The End of the Universe Is Live-Streaming E-commerce – CH73

Chapter 73: The 73rd Day of Livestream Selling

How should one confess?

Lin Zhao, utterly clueless, got stuck at this step.

But he did not stay stuck for long, because he opened his mouth.

He asked everyone he could possibly ask. First and foremost was his aunt. Although Ms. Lin Mingzhu had been divorced for many years, she was still, among all the relatives and friends Lin Zhao knew, someone who had at least once been married. After Aunt Lin came Qin Xiaoman. Though he had never been married, at least he had dated in university.

When he calculated it like that, Lin Zhao let out a long sigh. He did not know whether he simply knew too few people, or whether people these days just did not like getting married anymore, but there were almost no people around him with successful romantic experience.

Aunt Lin was suddenly asked about this topic right before she was about to head out for her natural energy class.

After Lin Zhao’s body had fully recovered, Aunt Lin’s plan to awaken her ability was also officially put on the schedule. Although Ms. Lin had previously said that she was already this old and did not really care whether or not she awakened, when the time truly came for her to begin awakening, Lin Zhao realized that his aunt was actually very much looking forward to it.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Who could be completely without desire when faced with the chance to become stronger?

Lin Zhao felt terribly guilty about it, because he knew very clearly who his aunt had been pretending for when she acted so convincingly that even Lin Xiang had believed she did not care.

For him.

Aunt Lin had been afraid that if she also awakened natural energy, then Lin Zhao would be the only ordinary person left in the family—and an ordinary person with a terminal illness at that. She told Lin Zhao very seriously that, at the time, she genuinely had not looked forward to it. Lin Zhao believed her, just as he believed that if he had not been sick, his aunt would definitely have started looking forward to it long ago.

Because of that, Lin Zhao had specially asked the expert team to customize a natural energy improvement class for his aunt.

They had even taken his aunt’s lively personality into account. She was not the only middle-aged or elderly person in the class. It was a little like a senior university, or perhaps an interest class. What it taught was how middle-aged and elderly people around Ms. Lin Mingzhu’s age should face their awakened abilities, as well as how to scientifically control and improve them.

These days, apart from work, Aunt Lin was attending classes. She did not even have time for square dancing anymore. Every day was incredibly full.

The ability she awakened was sound wave manipulation.

That is, attacking with sound.

To be precise, a Lion’s Roar.

When natural energy was first publicly announced to be influenced by personal beliefs and worldview, many people instinctively thought that the elderly would be at a disadvantage in this regard compared to younger people. After all, young people were better at accepting new things and had more creativity. But in reality, middle-aged and elderly people were not bad at all in this respect. They had their own way of thinking.

Among the most popular abilities were extensions of martial arts, probably because Hong Kong martial arts films had been popular when they were young.

Ms. Lin Mingzhu said that her greatest dream in girlhood had been to become a red-clad heroine of a generation, upholding justice and sweeping away evil.

Although now, this great heroine’s ability was mostly used for screaming. “Ahhhhhh, is it true, Zhaozhao? You really have someone you like? You’ve finally opened up? Your mother must be blessing you from above. I knew it. If she knew anything underground, she would never be able to watch her son become a lonely old bachelor.”

“It’s a man,” Lin Zhao came out just like that. In truth, he had not planned to do it so quickly. His original plan had been to take it step by step. But his aunt was so excited that he was afraid she would be even more disappointed after getting her hopes too high.

Unexpectedly, Aunt Lin merely froze for a moment before saying, “Aiya, what era is this already? Men and women are all the same. Let me tell you, your third great-uncle back home was the same back then. He almost lived and died for a man, and nearly wasn’t allowed into the ancestral hall.”

Lin Zhao: “…” Our family has this kind of secret history too?

“Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because he found himself a scumbag. He clearly knew the other person was no good, but insisted on being with him anyway. No one could persuade him. That wasn’t even a matter of keeping his eyes open. My mother said he should have changed his brain.”

So coming out was fine, but being a love-brained fool was not, right?

Heroine Lin was hurrying out the door in a fluster. She was a little late today and might be late for class. While rushing, she continued to raise her voice excitedly at her nephew. “Anyway, as long as you’re willing to date, Auntie is already very relieved. As for how to confess, in our time, we just had a meal together, watched a movie, and then solemnly asked the other person, ‘Comrade So-and-so, do you want to struggle together with me for the great rejuvenation of China for the rest of our lives…’”

Lin Zhao listened until old movie scenes nearly appeared before his eyes.

“Our way probably isn’t very suitable for you young people, but maybe there are still parts you can use as reference? For example, dress nicely. Go get a fashionable haircut. Oh, right, buy flowers. You must buy a pretty bouquet for the person you like, understand?”

His aunt’s advice was not much. It was very old-fashioned, but also very sincere.

Lin Zhao was on his way to get a haircut when he received a call back from his childhood friend Qin Xiaoman. Qin Xiaoman’s career had completely taken off along with Lin Zhao’s. Unlike Lin Zhao, who had absolutely no desire to work, Qin Xiaoman was brimming with enthusiasm for earning money. He was so busy every day that his feet barely touched the ground, and he was sleeping less, yet still remained cheerful. When Lin Zhao called him earlier, his line had been busy the entire time. Clearly, business was booming.

Of course, as soon as Qin Xiaoman finished his work, he called Lin Zhao back immediately, assuming something had happened on Lin Zhao’s side. After all, as a super introvert, Lin Zhao rarely called people directly. At the very least, he would first ask on WeChat: Is it convenient to take a call now?

When Qin Xiaoman heard that Lin Zhao was asking about romantic problems, Boss Qin was even more shocked. “Wait, who do you like? How did you suddenly fall for someone? Is it one of the staff around you?”

“Who it is isn’t important. I’ll introduce you later. The point right now is, how did you confess back then?”

Qin Xiaoman scratched his head. “I just passed her a little note in the library and asked if she wanted to go eat self-service hotpot outside the school gate after studying. That hotpot place was super popular with us back then. Affordable and delicious. If you didn’t go early during mealtime, you’d have to queue. While we were eating, I asked if she had a boyfriend. She said no. I said, ‘Then what do you think of me?’ And then we got together.”

Lin Zhao: “…”

It was completely useless as reference.

After a long silence, Lin Zhao said, “If that girl was still willing to be with you after that, it looks like she really liked you.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Qin Xiaoman also fell silent, because he could feel that her liking him back then had been real. But he could also feel that later, when she no longer liked him, that had also been real. Qin Xiaoman had been sad over it for a long time, but in the end, he still chose to let go. Because he hoped that one day in the future, when she thought of him again, when she thought of that relationship again, it would be happy and pleasant. She would tell others, “That ex-boyfriend of mine was actually a pretty good person. Unfortunately, we just weren’t right for each other.”

Qin Xiaoman briefly sank into melancholy over this lost romance, then changed the subject. “Oh, right. My brother-in-law and my sister also dated when they were students. They were university classmates.”

“How did your brother-in-law confess?” Lin Zhao immediately cooperated and shifted attention as well.

“According to what he said when he was drunk, back then, after military training ended, he arranged a heart-shaped ring of candles downstairs from my sister’s dorm, played guitar, and shouted loudly, ‘Qin Lixia, I like you!’ Then they got together. The whole school exploded. I remain skeptical about the last part.”

Lin Zhao: “… If our sister was willing to be with brother-in-law after that, it’s clear she truly liked him too.”

Blue Star people were beyond saving, so Lin Zhao decided to seek help from his friends in other dimensions. For example, the famously love-brained Ms. Hu. This demonic cultivator had already entered the critical stage of the sect master election. Yes, who knew which expert had given her the idea, but the Tianyan Demon Sect had begun holding a sect master election in full swing, and she was working hard to canvass votes.

But even while she was this busy, Ms. Hu still made time out of her packed schedule to reply to Lin Zhao. “He folded ten thousand paper boats for me.”

“…Huh?”

Demonic Cultivator Ms. Hu really did not want to admit it, but back then, as the only daughter of the number one demonic cultivator, she had indeed been that easy to deceive. “At the time, I felt that I had plenty of heavenly treasures and had received many expensive gifts, but it was the first time someone had spent so much thought on me. Inside each paper boat, he wrote a love poem for me. Then, along the Wei River—the spiritual river we always go to watch during the lantern festival here—they floated downstream one by one and appeared before our eyes.”

The scene had been spectacular, and it had indeed taken time. No wonder Ms. Hu had been moved.

“But now that I think about it, he did all that because he had no money or didn’t want to spend money on me, didn’t he?” Lady Hu sneered. She truly wished she could go back in time and slap herself a few times. “How much could his time be worth? He only gave me things nobody wanted.”

The token of love she had given him had been worth more than a million spirit stones, a rare treasure she had painstakingly won at auction!

Damn it. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

Lin Zhao worked hard to extract some essence from this conversation—give gifts, and they had to be expensive, the very best. Giving money did not necessarily mean love, but not giving money definitely meant no love.

The mercenary Grey from the wasteland said that he had never dated before. In the past, he had been too busy living life on the edge of a knife. How would he have had time to get emotionally involved with anyone? Over in Kaman, they basically only cared about bodies, not hearts. Men and women alike. The profiteer Kan Anning was very eager to recommend some flashy but useless things to Lin Zhao, but Lin Zhao tactfully refused them all.

In the end, the one who unexpectedly gave reliable advice was actually His Highness Arland, the dark elf of Falris. “Why don’t you first ask about the customs of the person you like’s hometown?”

Although this master potion-maker looked like a single man obsessed with scientific research, he was unexpectedly wise.

Catering to the other person’s preferences and meeting their expectations was the true core and essence of a confession.

Of course, His Highness Arland later added, “If the other person doesn’t agree, I can make you a love potion. I guarantee they won’t be able to leave you for even a moment. If they do, they’ll explode and die.”

Lin Zhao: The earlier advice was very good. As for the later part… hopefully no one is ever unlucky enough to be loved by you.

Lin Zhao’s inquiry journey abruptly changed direction. It became asking his few Starnet friends he had communication access to—more precisely, netizens whose IPs came from Yasa. After all, other planets’ netizens might understand Yasa, that magical race, even less than he did.

Lin Zhao did not dare ask Grand Duchess Elowen. After all, he was preparing to confess to her younger brother. He mainly asked Deputy Carlos, who looked reliable at first glance.

And sure enough, he was reliable.

Deputy Carlos not only responded warmly to Lin Zhao, but immediately sent him a detailed traditional Yasa confession procedure table, which greatly broadened Lin Zhao’s horizons. Was the efficiency truly this fast? It was as if he had prepared this document who knew how long ago and could take it out at any time.

But that should be impossible, right? Was Deputy Carlos not married? Why would he prepare this?

Forget it. If he could not figure it out, he would not think about it. None of that mattered. What mattered was that he had to put on a white three-piece suit, tie a Windsor knot… Honestly, why were Yasa customs so Earth-like? Did they also have Windsor knots over there?

While Lin Zhao, with 1114’s help, tied a perfect Windsor knot in front of the mirror, his confusion reached its peak.

But there was no time left for him to think, because the doorbell rang outside. Reinhardt, whom Lin Zhao had casually sent out with an excuse—he had not expected it to be so easy either; Reinhardt, who had always loved clinging to Lin Zhao, was exceptionally easy to talk to today—had returned.

Lin Zhao still had many things unprepared, but he knew very well that if he did not open the door, Reinhardt would come in by himself, because Lin Zhao’s house had facial recognition.

When Lin Zhao hurriedly grabbed the flowers and ran to open the door, he finally reacted. Right, Reinhardt could come in by himself. Why was he knocking?

But the door was already open.

And Reinhardt, standing outside the door…

Was wearing an identical three-piece formal suit to Lin Zhao’s. Windsor knot, Oxford shoes, even the bouquet in his hand—the blue-purple flowers Carlos had said were absolutely necessary—was exactly the same.

The two fools, dressed as if they were looking into a mirror, understood everything the moment they saw each other’s outfits.

They smiled at the same time.

One of them said, “Some of the necessary customs for Yasa confessions are surprisingly Blue Star-like.”

The other said, “Isn’t this the necessary confession procedure in China?”

Then they spoke in unison. “There’s no fixed procedure for confessions where we come from.”

At that moment, using his official position for personal purposes, Deputy Carlos, having timed things just about perfectly, set off a grand daytime firework display visible across the entire globe for Reinhardt and Lin Zhao. How grand was it? It looked almost like aliens were attacking Earth.

Against that dazzling, galaxy-like backdrop, they once again spoke in unison.

“I like you.”

From the very first moment I saw you.

The End of the Universe Is Live-Streaming E-commerce