"Please." Lin Hanzhi's eyes shimmered, and his voice sounded pitiful too. If he hadn't stood a full 186 centimeters tall, he would have looked every bit the delicate, sickly beauty.
[Oh ho, when a hot guy acts cute, the audience loses its soul.]
[I get all that, but why is he asking Qi Gu for help?]
[Maybe he really thinks Qi Gu is a master. Listen to what he calls him.]
With such a handsome man before them, the livestream comments erupted into heated discussion, even showing hints of envy toward Qi Gu.
Who wouldn't want a gorgeous guy to ask to hold their hand?
Qi Gu wouldn't. How was he supposed to eat his spicy strips while holding Lin Hanzhi's hand?
He pointed at Lin Hanzhi's cameraman and said, earnest and utterly oblivious to romance, "But he's going to be the closest person to you in a minute. Why don't you just hold on to him?"
[I have reasonable grounds to suspect he turned him down so he could eat his spicy strips...]
[Wait, wasn't Qi Gu supposed to lust after anyone good-looking, male or female? A gorgeous guy throws himself at him, and he doesn't even make a move?]
[Suddenly starting to question whether those rumors were true.]
Hearing this, the cameraman following Lin Hanzhi, a man in his forties, hurriedly gave him an honest smile and thumped his chest with warmhearted enthusiasm. "Don't worry, young man. Grab on whenever you like!"
The corner of Lin Hanzhi's mouth twitched. "...Never mind. I suddenly feel I should challenge myself after all."
Then, under everyone's admiring gazes, he walked straight to the window, expressionless, and yanked the registration slip out of the plastic mannequin's hand.
Whether he had pulled too hard or the mannequin inside hadn't been set down securely, it actually came crashing heavily to the floor with his movement.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to."
Lin Hanzhi said this with some politeness, though not much, to the mannequin lying on the floor with a mouthful of dust.
There wasn't the slightest hint of apology in his chilly tone.
Lin Hanzhi returned to Qi Gu's side with a sour expression on his handsome face, then resumed his pitiful act. "I'm still so scared. Listen to how wildly my heart's pounding. Master Qi, nobody but you can make me feel safe. Can't I really hold on to you while we walk?"
Qi Gu: "..."
This was his first time meeting someone like Lin Hanzhi. Nothing had even happened, yet he was already this scared.
He really had no idea why Lin Hanzhi had come on a paranormal variety show.
But considering that he was the master hired by the production team, he quickly stuffed the last three spicy strips into his mouth. "How about this? I'll teach you a hand seal. It can soothe your mind and strengthen your yang energy, so you can feel at ease too."
He had come across this hand seal while reading Taoist classics himself. After trying it and finding it useful, he had committed it to memory.
As he spoke, he held out his hand, touching his thumb to his ring finger and straightening the rest, then said calmly, "Repeat after me. Supreme celestial star, respond without cease; drive out evil and bind demons, preserve my life and protect my body." ①
His movements were relaxed and natural, giving him a genuine air of mastery.
[He really did-I'm crying. He even went out of his way to memorize an incantation and hand seal just to show off.]
[Okay, but he was putting in zero effort before. Why is he suddenly so dedicated? Split personality?]
[Am I the only one copying the hand gesture?]
[Me too... I've loved copying stuff from TV dramas since I was little. It looks so cool, hahahaha.]
[Am I the only one who thinks the cute non-celebrity guy doesn't actually seem that scared?]
[Maybe he's frozen with fear and hasn't even had time to make an expression.]
[I'm curious what brand of spicy strips Qi Gu's eating. He makes them look so good.]
[What doesn't he make look good? Not gonna lie, I've already ordered a whole pile.]
[And have you noticed? He looks so aloof when he isn't eating, but once he starts, his cheeks puff up, and you can tell he's really enjoying it. The contrast is kind of cute.]
[XX brand. Ten packs for 9.9. Go buy some, you greedy girls.]
Lin Hanzhi followed his movements, forming the hand seal too, and repeated the entire incantation. Then his alluring eyes curved slightly. "It does seem to work a little. I don't feel as cold as before."
Hearing him, Vivian and Mu Xingchen, who had respectively felt somewhat favorable toward Qi Gu and indifferent to him, tried it too. But reciting the incantation didn't come as easily to them as it had to Lin Hanzhi.
"Supreme... supreme what again?" Mu Xingchen, who had been a poor student all his life, scratched his head while maintaining the hand seal and looked to Qi Gu for help.
Vivian was older, after all, but even she had only remembered the first two phrases.
Qi Gu couldn't be bothered to repeat it, so he had his "outstanding first disciple," Lin Hanzhi, recite it instead.
Lin Hanzhi performed his duties conscientiously. Very pleased, Qi Gu decided he was a handy new kind of helper. Not only did he give him an approving look, but he even steeled himself to part with a beef candy.
Lin Hanzhi peeled open the wrapper and ate it.
"Tasty."
Delighted to have his taste in snacks validated, Qi Gu even gave him another one.
Meanwhile, Vivian finally mastered it and beamed. "You know, it really does work. I feel much warmer."
The hairs that had been standing on end settled down too, and she felt considerably more at ease.
Mu Xingchen was young to begin with and interested in mystical things like these. By now, his gaze toward Qi Gu already held admiration. If he hadn't known plenty of his fans were watching through the cameras, he might already have been wagging his tail at Qi Gu like a puppy.
Seeing the other three guests gathered around Qi Gu, chatting and laughing, Sha Chuan's expression instantly darkened.
They all said that hand seal worked... He actually wanted to try it too.
But he didn't want to go straight over and ask to be taught, afraid of losing face, so he stood off to the side and watched from a distance.
Seeing that Qi Gu showed no intention of coming over to him, Sha Chuan addressed his own camera in a deliberately casual tone. "This is probably just a psychological effect, right? I've studied a little psychology, so I know some occult methods are actually just psychological therapies, using gestures and props to trick people."
[I think so too... Are the other three guests all that naive? They actually believe this nonsense?]
[Wow, Sha Chuan didn't just graduate from Q University's physics department, he's studied psychology too. His knowledge is so broad!]
[What? Sha Chuan actually went to Q University? All these years, I've just been taking up space on earth. Sob, sob.]
[But... my head was feeling foggy just now, so I tried it in the office. It really did help a little.]
[It's probably just a psychological effect, right?]
[Even if it really works, the credit belongs to the Taoist classics. Girls, don't go giving Qi Gu the credit.]
[Aw, those four are having fun together. Sha Chuan looks so lonely standing off to the side by himself.]
[Qi Gu shared his snacks with all three of the others. Sha Chuan was the only one he left out...]
[I don't like Qi Gu, but those snacks belong to him. Doesn't he have the right to decide who he shares them with and who he doesn't?]
[Head pats for my baby Sha Chuan.]
Some couldn't stand Sha Chuan's fans twisting the facts for attention. [Seriously, does your precious Sha Chuan not have legs or a mouth? I don't see Qi Gu trying to exclude him. Can't he just go over and ask? Didn't the other three all ask him themselves?]
[And earlier, he wanted Lin Hanzhi to lend his clothes to that rich woman... Feels like Sha Chuan's fans take after him. They're all a bit fake and manipulative.]
[LMAO, the person above really knows how to put it. That felt good!]
Sha Chuan stood in the corner waiting for ages, but Qi Gu never took the initiative to ask whether he wanted to learn. His resentment toward Qi Gu immediately deepened.
Outside, with the production team.
Watching the viewer count rise from fifty thousand at the start of the stream to two hundred thousand, Song An was very pleased. He mentally showered the excellent-value Qi Gu with praise.
What a great guy, putting so much effort into slacking off and drawing hate just to make his show entertaining!
Even livestreams by popular A-list stars only drew around a million viewers, and their show didn't have a single big name. Their most popular guest was Vivian, with just four million followers across all platforms.
But in the entertainment industry, that follower count only made her a little-known celebrity with a bit of buzz.
Song An hadn't held out much hope at first. He would have been perfectly satisfied if they reached two hundred thousand concurrent viewers by the time all twelve episodes had aired, and that would have been enough to give the Lin family an account of his work.
But now, they had achieved this result not long after the first episode began airing. How could Song An not be excited?
If their popularity kept rising, he would even be willing to kowtow on livestream to Qi Gu, their biggest contributor.
The prop master, Old Ke, and the other staff nearby were beaming too. After all, if they really managed to produce a hit web variety show, their own market value would rise along with it!
They all silently prayed that Qi Gu would keep up his performance and draw in some more haters.
Strangely enough, these haters really did have remarkable staying power. The livestream had been running for hours, yet they were still there, showing no intention of leaving.
What was this-hatred so deep it could withstand the passage of time?
Before you continue