Ch 15: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

In livestreaming, “baiting” is a common tactic — you just post some obviously dumb, clearly hostile comments, and fans of the streamer will naturally feel compelled to argue back.

Some people, even knowing it’s bait, still can’t help getting angry and want to respond. As long as the rhythm gets going, the whole chat turns into a mess, driving other viewers away.

But clearly, these paid trolls hadn’t expected Mu Xing’s livestream to be like this.

Or rather, the troll group Li Xin hired specialized in targeting celebrities.

They were used to stirring up fan wars, but livestream fans and celebrity fans are obviously not the same.

Most of Mu Xing’s viewers were casual passersby, men and women alike, without deep emotional attachment to the streamer.

If you insult his small frame or looks, the people watching to buy persimmons don’t care at all.

As for Mu Xing’s beauty fans, they thought the insults were so low-level they didn’t even bother replying.

During the stream, Mu Xing didn’t read the chat unless it was downtime for interaction, so he had no idea a wave of trolls had just arrived.

He slung a basket onto his back and walked ahead, pointing forward, where there were already a lot of people.

“These are all here to pick persimmons,” Mu Xing said with a smile, pointing back. “Some are hired workers, some are the villagers’ relatives — every year at this time, they come to help.”

Then he set a long bamboo pole against a tree, and in one smooth motion, climbed straight up the trunk.

[Every time I see Xingxing climb a tree, my heart’s in my throat.]

[From this angle, that tree looks really tall. Be careful up there.]

[If it were me, I wouldn’t even dare to move at that height.]

[So much work for persimmons that only sell for 1.5 yuan… I feel like I got the better deal.]

Liu Xue carried the camera, wandering around the hillside instead of climbing up.

He had actually suggested Mu Xing wear a body camera, since the audience was here to see him.

But Mu Xing said, “No need. Our goal is to sell the produce. You just film properly so people can see with their own eyes where their persimmons come from. If we build a good reputation, sales from Xiaoxi Village will never be a problem again.”

Liu Xue truly admired him — with such a huge fanbase, Mu Xing really didn’t care about popularity and was focused only on selling.

Viewers, surprisingly, found this refreshing:

[Didn’t think I’d be watching a persimmon harvest in a livestream.]

[But hey, knowing that some of these are my persimmons makes it interesting.]

[Auntie, there’s a giant persimmon up there! Pick it!]

[Damn, Xingxing, in half an hour you’ve been on screen for what, a few minutes? Padding the stream time, huh? (dog head)]

[Cut it out, he’s not even signed — there’s no stream time quota to pad. (dog head)]

[This looks so fun. I’m from Xincheng County too — if I go home for the weekend, can I help pick?]

The camera panned just in time to catch Mu Xing lowering a few baskets full of persimmons by rope, then jumping down from the tree.

Viewers then watched him, wide-eyed, pick up two half-human-tall baskets full of persimmons — one in each hand — and casually walk several dozen meters without breaking a sweat.

The cameraman asked, “Tired?”

Mu Xing shook his head, fanning himself with his straw hat. “Not really tired, just a bit hot. I’m sweating already.”

Liu Xue suddenly “got it” and zoomed in—

Mu Xing’s forehead glistened with fine beads of sweat, and his cheeks were flushed from the heat. Sensing something, he turned his head toward the camera in puzzlement.

The chat exploded like a chicken coop on fire:

[Ahhhhh where’s my defibrillator?!]

[Cameraman, you get me!]

[I saw Xingxing’s eyelashes! I don’t care, he winked at me — he’s totally flirting!]

[I used to think of “smelly sweat” whenever I saw a guy sweat. I’m sorry for being shallow — how can someone look this good sweating from farm work?!]

[Where are those haters who said it’s all staged? And the ones claiming he’s caked in makeup? Show me your foundation that can survive this much sweat without a trace.]

[So many squealing fangirls in the chat, lol. As a guy, I’m just impressed by that arm strength — each of those baskets must weigh over 100 jin, and he carried one in each hand without even panting.]

[New viewer here. I heard the streamer used to be a celebrity with some scandals? Don’t care — this is the first time I’ve seen a seller work this hard, personally doing the labor. Followed.]

[My bad. I’m not a paid troll, but I did call him weak before. I take it back — I think he could take me ten times over :)]

“Oh, right,” Mu Xing said after downing half a bottle of water, “the cameraman said other streamers give fans perks, so I should do something too.”

Flashing a grin, he continued, “I don’t have anything fancy, so I’ll give away the first batch of persimmons that ripened in Xiaoxi Village this year, the ones I just picked myself. Ten winners, split evenly and shipped out.”

[Cameraman, I love you! Give this man a drumstick!]

[Ahhhh please pick me!]

[Cameraman’s my husband — maybe I can bribe my way in?]

[Booking that sunshine smile from Xingxing, and then pick me!]

[Persimmons picked by Xingxing himself for his fans — I = Xingxing’s fan, so that means these are persimmons Xingxing picked for me. Rounding up, that’s basically the same as us dating! Pick me!]

[Oh mighty RNG gods, this humble devotee is willing to trade ten pounds of fat in exchange for Xingxing drawing my name!]

Mu Xing used the built-in raffle system, and the winners appeared quickly.

“Congratulations to ‘Guardian Star’, ‘Staying Up All Night’, ‘Life Isn’t Worth It’… and ‘A Mansion for All’ — ten fans in total. Remember to leave your address; after work this afternoon, I’ll pack them up and send them to you.”

Waving at the camera, Mu Xing said, “Alright, I’ve rested enough. Time to get back to picking persimmons.”

And when he said “livestreaming the persimmon harvest,” he meant it — apart from the raffle, he barely interacted with the audience at all.

Logically, it should’ve been boring, but the viewer count stayed high the whole time. When the two hours were up and Mu Xing was about to say goodbye, many fans protested:

[Don’t end it! I’m just keeping it on while I do homework — watching for a bit during breaks is actually kind of nice.]

[Yeah, you’re picking persimmons anyway, just keep the stream going.]

[Please don’t end it, you can just leave it running. My grandpa’s watching too, and he’s loving it. Ever since he moved to the city with us, he’s rarely been so interested in something. He even told me picking persimmons is hard work, and when he learned you can get tips, he insisted I send you one.]

Mu Xing paused at the comments, then asked, “You guys actually like watching persimmon picking?”

[We like it!]

Mu Xing chuckled. “You’ve got some unusual hobbies.”

Glancing up at the mountain behind him, he added, “What’s so interesting about this?”

It wasn’t like there was any downside, so he said, “This depends on the cameraman — he’s the one who’d be working overtime. I’ll see if he’s willing.”

Of course, Liu Xue was fine with it, and after confirming, Mu Xing smiled at the camera: “Brother Liu says no problem, so we’ll keep streaming today.”

User Guardian Star sent ten starlight points.

[Guardian Star]: I’ll buy you sunscreen tomorrow.

Only Liu Xue understood that one, and his feelings were suddenly very complicated.

The fans didn’t get it, but they all chipped in tips:

[Thanks for your hard work, cameraman — Xingxing, give him a drumstick.]

[The streamer and cameraman both worked hard, as did all the uncles and aunties — please have a drink on us.]

The screen filled with the glow of tip effects.

Mu Xing said, “Thank you, but don’t waste your money — selling these persimmons makes me happier than anything.”

Chang Yiming, lurking in the chat on a small account, watched Mu Xing interacting casually with fans, that handsome face, how he walked out of frame to pick persimmons, and the viewer count that never dipped.

His expression grew darker and darker.

Lately, things hadn’t been going well for him — though not exactly bad. MRC, after all, was one of the few boy groups from Star Entertainment with any faint buzz, so they weren’t doing terribly.

But they just couldn’t break through. While no one outright scolded them, their treatment kept getting downgraded.

Especially now — without Mu Xing to take the heat, all the pressure fell squarely on him as captain.

He’d never liked Mu Xing, though unlike Xu Wen, he didn’t show it openly. He never bad-mouthed him or picked fights — but when the others ostracized Mu Xing, he never once stepped in to defend him.

Back then, the much-looked-down-on Mu Xing left MRC and became wildly popular, while MRC sank deeper into obscurity.

At events, competitors would often subtly mock them — “Can’t even hold onto a Golden Watermelon award.”

Worse, he knew many of MRC’s so-called “career fans” had quietly left to follow Mu Xing. Career fans chase strength — when Mu Xing was floundering, they trashed him; now that he was hot, they quietly switched sides.

Some fans even started to question if Mu Xing had ever been the group’s burden — maybe MRC had been leeching off his traffic all along.

That theory had plenty of agreement.

Now, every day in the group’s super-topic, someone asked when Mu Xing was coming back.

With Mu Xing’s current numbers, who wouldn’t want him? Did Chang Yiming? Of course he did.

But he also knew the company had reached out to Mu Xing — and been flatly rejected. No hope at all.

Then Li Xin called.

“Your act for Jinguang TV’s Mid-Autumn Gala has been cut.”

“…What?”

Li Xin was clearly furious. “They said the program ran way too long, so they had to cut a few.”

“And they cut ours? We rehearsed for months for this, even turned down a commercial gig! Why?” Chang Yiming snapped, his voice edged with anger.

Li Xin shot back, “Why are you yelling at me? If you’ve got the guts, go get it back yourself! And if you guys weren’t so useless, with so few fans, would they have cut you? If Mu Xing were still here, they’d be fighting to put you in prime time!”

Chang Yiming wanted to say, Oh, so now you remember him? You were the loudest when it came to bashing him before.

But Li Xin was still his manager, so he swallowed it down, hung up, and stared again at the livestream on his screen, his expression unreadable.

Mu Xing, we worked together for two years. I never wronged you. Now… I can only ask you to help us.

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