Qu Nanzhu showed his Weibo profile to the viewer standing at the front and asked, "So from now on, if anything comes up, I just need to post it here?"
The male fan was delighted. He pulled out his phone to follow him, nodding as he said, "Yes, yes, exactly. God Qu, whenever you have something to tell your fans, just post it there. Oh, and our fandom name is Candlelight. We picked it ourselves. What do you think?"
Qu Nanzhu was puzzled. "Fans? Candlelight?" Aren't we just a streamer and his viewers?
Faced with Qu Nanzhu's confusion, the fans all nodded. "Yep."
When Chen Xun returned with the luggage, he found his new boss surrounded by a crowd of guys and girls. He initially got a fright, thinking something had happened to Qu Nanzhu, before recalling the information on the Chinese entertainment industry he had read over the past two days and realizing these were probably fans welcoming him at the airport.
Taking it in stride, Chen Xun dragged the luggage and pushed his way into the crowd like he owned the place, calling, "Excuse me, please make way."
The crowd cleared a path for him. Once they got a good look at his face, a longtime viewer exclaimed, "Holy crap, isn't this Cuckold Pickup Bro?"
Chen Xun's face instantly darkened. He stared speechlessly at the Candlelight fan who had called him by his nickname. The fan immediately realized his mistake and kept bowing and apologizing.
Helpless, Chen Xun said nothing and waved it off. He wasn't about to quibble with an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old kid.
Qu Nanzhu patted Chen Xun's shoulder comfortingly, though he would have been better off saying nothing. "Look on the bright side. Everyone sympathizes with you as the victim."
Chen Xun turned his resentful gaze on Qu Nanzhu.
You shut up too!
After that little incident, Qu Nanzhu signed a few more fans' photos, then asked Chen Xun to arrange a meal for everyone, to make up for the trouble of waiting around all day.
The forty-three invited fans still hadn't quite processed what was happening. They stood blankly outside the restaurant, staring at each other.
Qu Nanzhu was still learning how to use Weibo.
Unsurprisingly, his direct messages and followers had both shot to 999+ immediately. Most messages asked whether he really was Qu Nanzhu, so he posted a selfie to prove his identity. He took it in the car, still using a 361-degree death angle.
Completely unaware that this move had already landed him on the trending searches, Qu Nanzhu stuck to the principle of giving up if he couldn't figure something out, put away his phone, and prepared to focus on eating in a bit.
Chen Xun went inside first to speak to the restaurant manager. Since there were so many of them, he simply booked an entire floor with a grand wave of his hand.
Qu Nanzhu had just transferred him two hundred thousand yuan, giving him plenty of room to work with.
Only after sitting down did the fans slowly pull out their phones to take photos, record videos, and post updates on Qzone, WeChat Moments, and Weibo. They posted on every platform they could think of.
[God Qu treated people to dinner? How can those words possibly form a sentence?]
[Either the poster or I must be hallucinating.]
[You mean you went to welcome him at the airport, and God Qu felt bad that you'd waited all day, so he treated you to dinner? Hahahahahahahahaha.]
[The person above has completely lost it.]
[Is anyone in this thread not losing it?]
[This makes me look like a clown for bragging everywhere about leaving the first comment on God Qu's Weibo post.]
[Have some confidence. Drop the "look like."]
[Is nobody going to mention that God Qu's camera angle is... well, you know?]
[I get it. Hard to comment on.]
[Stop nitpicking. It's already good enough that the kid knows how to take a photo.]
[Ask what Qu Bao is doing.]
The original poster replied to this comment, attaching a photo of Qu Nanzhu tilting his head as he watched someone play a game with complete concentration.
Original poster: [Watching Brother Hu play Honor of Kings, haha.]
Brother Hu was among Qu Nanzhu's earliest fans. After Qu Nanzhu lifted the ban on sharing his content, Brother Hu had posted many clips from his streams, attracting a large following with his distinctive editing style.
With that explanation from the original poster, the fans immediately understood.
[Wow, does baby like gaming? He's watching so intently.]
The original poster replied: [Yes, but the great god himself seems pretty bad at it.]
The replies below were all laughter.
Qu Nanzhu really was the type who loved playing despite being terrible at it. Although he had Xiao Zhu's memories of the modern world, he still wasn't nearly as deft with a phone as he was at drawing talismans.
Several times, Brother Hu's brilliant moves made him gasp softly, his eyes going wide and round. Paired with his handsome little face, it sent a wave of maternal affection through the fans.
After a wait of twenty-odd minutes, the kitchen finally sent out the dishes. Qu Nanzhu reined in his earlier excitement and sat properly, ready to eat.
With their idol present, the fans deliberately minded their manners as they ate. Meanwhile, Qu Nanzhu, whom everyone kept watching, continued to demolish his food in his usual unhurried fashion.
Despite his elegant, composed manner, his mouth never stopped moving. His appetite was extraordinarily large, and he ate extraordinarily fast.
After all, unlike eating at home while playing on his phone, or chatting over a meal with Huo Sili, all Qu Nanzhu could do now was eat.
By the time he was full, the others were almost finished too. Qu Nanzhu then asked where they were staying that night.
Having already received a free meal, the fans all assured him that they had booked hotels, while the locals would simply go home. Only after confirming that everyone had somewhere to stay did Qu Nanzhu get into the car and leave with Chen Xun.
Meanwhile, at the hotel the production team had designated as their meeting point, Su Liyun scrolled through Weibo while waiting for her takeout.
The entertainment trending searches were, without question, all about Qu Nanzhu: God Qu registering a Weibo account, God Qu generously treating his fans to dinner, God Qu turning out to like Honor of Kings, and so on.
It was just plain annoying.
Honestly, they all worked in this industry, but this was the first time Su Liyun had seen someone stir up so much fuss.
Almost everyone invited onto their show disbelieved in mysticism, so they had very little affection for Qu Nanzhu, whose only skill was mysticism.
In their eyes, Qu Nanzhu's persona was nothing more than a product of money and marketing. All that talk about not reading private messages, being impossible to contact, and having to be invited onto the show through public channels-ha, it was so fake. Seriously.
Not accepting gifts or tips sounded nice, but anyone with a brain knew he was casting a long line to catch a big fish. Only Qu Nanzhu's fans couldn't see it, constantly clamoring that he didn't care about that little bit of money.
Now he wasn't even pretending anymore. The first client to have his fortune told had become his personal assistant, and a whole crowd was praising him for being kindhearted?
Was this a try-not-to-laugh challenge? Then she admitted defeat.
Still, she had to admit the tactic was successful. By now, practically everyone in the country knew this "fortune-telling master." The show's popularity had soared along with his, and audience expectations were already sky-high before it had even aired.
Now anything related to Qu Nanzhu could effortlessly hit the trending searches. Hadn't his team achieved exactly what they wanted?
Su Liyun mocked him inwardly as she scrolled, feeling that she had even lost her appetite for the meal she was waiting for.
She wasn't the only one who thought this way. The other six guests had much the same thoughts. Some even felt that the money behind him had dragged them here to serve as Qu Nanzhu's stepping stones, leaving them indignant.
Completely unaware of any of this, Qu Nanzhu had already arrived at the hotel. Chen Xun's room was one floor below his.
According to the information provided by the organizers, tomorrow's livestream would begin in the morning with waking the guests. Having fully embraced his role as an assistant, Chen Xun worried that Qu Nanzhu might leave a bad impression on camera and repeatedly reminded him to wake up early the next morning.
Qu Nanzhu, who had never imagined Chen Xun had this side to him, took Little Eighteen from his pocket and said confidently, "Don't worry. I set Little Eighteen's alarm for six."
Chen Xun: "?"
Something about that felt off.
But worried that talking too much would annoy Qu Nanzhu, Chen Xun nodded and went downstairs.
This was Qu Nanzhu's first stay in a hotel, so he was somewhat curious about the room's layout. It wasn't luxurious, but it had everything it should.
Qu Nanzhu sat here and there, even sitting on the toilet at the end, before returning to lie down on the bed.
"Ding-"
It was a message from Huo Sili.
Chen Xun had probably reported the day's events to him, and once he was sure Qu Nanzhu was free, he had come to chat.
Qu Nanzhu rolled over onto his stomach on the bed and replied.
Huo: [How's the hotel?]
Qu's Bamboo: [It's okay. Feels a little small. Not as comfortable as home.]
Huo: [Next time, have Chen Xun book you a bigger room separately.]
Qu's Bamboo: [You can do that?]
Huo Sili imagined Qu Nanzhu's surprised expression. It would probably be as cute as when he watched someone else play a game.
He smiled as he replied: [Yes. Whatever you need, just tell Chen Xun.]
The two chatted all evening like this. Only when Huo Sili reminded him to get to bed early did Qu Nanzhu put down his phone and go to sleep.