Ch 10: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

Mu Xing looked at the flood of fast-scrolling comments, all shouting “buy buy buy,” and coughed lightly.
“I was actually just joking.”

[No no no, looking at your face, I find it very convincing.]
[I know you’re joking, but for Xingxing’s first time putting so much effort into selling something, I have to support it.]
[Just came back from searching—eating persimmons really does have a whitening effect.]
[You’re too honest. Good thing this isn’t a paid promotion, otherwise a naïve streamer like you would really lose money.]
[So, where’s the link? The link?]

Mu Xing said, “The first batch of persimmons will be ripe in about half a month. Since the livestream was a last-minute idea, I’m not very experienced. I’ll post the shop link when I get back later—the store is still being set up, so don’t worry.”

He glanced at the time. “It’s getting late. I need to head down the mountain to make lunch. See you all later.”

[Keep streaming! We can watch you cook!]
[And we want to see what Xingxing’s home looks like!]

Mu Xing looked puzzled. “What’s there to see about cooking? Haven’t you ever seen someone cook before? If you want to learn, there are plenty of professional cooking streamers on Yunduo Video. And my home’s nothing special, just an ordinary house.”

[We haven’t, we haven’t—show us, Xingxing!]
[Cooking itself isn’t fun to watch, but watching you cook would be very entertaining.]
[Wait, the streamer actually cooks for himself? A domestic man—my weakness.]
[They’re not being honest, but I am. I’ll be straightforward: I’m just greedy for your looks and your body. I’d watch you do anything.]

Mu Xing: “…”

Playfully, he snorted. “Don’t be greedy. No matter how greedy you are, I’m still a man you can’t have.”

[???]
[Did you hear that?]
[He’s abusing his fans! Unfollowing.]

Mu Xing said, “Alright, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow at nine in the morning for another stream. Bye.”

He waved at the camera and closed the stream.

Under the nervous gaze of the courier-slash-cameraman, he easily jumped down from the tree branch.

The courier, Liu Xue, had returned to Huaxin Town—where Xiaoxi Village is located—after graduating from university without finding a suitable job, and had opened a small courier station there.

Courier stations in small towns are usually privately contracted. Parcels with free shipping go to the county; he drives there to collect those bound for Huaxin Town and brings them back, charging a one-yuan handling fee for each.

Since he only needed to drive to fetch the parcels and his family helped with sorting and management, he had time to follow Mu Xing to film the livestream.

“Remember to find me when you ship the goods. I’ll give you a discount,” Liu Xue said, not forgetting to drum up business.

Mu Xing picked up his straw hat from the ground, dusted it off, put it on, and headed down the mountain. “Even if you didn’t say so, I’d still come to you.”

Following behind with the camera, Liu Xue handed Mu Xing his phone screen, speaking excitedly: “You’ve got over 400,000 followers!”

And the number was still climbing fast!

Mu Xing was much calmer. Plucking a blade of grass to chew on, he walked lightly. “As long as the persimmons sell out, that’s enough.”

Back home, Mu Xing went to find Old Zhang.

Xiaoxi Village only had a handful of households and had been merged with a neighboring village years ago, at least in name.

But with a mountain between them, matters in Xiaoxi were always handled internally, with Old Zhang—the eldest in the village—acting much like a village chief.

Mu Xing told him about selling persimmons online.

Since online sales meant the money wouldn’t arrive immediately, Mu Xing needed to get everyone’s consent.

Old Zhang was overjoyed. “Of course we’re willing! As long as we can sell them, even at a lower price, it’s fine. I’ll go inform everyone.”

If the fruit rotted on the trees, they wouldn’t just lose the money—they’d have to watch a whole year’s effort go to waste.

After securing the villagers’ approval, Mu Xing went home to set up the store.

The online shop already existed, called Xiaoxi Mountain Specialties, and Mu Xing didn’t plan to change the name.

He added the new product and set the price.

He had no idea that while he was busy with this, his photos and some livestream clips were blowing up online.

#ThatGodlyFaceIsBack shot straight to the top of the trending list within an hour of his stream.

Meanwhile, #MuXingLivestreamSellingGoods rocketed into the top ten.

His joining Yunduo Video had already drawn attention, but when viewers saw his current state, they couldn’t stop themselves—

Screenshot. Screenshot. Screenshot!

And of course, such beauty had to be shared.

The trending topic was soon filled with today’s freshest images.

His fan forum, silent for over half a year, was suddenly flooded with tens of thousands of new posts.

[Old fan since two years ago crying—this is the boy who stole my heart at first sight!]
[WTF, did Mu Xing eat some kind of magical elixir these past six months? Is this face even real?]
[I’ve sinned. I actually joined my roommate in trashing such a gorgeous boy.]
[From these screenshots, he’s bare-faced, right? How is he better looking than before?]
[Fan reporting in—I always said his old company’s styling was the problem. That cookie-cutter idol makeup erased all his uniqueness. This clean, fresh, natural look suits him best.]

[All I want is to get his skincare routine—naturally fair skin is too enviable.]
[With a face like this selling persimmons, I feel like the persimmons instantly became luxury goods.]

Countless newly converted fans, after screaming in excitement, tried to follow Mu Xing on Weibo, only to find his old account had been abandoned, and no new account could be found.

So, the only place they could follow him now was his freshly opened livestream account.

Downloads of Yunduo Video skyrocketed, and along with them, Mu Xing’s follower count soared as well.

Seeing this surge in popularity, Yunduo Video’s team quickly contacted Mu Xing, offering extremely generous terms to sign him as an exclusive streamer.

Mu Xing refused without hesitation: “I’ve looked into these contracts—they have fixed streaming hour requirements. My intention is only to use the platform to sell the unsold goods. I don’t want to tie myself down.”

Yunduo Video could only feel it was a pity.

And someone else who felt it was a pity—naturally—was Li Xin.

God knows how he felt looking at the trending list that day.

The MRC group he had pinned so many hopes on now couldn’t make it onto the hot search unless he paid for it himself. On their own, they had no chance.

Especially since his rival in the company—another manager—called him after seeing the trending topics, mocking him, saying he had held onto a treasure without knowing it, wasting two whole years, only for that “treasure” to shoot back to popularity the moment he left Zhongxing Entertainment.

Li Xin ground his teeth in frustration—it was unbearable!

---

The next day, 9 a.m. sharp.

Mu Xing started his livestream.

Facing the camera, he greeted: “Hey everyone, I’m Mu Xing. Joining me today are two uncles from Xiaoxi Village—they’ll be going with me to the back mountain to give everyone a close-up look at our persimmons.”

[Whoa, 110,000 viewers already? And the stream just started?]
[Must be bought numbers, right?]
[1.1 million followers now? Did this streamer just break Yunduo Video’s fastest-to-a-million-fans record? Why do I feel oddly proud?]
[Checking in—another day of being obsessed with Xingxing’s beauty.]
[Bringing two uncles along? I believe you really do want to sell these persimmons.]
[That skin tone contrast—next to the two uncles, Xingxing really does look like a piece of white jade.]
[What kind of divine filter is this? Three people in the same frame, and only one gets brightened? (dog head)]
[The comment above is peak sarcasm.]

---

The two uncles also greeted the camera a bit shyly, and the three of them began heading toward the back mountain.

“Today, the main thing is to pick a few persimmons from the tree that are a bit riper, so I can taste them in advance for you. I can guarantee that all the persimmons from Xiaoxi Village are carefully selected top-quality fruit.”

The path to the back mountain was narrow, so they walked in a line—Mu Xing in front, the cameraman in the back filming.

Suddenly, Mu Xing stopped in his tracks.

The next moment, a fierce gust of wind blew from the left, accompanied by a flurry of panicked cries:

“Gah!”
“Gah gah gah!”

❣╰(⸝⸝⸝꒳⸝⸝⸝)╯❣