Ch 12: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

The netizens, who had been laughing and joking moments ago, fell silent at the sight.

[Seeing such an elderly uncle like this… I suddenly feel a bit embarrassed.]
[If 1.5 yuan a jin is already considered high, then how cheap must your persimmons normally be? And even then, they still can’t sell?]
[I can vouch for that—I’m from a fruit farming family too. During harvest season, our local prices are dirt cheap.]
[You guys could set the price a little higher. At this price, even with free shipping for five jin, you wouldn’t cover the delivery cost, right?]
[Exactly. We wouldn’t mind at all if you priced it higher. The fruit shop prices are several times this.]

Mu Xing said, “Don’t worry about us losing money. Yesterday, the local Fei Niao Express manager saw my livestream and contacted me, saying they want to sponsor Xiaoxi Village. So, our persimmons will be shipped by Fei Niao Express for free.”

He added seriously, “Here, on behalf of everyone in Xiaoxi Village, I’d like to thank Fei Niao Express.”

[What a good person.]
[Wow, Fei Niao Express is impressive. I’ll use them next time I send something.]
[So the shipping is sponsored—that’s a relief. I was worried you’d lose money.]
[Smart move from Fei Niao Express—they basically got free advertising from the streamer.]
[Well, they did do something genuinely helpful. I’d call this a win-win.]

Mu Xing opened each persimmon on camera.
“These are all hand-picked ripe fruits. You can see the quality—very sweet. If you buy from us, you’ll get persimmons just like these.”

Uncle Zhao nodded beside him. “Yes, yes, everyone can rest assured—no bad fruit here.”

[Buy, buy, buy! At this price, there’s no reason not to.]

---

That day’s livestream once again hit the trending list.
But this time, netizens’ attention wasn’t solely on Mu Xing—another topic began to heat up.

#LifeIsHardForFruitFarmers#

[1.5 yuan a jin—this is basically giveaway pricing. And the uncle in the video still looks so satisfied.]
[I feel a little heartbroken. Even with a whole mountain of persimmons at this price, they wouldn’t make much. They’re clearly the ones working the hardest.]
[My parents are fruit farmers. It’s exhausting—working in the fields all year and still at the mercy of the weather. If yields are low, it’s bad. If there’s a bumper harvest, prices drop. I’ve already decided to lease out our orchard in the future—let someone else deal with it.]

Fei Niao Express wasted no time—their official account quickly posted a statement, saying they were happy to help the villagers of Xiaoxi Village, earning a big wave of goodwill.

For such a large company, this was nothing.
How much could it possibly cost to cover all of Xiaoxi Village’s persimmons? Hiring a streamer with a million followers for ads would cost far more.

And Mu Xing wasn’t just any streamer—he brought in more traffic than expected, and they even snagged a free trending spot in the process.
Pure profit.

---

After the stream, several uncles surrounded Mu Xing.

Uncle Zhao still looked a bit unsure. “Xingxing, can our persimmons really sell online?”

Before Mu Xing could reply, Liu Xue grinned. “Don’t you worry. Even without Mu Xing’s popularity, just the quality of Xiaoxi Village’s persimmons at 1.5 yuan a jin—five jin for just a few bucks—who could resist that?”

“You’d better be ready to handle orders until your hands cramp! Just don’t complain about being tired.”

Uncle Zhao’s face lit up. “That’s a relief. As long as we can sell them, I’ll be happy no matter how tired I get!”

After sending them off, Mu Xing looked a little apologetic toward Liu Xue. “Sorry, Brother Liu, about the courier deal we talked about…”

Liu Xue waved it off. “What are you talking about? Only a fool would turn down free help. Besides, you’re paying me more than enough for a half-baked cameraman.”

Then, remembering his wife’s request, he scratched his head shyly. “By the way, Mu Xing, could you give me a few autographs?”

Mu Xing blinked, then smiled. “Of course. Want to take a photo too?”

Liu Xue’s eyes lit up. “Of course I do.”

That evening, he went home beaming, carrying autographs and a photo, earning a warm kiss from his wife… only to watch her crop him out of the photo.

“…Wife, what’s the meaning of this?”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Haven’t you noticed? Standing next to Xingxing, you’re really an eyesore.”

“… ”

Perhaps worried about hurting his pride, she kissed his forehead with a grin. “Don’t worry—I don’t mind that you’re ugly.”

“… Thanks. I feel so comforted.”

---

The next day.

Even though he’d spoken so confidently to Uncle Zhao, Mu Xing still felt a bit nervous inside.

He opened the stream.

[Good morning, Xingxing! Oh? New location?]
[New map unlocked *1]

After greeting the viewers, Mu Xing explained, “It rained today, so I’m not going up the mountain. This is my study. The persimmon link is below—can you see it?”

He checked his own phone to make sure it worked.

[Yep, I see it. Already placed my order.]
[Order +1]
[I ordered too.]

Today there was no need for a cameraman — the camera was fixed in place, and Liu Xue found himself re-employed as a Taobao customer service rep, frantically refreshing the order backend and occasionally answering a few questions.

Mu Xing watched the scrolling barrage of comments, momentarily unsure what to say.

He said honestly, “I don’t know what to chat about. Today’s mainly just for putting up the persimmon purchase link. After you’ve bought them, you can just leave.”

[Mu Xing: I’m just a tool man for selling persimmons.]
[?? Other streamers are all desperate to keep their viewer count up, but you’re actually telling your viewers to leave.]
[I hate it when people tell me what to do — you tell me to leave, I’m definitely staying! (dog head)]
[Xingxing really doesn’t know how to run a stream.]
[Heh, you’re already a streamer, so who are you pretending for?]
[Mu Xing never said he planned to be a streamer, right? I remember from the start he only wanted to sell persimmons?]
[! Wait, I just realized — once the persimmons are sold out, Xingxing, are you still going to stream?]

Mu Xing looked at the comments, hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “I didn’t plan on becoming a full-time streamer.”

He had started the livestream solely to sell persimmons, and once they were gone, he hadn’t intended to continue.
Oh, though next year when persimmons ripen, he could still use this account. The heartless sales-tool Mu Xing thought so to himself.

[!!!]
[Nooo!]
[If you’re not going to stream, then will you go back to the entertainment industry?]
Mu Xing shook his head again. “I won’t return to the entertainment industry.”

[Don’t! That means I won’t be able to see you anymore?]
[What? No way, look at us — you’ve still got over two million fans!]
[Please keep streaming! You don’t have to do anything — just turn on the camera and go about your business, as long as we can see you!]
[+1]
[+2]

Mu Xing thought about it with some difficulty, then said, “I haven’t completely decided. Let’s talk about it later.”

Just then, his phone rang.

Mu Xing got up, left the study, and answered outside. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was warm and enthusiastic: “Is this Mr. Mu Xing? I’m a staff member from the Xincheng County Rural Revitalization Bureau, and I’d like to discuss a possible collaboration with you.”

❣╰(⸝⸝⸝꒳⸝⸝⸝)╯❣