Chen Xu changed the subject and said, "So I told Zixin not to ask me to do livestreams anymore. You should just handle it yourself. I'm a straightforward person—I can't stand taking this kind of crap."
"Then Zixin tried to persuade me. She said, 'Brother, calm down. What do those people know? They're just a bunch of frogs at the bottom of a well, completely ignorant and terribly uncultured. They're like rabid dogs—without any evidence, they just bite like crazy. Why lower yourself to argue with people like that?'"
Dai Zixin, who was sitting across from him, looked confused. When had she ever said that?
Bang.
Chen Xu slapped the table beside him and said, "The moment I heard that, I got angry. I said, 'Zixin, how can you talk about your fans like that? Even if they're frogs at the bottom of a well, even if they're uncultured, even if they're mindless haters, they're still the people who put food on your table. You have to show them at least basic respect.'"
As Dai Zixin listened, her mouth gradually fell wider and wider open.
Meanwhile, the livestream chat had already exploded into chaos.
"The more I listen, the more something feels off."
"It sounds like he's speaking up for us, but why do I feel like he's actually insulting us?"
"He's practically pointing at our noses while doing it."
"This guy is such a bastard."
"Damn, this is the first time I've seen a streamer insult his viewers in such a roundabout way."
Unable to see the chat, Chen Xu continued, "So I gave her a good lecture. But she still wasn't convinced. She told me those haters who questioned her never sent gifts anyway, so what kind of people putting food on her table were they?"
"I told her, 'You have to understand. The reason these people don't send gifts is probably not because they're young—it's just that they're poor. It's wrong for you to discriminate against them like that. You need to be more tolerant.'"
Only then did Dai Zixin finally realize what was happening. She glared at him through gritted teeth. If they had not been livestreaming, she would have loved to go over and strangle him.
That bastard was slandering her like this during a livestream. He had gone too far.
Chen Xu did not notice her expression. After finishing, he only felt thoroughly refreshed.
When Dai Zixin had told him that people in the livestream were smearing him, he had been upset. He had long planned to strike back during the next livestream.
Still, proving his own innocence in a situation like this was not easy, and he could not be bothered to waste the effort. But if he cursed at them directly, he could easily get reported and end up in trouble. That was why he had chosen this method—at least it let him vent some of the anger in his chest.
This time, he had learned his lesson. He would not look at the livestream chat and give himself more grief.
Thinking that they still had to meet at Hot Spring later, he decided to begin today's performance.
"After thinking it over, I realized Zixin has it pretty hard too. She works overtime at the company until seven or eight every day, then has to livestream for you all at night just to earn some living expenses. Girls as hardworking as her are rare these days. As her friend, I should help however I can."
"Today, I prepared something new. If you think it's decent, send a few more gifts."
As he spoke, he took out a white radish and said, "What I'll be performing today is cutting radishes. When I was little, I loved going to my grandmother's house. She grew so many radishes that she could never finish eating them all. Whenever she cooked, I always rushed to help cut the radishes. The crisp sound when the knife came down was especially pleasant."
"Now, I'll cut one for you to listen to. Zixin, move the camera closer." Chen Xu beckoned to Dai Zixin.
When Dai Zixin heard that he was going to cut a radish, she looked rather puzzled. Chen Xu had not revealed what he would perform beforehand, so even she did not know.
Still, she had complete faith in him and moved the camera closer.
The livestream chat immediately erupted again. "That's insane. I've spent years watching livestreams across all kinds of platforms, and I've never seen anyone perform cutting a radish."
"The streamer isn't serious, right? There are tens of thousands of people here watching you cut a radish?"
"You must be kidding us."
"Still, I feel like it won't be that simple."
"This streamer is shady as hell. He's definitely setting us up."
Chen Xu asked solemnly, "Do you know how to cut a radish so it tastes good?"
"You have to cut every piece to the exact same size and length—not even one millimeter off. Only then can you ensure that every piece of radish has exactly the same texture and flavor."
As he spoke, he took out a ruler and a pen. He measured the radish with the ruler and drew four or five lines on it.
Watching him spout nonsense with such a serious expression, Dai Zixin wanted to laugh. She had to admit that whenever Chen Xu stood in front of a livestream camera, he seemed like a completely different person.
Normally, he was not this talkative.
Chen Xu put away the pen and ruler and said, "All right, now we can start cutting."
He pretended to pat himself down, then his expression changed. "Oh no, I forgot to bring a knife. What do we do now?"
"I have one here. You can borrow it."
At some point, several onlookers had gathered nearby. One of them suddenly spoke up, actually pulling out a folding knife and offering it to him.
For a moment, Chen Xu's expression froze.
A troublemaker had actually appeared. How was he supposed to continue now? Dai Zixin, who was filming, nearly burst out laughing. She knew she should not, but she could not help herself. Afraid of provoking Chen Xu, she held it in so hard it hurt.
"Take it. No need to be polite," the kindhearted man said warmly.
Chen Xu looked at him expressionlessly before finally saying, "No need. I only use my own knife. Thank you."
The man froze, then awkwardly retreated.
Keeping his expression under control, Chen Xu faced the camera and said, "When—well, when we don't have a knife in our hands, how do we cut this radish?"
He stumbled over the words, but finally got the sentence out smoothly. Then his tone became fluent again. "At a time like this, what you need is a deck of playing cards."
As he spoke, he took a deck of cards from his pocket, opened it, shuffled it a few times, and said, "What a coincidence—I bought a deck of playing cards when I passed a convenience store earlier."
"Of course, some people might ask how paper playing cards could possibly cut through a radish. Let me show you."
Chen Xu drew several cards from the deck and put the rest back into his pocket. Then he stepped back a few paces. "First, you need to stand back a little—about five meters away. Then hold it between two fingers and flick it out like this."
As he spoke, he flicked his wrist. The card between his index and middle fingers shot out and embedded itself in the radish several meters away. The force was so great that it nearly cut the radish in half.
"Did you see that clearly? I'll throw another one."
As Chen Xu spoke, he sent another card flying. It spun through the air and lodged itself in the radish.
"The key is wrist strength. Watch." Another card immediately appeared on the radish.
"The last card."
After Chen Xu threw out the final card, he signaled for Dai Zixin to get a close-up.
Dai Zixin walked up to the radish. The moment she saw it, she could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
All four cards had been embedded precisely along the lines Chen Xu had drawn earlier.
As the camera moved closer, the entire livestream went silent for several seconds. Then the chat exploded into a frenzy.
"Holy shit, am I seeing things?"
"My mom asked me why I was watching the livestream on my knees."
"Honey, come out and look at this immortal..."
PS: It's the last week of the new book period. I'm getting ready to push for the new book rankings, so I'm begging for recommendation votes.
Before you continue