Chapter 14 - Genius Cannonfodder’s Counterattack Record (14)

translator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, glitterypanda

Yang Baihua couldn’t bear having Cheng Yuan appear behind his eyelids every time he closed his eyes and couldn’t bear to guess at the endless possibilities of what had happened to him. But Cheng Yuan was staying in his parents’ mansion with the full security absolutely worthy of the incredibly expensive yearly property fees. Furthermore, Cheng Yuan was the type of person who wouldn’t go out the front door nor even take a step out into the yard. If given a piano, he could happily spend an entire month cooped up at home.

Yang Baihua grit his teeth and went to find Cheng Jian.

On his way home from work, Cheng Jian was stopped by Yang Baihua.

Upon hearing his purpose for coming, Cheng Jian used a gaze he would use to look at inorganic compounds to give him a considering look, “You want Xiao Yuan to come back?

Although Cheng Jian and Cheng Yuan’s temperaments were as different as night and day, they had similar features. Having that face stare at him with such contempt, Yang Baihua felt particularly uncomfortable.

He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll treat Xiao Cheng well. I……”

Cheng Jian cut him off, “Tell your parents about the relationship between you two, and then I’ll let Xiao Yuan consider it.”

Yang Baihua’s breath got stuck in his throat.

Cheng Jian sneered, “What? Didn’t you say that you would treat Xiao Yuan well?”

Cheng Jian’s aura was too domineering. Facing him, Yang Baihua couldn’t keep his voice from trembling, “Xiao Yuan agreed to…… he said that he would give me some time to deal with this matter, that he will face it together with me……”

Cheng Jian really wanted to say “give you a motherfucking pork leg”, but right now he already couldn’t be bothered to scold Yang Baihua. He’d be better off saving his breath.

He waved a hand dismissively, “I don’t have the time to waste on you right now. Whenever you deal with it, come find me. But next time remember to make an appointment. Don’t jump out in front of my car like that. If I run you over then whose fault would that be?”

He didn’t give Yang Baihua the chance to argue any further, slamming his foot on the accelerator. It was just too bad that this car was an eco-friendly vehicle, and so he had no way of hitting Yang Baihua with a full face of car exhaust fumes. It was truly regretful.

After he let off some steam, Cheng Jian was slightly worried that Yang Baihua would smash the cracked pot since it was already broken and run over to his company to publicise all the matters between him and Cheng Yuan.

But the facts showed that Yang Baihua was not only as quiet as a chicken, but practically as quiet as an egg.

To this, Chi Xiaochi, who was cracking melon seeds on the sidelines, was completely calm. He drew blood at the first prick, saying to 061, “Yang Baihua really values saving face, much more than my brother does.”

061, even after a round of carefully examining this sentence, wasn’t clear for a while on who Chi Xiaochi was actually insulting.

Chi Xiaochi then asked, “Liu-laoshi, Tang Huan’s new album should be coming out soon, right?”

061 had long since gotten used to this wonderful, “Tony-laoshi”-esque title. After a quick check, he answered, “Yes. The annual anniversary of Tang Huan’s debut is coming up in a week. She’ll be releasing her album then, like in the original timeline.”

The entertainment industry here had developed in a similar way to the one in Chi Xiaochi’s original world.

Because of widespread piracy and other such reasons, the record industry had inevitably been on the decline since ten years ago. Singers had no choice but to start up sideline careers, participate in variety shows, or simply go into business. Those focusing only on music were becoming fewer and fewer. A lot of refined EPs containing only 3 to 5 songs had started to appear, gradually replacing albums and becoming the main product of the music market.

Specially “changing it up” for the fifth anniversary of her debut and giving it abundant advertising and publicity, Yundu Entertainment made the emphasis it placed on Tang Huan clear for all to see.

Chi Xiaochi logged onto Cheng Yuan’s Weibo.

Weibo’s loading page was filled with Tang Huan’s sweet, smiling face. He directly skipped the ad and was brought to his homepage.

He’d been especially active on Weibo for the past few days, and his fancount had also broken through the ten thousands.

Yesterday night, he’d made a post saying that in order to celebrate reaching ten thousand fans, he was going to have a livestream and would randomly pick three lucky users to send a song each to. These songs were all songs he’d adapted as practice, so they should please keep it to themselves, by no means use it for commercial purposes, and so on.

25 seconds after he posted, there was immediately a person replying, “Will Yuanyuan show his face in his livestream?”

Chi Xiaochi replied, “Show show show.”

In the end, the post got forwarded more than twenty thousand times, mostly for the purposes of ‘licking face’.

Chi Xiaochi was very satisfied with number, “Perfect.”

He started the giveaway and picked the winners. He picked a streaming site with relatively high user traffic and opened up a room. At 8pm at night, he started his stream.

061 asked, “What are you going to name the room?”

Chi XIaochi didn’t need to think about it. He casually typed in a name, “How is it, isn’t it great?”

061 came up and took a look, “Terrace’s Reflection Enters the Pool”.

061, “……”

Chi Xiaochi was very proud, “All my social media accounts have this name.”

061, “……”

Chi Xiaochi asked, “Liu-laoshi, why are you ignoring me?”

061 thought, what do you want me to say? Should I advise you to not stay so attached to a dead person, or should I bring up the fact that the name is a little dirty?

In the end, he still said, “It’s really good.”

As they were waiting, Chi Xiaochi played a round of Aircraft Wars. Before he even reached the first boss, he was exploded into a firework by a little soldier.

Overcome with boredom, he said, “I really miss my card game.”

061 laughed.

The thing Chi Xiaochi liked most about 061 was his voice. His gentle voice had just the right amount of gravel. Especially before he slept, 061 would adjust the voice he used to read to Chi Xiaochi as his mind relaxed, making it hazier with a certain sleepiness to it.

With that kind of voice, he was perfectly suited to becoming a midnight radio anchorman.

Even Chi Xiaochi, this old who had went through ten years of arduous training in the entertainment circles, couldn’t keep his ears from going numb when hearing him laugh.

He asked 061, “What are you laughing about?”

061 said, “Actually two days ago, 023 sent something over to me, but I was just hesitating over whether or not to give it to you. After a lot of thought, I think it’d be best if I gave it to you.”

Chi Xiaochi, “What……”

He didn’t finish asking his question, because he noticed a familiar app appear on his phone screen.

……Summoning Gods and Devils.

Chi Xiaochi opened the app with a tap of his finger. The account was still his own. 507 heroes quietly lay in his storage, just 6 short of a full set.

061 said gently, “023 spent a lot of effort just to locate your phone. He captured its waveband and directly connected it to the system. Don’t worry, the server is still in your original world. However, the connection isn’t very good, so when battling it might lag a little and the friend function is blocked.”

Chi Xiaochi was extremely moved, “Liuliu-laoshi, you really are my dear form teacher.”

061 coughed lightly, “Since entering my class, Chi Xiaochi-tongxue has been performing very well, so this is a reward.”

Even though in theory, the more unfinished business Chi Xiaochi had left in his original world, the more likely he was to choose to go back, 061 had always believed that with rewards comes progress.

Sure enough, after completing his daily tasks, Chi Xiaochi, now in a good mood, finally raised the subject of his plans to 061.

“Remember how I told you before, that for breaking the plot I have plans A, B and C?”

061, “En.”

“Plan C is to follow the original plotline, letting his younger cousin steal my songs and making Yang Baihua wrong me. Then I’ll act pitiful and make a fuss about committing suicide. Yang Baihua isn’t without his conscience, so like that piecing together one hundred regret points should be relatively easy.”

061, “……”

Putting it like that, out of all the ten hosts he had before, all ten of them had used the “worst” plan, C.

After all, this was an unfamiliar world and this was about someone else’s life. The hosts didn’t dare to break away from the original timeline on their own initiative, only wanting stability.

Chi Xiaochi assessed, “You can absolutely complete the task this way, I can also do it. But I wouldn’t feel good about it.”

061 completely agreed.

As a system, having to watch his hosts get pushed around to the breaking point by the scum gongs all day long, and working themselves to the bone to earn goodwill points, just for the few seconds of catharsis of being able to see the scum gongs’ incredible expressions when they finally escaped through death, no matter how you looked at it, it was a loss.

061 asked, “Then plan B?”

Chi Xiaochi checked his watch, “There’s no rush, we can take it slow.”

At eight o’ clock, Chi Xiaochi punctually sat in front of the computer and greeted the audience, “Hello, everyone. Can you guys see me?”

The people in the livestream room weren’t very many, but coupled with the traffic brought by the website itself, there were more than two thousand immediate clicks and more than three hundred people online watching. For a new streamer, this was a pretty good number already.

Chi Xiaochi opened up the recording software, picked up his guitar, took a gulp of water to moisten his throat, and started singing.

Just hearing the opening, 061, who thought that he’d managed to guess Chi Xiaochi’s strategy, was caught by surprise.

Chi Xiaochi wasn’t singing any of the three songs from his demo, but rather the few tunes he had been constantly singing while still staying in Yang Baihua’s rental apartment. With the addition of some lyrics he’d quickly written, his singing was incredibly beautiful.

……It really was like what he said in his Weibo post about the giveaway, it was just a few practice songs.

061 was rather perplexed.

Chi Xiaochi having a livestream and asking about when Tang Huan’s new album was being released, was it not to release his music ahead of time and gain the upper hand, catching Tang Huan’s side by surprise??

No matter what 061 was thinking, Chi Xiaochi’s mind and hands remained steady. As he sang, he had a slight smile on his face and his instrument-like vocal cords vibrated with ease. Especially in the parts without lyrics, where he was just humming lowly and singing lightly as he pleased, his voice almost perfectly blended with the sound of the guitar.

Even though 061 didn’t have a physical body, his 360 degree view with no dead angles through his image receiver allowed him to see everything.

Cheng Yuan’s face was naturally handsome, but Chi Xiaochi’s self-confidence truly let his entire person glow with an enchanting brilliance.

What kind of brilliance was it?

……It was as if he didn’t need anything from anyone and didn’t need to please anyone. He didn’t even need anybody and could live well on his own, depending only on himself.

061 didn’t dwell on it any longer, just focusing on watching the young man perform in front of the camera.

The livestream room was already filled with astounded exclamations.

“What the fuck, he’s actually not part of the autotune association!”

“66666.”

“I was originally just here to eat watermelons, but right now I’ve just started envying the lucky giveaway winners……”

“I just came, which singing livestreamer is this? Are they really famous?”

There were also quite a few people sending gifts. Though scattered, the number of people who couldn’t resist joining in became greater and greater, and ten minutes later, the number of people watching broke through the eight hundreds.

Chi Xiaochi put down the guitar and drank tho mouthfuls of water. He said calmly, “Everyone’s welcome to pick songs for me.”

061 felt like Chi Xiaochi was rather strange.

Whether it was when he went for his audition last time, or now when he was broadcasting, he didn’t speak much, not at all like the thick-skinned, foul-mouthed Chi Xiaochi’s style.

If it was because Cheng Jian was there during the audition so he couldn’t go against Cheng Yuan’s shy character settings and let himself go too much, on the internet, no one knew him, so he should’ve been able to let loose a little.

But he soon received an answer to his question.

061 casually scanned the user connections of the people watching, and found that currently watching Chi Xiaochi’s livestream was an IP address belonging to Yang Baihua, as well as one from downstairs.

061, “……” Ermmmm.

Yang Baihua’s username was “Japanese White Birch”. He hadn’t said anything, but after Chi Xiaochi finished singing three songs, he sent over a yacht.

Users who sent gifts of yacht-level or higher would have their usernames appear in the reward information bar above the streamer’s screen. The more high-level gifts they received, the more livestreamers’ experience points and income would rise.

Some were jealous, “What the fuck, is it so easy for all new streamers nowadays?”

And there were some who reminded Chi Xiaochi, “The mod position is still empty, why not give it to ‘Japanese White Birch’?”

Just as this message was posted, the person with the signal originating from downstairs started to act.

“I Have a Stupid Younger Brother gave Terrace’s Reflection Enters the Pool a mansion x1.”

“I Have a Stupid Younger Brother gave Terrace’s Reflection Enters the Pool a yacht x1.”

“I Have a Stupid Younger Brother gave Terrace’s Reflection Enters the Pool a sports car x1.”

This wasn’t just once, but ten times each.

Suddenly, the reward information bar was entirely filled with news about “I Have a Stupid Younger Brother”.

The entire livestream room fell into a brief silence.

Following that, rows of question marks and exclamation marks dominated the screen.

Chi Xiaochi sighed at 061, “Cheng Jian’s username is really straightforward.”

061 laughed lightly, “Ha.”

Just as Chi Xiaochi was going to ask what 061 was laughing at, he then saw a new round of notifications.

“061 gave Terrace’s Reflection Enters the Pool super rockets x50.”

……A yacht was equivalent to 1314 RMB, a mansion 2000, and a super rocket 2222.

The question marks and exclamation marks covered Cheng Yuan’s entire face, and covered up Chi Xiaochi’s momentary astonishment.

061 said, “Even though I don’t know what you’re planning, but since you’ve started this livestream, the more publicity and influence the better, probably.”

Although he said this, 061 just thought Chi Xiaochi’s performance deserved this many gifts.

Chi Xiaochi calmed down, “You’re playing with this much?”

061 replied honestly, “Either way, to me numbers are just numbers.”

Chi Xiaochi, “……” I give your pretentiousness full marks.

System’s rich now, he can take me to eat my fill and dress warmly.

For a while, Cheng Jian was also shaken by this number.

For the first time in his life, he felt what it was like to be smashed in the face with money. Big Brother Cheng felt a little complicated.

Chi Xiaochi explained to the audience, “It’s just a friend of mine and my brother messing around. Ge, don’t fuss.”

Cheng Jian’s hands shook.

What the fuck, how’d he notice?

Cheng Jian immediately exited the livestream room, but felt that since he was already exposed, there was no point in hiding. Soon, he picked up his courage, reentered the livestream room, and officially issued his assessment, “En, your singing isn’t bad.”

But with a nickname of “I Have a Stupid Younger Brother” over his head and his sending a big bundle of gifts in one breath, Big Brother Cheng’s cold, aloof image was utterly obliterated.

Looking at the bullet screen of comments such as “Caught a pampering younger brother devil”, “The anchor really is Ms. Perfect”, “Wait a minute, above, shouldn’t it be Mr. Perfect?”, and “My Tyrannical Older Brother Fell in Love with Me” as far as the eye could see, Cheng Jian couldn’t take it any longer, and slipped away.

Having been stirred up by the two men one after another, Yang Baihua, who had been the first to grit his teeth and send a yacht to try to get Cheng Yuan’s attention, had unexpectedly become passerby A.

He had already stopped caring about the pain.

The number ID of “061” seared Yang Baihua’s eyes, making them twinge with pain.

Wasn’t “61” a homophone for Lou Ying?!

When he wasn’t by Xiao Cheng’s side, what kind of people were accompanying Xiao Cheng?

After ending the livestream, Chi Xiaochi stretched out his body and threw himself into his plush bed. He gave his heartfelt praise, “Liu-laoshi, you really are a good system.”

061 smiled and said, “Take it as a bribe.”

“What are you bribing me for?”

061 said, “How about you explain your plans to me?”

“Which plan?”

As soon as he said that, Chi Xiaochi reacted, sitting up with his legs crossed, his two slender arms propping himself up from behind, “Ask, I’ll see if I want to answer.”

“50 rockets still aren’t enough to buy a definite answer?”

Chi Xiaochi had seen much of the world. He rested his cheek on a hand and said lazily, “My original appearance fee has a starting price of one million.”

Since Chi Xiaochi had spoken this way, 061 just casually opened his mouth and asked, “What’s your plan A? I had believed you would be singing 《Innermost Words》today, announcing your new song in advance.”

Chi Xiaochi smiled, “Liu-laoshi, you’re too sweet. I signed a first issue contract. If I were to announce my new songs in advance on another platform, Su Xiulun would rip me to shreds.”

061, “Then……”

Chi Xiaochi’s mouth was seriously shut so tight that even 50 rockets couldn’t pry it open, “……You’ll understand in a week.”

sere: I CALLED IT LOU YING = 61 ALSO 061 IS SO CUTE I WANT TO STEAL HIM AND CHENG JIAN. side note i read all the comments from the past few weeks and y’all are so cute 😉

baum: lmao I want someone like 061 or Cheng Jian too _(:3 」∠ )_ or Chi Xiaochi all these men (other than Trash Yang) are all so good haha