Chapter 135: Asking a professional for advice.

The neighborhood of Li Bin's family is just two intersections away from Xu Lin's home.

He also asked Chu Fengyi to drop Li Bin off first, and they arrived at his neighborhood's entrance in just a few minutes.

"We're here."

Xu Lin said, turning around. He noticed that Li Bin, who had been very excited just now, seemed to be feeling a bit sad.

Could it be that he feels a little envious because Ma Zhiyu has a girlfriend but he doesn't?

"Xu Lin, is it okay to leave the bikes next to the restaurant?"

"No problem, there's security in the restaurant's parking lot at night too. Still feeling uncomfortable? Drink some warm water when you get home, take it easy on the medicine, it might react with alcohol."

"Um." Li Bin nodded, opened the car door, and walked down, waving to them.

"Teacher Chu, Xu Lin, see you when school starts."

"Xu Lin, did you two have a falling out?" Chu Fengyi asked.

"No, why would you say that?"

"Hasn't your friend always had a silly happyness? Why did he suddenly become like this?"

"You're quite mean. What do you mean by 'silly happiness'? Maybe because he saw Ma Zhiyu has a girlfriend now, he feels sour, right?"

"Oh, heading home?"

"Yeah, going home." Xu Lin smiled. He really liked these two words.

A few minutes later, they arrived downstairs. Xu Lin got out of the car, but found Chu Fengyi hadn't come out yet. He knocked on the window.

"Are you not going up to sit for a while?"

"No, I'm going over to Chu Qingchan's place. She was craving strawberries the night before last, and when I happened to see them today, I bought some."

"Oh, I see. Go ahead."

"Xu Lin, what's with that look? I'm just passing by!"

Chu Fengyi gave him a glare, then revved the engine and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Back home, Dad was lying on the sofa watching TV, while Mom was sweeping the floor, a scene that was ordinary yet comforting.

"As soon as you walked in, I could smell smoke on you. Is one of your classmates smoking?"

"Mom, no, they don't smoke. I didn't even drink any alcohol, we didn't sit in a private room, there must be some smoke in the main hall."

"Then take off your clothes, go to the balcony and air them out, don't bother washing them, you won't be able to dry them for school tomorrow."

"Okay." Xu Lin obediently hung his clothes outside.

"Have you eaten enough?"

"Yes, I'm full."

"By the way, why have you been buying so many dried potatoes lately? You never liked potatoes since you were little," Xu Feng asked him while watching the game.

"I'm planning to make okonomiyaki and film it."

"You just need to keep your grades stable for me, stop messing around with this and that!"

"If my grades slip, you guys can just beat me up and be done with it."

"Too much trouble to bother hitting you."

"Haha, I'll go busy myself first, you guys rest early."

After entering the bedroom, Xu Lin took out his notebook. He sat on the bed, leaned against the wall, and began his daily writing routine.

Because he wrote three chapters yesterday, one chapter is enough for today. After writing for more than an hour, before 10 o'clock, Xu Lin finished today's chapter.

"Yawn~~ Feeling sleepy, but isn't it a bit early to sleep at this time? How about chatting for a bit?"

He opened his phone and found the group unusually quiet today, with only a few people occasionally chatting.

Xing MiMi: "Ah, the author updated."

Rainwater: "Saw it, recently updates have stabilized at 2 chapters."

Night Without a Knife: "That's too few, ask him to update more."

Rainwater: "The author said even with rewards, there won't be extra updates."

Night Without a Knife: "Sigh~! He's such a slacker."

Xing Mimi: "Maybe the author is busy with their real-life job."

Mad Wind Kills Chaotic: "Yeah, many authors have other jobs. By the way, is today's chat less active than usual?"

Night Without a Knife: "@Burning the Flowers of Chang'an overnight."

Rainwater: "Maybe they're busy today. By the way, Xing Mimi, are you a part-time or full-time content creator?"

Xing Mimi: "Um... well, I'm not sure if I'd consider myself full-time, but I do have quite a bit of time."

Rainwater: "So, you don't shoot videos often, do you?"

Xing Mimi: "Because my cameraman has some family matters, I'm not good at shooting by myself."

Night Without a Knife: "I see. When you said last time that you made it to the homepage, will you tell us who you are?"

Xing Mimi: "When I get recommended on the homepage, I'll tell you guys which content creator I am. Usually, it's hard to get there, and I update slowly. Also, the type of content I shoot isn't mainstream."

Rainwater: "Keep it up."

Xing Mimi: "Thanks."

Xu Lin realized that this 'Xing Mimi' person seemed to be a content creator. Perhaps she is a full-time YouTuber. He wondered if he could seek advice from her.

Looking at the name, he assumed she was a girl, so contacting her directly might not be appropriate. Deep down, Xu Lin didn't want to get involved with girls who weren't within the 12 Zodiac signs.

"Wait! This is just work! I'm here to earn money, why am I overthinking this?"

After hesitating for a few seconds, he still opened the other party's information box and sent a message.

Mr. Xu Twelve: "Hello, Miss."

Xing Mimi: "Hi! I'm here, oh? Are you the real author?"

Mr. Xu Twelve: "Good evening. I have something I'd like to consult you about."

Xing Mimi: "Just let me know."

Mr. Xu Twelve: "Well, I noticed you're an up-and-coming content creator, and recently, I have a cousin who wants to become an up-and-coming content creator too. He's good at cooking and wants to be a food-themed host."

"But he doesn't know how to shoot, nor does he know what equipment to use, can you recommend something?"

Xing Mimi: "Sure, give me his QQ number, I'll chat with him."

Oh man, how do I handle this? I don't even have two QQ accounts. What should I do?

Now saying it's for myself to shoot would be so awkward.

Luckily, the other party is not unintelligent. Seeing that he didn't immediately respond, she followed up with another message.

"I'll tell you first, then you can tell him."

"Thank you."

Xing Mimi: "First of all, regardless of what we're shooting, everyone has their own choices and personal perceptions."

"I use what I like, which might not be the same for you... or even your cousin. Even when shooting the same food area, using different equipment, the results are still pleasing."

"Of course, it needs to look good, especially indoors, and lighting matters. Expensive gear doesn't necessarily suit you... or your cousin."

Mr. Xu Twelve: "Okay, I'm the one who is shooting, you don't have to type like this."

Xing Mimi: "Haha, joking aside, the size of lighting equipment matters too. If the kitchen itself is relatively small, it wouldn't make sense to use bulky lighting equipment."

Then she delved into some basic photography knowledge and talked about camera brands.

Of course, she also recommended some individual products and discussed lens choices for shooting food videos.

Xu Lin took out his notebook and jotted down some key points mentioned by the other party.

Then the other party also talked about her experience as an up-and-coming content creator, which he found very beneficial.

Xing Mimi: "But now the video quality on Bilibili is only 1080p, and the frame rate isn't that great either. Even if you shoot really well, it doesn't show much."

Xu Lin nodded in agreement. Before he crossed over, the small platform had already supported 4k for a while, but now it's only 720p and 1080p, and not even high frame rates.

"Then just choose from the budget range I recommended to you, add a lens, and try to get 8k to 10k RMB (Renminbi) range," Xing Mimi suggested.

Mr. Xu Twelve:"Thank you, thank you. It's already 11 o'clock, I didn't realize I've kept you from resting."

Xing Mimi:"No worries, I hope the author can produce a satisfactory work, let me see it when it's done."

Mr. Xu Twelve: "Definitely."

Xing Mimi: "Please update more frequently~"

Mr. Xu Twelve: "I'll try my best."

Xu Lin sighed deeply as he collapsed onto the bed after locking his phone screen. "Ten thousand yuan!"

Tomorrow, he would see if that gentleman was truly offering his shop for free. If it's free, then he would have the money to buy the equipment, but it would also mean owing a favor.

Compared to owing money, repaying favors could be even harder to settle all at once, with less clarity on how to do so.