Chapter 28: Time to Find a Dedicated Artist

Ode to the Millennium Recipe
Clicks: 1827
Favorites: 1270
Comments: 1956
.....
Low clicks for a new work—Luo Chen had anticipated this. However, the unusually high ratio of favorites, and comments even surpassing clicks, caught him off guard. The piece had only been released two days prior, and since members’ daily clicks count once, a maximum of three times, quite a few must have clicked both days. That meant almost everyone who entered, with few exceptions, had added it to their favorites.

No wonder it was a legendary song from his past life, with over a million clicks on the old site, and also one of Luo Chen's personal favorites. Now, with Luo Tianyi herself performing it, such results were only to be expected.

If there was a flaw, it was...

Luo Chen glanced at the illustration in the video background. Admittedly, it was quite cute. But was it a children’s illustration? He tugged at his lips as he watched the silly, adorable style in the video, recalling the exquisite artwork he’d seen in his previous life. The difference was staggering.

Perhaps he needed a dedicated artist.

The thought surfaced in Luo Chen’s mind. What impression did those popular Luo Tianyi ancient-style songs in his past life leave? Aside from the captivating voice, it was the beautiful illustrations—an enduring memory for him, echoed by countless fans in the comment threads expressing their admiration for the artists.

By comparison, the current video’s artwork seemed crude. After all, neither Tianyi nor Yanhe had formally studied art. Yet the girl Luo Chen met today, Dai Xinhua, was quite talented, and her homey, otaku-inspired style suited his needs.

But they barely knew each other; what reason did he have to ask her to draw for him? Luo Chen pondered this with some frustration, ultimately setting the idea aside for now. He’d think about it later.

Putting aside these trivial thoughts, the urgent task at hand was to help his sister’s hard work gain popularity.

It had to be said—the Stardust platform was ruthless for newcomers. Competition was fierce; new works often vanished like fleeting blossoms in the sea of over a hundred thousand videos uploaded daily.

Luo Chen was fortunate to have a famous creator recommend his work. Otherwise, it would have taken at least ten or fifteen days to achieve his current results.

Luo Tianyi’s work faced the same challenge. Although the data was outstanding enough to catch the administrators’ attention, who knew when that might happen? If Luo Tianyi noticed her stats lagged far behind her brother’s... she’d surely feel disappointed.

Luo Chen glanced again at the fading imprint on his hand and sighed. He was the older brother, after all. After opening his profile page, he planned to recommend her work in his own video descriptions, but on second thought, he deleted the drafts.

Since his sister didn’t want him to know, she clearly didn’t intend to rely on his help. Perhaps she wanted to succeed on her own merits, and surprise him later.

What an adorable idea. He’d play along with her.

With this in mind, Luo Chen opened his following list; Qiu Shuihan’s name stood out. Qiu Shuihan was one of the rare, highly popular creators on Stardust who didn’t stream, a gaming section legend rumored to be a lovely girl—though who knew if that was true.

Luo Chen hadn’t yet repaid the favor from her last video recommendation, and now he had another request. Favor debts were the hardest to settle, but he was a good brother: he needed to help his sister, while respecting her wishes.

How difficult.

He sent an inquiry and soon received a reply.

Qiu Shuihan was busy?

“Pure-hearted Little Angel, thanks again for last time. By the way, could you recommend a music video?”

Qiu Shuihan seemed puzzled. “Recommend a video? Can’t you do it yourself?”

Luo Chen smiled wryly and replied, “Pure-hearted Little Angel is a friend, but she doesn’t want me to know about this.”

“Qiu Shuihan wants to do it herself? Interesting. What’s the name?”

“Pure-hearted Little Angel—Ode to the Millennium Recipe.”

Luo Chen sent the title; silence followed. Was she checking the quality?

As expected, a few minutes later, Qiu Shuihan messaged again.

“Are all newbies monsters these days? Fine, I admit I’m hooked—can’t stop listening. With this level, even if you didn’t ask, I’d recommend it unconditionally.”

Luo Chen wasn’t surprised. That celestial voice could conquer anyone who heard it—one reason he was confident in asking for her help.

“Pure-hearted Little Angel—thanks, I’ll rely on you.”

“No worries,” replied Qiu Shuihan. “I’m a Tianyi fan now myself. Promoting my favorite creator is only right, isn’t it? Her full name is Luo Shui Tianyi, so ‘Tianyi’ is fine, right?”

Luo Chen smiled knowingly. His sister’s charm was remarkable, to win over even a famous creator like Qiu Shuihan so easily.

“Pure-hearted Little Angel—of course. I think she’ll be delighted.”

Qiu Shuihan: “You care so much—could she be your girlfriend?”

“Pure-hearted Little Angel—no, just my sister.”

After a brief hesitation, Luo Chen revealed their relationship. First, he trusted her character; second, knowing this wouldn’t make much difference.

Qiu Shuihan replied, “So you’re secretly helping your sister, pretending not to know, waiting for her to surprise you?”

“Fine, you hopeless sister-con.”

Luo Chen was speechless; he couldn’t refute it. He was, indeed, a sister-con.

He never admitted it outright, nor denied it. He simply accepted it.

Qiu Shuihan continued, “By the way... for Tianyi’s sake, I should warn you—watch out for Yuan Ning. That professor you parodied.”

Yuan Ning? Luo Chen was puzzled. He’d only made a silly video. In his previous life, all-star parodies were common and never a problem—was there something he’d missed?

But Qiu Shuihan had no reason to tease him with this.

“Pure-hearted Little Angel—it can’t be, right? Just a parody video.”

Would someone go so far as to sue him over this?

Surely not?

Luo Chen glanced at “How to Make Children Love Learning,” which was about to hit two million clicks. Surely it couldn’t be that dramatic.

This is one of three chapters, making up for yesterday.