Chapter 48

A-Yi and A-Er regrouped and looked at Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang provocatively.

Zhuo Yang found the look utterly revolting. His instinct was to leap up and kick both of them in their identical faces, doing his part to clean up the entertainment industry.

But he held back.

After all, he had spent so long by A-Huan's side that he was no longer so impulsive.

But what about A-Huan? Though he never said it, Zhuo Yang knew that kid Constantine was the apple of A-Huan's eye...

Zhuo Yang silently pondered whether he could stop Qiao Huan if he flew into a rage.

Then he turned his head—

Qiao Huan was looking down at his phone, his expression already back to normal.

He even looked a little impatient.

Zhuo Yang: ...

I'd better not try to guess what A-Huan is thinking. No matter how much I guess, I'll never figure it out.

Qiao Huan idly fiddled with his phone, apparently sending someone a message. A barely perceptible trace of relief passed through his eyes.

Only after keeping the two of them in suspense long enough did he speak unhurriedly:

"It's as simple as doing a livestream?"

"That's right! It's that simple!" Seeing that they had finally taken the bait, A-Er hurriedly said, "There happen to be two people left on each side, so we'll use ingredients from around here to cook. Whoever has more fans in their livestream wins."

He said it so smoothly that he had clearly come prepared.

Qiao Huan asked again, "Livestreaming takes time and effort. What do we get out of it?"

"If you win, the two of us won't take part in any more shows you're on. How about it?"

A-Yi smiled as though victory was already in their grasp.

"And we'll apologize to that child," A-Er added.

Seeing that Qiao Huan seemed to be wavering, A-Yi hurriedly raised the stakes:

"Of course... if the two of us win in the end, you'll have to leave this show."

Listening from the side, Jiang Ji clenched his fists.

What was the point of a bet like this? It was nothing more than a way to provoke the young and hot-blooded Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang into taking the bait.

But when he looked at Qiao Huan, his expression was perfectly normal, without the slightest sign of anger.

"Brother Jiang, sorry for the trouble, but could you start a livestream for us?" Qiao Huan ignored the twins' provocation, his tone as polite as ever.

Jiang Ji sighed. "You two..."

He felt that Qiao Huan didn't seem to have lost his head.

"All right," he said, lowering his voice. "Be careful."

"Don't worry." Qiao Huan smiled back at him, looking every bit a leader.

The phone was set up again. Jiang Ji fiddled with it a few times and connected directly to the other side's livestream.

Battle mode officially began.

This time, only two clearly divided teams remained.

"What should we do?"

Drops of moisture landed on the tops of their feet.

Qiao Huan looked down and saw a loach still flopping around.

The river catch Constantine had gathered earlier lay scattered in the grass, having lost its vigor in the heat.

Constantine's pale face and the weary expression on the farmer's face when he had mentioned crayfish the other day overlapped in Qiao Huan's mind.

He steadied himself and looked at the paddy field not far away.

"Just like last time, we'll catch crayfish."

A-Yi and A-Er had stayed up all night and had already discussed today's plan together.

While the camera was pointed elsewhere, A-Yi's assistant had tossed some stunned fish into the river.

"Hello, friends in the livestream. Today we're going to have a PK with two members of Xiu Si, the Slow Sheep Duo."

"Today, the two of us aren't singers. We're newly minted food bloggers!" A-Yi introduced them with practiced ease.

"Fans and passersby, please give us a follow," A-Er said with a beaming smile, greeting the audience beneath his straw hat.

They had done many livestreams and were experienced.

"Huh? Our haul isn't bad today. Everyone, look at this carp. It's a good size, isn't it?"

"This is a river loach. We can stir-fry it with chilies later."

Every few minutes, A-Yi and A-Er made a new "catch," drawing a chorus of admiration from the livestream.

"I didn't expect the two of them to be good at living in the wild as well as singing."

"That fish is pretty big."

"Uh... but that obviously isn't a wild carp."

"Cheng Mo ccc" was muted by a moderator.

That little discordant voice was quickly pushed up and away by the scrolling comments.

A-Yi and A-Er lowered their heads and snickered.

With the people behind the camera giving them hints, they wouldn't come back empty-handed no matter how clumsy they were.

To make sure today's plan went more smoothly, A-Yi had already arranged a double safeguard with his manager.

Before long, A-Yi and A-Er had filled the small bucket they had brought with loaches and carp bought on the street, at the market.

Though they occasionally slipped up, that only made the show look more convincing.

Moreover, unlike Qiao Huan, who had no warning of this challenge, they had announced on their personal accounts the night before last that they would be livestreaming today.

After shamelessly reaching out to people on all sides, they had persuaded some longtime fans to arrive on time.

Their livestream wasn't as lively as the one the Production Team had organized earlier, but it still had a modest following.

"We're sure to win this time." A-Yi and A-Er trembled all over as they held back their laughter.

Jiang Ji could only worry inwardly as he watched the popularity of the other side's livestream soar.

Xiu Si was a rookie group, and Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang had never shown their faces before. Now they were sweaty and splashed with muddy water, making this less than the ideal time for their debut.

Although he had promptly posted news of the new livestream on the public feed, the Production Team's interruption of the earlier recording had still affected the viewer count.

And because of the earlier incidents, the users in the livestream, whether real people or bots, weren't making particularly friendly comments at the moment.

"Are they that desperate to ride the hype? What happened to that child?"

"Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang's looks are a little disappointing. They look way too down-to-earth!"

"Emmm, is the person above serious? If your idol looked half this good without makeup, you'd wake up laughing!"

"Let's focus on that child instead! I hope we get an explanation in the end."

"Hello, everyone. I'm Qiao Huan."

"I'm Zhuo Yang."

Jiang Ji had wanted the two of them to say more, but after briefly introducing themselves, Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang simply sat down on the ground.

Right now, the two were fiddling with some dry grass and leaves, doing who knew what.

Jiang Ji felt helpless, but he had no choice except to step in himself and create as much interaction as possible. He asked directly:

"What are you making?"

"Little baskets for catching crayfish."

Zhuo Yang spoke without looking up.

The two worked in sync: one made the bodies, while the other made supports to hold them in place.

Their hands moved so quickly that the viewers hadn't even seen clearly how they were weaving them before three or four finished green grass-woven creations were sitting in front of them.

"How do they know how to make those?"

"...As someone from the countryside, I'm ashamed of myself. Even now, all I can weave out of grass is a rabbit."

"Isn't that... what Xiao Bai used to amuse those two children just now? Could Xiao Bai have taught them?!"

"If we want to catch crayfish, we'll need some bait too..."

Paying no attention to the discussion in the livestream, Qiao Huan noticed a few villages not far away.

So he took Zhuo Yang with him to a village, where they traded river snails for some pig liver.

After putting the baskets in places where the current was relatively gentle, the two didn't sit idle. They went looking around for things they could use as seasonings.

Zhuo Yang bent down and picked two black cardamom pods.

Although black cardamom could serve as a makeshift seasoning, if they wanted crayfish as the main dish, they still lacked hot oil and chilies!

Jiang Ji was anxious, but seeing how unhurried the two of them were, he didn't want to disrupt their rhythm.

The easygoing atmosphere on Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang's side didn't make for many exciting moments, while A-Yi and A-Er kept the jokes coming.

They sang as they easily fished plenty of ingredients out of the river.

Those river fish tasted delicious; even simply roasting them with salt wouldn't make for a bad meal.

What was more, the song they were humming was the one that had made them famous overnight back then.

Quite a few casual fans, idly scrolling through livestreams, were drawn in by the familiar melody and never left.

The popularity of A-Yi and A-Er's livestream rose steadily, while Qiao Huan's side plunged straight into the woods.

"Sir, I'd like to ask you something. If I help you pick the pears in this area, could you lend me some oil and chilies?" Qiao Huan asked.

The old man sitting beneath a fruit tree and waving a palm-leaf fan saw that the speakers were two young men and immediately shook his head repeatedly.

"Look at the delicate skin on you two. You must be from the city. It would be far too dangerous to have you climbing up and down..."

But before the old man had finished speaking, the two had swiftly climbed up a pair of trees outside the orchard under the gaze of thousands of people in the livestream.

"Sir, what do you think of our skills?" Zhuo Yang asked with a grin, poking half his head out.

The old man stared, not having expected the young man to be so straightforward.

"Hahaha, more than good enough! You remind me a little of myself back in the day."

Thanks to his experience as an endorser, Zhuo Yang had also taken the opportunity to learn a lot about pears. Looking at some fruit with its wrapping removed, he asked curiously:

"Sir, I noticed your pears don't quite look like other people's fruit. They seem... a little more properly shaped."

The old man proudly puffed out his chest. "Of course! They're a hybrid made by propagating local pears and apples from cuttings. They taste sweeter and fresher, and they're much prettier than other fruit."

The old man was clearly very pleased with what he had cultivated with his own hands.

Compared with A-Yi and A-Er's strenuous performance, Zhuo Yang and Qiao Huan were completely focused on the work at hand. They picked the fruit quickly and carefully, trying not to harm the existing ecology of the tree canopies.

Unfortunately, the viewers in the livestream hadn't noticed these details yet.

An hour later.

The two deftly picked two full crates of pears and successfully obtained oil and chilies from the pear orchard in exchange.

"Hehe, you two did a good job. Here, the oil and chilies you wanted."

"But... I'm guessing you're still short a pot, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" Zhuo Yang stared.

"Hmph, that's not all this old man knows." The old man smiled slyly and leaned close to Qiao Huan. "Young man, are you here to make a show? There's something I'd like to ask you to help me with. Would you?"

Qiao Huan wiped away his sweat without ceremony and bent down. "Go ahead."

"Since you're making a show, could you help me promote my pears?" The old man pulled Qiao Huan aside and asked mysteriously.

Qiao Huan glanced back at the camera and smiled. "I was just about to ask whether you'd be willing to let us try promoting them for you."

The old man was delighted. "Wonderful! Come on, then, follow me."

The old man warmly invited them into his home and let them use his stove to cook.

But as soon as they entered, the livestream, which had finally quieted down, began chattering again.

"Are there really still people in this country cooking on earthen stoves like this?"

"The one at my home was sealed up ages ago."

"They'll have a hard time getting a meal out of this..."

Indeed, the stove in the old man's home was still built out of yellow earth.

With this kind of earthen stove, someone had to work the bellows and feed in firewood to keep the air circulating.

Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang were no strangers to it. Before the old man could speak, they lit some paper and tossed it into the firebox, quickly getting a fire going.

Zhuo Yang wrapped his jacket around his waist and skillfully scrubbed the wok, preparing to heat the oil.

Qiao Huan worked the bellows beside him and added firewood as needed, the two of them working seamlessly together.

Meanwhile, the brothers A-Yi and A-Er, who had just been mocking Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang in their hearts, hadn't expected that the farmhouse they had arranged to use wasn't connected to a gas supply either!

Although they had prepared oilpaper and a lighter in advance, there was no way that little bit of heat could cook the fish!

By now, there were quite a few fans in their livestream, and thanks to the paid commenters' awkward flattery, they were full of anticipation.

Faced with completely unfamiliar cooking equipment, the two of them were already riding a tiger and unable to get off.

"What do we do?!" A-Er whispered.

"What else can we do? Grit our teeth and get on with it!"

The farmer whose home they had chosen had taken their money early on, so before they started, the farmer cheerfully gave them a few pointers.

But watching someone else do it and doing it themselves were two different things after all.

Before A-Yi had cleared out the ashes from the last fire, A-Er, eager to prove himself, grabbed the bellows handle and gave it a mighty pull.

A cloud of smoke and dust filled the livestream camera's view.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..." A-Yi, who had gotten a noseful of ash, looked utterly bedraggled.

Never one to have a particularly good temper, he bristled and glared, immediately laying into A-Er.

"How are you working those bellows? Didn't they say we had to coordinate?"

"I said we shouldn't come to the village to do this. Wouldn't it have been convenient to light a fire out in the wild?"

Neither A-Yi nor A-Er was willing to give way, and the atmosphere grew tense.

At this moment, both sides appeared on the same screen.

Compared with Qiao Huan and his companion, who were working together smoothly and getting on with their cooking, A-Yi and A-Er looked rather comical as they blamed each other.

"The difference is obvious, comrades!"

"Did A-Yi and A-Er spend all their time singing and never learn to cook?"

"I was just about to say, Slow Yangyang are both working hard to help the fruit farmer cook, and they're so in sync. These twins are actual brothers, but all they know how to do is put on a show and argue?"

"I'll just say this: there's a reason they haven't become popular after all these years."

While they were arguing, Zhuo Yang had already picked up a wok ladle. With practiced ease, he tipped the crayfish out of the grass basket and stir-fried them in hot oil, all in one smooth motion.

The viewers rarely saw cooking in such a huge wok, and their attention was drawn over at once.

Those movements were so satisfying to watch!

Qiao Huan finally had time to look at the discussion in the livestream. As he fed wood into the fire, he took his time answering questions for the camera and sharing some basic facts along the way.

"Why are there crayfish in the river?"

"Some crayfish fry were released into the rice paddies near this village once."

"Some of them might have made their way over here through the irrigation channels, which is why we caught a few near the river."

"Can you eat wild crayfish?"

"Wild crayfish do carry a certain risk of parasites. So when you cook them, you must make absolutely sure they're fully cooked before eating them."

"Mm... we'll invite the old man to eat with us. There are also some wild fruits and vegetables we picked at the beginning. We can't finish them all ourselves."

"Yes, the apples from wild apple trees like these are very sour. You can roast them and eat them to fill your stomach."

"Can't roast them..."

"If you don't have a way to roast them, you can also dip them in some chili and soy sauce. They taste pretty good."

As Qiao Huan spoke, he cut the wild fruits he had just picked into rolling-cut chunks.

He wasn't much of a cook, but he had discovered that his knife skills were first-rate.

He dipped a piece in some seasonings from the old man's kitchen and popped it straight into his mouth.

"Is it really not sour?! That looks like dark cuisine..."

"There's still a little green showing through the apple skin. Just looking at it makes my teeth ache..."

"He's really going all out for the show."

"Uh... actually, people in the Southwest Region have been eating like that for ages."

"That's right, that's right! Where we're from, it's not just apples—mangoes can be dipped in chili too."

"Yes, yes! Olives, strawberries, pineapple and things like that work too. They really taste good!"

"That's right, this really is an eating habit in some parts of the Southwest. I heard about it from a friend."

By friend, he specifically meant his dad, Comrade Qiao Tang, who loved trying strange foods.

Qiao Huan smiled faintly and put another bite of green apple, already coated in chili, into his mouth.

"But if you can't accept eating them this way, you can try Healthy Body brand apples. They're very sweet."

"Hahahaha, Comrade Qiao never forgets his endorsement duties. Awesome!"

"Comrade Qiao's smile is sweeter than an apple!"

"Buy, buy, buy! I'll buy whatever you say!"

"Ahhh, I just got here! I followed the official account, so why didn't I see a livestream notification..."

"Me too! Maybe it was because they scheduled their posts. Just a second ago they were still flooding us with folk-custom facts!!"

The livestream's popularity finally began to climb slowly. And it wasn't just new viewers; even more people had switched sides because they couldn't stand watching the twins' antics.

Jiang Ji finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The people who had put their hearts into it had not been let down.

"All right! Out of the wok!" Zhuo Yang dished up all the crayfish from the iron wok.

Even carrying such a large platter, Zhuo Yang showed no sign of strain. Instead, he simply picked up the iron wok, who knew how heavy, and took it outside to rinse.

As steam rose from the food, the fans in the livestream could almost feel the aroma wafting toward them.

"When I have money, I'm definitely buying a phone that can transmit smells!"

"Where did those crayfish come from? They look so delicious..."

"Caught them in the river."

"Boo-hoo, I want to achieve crayfish freedom so badly."

After two more hot dishes were stir-fried, Qiao Huan and the others brought the food to the table without a hitch.

The old man was very talkative, and Zhuo Yang opened up as well.

He even talked about how, as a child, he had once stolen fruit from a neighboring orchard because he hadn't had enough to eat.

The sight of the upright-looking Zhuo Yang's ears turning red as he talked about the past sent the fans in the livestream into laughter.

The old man also took the opportunity to recall how he had boldly grafted an apple tree and a pear tree together and received an unexpected surprise. He also taught Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang some tricks for finding tasty pears.

Quite a few viewers who enjoyed learning everyday facts were immediately drawn in by the old man's easy-to-understand explanations.

This was what made livestreams most appealing: viewers from all corners of the world could look through a tiny window and experience a different life for a moment.

Meanwhile.

A-Yi and A-Er had only just heard their assistant whisper to them when their expressions changed.

The Slow Yangyang duo were chatting and laughing with the old man, so the twins immediately changed their original plan and pulled the owner of the house over to eat at the table with them.

But when they saw the set of tableware, which had been used for who knew how long, they still couldn't help their faces falling.

"Haha, come, have a seat," A-Yi said with a strained smile.

Although the two were still trying hard to control their expressions and had promptly tried to salvage the situation,

which viewer in the livestream wasn't watching their every move in high definition, without blinking?

"Yikes... if you don't want to eat at the same table as them, can't you just say so?"

"This is way too much of an act. They're sitting at the same table and not talking at all. The atmosphere is more relaxed on the other side."

"Did Slow Yangyang know the old man from before?"

"Hmm... they seem pretty familiar with this area. Oh, right, I remember now. Isn't that apple orchard they endorse nearby?!"

"No wonder they can endorse these agricultural products. Turns out they'd already done their homework."

"Do they really endorse apples? I thought that was a joke..."

Before anyone knew it, Qiao Huan and the others had turned the livestream into a promotion for crayfish farming and local fruits and vegetables.

With the introduction from the enthusiastic old man at the start, the atmosphere throughout the livestream felt especially positive.

For a while, there was laughter and cheer both on and off the screen.

Jiang Ji noticed that throughout the livestream, discussion-group topics about Xiu Si, especially the two members of Slow Yangyang, had shot up.

But for some reason, the number of viewers in Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang's livestream was still less than ideal.

Drawing on years of experience, Jiang Ji felt there had to be another reason for the abnormal data, and he frowned involuntarily.

But how was he supposed to check the backend data...?

Suddenly, he remembered someone who had helped him before.

Hospital.

"Constantine, how are you?!" Fan Hui, who had rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard the news, looked anxious.

Bai Jike, who was sitting beside the bed with the little boy, said quietly, "The doctor gave him some medication to calm him down. He's asleep now."

"The wounds on his body were treated in time too. The doctor said he's out of danger now."

"That's great. Thank you for all your hard work..." Fan Hui's expression relaxed, and she finally felt relieved.

"Please don't say that. If I hadn't failed to keep an eye on him..." Bai Jike was overcome with shame, his ears burning.

"This really wasn't your fault. The boy has had a mind of his own since he was little. If he wants to do something, there's absolutely no way you can keep an eye on him." Fan Hui offered Bai Jike a few words of comfort, then added,

"By the way, I watched the livestream replay on my way here. He's known how to swim since he was little, so how could he suddenly have been unable to get out of the water?"

Yes, Constantine had said he could swim.

"Well... perhaps we'll have to wait until the child wakes up to find out," Ye Yiwei said hesitantly, recalling what Xiao Yue had said.

Buzz—buzz—

Just as Bai Jike was about to say something, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

"I'll step out for a moment."

"Mm, we're here with him."

Bai Jike walked to the end of the corridor before looking down at the message from his contact—

"The venomous dragon is hard to find; a giant python lurks at your side."

It was a warning with an obvious note of caution, and Bai Jike's expression grew grave for a moment.

He still hadn't found any leads on the Star Radiance Overseas Money Laundering Case. Had the other party already discovered his presence?

Then... who did this giant python refer to?

A giant python wouldn't easily hurt people, but his presence was something Bai Jike couldn't ignore.

Even though he didn't want to suspect the people around him, this case had already displaced too many people...

He would have to be more and more careful in his next moves.

Ding-ding—

When Bai Jike saw the most prominent notification at the top of his phone screen, he was taken aback again.

Jiang Ji had sent a message to his Nightwing email address, asking him to help look into a problem with the livestream.

Bai Jike immediately got to work. He stopped a staff member nearby and asked, "Can I borrow your computer for a moment?"

The staff member had never seen little brother Bai look so serious and immediately handed over the computer.

"Something's not right..."

Although Bai Jike had guessed that A-Yi and A-Er must have pulled some petty trick, the gap between the two sides' backend data was far too large!

A-Yi and A-Er's livestream, whose popularity figures fluctuated wildly, somehow still maintained a six-digit viewer count at all times. Yet while discussion about Slow Yangyang kept gaining heat, their livestream hadn't even reached 100,000 viewers!

Hiding in the fire stairwell, Bai Jike tapped away at the keyboard, the keys clattering as his expression grew increasingly grim.

Are A-Yi and A-Er working with the platform to maliciously divert traffic...? Bai Jike wondered. But the more people they send over there, the more people will see A-Yi and A-Er's poor performance. What's the point?

Then he understood.

One organization, or several forces with shared interests, were controlling Slow Yangyang's popularity to keep them from getting too famous, while sending more viewers to watch the twin brothers make fools of themselves, killing the chicken to warn the monkeys.

Even with paid posters guiding it, the direction of the discussion about A-Yi and A-Er was on the verge of getting out of control. Bai Jike could already foresee that before long, they would be nailed down as the poster children for the kind of low-quality artists who "have no professional ethics but still want to take shortcuts"!

Naturally, he had no objection to that.

But suppressing the popularity of Slow Yangyang's livestream...

He had a huge objection to that!

Bai Jike knew he wasn't particularly good at understanding humans, nor did he know much about the entertainment industry. But after living with Qiao Huan, Zhuo Yang, and Ye Yiwei for so long, he had long felt that if even they couldn't become popular, then nobody deserved to!

With that thought, Bai Jike's blood surged, and his fingers flew across the keyboard.

He was going to see just who was stopping his two big brothers from gaining popularity.