at her future sister-in-law with admiration, thinking that her sister-in-law was amazing.

Ye Shu took a deep breath, steeled her resolve, and ignored the comments on the screen, looking directly at the person opposite her. It was unclear whether she was speaking to the camera or to the person behind it.

I love it so much.