Volume 3 Chapter 57: A Return Gift

“W-wait a second!”

Lin Yu stopped her a little shyly. While Gao Ye was still confused, he lowered his head and said softly,

“Um… before you leave, can I ask… what do you usually like?”

“Huh?”

Gao Ye blinked. Then her face turned a little red, and she slowly sat down again.

“Why… why are you asking that?”

“Well, you came to visit me during your holiday, and you even brought gifts. After I get better, I also want to give you something in return.”

Lin Yu was very honest and directly said what he was thinking.

But for someone like Gao Ye, who acts bold but is actually shy inside, just hearing about a “return gift” already made her flustered.

“Ah… ah, if you suddenly ask me like this, I…”

She turned her head away shyly, which made Lin Yu even more nervous.

Right… girls usually like surprises when it comes to gifts. As long as the person is sincere, the gift itself is not the most important thing.

But… he’s just a straightforward guy. He doesn’t usually think about these things. He doesn’t even know what girls like to receive. What if he gives the wrong gift?

What should he do? He already said it out loud. Should he just pretend he never asked?

No, no, that would be even worse. What should he do?!

Hmm…

It really was an awkward question.

Gao Ye thought for a long time. She felt embarrassed to say what she liked.

If she said something too cheap, it might look like she was looking down on him. If she said something too expensive, she was afraid it would cause him financial pressure.

If she pushed the question back to him and said something like, “Anything is fine,” or “You decide,” that would sound careless and not sincere.

After thinking about it for a long time, she even felt like it might be easier to just ask him to transfer money through WeChat or Alipay.

Cough cough…

Just kidding.

Gao Ye came from a rich family. Even though she wasn’t the most favored child at home, her living conditions were still very good. She didn’t really have any expensive hobbies.

Even if she did, her family could easily afford it.

So… actually, there wasn’t anything she really wanted.

Except…

Ah—

If only her livestream was more popular.

Gao Ye pouted helplessly.

Yes, she really liked being a virtual streamer. But as a small streamer with few viewers, the interaction was very low. There were barely any comments in the chat. She didn’t even know her viewers well.

Recently, her popularity had increased a little because she collaborated with Sister Lin Lin and Sister Wenmei. But that small increase… well, it increased, but not by much. It didn’t really make a big difference.

In fact, she even felt that her livestream had become less active. She wondered if Sister Lin Lin had taken away some of her viewers.

How annoying! Why does this feel like NTR for no reason?!

On the other hand, Sister Lin Lin had even fewer followers than her. So why was her livestream chat so active?

Maybe… maybe it was because of her brother?

Ah, having a very active top supporter is such a good thing.

The more she thought about it, the more jealous she felt.

After a moment, she looked up, took out her phone, tapped the screen a few times, and then handed it to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu took the phone, still confused.

Gao Ye pointed at the screen. It showed her account, “Xiao Ye Official,” and the pink “Follow” button.

With a playful smile, she said,

“For the return gift… how about giving me a follow?”

“Huh?”

Lin Yu blinked and looked at the shiny chibi-style blonde catgirl avatar on the screen. He looked confused.

What… what is this?

…………

For a boy who knew almost nothing about the VTuber world, it took Gao Ye a lot of effort to explain everything clearly.

Under Lin Yu’s endless “why” questions, the two of them ended up talking about the origin and development of virtual streamers, and how Gao Ye controls her virtual avatar during livestreams.

“So basically, I just set up my equipment at home, turn on the software, and I can use this 2D anime character to livestream. That’s what a virtual streamer is. Do you understand now?”

After saying that, Gao Ye finally stopped to catch her breath. She felt very tired. Lin Yu, on the other hand, finally felt like he understood a little.

“Oh~ so that’s how it works! I was wondering why this anime girl moves so naturally. So it uses a camera for motion tracking! That’s such an amazing feature!”

Lin Yu nodded excitedly, as if Gao Ye was explaining a scientific research project instead of an internet subculture.

Gao Ye sighed and said pitifully,

“So… can you give me a follow now?”

“Ah… cough, cough, okay, okay, I’ll follow!”

Lin Yu quickly pressed the follow button.

And then… Gao Ye almost broke down.

That was her own phone! It was just logged into her second account, not Lin Yu’s account. What’s the point of following herself?!

“Your phone. Take it out! I want your account to follow me!”

“Oh… I see. Cough, okay, okay…”

Lin Yu finally understood and quickly handed his phone to her.

Only then did Gao Ye feel satisfied. She started using his account to follow herself. Meanwhile, since he had nothing to do, Lin Yu began watching videos on her channel.

“So… this blonde catgirl is actually you inside, Gao Ye? So… so cute…”

Lin Yu held the phone and muttered to himself.

Gao Ye lowered her head shyly, her face red, while quietly finishing the follow action on his account.

This guy… his account level on the platform is so low. It looks like he doesn’t usually watch livestreams at all.

“Oh, by the way, this voice… it doesn’t sound like you at all, Gao Ye. But your singing is really nice. Do you use this kind of voice on purpose when you sing?”

Lin Yu continued asking questions like a curious child.

Gao Ye felt a little embarrassed. She waved her hand and said,

“It’s because this voice sounds sweeter. More people will like watching the livestream.”

“Oh… I see…”

Lin Yu nodded again and continued watching her past livestream recordings carefully.

But the more he watched, the more uncomfortable he started to feel.

Gao Ye… is just too cute.

All the comments were praising her for being cute…

And she had to keep saying things like “You guys are so cute,” and “I love my fans.”

Hmm…

“W-what’s wrong?”

Gao Ye noticed something strange about him. She tilted her head, gave the phone back to him, and asked softly.