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Chen Xu changed the topic and said, "So, I told Zixin not to ask me to do livestreams anymore. You better handle it on your own. I'm the straightforward type and can't stand this kind of nonsense."
"Then, Zixin tried to persuade me, saying, 'Bro, calm down. What do these people know? They're just a bunch of frogs at the bottom of a well, with no insight at all, yet they act like mad dogs, biting without evidence. Why bother with such people? It's beneath us.'"
Directly across from him, Dai Zixin looked confused. When had she ever said these words?
Bang.
Chen Xu slapped the table beside him and said, "When I heard that, I was furious. I told her, 'Zixin, how can you talk about your fans like that? Even if they are like frogs at the bottom of a well, even if they lack quality, even if they are brainless attackers, they are still your bread and butter. You owe them basic respect.'"
Dai Zixin's mouth gaped wider and wider as she listened.
Meanwhile, the comments in the livestream chat had already exploded.
"Why does this sound so off the more I listen?"
"It sounds like he's speaking for us, but why does it feel like he's scolding us?"
"And he's doing it right to our faces!"
"Wow, this guy is really something else!"
"This is the first time I've seen a host insult the audience in a roundabout way."
......
Chen Xu couldn't see the chat and continued speaking, "At that time, I lectured her. In the end, she wasn't convinced and argued that those critical trolls never send gifts, so they're not really her bread and butter."
"I told her, you have to understand, the reason these people don't send gifts might not be because they're stingy, but because they're poor. Discriminating against them like that is wrong. You need to have a tolerant heart."
At this point, Dai Zixin finally regained her composure, glaring at him angrily. If it weren't for the fact they were livestreaming now, she would've gone over to strangle him.
This jerk was actually slandering her live. It was just too much.
Chen Xu didn't notice her expression and, having finished speaking, felt relieved.
When Dai Zixin told him that someone was slandering him during the livestream, he was already irked and had planned to retaliate the next time they streamed.
However, proving his innocence in such matters wasn't easy, and he wasn't willing to put in that effort. But directly scolding them could result in being reported and cause trouble. So he used this method as a way to vent his frustration.
This time, he had learned his lesson and didn't look at the chat comments to avoid irritating himself further.
Thinking about having to gather at the hot springs later, he decided to start his performance for the day.
"Later, I thought about it, and Zixin really has it tough. The company has her working overtime until seven or eight every day. At night, she still has to livestream for you. And she's doing it just to earn a little living wage. Girls who work as hard as her are really rare. As a friend, I try to help out where I can."
"Today, I've prepared something new. If everyone finds it entertaining, please send more gifts."
With that, he took out a white radish and said, "Today, I'm going to perform slicing a radish. When I was young, I liked to visit my grandma's house. She grew a lot of radishes, more than we could eat. Every time we cooked, I would rush to help slice the radishes. When the knife slices through, the crisp sound is really delightful."
"Now, I'll slice it for you. Zixin, zoom the camera in a bit," Chen Xu gestured to Dai Zixin.
Dai Zixin looked puzzled when she heard he was going to cut a radish. Chen Xu hadn't revealed what he was going to perform beforehand, so even she didn't know.
However, she had full confidence in him and moved the camera closer anyway.
In the livestream room, a wave of comments flooded in again, "Unbelievable! In all my years on various livestream platforms, I've never seen a radish-slicing performance."
"Is the host serious? Are you really slicing a radish for thousands to watch?"
"It feels like you're joking with us."
"Yet, I feel things aren't that simple."
"This host is sly; he must be tricking us."
......
Chen Xu asked with an air of importance, "Do you know how to slice radishes to make them taste good?"
"They must be cut to a uniform size and length, with no more than a millimeter of difference. Only then can the texture and flavor of each piece be exactly the same."
As he spoke, he took out a ruler and a pen, measuring and drawing four or five lines on the radish.
Watching him speak seriously while half-joking, Dai Zixin almost burst into laughter. It must be said, once Chen Xu was in front of the livestream camera, he became a different person.
Usually, he wasn't so talkative.
Chen Xu put away the pen and ruler, saying, "Alright, now we can start slicing."
He pretended to search his body, then his expression changed, and he said, "Oh no, I forgot to bring a knife. What do we do now?"
"I have one here; you can use it."
From nowhere, a few audience members had gathered, and one of them suddenly spoke and indeed took out a folding pocket knife, offering it up.
For a moment, the expression on Chen Xu's face froze.
Someone had actually disrupted his scheme, leaving him at a loss for what to do next.
Dai Zixin, who was filming, almost burst into laughter; although she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help it, stifling her urge so as not to provoke Chen Xu.
"Here, take it. Don't be shy," the well-meaning viewer said.
Chen Xu looked at him expressionlessly and finally spoke, "No, thank you, I only use my own knife."
The person was taken aback and awkwardly withdrew.
Maintaining his expression, Chen Xu addressed the camera, saying, "Uh, um, when we don't have a knife, how do we slice this radish?"
He stumbled for a moment but eventually got through the sentence smoothly, his tone becoming fluent, "In this case, what you need is a deck of playing cards."
With that, he pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket, opened it, shuffled the cards several times, and said, "By coincidence, I bought a deck of cards from a convenience store earlier."
"Of course, some might ask how paper playing cards can slice through a radish. Let me show you."
Chen Xu drew several cards from the deck, putting the rest back in his pocket. He then stepped back a few paces, "First, you have to step back, about five meters. Then, hold it between two fingers and flick it out like this."
With those words, he flicked his wrist, and the card between his index and middle fingers flew out, piercing the radish several meters away with force, almost slicing it in half.
"Did you see that clearly? Let me do it again."
As Chen Xu spoke, he tossed another card, spinning it to embed in the radish.
"The key is wrist strength; watch." Soon, another card was lodged in the radish.
"The last one."
After flicking the last card, Chen Xu motioned for Dai Zixin to give a close-up.
Walking over to the radish, Dai Zixin gasped as she looked closer.
Four playing cards, each perfectly aligned with the lines Chen Xu had drawn earlier, were embedded precisely in the radish.
As the camera zoomed in, the entire livestream fell silent for a few seconds, then erupted with a storm of comments.
"Holy crap, I'm not seeing things, am I?"
"My mom asked why I'm watching the livestream on my knees."
"Honey, come quick and see the miracle…"
PS, with the new book's final week underway, we're aiming to climb the new book rankings. Please, I beg for your recommendation votes.
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