To make money, Xia Yao resorted to two crooked schemes.
First scheme: He streamed online scams, dressed as a woman and flirted with men to hook a rich guy. The guy was generous, but there was one problem: he insisted on calling himself Xia Yao's boyfriend and kept asking to meet in person.
Xia Yao made all kinds of excuses to turn him down. Who knew the rich guy would turn out to be his college classmate, and even discover that he was the "girlfriend"?
Xia Yao was called a scammer. He cried as he apologized and offered to return the money. But the rich guy, who claimed to be straight, tossed him a maid outfit and told him to put it on for him as compensation.
He never managed to shake off the identity of "girlfriend."
Second scheme: To get famous, Xia Yao went to T Country and brought back a supposedly very effective "Buddha amulet." But after bringing it home, he began having nightmares every night of being tormented by an evil spirit.
Every time his follower count rose, the evil spirit in his dreams became a little more solid. By the time he realized what was happening, the evil spirit had already escaped the amulet.
It had latched onto him.
In a nutshell: The straight male protagonist scams men online while dressed as a woman to make money, hooks a male college student, and is forced into it by Top 1. To get famous, he summons an evil spirit and is forced into it by Top 2. To seal away Top 2, he seeks out a Taoist priest and is forced into it by Top 3. To escape Top 3, he is tricked by Top 4 into going to T Country and is forced into it. In the end, he gives up and lets things happen.
Top 1: A clear-eyed, foolish but powerful college student
Top 2: A sinister, wicked evil spirit
Top 3: A cold, aloof Taoist priest, a flower on a high peak
Top 4: A gentle man from T Country with a dark side
Theme: There are no shortcuts worth taking.