Livestream

Compared with River East's rapid development, the area at the foot of Mount Lu in River West was still often called the countryside by people from Junsha twenty years ago. But it was, after all, where the schools of South Hunan gathered, and it had a distinctive atmosphere of its own. Dense trees shaded the roads, passersby walked at an unhurried pace, and young students came and went between the campuses and dorms, carrying the last traces of ease and confusion before leaving the ivory tower.

Unlike the plain, repetitive new commercial housing developments, many of the residential neighborhoods here consisted of housing built for the universities. The gray-and-white buildings, each six stories tall, weren't especially distinctive in design, but nestled beneath the dense tree canopy, they always felt particularly serene and elegant.

People of culture weren't anything special on their own, but when a crowd of them lived together, the place did have a little more of a scholarly air.

A water-spraying truck passed by, shrouding the street in mist. Liu Chang'an put away his phone and spotted Ma Shilong's Bentley in the distance. Veiled in the water vapor, it looked especially exquisite.

Liu Chang'an walked over, and Ma Benwei spotted him too.

"Hey, man, doesn't your school have five hundred flower-protecting escorts? You had to wait a whole year for your turn last time, so how come you're protecting a beauty again today? That sure came around fast." Ma Benwei immediately grinned, then spoke to the phone mounted on the hood. "Brothers in the car club, see this guy? He was the flower-protecting escort when we ran into An Nuan last time. And now it's his turn again today."

Liu Chang'an glanced at the livestream displayed on the phone. An Nuan still hadn't replied, and Ma Benwei had been getting bored. Liu Chang'an's arrival had undoubtedly brought a flood of comments.

The viewers were saying all sorts of things. Liu Chang'an smiled.

"The night is clear and lovely. How about we go to the top of Mount Lu and admire the waning moon together?"

Ma Benwei froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. Turning to the phone, he said, "Brothers, this guy just invited me to admire the moon! Hahaha!"

"Bet he's a gay guy!"

"Son, watch out for your butthole!"

"Go on, go on! Admire the flowers, the moon, and each other's buttholes!"

"That girl isn't coming out tonight. Son, try out your skills at hitting on gay guys!"

Ma Benwei was about to switch phones and message An Nuan. The girl really was tempting, but the most important thing for a livestream was having material. Girls these days were vain yet coy. Since he'd already told her he was livestreaming, getting her to come out now would be difficult. He might as well try again after the stream ended. For now, teasing this young man would probably amuse his fans.

"Sure, let's go. I'll go to Mount Lu with you to admire the moon. Get in." Ma Benwei beckoned.

Liu Chang'an got into the car. Glancing at the phone, where he and Ma Benwei were on screen, he greeted the livestream viewers. "Hello, everyone."

Ma Benwei laughed as he slapped the steering wheel. This kid really did have something wrong with him. He didn't even look at how everyone on the screen was making fun of him. He sure had a thick skin.

Mount Lu was just a small hill a few hundred meters high, not much different from most large parks. Its many famous cultural sites were enough to make it a five-A tourist attraction, though, and it was worth visiting if you came to appreciate its cultural heritage. Ma Benwei drove straight to the summit, then took Liu Chang'an to the broadest lookout point.

This was the best place to take in the whole nightscape of Junsha. The city spread out below them as far as the eye could see, with only the Bao Long Center glittering brightly in the heart of downtown, towering above the clouds.

"Let's admire the moon, let's admire the moon!" Ma Benwei set down his phone and adjusted its angle, then looked up at the sky. "Man, there's barely any moon at all. It doesn't even look good. Honestly, it doesn't look as good as An Nuan's butt, does it?"

Liu Chang'an was still watching the livestream. At that, he stepped back a few paces and adjusted his position relative to Ma Benwei. "An Nuan is beautiful, sure. But isn't a girl at her most beautiful when she's willingly leaning against the embroidered bed, all coy and alluring, laughing as she spits a cherry pit at her beloved? What you're doing isn't right."

"What are you even talking about?" Ma Benwei didn't understand, but he wasn't annoyed. This kid was young, yet full of bookish airs. "All right, looks like you didn't come here to admire the moon with me. You still want to be a flower-protecting escort."

Some of the viewers knew what Liu Chang'an meant and explained it to Ma Benwei. The verse described the Empress Zhou and Li Yu, portraying a woman's alluring manner when she was passionately in love with a man.

"Mm... In the past, when people wanted to talk something over, they often didn't go to a teahouse. Instead, they chose a scenic spot, somewhere that could open their minds, so they wouldn't be cramped by their surroundings. They'd set out a small table with tea or wine, a few plates of candied fruit, and then calmly lay out their reasoning and sort out right from wrong." Liu Chang'an smiled. "What you're doing isn't appropriate. Don't do it again. If it isn't something both sides want, then everyone should settle their disputes by reasoning things out. Right?"

"What if I don't want to reason?" Ma Benwei was already losing patience. He thought, Who'd want to watch two people argue on a livestream? How many viewers would leave? Did people really come to his stream to listen to someone preach? Even elementary school kids would get bored. A thought struck him, and he sneered. "What are you going to do about it? Come on, hit me."

A fist immediately slammed into Ma Benwei's cheek. He cried out in shock. Liu Chang'an, who had been talking about reasoning just a moment ago, had struck him before he'd even finished speaking.

"Hello, everyone. Today, Ma Benwei and I are putting on a show called 'If You Refuse to Reason, You're Asking for a Beating.' It's a story about someone who refuses to be reasonable and insists on getting beaten up. I don't really understand it, but I'm happy to play along." Liu Chang'an dragged Ma Benwei in front of the phone and said expectantly, "Come on, send some gifts... Does this platform have a double-tap 666 or something? Oh, it doesn't? Then just follow me. Send gifts! The more gifts you send, the more I'll beat him."

Ma Benwei punched and kicked, fighting back desperately, but there was no way he could break free. Liu Chang'an twisted him around and forced his face toward the phone.

"Someone sent a rocket!" Liu Chang'an said excitedly to Ma Benwei. "Are you happy?"

"I'm happy your—"

Ma Benwei opened his mouth to curse, but Liu Chang'an slapped him hard across the face. Then he turned to the viewers and said, "Thanks to our friend Longwei Lietian Kongkong Bashan Huanying Juesha for the rocket. I'll put on a series of shoulder throws for everyone."

As he spoke, Liu Chang'an flipped Ma Benwei over his shoulder and slammed him onto the ground. Before Ma Benwei's scream had even ended, he threw him again and again, spinning him all the way around the platform.

"Awesome!"

"Bro, you've definitely trained!"

"Is Ma Benwei going to get killed?"

"No way. This is obviously a performance. Last time, someone even put on a show of stewing himself in an iron pot!"

"Keep going, keep going! Send more gifts, everyone! We're in the car club now, so put those badges up! Send gifts for Brother Ma!"

Liu Chang'an looked at the livestream and said to Ma Benwei, "Wow... I can't believe I got a rocket on my first livestream. Look how popular I am now. Your viewership has gone up quite a bit too."

Ma Benwei was furious. He couldn't figure out why, but even though Liu Chang'an kept throwing him over his shoulder, and his whole body hurt, he somehow felt he could take it. Right now, all he wanted was to kill Liu Chang'an. Yet Liu Chang'an held him like a little chick, and even after Ma Benwei tried everything, including grabbing at his crotch, Liu Chang'an remained completely unmoved!

"Are you going to reason with me now?" Liu Chang'an asked.

"Rea—"

"You were definitely about to say something like 'reason with your mother.'" Liu Chang'an slapped him again, cutting him off.

"Next, I'll perform the windmill for everyone," Liu Chang'an continued the livestream. "Want to know what that is? Send a wave of gifts first."

Ma Benwei didn't know what the windmill was, but he had never wanted so badly to avoid receiving gifts. He hurriedly shouted, "Don't... Someone call the police!"

But nobody took Ma Benwei seriously. He'd just been thrown over and over, and he could still shout with plenty of vigor. There wasn't even a mark on his face—his hair was just a little messy. What could possibly be wrong?

After seeing that he'd gotten quite a few gifts, Liu Chang'an grabbed both of Ma Benwei's legs and started swinging him in circles, spinning round and round as he rose onto his toes. He sang as he went, "The windmill goes round and round; the scenery here is so lovely..."

Ma Benwei was dizzy and terrified, afraid that if Liu Chang'an lost his grip, he'd be done for. He was shocked and furious too. How had he run into a monster like this? It was common in acrobatics and sports for someone to swing a partner around like a windmill, but usually it was a man swinging a woman. He was a grown man who weighed well over a hundred pounds. Where had Liu Chang'an gotten such monstrous strength?

Liu Chang'an didn't spin him for long before setting him down. Ma Benwei was so dizzy that he stumbled and fell, unable to get back up. His insides felt like they were churning, and he immediately threw up violently.

"Hello, everyone. That's the end of today's livestream. The show was designed by professionals, so don't try this at home. If you enjoyed it, please send another wave of gifts. As the saying goes, don't indulge your desires, don't let anger linger, don't provoke with your words, and don't drink too much. In everyday life, remember to reason things out and know when enough is enough." After Liu Chang'an finished speaking, he turned off the livestream. Worried that Ma Benwei's phone might get stolen if it stayed on the hood, he forcefully pried open the car window and put it inside.

Ma Benwei vomited all over the ground, beer and crawfish.

"You drank and drove?" Liu Chang'an shook his head. "You really have no sense of public responsibility. Want me to get you a designated driver?"

"You..." Ma Benwei had meant to tell him to get lost, but he couldn't get a single word out before he started vomiting violently again.

Liu Chang'an headed down the mountain. His phone rang, and he saw that he had several missed calls, all from An Nuan, along with a message she'd sent.