LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Giving Them a Leg Up
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Wang Yan accessed the live stream, ten rockets suddenly appeared on the screen.
Wang Yan didn’t know anything about treasure chests, banners, or snatching fish balls, but he did see lots of viewers joining the live chat section, as well as the screen being flooded with comments.
Liu Yuanfang seemed to have gone to great lengths.
Wang Yan smiled when he saw the Level 50 user who had sent a rocket earlier now leaving a comment in red.
“You can do it, Brother Gang! Don’t embarrass Dongbei men!”
The camera zoomed in for a close-up shot of Da Gang.
Beef-faced Da Gang bowed gratefully a few times towards the camera.
“Thank you, bro! Thank you, bro!”
Eh? Was the commenter not someone hired by Liu Yuanfang?
Wang Yan found it a little strange, so he took a close look at the ID, Perfect Timing, that belonged to the Level 50 user.
As a high school graduate, he wasn’t really familiar with live streams. After scrolling through the comments and looking up various explanations, he finally ascertained that this guy had not been hired by Liu Yuanfang.
Level 50 was considered to be very high; a rocket cost 70 dollars, so one would have had to spend 280 in order to reach that level.
Besides, that user was quite well-known among the other users and was greeted as Brother Zao in the comments. He was probably a local tycoon.
Perfect Timing specified that it was for Da Gang when he threw in 700 dollars. Wang Yan found it both surprising and amusing at the same time.
It appeared that both the livestream and the participants were going to become big hits.
Reality was cruel. In live streams like this, whether one was truly popular could easily be determined by looking at the gifts received.
With the exception of eSports anchors, it didn’t really matter how many viewers one had if their ranking was subpar.
Only the gifts showered upon them could indicate their actual popularity.
Otherwise, it didn’t mean sh*t.
Now that the high-level users of the platform had been lured out, it meant that the eating competition had indeed piqued the interest of many viewers, who were clearly very enthusiastic about it.
It also meant that this was a model that could work—a combination of big eaters, eating broadcasts, and live streams.
He was just a little puzzled as to why Da Gang was the one who had received the reward.
After a while, Wang Yan finally understood. It appeared that Da Gang wouldn’t be able to hang in there much longer.
Wait a minute!
Why would it be him?
Wang Yan’s eyes widened as he watched the skinny and petite Mizi, Ling Ya, and
Ah Dai continue eating at a steady pace. Da Gang, on the other hand, had slowed down considerably, and even seemed to be having a hard time. It was apparent that he was on his last leg.
After pondering for a bit, Wang Yan guessed that it was probably because Da Gang hadn’t taken the indigestion relief tablet.
Whatever the reason was, the situation was quite clear-cut—Da Gang was about to drop out, whereas Ling Ya, Mizi, and Ah Dai were still able to continue.
No wonder the audience was so excited, acting as if it cost nothing to send the colored comments!
They were understandably excited at the prospect of seeing three pretty girls eating more than a man with a bulky build. The excitement and anticipation brought about by the stark contrast was something that one wouldn’t comprehend unless they were the ones watching it.
Even Wang Yan, the person who had made all of this possible, found it intriguing.
There were now four contestants remaining, and each of them had their own supporters who were busy spamming the live chat.
That was what led Perfect Timing to speak up.
His second red comment cut straight to the chase. “Shut up, young man.”
“You guys are ridiculing Gangzi for not being able to eat more despite his size?
“Ha. I’m still going to support him. If you don’t like that, put your money where your mouth is!”
The competition had reached fever pitch, and there were many other high-level users like him. His comment was followed by a green comment right after.
“Take your time, Mizi. Show Brother Zao what you’re made of.”
As the comment glided across the screen, someone called “90, I am” sent more than twenty rockets, giving Mizi a shock.
“Thank you, thank you… Thanks to this Brother 90. Ah, there’s too many, you don’t have to…”
Mizi was actually older than Ling Ya and Ah Dai but looked somewhat pitiful because of her shyness.
She was pretty and ate daintily. Although she wasn’t adept at communicating, her bashful smile brought her many fans.
When she grew anxious, she started gesturing with the crab leg still in her hand. She would stutter while nervous, with a blush spreading on her face, which evoked her supporters’ desire to protect her.
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Gifts kept coming her way, and rockets were appearing sporadically.
Since her supporters were raining gifts upon her, Liu Yuanfang naturally started zooming on Mizi, giving her a close-up instead. The supporters of the other contestants, meanwhile, were forced to take a backseat.
Without saying a single word, Perfect Timing responded with more rockets of his own.
Another high-level user, Charming Wolf, sent a color comment in retaliation to Liu Yuanfang.
“Host, switch back to panorama view!”
There was another flurry of rockets; in his fury, he had sent another ninety-nine, with the following comment: “You like close-ups, right? Give Ling Ya a close-up for a full 99 seconds!”
This was followed by a burst of comments from Ling Ya’s camp of supporters.
“Nice!”
“Boss Lang is so aggressive!”
…
During a livestream, there was bound to be a trail of carnage following behind these ballers.
Instances of them spending their money impulsively like this were extremely common, and forking out tens of thousands was nothing to them.
If they were to go up against each other, there would be many variables involved, so it all depended on luck.
Luck was dictated by any of these factors: whether the ballers had enough money in their account on that particular night, whether there were other users of the same level, whether there was any rivalry… and so on.
Both Liu Yuanfang and the contestants clearly had pretty good luck.
There were only four contestants remaining, so whoever they zoomed in on, the other camps would be riled up, and this would then result in them going up against each other.
What?
Did they think they were the only ones who could act cool?
Furthermore, some of them already had beef with each other, so that day presented the perfect opportunity for them to lock horns.
Rockets were flying around, colored comments were cascading in waves, and the livestream was becoming so popular that it had already overtaken Douyu’s top two streamers. Some of the other livestream hosts even came in to have a look.
The fierce battle lasted until the end of the competition.
There was a tie between Mizi, Ah Dai, and Ling Ya, who all had scores of 5.33.
The next step was to weigh the crab shells to determine the final victor.
But the final results exceeded everyone’s expectations. Mizi had won by a very slight margin!
When Liu Yuanfang announced the results, there was an uproar.
Naturally, Mizi’s supporters were cheering for her. As for the other camps of supporters, although they were feeling a little down, they hadn’t forgotten to console the contestant they were supporting.
Wang Yan found it all very interesting. He even felt a sense of accomplishment for having personally created history.
Looking at the present situation, there was no need to doubt whether these people could make it big.
Da Gang was thick-skinned enough and good at talking, Mizi was attractive both inside and out, Ling Ya had a lovely smile and high emotional intelligence, and Ah Dai was a little dense but endearing. All they needed was a platform and an opportunity.
If he gave someone a leg up, he helped them make progress, especially in their career.
Wang Yan had, by chance, brought about a boost that was much needed in the fields of live streaming and eating broadcasts.
However, Wang Yan wasn’t interested and didn’t even have a clue about his impact. After his session at the spa, he went down to settle the bill with the hotel and Liu Yuanfang, then prepared to leave.
“When a man retires from his responsibilities, fame and fortune become irrelevant.” That was the kind of vibe one might have gotten from his actions.
But just because he had chosen to make a quiet exit didn’t mean that people would stop talking about him. Many rumors concerning Wang Yan still circulated.
Keeping a low profile?
There would be no use.