Chapter 56.1
Editor: Jodi
On the Qinggua streaming platform, the two top streamers, Yin Zhao and Wei Shuo, were seen by their CP fans as a pair of passionately feuding lovebirds. However in each other’s eyes? They were just itching to knock each other out at any moment.
Both of them were good-looking, quick with comebacks, and their streams were super engaging and interactive—whenever they went live at the same time, it was like a bloody battlefield, with each desperately fighting to snatch the platform’s real-time #1 ranking.
However, Wei Shuo had been away filming for a show lately, only dropping the occasional selfie on Weibo and showing up on stream for a casual ten-minute chat. This gave Yin Zhao the perfect opening to snag the top spot, where he held his ground with a smug grin, even managing to steal away some of Wei Shuo’s fans.
Then, bam! Wei Shuo did just two livestreams with his show crew and completely obliterated him both times.
The last time, his stream had crashed the whole platform. While this time, at least the system held up, with it only stuttering a bit here and there.
And, of course, those glitches affected everyone’s livestreams across the entire platform…
Secret Report: “Report, Zhao Ge! Wei Shuo and Shen Ci are streaming next door! They just rocketed to the top of the daily tipping chart!”
Secret Report: “Report, Zhao Ge! They’re cooking hotpot now and just broke the weekly tipping record!”
Secret Report: “Report…”
The corners of his mouth twitching, Yin Zhao turned his phone off resolutely, not wanting to see the name “Wei Shuo” on his screen again.
Meanwhile, someone in the chat sent a string of virtual gifts, one that created colorful captions that floated across the sea of regular white chat bubbles.
“Shuo Ge’s eating hotpot next door and it’s making me so hungry. I’m heading over to join the fun, bye bye Zhao Ge!”
Then a whole stream of white comments followed in agreement.
“Sigh, you totally read my mind! Zhao Zhao’s on every day, but Shuo Shuo is a once-in-a-lifetime treat!”
“Shuo Shuo was definitely born to be a food streamer! I’m off too, Zhao Ge, mwah!”
Yin Zhao: “….”
He fumed as he watched his viewer count plummet, however he couldn’t do anything.
Wasn’t Wei Shuo just doing some product sales with celebrities? He’d done the same thing too last time too, just sitting there chatting, saying a few words and throwing out ads, and somehow it exploded to the point of crashing the platform?
No way, there was definitely something fishy going on here!
“I’m going to use the restroom, let me put some music on for you guys first.” Yin Zhao grabbed his backup phone, hurried out of the room, then locked himself in the bathroom.
Then without even undoing his pants, he sat down, powered up his phone, switched to his alternate account, then jumped straight into the top-ranked stream.
This time, the livestream was all about helping a rural county sell its locally-produced goods, mainly food.
The director saved the best stuff for last, with Wei Shuo and Shen Ci as the grand finale duo, leaving them with most of the tastings.
Comments were blowing up with messages like:
“Is our cub selling blood bags now? So cute, I can’t handle it, awwww…”
“If you guys are eating, then just eat! Do you have to look like little hamsters with those bunny headbands too? That’s cheating!”
“Aaaah, the spicy sauce is sold out! Cub, don’t eat any more, switch to the next one! Let me spend my money, please…”
Shen Ci paused, baffled by the comments, and the livestream assistant piped up quickly, “It’s true, it’s sold out. Should we move to the next product?”
“We capped it at five per person and it’s still sold out this fast….. It’s only been, what, a bit over five minutes?” Shen Ci mumbled, taking one last bite of the spicy sauce reluctantly before moving on to the next product.
“This one’s also from the county—bagged marinated chicken feet, in sour and spicy flavors!” Shen Ci picked up a few simply packaged bags, gave a playful wink at the camera, and sure enough, the chat erupted into excited screams.
Even such small actions drove the viewers wild, however the livestream assistant was long used to it.
Sure enough, the joy of face fans was simple…
Taking the product, Wei Shuo launched right into his pitch, “Here we go! Marinated chicken feet, the must-have snack for binge-watching! Last time I watched an American drama, I went through two huge bags in one sitting!”
“These are made from chickens raised by local farmers, marinated in a secret blend of spices. The flavor’s out of this world!”
Shen Ci chuckled, “Shuo Shuo, you’re way too good at selling. I’m just here as a cute prop.”
Laughing, Wei Shuo tore open a bag, picked out a chicken foot, and brought it up to Shen Ci’s mouth with a grin, “Open up, it’s payday for our little prop.”
Shen Ci took a bite obediently, then turned to the camera, munching away happily.
The moment Shen Ci saw food, his eyes would sparkle, and this was one of the reasons the director picked him for food product streams. Because with his delicate features and puppy-like expression, he instantly made viewers feel delighted and eager to spend.
Stuffing his cheeks full, he gave the camera a big thumbs-up, looking totally content.
Suddenly, rockets of “Angel” tips exploded across the screen, and the tipping meter shot up again. Swallowing his bite hurriedly, Shen Ci waved his hands frantically, “Big sisters, please take it easy! Don’t tip too much or the platform will crash again!”
“Trash platform! How can it crash just from tipping? I’m investing to reinforce Qinggua’s servers tomorrow!”
“Ack! I can only send up to 10,000 coins! This is unfair!”
“I barely managed to snag something in time while sending a comment, phew…”
“Why’s it sold out again?! I really want one!”
The livestream assistant was stunned. The speed of these sales was too unreal—they had to scramble to call up the vendors for more stock.
And when the vendors picked up, they were just as shocked, immediately contacting the warehouse to move any stock from physical stores online, only for them to still be sold out within ten minutes.
The assistant, witnessing this frenzy for the first time, muttered, “…..We’re completely out.”
Shen Ci could only laugh helplessly, “Big sisters, your hands are too fast! I didn’t even get enough to eat, so I guess we’ll move on to the next item.”
As viewers rushed to console their cub, a long, slender hand suddenly appeared on screen, wiping away a bit of sauce from the corner of Shen Ci’s mouth.
“Don’t eat too much spicy food, otherwise you’ll end up in the hospital again.”
The voice off-camera was low and magnetic, causing Shen Ci’s cheeks to turn a little red as he nodded shyly, “En.”
The corners of Wei Shuo’s lips couldn’t help but twitch as he watched this. He felt like Lu Xiao was getting bolder than before. Previously, he’d ask them to keep his set visits secret, but now? He was openly feeding their fans with “dog food” in front of millions.
Shen Ci’s fans were suddenly in a frenzy, with gift-tipping comments flooding the chat.
“Cub, Mommy forbids this!”
“If you want to court our cub, kneel and pay respect to us first!”
“Hey! If you have the guts, show your face!”
Seeing the stream of complaints, Shen Ci felt a pang of anxiety. He clarified hurriedly, “Everyone, don’t curse! That was my little uncle just now!”
“It’s fine.”
A hand patted the back of his head gently, and Shen Ci looked up, catching Lu Xiao’s gaze as he lowered his head.
From this angle, Lu Xiao looked really handsome….. Shen Ci stared, a bit dazed.
“Ahem!” Wei Shuo coughed, snapping Shen Ci out of his trance. And blushing, he turned back quickly, scratching his nose awkwardly.
With his soft brown hair a little messy, a few tufts sticking up, Lu Xiao looked at him with gentle amusement in his eyes.
Meanwhile, some viewers had already recognized Lu Xiao, causing the chat to explode with question marks and exclamation points.
Shen Ci’s “mom” fans were flustered, all suspicious of this so-called “little uncle”. The way Lu Xiao looked at their cub was so intense— he was definitely after Shen Ci! Their innocent baby had no defenses at all!
“But, honestly, don’t they look good together? Even their body types scream CP vibes!”
“I’ve shipped this CP forever! Will any artists post about them later? I need more!”
“CP fans, stop shoving this down our throats, it’s so annoying! Our cub doesn’t need a CP to be popular.”
“What’s wrong with CP fans? We’re still Shen Ci’s fans, and if he does date, Lu Xiao’s a great match!”