Chapter 54: What a Coincidence
After getting his haircut, Chi Zhen came straight home and started his stream. Since he'd made it onto the homepage today, he had to make the most of the extra exposure.
As soon as the stream went live, viewers poured in and immediately began commenting on the screenshot being used on the homepage.
It was daytime, so everyone was at work. Only Qian Yu and Sister Gou from the Little Vegetable Guild were online—not enough people to form a dungeon party. For some reason, everyone in the guild had gradually reached an unspoken agreement: any quests or dungeons that required five or more players would be saved until the entire guild was online together. No one wanted to recruit random players anymore.
Qian Yu was completely absorbed in solo battlefield matches. Sister Gou was equally engrossed in collecting dyes to recolor her cosmetics.
Meanwhile, Chi Zhen watered his crops while chatting with viewers.
"Using a screenshot from my stream was my own fault. I missed the moderator's message."
"My hair was too messy? Well, I couldn't help that. Maybe the moderator took the screenshot while I was in the middle of an intense dungeon run—or getting chased by people."
"Yeah, I specifically went to get a haircut today. Mm-hmm, I also bought some new clothes. Gotta show the platform's annual event the respect it deserves."
"What clothes did I buy? I just asked the people in my guild. They picked them out."
"Decorate my streaming room? Decorate it with what? Oh? Quest for the Azure Heavens released official merchandise? When was that? Let me take a look."
Picking up his phone, Chi Zhen first browsed the game's flagship store before checking its official Weibo account. Sure enough, there were several new merchandise releases this year.
He enlarged one of the pictures and held his phone up to the webcam. "Hey, this Spirit Cultivator figure they collaborated on with another company actually looks pretty nice. How come I never knew about it before?"
The viewers, bored out of their minds, immediately started giving him decorating advice.
[Your windowsill next to the bed is huge! Decorate it! Put some plushies and figures on it.]
[No, no, no! Lighting! The key is the lighting! Nowadays everyone uses multiple light sources so the lighting has depth and layers. Your room doesn't have any spotlights—you should put a floor lamp at the foot of your bed.]
[Come on, Xiao Chi isn't renovating his house. A decorative floor lamp is fine, but don't use it as your main lighting. Just search for livestream lighting setups.]
[What's going on? You've got two to three thousand viewers now and nobody's helping you? Don't you know any other streamers?]
That reminder made Chi Zhen think of his roommate, Luo Song.
"My roommate's a streamer too—a livestream shopping streamer. He has a full professional setup. I'll ask him. He's back home for summer break."
Chi Zhen sent Luo Song a message. Luo Song replied almost immediately. He cheerfully told Chi Zhen that he'd bought a brand-new lighting setup for his hometown, so Chi Zhen could just use his old one.
[Xiao Luo Meiyou Bo]: Try it out first. If you decide you want something better later, I'll recommend some upgrades. It's all pretty easy to use. I'll send you a tutorial video.
After studying the instructions for about ten minutes, Chi Zhen managed to set everything up.
Luo Song's equipment was surprisingly elaborate. He placed several ambient lights around the room, along with key lights and side lights. Considering the limited space, Chi Zhen only set up a few of the smaller ones. Otherwise, his tiny bedroom would've been impossible to walk through.
Once everything was in place, he flipped on the power. The chat immediately erupted in amazement. It was like upgrading from a bicycle to a sports car.
Chi Zhen laughed. "As long as everyone's happy. But I'm mainly a gaming streamer. My webcam window is so small that all this complicated lighting doesn't really seem necessary."
The viewers disagreed.
[I've been telling you forever—switch to the Looks category already!]
[Holy crap! Just changing the lighting made this tiny shabby room suddenly look classy!]
[Damn, Xiao Chi just got another level more handsome! I can't imagine how good-looking he is in real life!]
[Then make the webcam full screen! Are you brave enough to let us admire that handsome face in HD?]
[Exactly! Gaming streamers don't spend the entire stream playing games. Sometimes you stop and chat too!]
Almost immediately, viewers started sending gifts, asking Chi Zhen to enlarge the webcam window.
Before he even had a chance to respond, more and more gifts kept pouring in.
Chi Zhen thought to himself: Well, the webcam's already on. My picture's already on the homepage. Making the webcam window bigger isn't really a big deal anymore.
Just as he reached for the controls… The chat suddenly exploded.
[Hey, hey, hey! Who's this "DZS_Qianli Jiangling"? They just climbed to second place on the gift leaderboard!]
[They actually dared to secretly use a matching couple name? Well... since they're the number-two donor, we'll let it slide.]
[Whoa! Boss Qianli Jiangling, if you send just one more Fruit Transport Plane, you'll become the number-one donor! Go for it! Knock that annoying guy off first place!]
At the top of Chi Zhen's gift leaderboard was still the same alternate account from Chan Xue—the one that had rubbed salt in the wound while two guilds were hunting him down.
Back then, the account had sent ten Fruit Transport Planes, declaring that it would send one for every time Qingzhou Yiguo died.
After sending all ten, the person had cursed loudly and left.
Probably because spending that much money hurt too much.
The moment Chi Zhen saw the username "DZS_Qianli Jiangling," his eyes widened. He was so shocked that he forgot to speak.
Wujin Shi!
The only person who would use that ID is Wujin Shi!
So when he said he'd been sending me gifts... he really meant it. He's already spent several thousand yuan...
The words burst out of Chi Zhen's mouth before he could stop himself. "Stop sending gifts! Seriously, stop!"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, DZS_Qianli Jiangling had already lightning-fast sent two Fruit Transport Planes, successfully taking over as the number one donor.
The chat immediately erupted in congratulations.
[Yes! Finally, that annoying guy got pushed off the top!]
[Hope the next big spenders keep it up and bury that jerk so far down the rankings nobody can see him anymore!]
[What's with Xiao Chi? A boss is showering you with gifts, and all you can do is stare in shock? At least say thank you!]
[Could this be someone Xiao Chi knows?]
[Holy crap! Qingzhou Yiguo... Qianli Jiangling... Who's shameless enough to give themselves a matching couple name? I have a really bad feeling about this—]
*Qingzhou Yiguo, Qianli Jianling = from Li Bai’s Poem
[Damn! Don't tell me it's Wujin Shi?? If it is, I'll eat the B and L keys off my keyboard!]
[If it is, I'll eat the S, Z, and D keys off mine!]
Seeing the comment about "being shameless enough to give yourself a matching couple name," Chi Zhen felt his mind explode. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would've crawled straight into it.
That wasn't what I meant at all.
When he'd created his character, he'd instinctively typed Qingzhou Yiguo without giving it any thought.
[Holy crap, Xiao Chi! Your face is so red it looks like you're about to bleed! What's going on?]
[Damn, that's definitely Wujin Shi. Just look at Xiao Chi's reaction!]
At that moment, DZS_Qianli Jiangling finally spoke.
[How did Xiao Chi recognize me?]
[Oh my god, it's actually Wujin Shi!]
[Unbelievable! Isn't Wujin Shi supposed to be at work? He's still finding time to stir things up?]
[Getting your disguise exposed this way is a little awkward... but I love it.]
Chi Zhen immediately recovered his composure and played dumb. "What? I don't know who Qianli Jiangling is. It couldn't possibly be the great Wujin Shi, right? He's at work."
He didn't want Wujin Shi to find out that he had once been Jinse Shouhu. Though, in all likelihood, Wujin Shi had long since forgotten that insignificant little player.
Chi Zhen's phone suddenly began vibrating nonstop.
The viewers immediately suggested, [Just check on WeChat! Then you'll know if it's really him.]
Chi Zhen picked up his phone. He had no intention of checking. But when he opened WeChat, he saw that Qingtian Wai was already causing a scene in the Little Vegetable Guild group chat.
[Qingtian Wai]: DZS, you bastard! I've been asking you to treat me to a meal for months, and you've kept putting it off. Yet you've just spent several thousand yuan on gifts in Xiao Chi's stream!
[Wujin Shi]: Aren't you supposed to be working?
[Qingtian Wai]: That's what I should be asking you.
[Wujin Shi]: I'm slacking off.
[Qingtian Wai]: Damn capitalist.
[Wujin Shi]: Aren't you slacking off too?
[Qingtian Wai: If I didn't slack off, how would I know the warmth and coldness of the world? How would I know you're the kind of guy who forgets his friends the moment he sees a pretty face?
[Wujin Shi]: Watch your wording. I'm simply in awe of Xiao Chi's incredible gameplay.
Putting his phone back down, Chi Zhen found the viewers bombarding him with questions.
[Well? Well? Is it really Wujin Shi?!]
[If it isn't Wujin Shi, then I'm shipping a brand-new couple today! The number-one donor secretly in love with a small streamer, even choosing a matching couple name!]
Chi Zhen sighed. "...You can eat food recklessly. But you can't ship CPs recklessly."
"A new CP? What new CP?" Wujin Shi's voice suddenly came over YY. There was still that faint smile in his voice. "I took a break from work to come explain. I've always used this ID. I was already using it before I met Xiao Chi. I've always used this name in games. When I created my character, though, someone on the Moonfall Starsinking server had already taken it, so I couldn't use it. So I had no choice but to call myself Wujin Shi instead."
Chi Zhen's heart pounded. He felt guilty. His face grew even hotter.
was going through Chi Zhen's mind, Wujin Shi continued, "So... Doesn't that mean Xiao Chi and I were destined to meet?"
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