‘How could that be?’
Orange Quiet Forest looked at the private message that popped up on her phone screen and couldn’t help but slowly form a question mark in her head.
Orange Quiet Forest hadn’t even debuted as a real person yet, and today Chu Yong suddenly sent her a private message saying there was an ad?
She always thought that this kind of thing—putting on a virtual avatar—was just for fun.
If you wanted to be an idol, you had to be a real person to break out and get ads.
Not that she looked down on the scene or anything.
It was just that there was a pretty big gap in annual earnings between top-tier virtual idols and top-tier real idols.
Though for ordinary people, both were astronomical figures.
Hmm…
And there were actually two.
One was socks…
The other was skincare products.
“Socks…”
Orange Quiet Forest stared at the word, the corner of her eye twitching slightly.
She didn’t need to think about it—this was definitely because of the savage stunt she had pulled during her first broadcast.
Chu Yong had said in the message that when you first debut, you still need to be careful to maintain your image as much as possible.
That kind of no-holds-barred stunt was enough once.
If she actually went and accepted a sock ad now, she felt it would further spread that negative funny image, and she wouldn’t be able to wash it off later.
So Chu Yong decisively helped her turn down the socks and instead asked if she wanted to take the skincare ad.
Skincare, huh…
STELLA
Orange Quiet Forest propped her chin and thought.
It was a first-line cosmetics brand she often heard about when shopping at the mall, not some random no-name brand from who knows where.
Though Orange Quiet Forest herself had never used it.
The reason was simple: the skincare products she usually used were way more expensive than that.
Because the Orange family wasn’t short on money.
More importantly, Orange Peach’s level of care for her daughter’s face was outrageous.
Orange Peach had never restricted Orange Quiet Forest from playing computer games, using her phone, or other forms of entertainment, and she even let her take a break from school to be a shut-in for a while.
But when it came to cosmetics and skincare, Orange Peach was absolutely serious.
Her daughter had such a beautiful face—if it were ruined by cheap cosmetics, that would be a terrible waste.
If her fair, delicate skin got messed up by cheap products, never mind whether Orange Quiet Forest herself would care—Orange Peach would absolutely die from heartache.
So Orange Quiet Forest had used skincare products strictly vetted by Orange Peach since she was a child.
With such a pretty face but staying up all night playing games and not taking care of it, of course her mother had to take over.
Orange Quiet Forest actually had no desire for money right now.
Even though she knew getting an ad meant money, but…
Twirling a strand of her hair with her finger absentmindedly, she directly dialed Chu Yong for a voice call.
“Hey, boss.”
Her tone was a little lazy as she asked.
“Should I take this ad?”
On the other end of the line, Chu Yong gave a very serious reply.
“There are pros and cons. You haven’t fully debuted as real people yet, so there’s no rush to take ads, because it could affect your future real-person image and commercial positioning. But from another angle, it’s also an early investment from the brand in your potential.”
Chu Yong didn’t put too much psychological pressure on Orange Quiet Forest, leaving the choice entirely to her.
Chu Yong didn’t put too much pressure on Orange Quiet Forest.
But this was actually an active investment from the other party, even an active gesture of goodwill.
Although the ad fee for Orange Quiet Forest wasn’t high, the other party expressed a willingness to be a long-term investor and wanted to see how the collaboration on this ad worked out first.
Even though Orange Quiet Forest didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes, she still agreed in the end.
Because… well.
The Orange family really wasn’t short on money.
Since Chu Yong hadn’t flat-out refused like she did with the sock ad, it meant it was acceptable, entirely up to Orange Quiet Forest.
Whatever the ad fee, she’d just take it.
Anyway, she had just debuted.
The money probably wouldn’t be much, but how much ad fee could a half-debuted person get?
Just consider it practice in advance.
Though Orange Quiet Forest herself couldn’t figure out how a skincare ad could be done with her 2D virtual avatar.
Did they expect Fujiriria to perform a cyber face wash on screen for everyone?
Whatever, she’d leave that headache to the company’s planners.
When she agreed, Chu Yong on the other end of the call showed a hint of delight.
“Good, I’ll reply to them right away. But you might be busy for a while. After Umumi debuts, you’ll probably have to shoot the ad soon?”
“Why so rushed?”
Orange Quiet Forest blinked, confused.
Chu Yong was silent on the phone for a moment.
“There’ll be an official announcement soon. But I want you all to clear your schedules for the next two weeks in advance.”
Hearing Chu Yong’s mysterious tone, Orange Quiet Forest pursed her lips.
“Okay.”
She’d just do as she was told.
She tossed her phone back onto the desk and picked up her game controller.
Just do it.
Anyway, she probably wouldn’t get screwed—her aunt was still involved.
If she did get screwed, she’d just go complain to her mom!
—
Ah.
Maybe she was overthinking.
On this night of Umumi’s virtual avatar debut,
Orange Quiet Forest actually, for once, didn’t play games and came to the company instead.
Even though she had an early eight class tomorrow…
Counting it up, she didn’t even have time to game.
But she just couldn’t stop worrying.
The previous four had all had issues one way or another; she couldn’t just game and ignore it.
Of course, the operations team was there.
And even when accidents happened before, they handled them well, right?
Orange Quiet Forest really didn’t need to come.
With this kind of mother-hen mentality, Orange Quiet Forest pushed open the door to the company’s rest room.
“…”
Then she froze on the spot.
The rest room wasn’t empty.
Cao Qian Ju was sitting at the counter, holding a cup of hot cocoa.
Jing He Xuanyiang was sprawled on the sofa like a fox, playing on her phone.
And in the corner single sofa, Hoshisuna was quietly hugging her knees, staring at the wall clock.
Hearing the door open, the three of them turned their heads simultaneously.
The four of them looked at each other, and the air suddenly went silent for a second.
“Yo.”
Jing He Xuanyiang broke the silence first.
“Isn’t this our internet-addicted girl?”
Orange Quiet Forest looked away, scratched her cheek awkwardly, and tried to change the subject.
“What about you guys? Why aren’t you resting at home?”
“I’m more worried about Umumi. I can’t sit still at home, thinking maybe if something happens, I can handle it.”
Cao Qian Ju smiled and took a sip of hot cocoa, saying exactly what was on her mind.
As expected of a Fresh Scallion…
Saying stuff like that without being embarrassed?
When Orange Quiet Forest had been playing the young lady, after saying similar things, she’d feel sick when she replayed it at home.