Chapter 53: What Is This, Ordering Off a Menu?
From just one or two hundred concurrent viewers at the beginning, he'd now reached over two thousand. After joining the platform's annual streaming event and turning on his webcam, his gift revenue had shot up dramatically.
Looking at yesterday's gift earnings in the streaming dashboard, Chi Zhen wasn't sure whether to be happy or worried.
The good news was that yesterday had set yet another record for gift revenue. The bad news was that the highest peak on the earnings graph corresponded exactly to the period when Endless Time—or rather, everyone in the Little Vegetable Guild—had been clowning around.
After ending the stream last night, he had opened Weibo and checked the "Endless Chi-Chi" fan community. Sure enough, it was filled with posts about Endless Time reading viewers' gift messages aloud and Misty Autumn Rain's explosive comments.
The scariest part was that the fan community had actually grown to three digits. It now had 189 members.
Chi Zhen silently scrolled through the entire community, reading every post that mentioned Endless Time.
Afterward, he browsed the accounts he followed on his Weibo homepage, then opened his Special Following list. There was only one account. DZS_Thousand-Li Jiangling.
The newest post was still the same one from more than half a year ago. A screenshot from a game. The caption contained only three words: "Pretty fun."
Chi Zhen had looked at that screenshot countless times. Yet every time he saw it, he couldn't help clicking on it again.
The swordsman, dressed entirely in black, stood atop a towering mountain like a lone pine tree. Beneath his feet rolled an endless sea of dark clouds.
He looked unbelievably cool.
When Chi Zhen had first seen the screenshot, the only clue had been the three characters above the avatar's head: Endless Time. Nothing else. Because the account had gone so long without updating, when that post was published it hadn't even received a single reply. Chi Zhen hadn't dared ask the legendary player what game it was or which server he played on. Instead, he'd searched the entire internet for ancient Chinese fantasy MMORPGs until he finally found ‘Quest for the Azure Heavens’.
He created alternate characters on every single server, searching for a Sword Cultivator named Endless Time. Eventually, he found him on the Moonfall Starsinking server.
Even then, he still didn't dare approach him. The only times he'd ever initiated contact were when he happened to see Endless Time buying materials in world chat, so he went over to sell him some.
He had never mentioned Thousand-Li Jiangling. Nor had he mentioned Golden Guardian.
It wasn't important. Those things were just like the insignificant little player called Golden Guardian— Unimportant.
As long as they were playing the same game, that was enough.
Back then, he had never imagined there would come a day when he'd even add Endless Time on WeChat.
After browsing the fan community last night, he'd unknowingly scrolled until two in the morning, causing him to oversleep.
When he finally woke up, the Little Vegetable Guild's WeChat group already had 99+ unread messages. Everyone was discussing Bilibili Live's annual streaming event.
Opening the app, Chi Zhen discovered the event had already begun. The homepage had been redesigned, featuring several top streamers along with shortcuts to their channels. As he scrolled down, he found a prominent new section halfway down the page titled "Popular New Streamers." CZ Xiao Chi was right there among them. Alongside his channel...was a screenshot from one of his streams.
In the screenshot, he was wearing an old T-shirt whose collar had become loose from countless washes. His hair was a complete mess. And he was furiously mashing his keyboard and mouse.
Chi Zhen stared blankly.
Seriously? You're going to use my picture without even telling me first? At least let me send in a decent photo where I actually look presentable!
When he checked his internal platform messages, he finally discovered that one of the site moderators had contacted him two days earlier. The moderator had explained that a new homepage section would be launching in a few days, recommending the ten new streamers with the highest popularity over the past week. He'd asked whether Chi Zhen had a better photo they could use. Otherwise, they'd use a screenshot from one of his streams.
Chi Zhen had no idea what he'd been doing two days ago. He hadn't even looked at his inbox. Since the moderator never received a photo, he'd simply used a livestream screenshot instead.
If it'd been some other screenshot, Chi Zhen could've accepted it. But why did it have to be the one where he was wearing that old T-shirt...and with his hair looking like a bird's nest?
He was starting to suspect the moderator had it out for him.
Looking at the other featured streamers only made it worse. Some had professional studio portraits. Others had seemingly casual but obviously carefully planned lifestyle photos, complete with stylish outfits and immaculate makeup.
Compared to them...he looked downright shabby.
Opening the Little Vegetable Guild's WeChat group, he wasn't surprised to find everyone discussing why he was the only one whose promotional image was a random livestream screenshot.
[Blue Sky Beyond]: Endless Time flirted way too hard. Bilibili Live must've blacklisted Xiao Chi because of it.
[Endless Time]: ?
[Explosive Red]: Honestly... that's actually possible.
[Sister Dog]: Out of the seven male streamers on that list, at least five are selling BL fanservice or pairing themselves into ships. But nobody goes as hard as Endless Time does.
[Blue Sky Beyond]: That's because he isn't selling it. He's performing with genuine emotion. #smile
[Sister Dog]: Sometimes, I honestly feel so sorry for Guild Leader Xiao Chi after Endless Time teases him. It makes my maternal instincts kick in.
[Killbreaking Wolf]: Sister Dog, how old are you?
[Sister Dog]: Why do you ask?
[Thousand Feathers]: Guild Leader Xiao Chi is a sophomore in college this year, so he should be the same age as Sister Dog.
[Sister Dog]: It's nine-thirty in the morning. Killbreaking Wolf, shouldn't you be doing your homework instead of playing on your phone?
[Killbreaking Wolf]: 0.0
Xiao Chi hurriedly came out to explain.
[Xiao Chi]: It's not that. It's my own fault. I missed the moderator's message asking me for a photo, so he ended up using a screenshot from my stream...
[Endless Time]: It's fine. You look handsome.
[Blue Sky Beyond]: This is the WeChat group, not your livestream, Endless Time. Have some self-restraint.
[Endless Time]: Just telling the truth.
[Sister Dog]: I can't even bear to look.
[Lime]: But honestly, out of those ten streamers, Guild Leader Xiao Chi really is the best-looking. #Happy
[Explosive Red]: I think all you need is a change of clothes and to actually style your hair. Look at the other streamers—they're all dressed so well. Then look at you: one ratty T-shirt. For all we know, you're wearing baggy shorts underneath, too.
[Sister Dog]: Exactly! What a waste of that face! Go check out the streamers in the Looks category—they wear different outfits every day! With your looks and your gaming skills, if you just cleaned yourself up a bit, you'd dominate the Gaming section!
Chi Zhen had never been particularly interested in dressing himself up. To this day, his summer wardrobe consisted of only five T-shirts—black, white, dark gray, light gray, and bluish gray—plus a few pairs of jeans and knee-length shorts. That was it.
But one thing about him was that he listened to good advice. After thinking it over carefully, he realized Sister Dog made a lot of sense. He wasn't bad-looking. Maybe if he put in a little effort, he'd make even more money.
Besides… The thought that nearly everyone in the Little Vegetable Guild watched his streams and could see what he looked like made him a little embarrassed about appearing on camera looking so sloppy.
Luo Song had suggested several times that he'd take him to get a proper haircut and buy some new clothes. Chi Zhen had never taken him seriously.
[Xiao Chi]: Ah... then I'll go get a haircut this afternoon...
[Sister Dog]: This kid really does take advice.
[Explosive Red]: Xiao Chi, get white hair! With your face, you'd look like one of those gorgeous white-haired manga boys!
The three girls in the Little Vegetable Guild immediately began enthusiastically offering suggestions for Chi Zhen's hairstyle and wardrobe.
A new message from Endless Time soon appeared.
[Endless Time]: Guild Leader Xiao Chi only needs to trim his hair a little shorter. No need to dye it. Black hair looks good.
[Endless Time]: Don't wear anything too flashy. Simple student-style clothes suit Xiao Chi well.
[Sister Dog]: That's such a dad-like comment.
[Explosive Red]: Translation: Endless Time likes innocent young boys.
[Blue Sky Beyond]: Brother Shi... I can't even look at you.
No sooner said than done.
Chi Zhen immediately asked Luo Song for the address of his barber, got up, washed up, ate a quick breakfast, and headed out.
The haircut was easy. Buying clothes, however, was another story. Growing up, Chi Zhen had only ever bought T-shirts for summer and outdoor jackets for winter. Now, staring at the endless sea of colorful clothes on his phone, he felt completely lost.
He tried sending several outfit photos to the group chat, asking the girls for their opinions. Sure enough, everyone enthusiastically started giving advice.
[Sister Dog]: Stop buying only black, white, and gray. Try some brighter colors. Your skin's fair—you can definitely pull them off.
[Lime]: Floral shirts would totally suit you.
[Explosive Red]: Wear a solid-colored overshirt with a plain white T-shirt underneath. Simple, effortless, and very Japanese-style.
[Lime]: Add a few simple accessories to elevate the look. A watch, a simple necklace...
[Sister Dog]: I'll send you a few outfit ideas. Use them as references.
Chi Zhen humbly took notes. Following everyone's recommendations, he searched online for clothes within his budget, then sent several outfit combinations back to the group, asking whether they looked okay.
The discussion quickly became lively. The girls enthusiastically chatted about this summer's fashion trends.
A little while later, Endless Time suddenly sent several screenshots of the chat.
Everyone was confused. When they opened them...good grief. He had circled several of the outfit photos Chi Zhen had posted.
[Endless Time]: These outfits are pretty good.
[Sister Dog]: What is this, ordering off a menu?
[Blue Sky Beyond]: Seriously, Endless Time... are you really this free at work?
The Little Vegetable Guild burst into laughter.
Chi Zhen opened the outfits Endless Time had circled. For reasons he couldn't quite explain...he bought every single one of them.
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