Chapter 94 – I considered it up, too
Jian Luo waited with a hint of nervousness for Lu Shifeng’s response.
The Marshal glanced at him, giving a cold, bone-chilling smirk as he asked, “Really?”
“…”
Terrifying.
Jian Luo shrank back, stammering, “I, I suddenly don’t really know.”
He tried to move away, but he was already on the bed, with nowhere to escape. In the end, he could only sit on the edge of the bed, feeling small, helpless, and vulnerable.
Lu Shifeng pulled him back, preventing him from falling off the bed. His demeanor was dominant, a departure from his usual laziness. At this moment, he seemed full of aggression, especially with those blood-red eyes, giving the impression that he was a fearsome predator and Jian Luo was the vulnerable prey.
Jian Luo nervously opened his eyes.
Lu Shifeng’s voice was low and magnetic, “Be good and don’t cry, okay?”
Jian Luo stammered, “I won’t run away.”
Lu Shifeng’s lips curved into a faint smile, “Good.”
After delivering his threat, the Marshal got up and left the room.
As he left, the oppressive atmosphere in the room diminished, and Jian Luo finally relaxed. It wasn’t because he was pleased but because this encounter reminded him of the immense gap between them. For Lu Shifeng, he seemed too insignificant, while for himself, Lu Shifeng was undeniably too powerful.
Jian Luo sighed in place, trying to forget the dream-like scenario he had been trapped in. The former Marshal had mentioned that dreams could sometimes be inaccurate; perhaps he was just overly worried.
…
“Luo Luo, let’s go shopping!”
Secretary Jin, came over after breakfast.
Jian Luo was excited, “Can we?”
Lu Shifeng, who was sitting at the table, remained motionless and gave Jian Luo a glance. “Take care of yourself.”
Jian Luo understood, “You’re not coming?”
Secretary Jin said, “The Marshal won’t be joining us. He has some business to attend to, but once he’s done, he should have some time.”
Lu Shifeng, sitting nearby, appeared nonchalant, waiting for Jian Luo to engage him.
However, Jian Luo was straightforward, “It’s okay; he’s busy. Just the two of us going for a walk is fine!”
“…”
The atmosphere suddenly grew colder.
Secretary Jin felt a chill run down her spine and forced a smile, “How could it be? The Marshal will have time to accompany you and the baby once he’s done.”
Jian Luo didn’t catch on, “I don’t need someone to accompany me.”
Secretary Jin’s smile almost disappeared.
Of course, Lu Shifeng’s smile vanished even earlier. Jian Luo hadn’t realized his mistake yet, but the Marshal was giving him a piercing stare.
Jian Luo’s heart tightened, “W-What’s wrong?”
Where could he find someone as considerate as him?
Lu Shifeng smiled thinly, “Okay.”
Thinking that he was just in a bad mood, Jian Luo returned a bright smile and left without even eating. Secretary Jin awkwardly accompanied him, and she didn’t dare to look back at Lu Shifeng’s expression, letting everything blow away with the wind.
…
The commercial district.
Industrial Star excelled in creating a variety of craftsmanship and inventions. They had astonishing talent and creativity in this field, making most shops on both sides of the streets selling these ingenious products.
Though there were no specific offerings, if one focused and searched diligently, occasionally, they could find high-quality items at affordable prices.
Jian Luo stood in front of a stall, looking at a yellow box, “What’s this?”
The vendor answered, “This is a lie detector.”
A real-life lie detector!
Jian Luo was genuinely excited, “Is this lie detector able to determine if someone is lying?”
The vendor, a scruffy young man with long hair that nearly covered his eyes, replied without making eye contact, “It can detect about 90% of questions, and the accuracy depends on the person’s mental strength.”
Wide-eyed and curious, Jian Luo looked at the yellow device. He inquired, “Can I try it?”
The vendor didn’t refuse, “Sure.”
So Jian Luo got a chance to use it.
Using the lie detector was straightforward. He inserted his hand, asked a question, and provided an answer. If the answer was a lie, the device would light up.
Jin, the secretary, asked, “Luo Luo, why are you interested in this?”
As Jian Luo inserted his hand into the lie detector, he replied, “It’s fun.”
One of the advantages of this lie detector was that you could mentally ask the questions, to avoid any potentially embarrassing results. To prevent awkward outcomes, Jian Luo chose to think the questions silently.
He took a deep breath and began to think the question:
“I am a person from the 21st century on Earth.”
After thinking the question, he began to wait. In a short time, the machine reacted, and the blue light lit up.
Secretary Jin said, “That’s correct.”
A hint of joy appeared in Jian Luo’s eyes, and he decided to change to another question, “I don’t like Lu Shifeng.”
The machine hesitated for a moment and then lit up with a red light.
Secretary Jin smiled and said, “That’s incorrect.”
“…”
Jian Luo looked at the machine in silence, deciding to ask a question that would yield a clear judgment, “I am currently a livestreamer.”
The machine lit up with a blue light.
“Lu Shifeng is a pig.”
The machine showed a red light.
Jian Luo enjoyed himself and chuckled.
Finally, when he grew tired of playing, the vendor asked, “How much do you want to pay?”
The vendor raised a finger, “10,000 star coins.”
“??!!”
It was quite expensive. Jian Luo was aware that he used to earn only 3,000 star coins a month in his previous job.
As expected, Secretary Jin said, “This is above market price. Many people are buying lie detectors, so if you’re looking for someone to overcharge, you’ve picked the wrong person.”
The vendor replied, “My lie detector is different from the others.”
Bending down in curiosity, Jian Luo asked, “What makes it different?”
“It’s only sold to those with fate,” the vendor lifted his emo-style hair to reveal his face, “and you two are the chosen ones.”
“…”
Jian Luo said, “5,000.”
The vendor replied, “I can’t even cover my costs with that, I can’t sell it.”
“5,000 is my final offer; I tested several questions, and it didn’t work well,” Jian Luo lied with wide eyes. “If you want to sell, sell it. If not, we’ll leave.”
The vendor felt frustrated, “It can’t be wrong.”
Jian Luo grabbed Secretary Jin’s hand, making a show of leaving, “I said 5,000; I’ll take it for 5,000. A fair price.”
Although he said he would leave, he rambled for a while and didn’t actually go. He had enjoyed the act, holding Secretary Jin’s hand.
After a brief hesitation, the vendor finally relented, “Fine.”
Hooray!
In the end, Jian Luo managed to obtain the lie detector as he wished, and he also won the admiring gaze of Secretary Jin, “Luo Luo, you’re amazing.”
Jian Luo sighed, “It’s nothing, just a little haggling.”
Secretary Jin was shocked, “You can haggle too?”
?
Jian Luo looked at her curiously, “Don’t you haggle when shopping?”
SecretaryJin didn’t answer, but Jian Luo could read the answer in her eyes. These capitalist ways were truly vile.
The rest of their shopping was mainly about getting to know the local environment. After a while, Jian Luo noticed something concerning, “Why is there no food for sale here?”
Jin messaged back, “Industrial Star used to be ruled by robots, and animals were enslaved. Later, there was a reformation, with robots stepping down, giving the people a chance to rule. However, during the earlier years, due to being enslaved by robots for a long time, their food and drink were all nutrient fluids. They didn’t have much interest in other things.”
Jian Luo nodded, “I see.”
With this explanation, Industrial Star seemed more desolate than he had thought.
The two of them got a rough idea of the situation and returned home. When Jian Luo returned, it was still early, and he hadn’t had a good meal since yesterday. His stomach was growling, especially since his morning sickness had subsided. He decided to cook a meal for himself.
Secretary Jin, the secretary, offered, “I’ll help.”
Jian Luo took a fresh fish out of the fridge and said, “Let’s make boiled fish.”
Jin took the fish and said, “I’ll prepare the fish.”
So, Jian Luo started preparing the other ingredients for the fish. He enjoyed the process of cooking, the gradual creation of delicious flavors, and he got lost in it. He decided to make a live stream of it.
He chose to make spicy boiled fish and, before starting the live stream, he checked the back-end data. So far, he had prepared nearly 20 different dishes, including snacks like fries and chips, which would start charging once the taste limit was exceeded.
Up to this point, he had cashed out only a few times.
The total earnings in the back-end were impressive, amounting to 780,000 star coins. Some dishes were particularly popular, with snacks like fries taking the lead at 190,000 star coins.
Jian Luo said, “I need to figure out a way to make more money.”
And it appeared that dealing with the factory issue was becoming increasingly urgent. Earth was in a state of disrepair, and everything required funds. Even with 780,000 star coins, it was challenging to afford a protective shield.
Secretary Jin asked, “Luo Luo, what are you looking at?”
Jian Luo snapped back to reality and said, “It’s nothing.”
He decided to take it step by step for now. There wasn’t much use worrying about it at the moment.
“Ding.”
The small spherical live broadcasting device was officially activated. Since the last time he crashed the Jinjiang Live Streaming Network, Jian Luo had become a bit more careful. Before starting the live stream, he informed Jiang Jiang, “I’m going live.”
Upon hearing this dreadful news, Jiang Jiang promptly called the programmers to prepare.
The audience in the live stream room began to increase.
“The streamer is live!”
“Why did the live stream start all of a sudden? I was still in Da Yu’s live stream.”
“Clashing schedules.”
“Oh my, there are fewer people today. Looks like most of them are at Da Yu’s stream.”
Jian Luo didn’t know who Da Yu was, but he was curious, “Who’s Da Yu?”
The audience in the live stream room replied, “A new food streamer. He makes some strange flavors.”
“Similar to you.”
??
Wasn’t that undermining my character?
Jian Luo asked with some difficulty, “What kind of strange flavors are we talking about?”
The audience replied:
“Charcoal-grilled stones.”
“Stir-fried tree leaves.”
“Steamed leather belts.”
“…”
Jian Luo fell silent for a while and said, “That’s… interesting.”
Because so many people mentioned it, Jian Luo specifically checked the profile of this guy. He found that he was indeed popular, ranking first on the popularity list with 5.2 million viewers, leaving the second place (which was him) behind by around 2 million viewers.
Fortunately, he wasn’t too concerned about these statistics, and he wasn’t eager to compete with others. So, he just checked and left it at that.
Jian Luo refocused, a laid-back streamer, and began his broadcast, “Let’s make boiled pork, a homey dish. Don’t miss it!”
Jin handed the fish to him, and Jian Luo started explaining to the camera how to remove the fishy smell. As his live stream began, more and more new viewers entered. This time slot used to belong to Da Yu, but with Jian Luo’s broadcast, more and more viewers began to split between them.
In Da Yu’s live stream room, there were some discordant voices:
“Luo Luo from next door started his live stream.”
“Friends, Luo Luo is live!”
“Oh, he finally started his stream?”
Clearly, Da Yu’s popularity began to decline visibly, which caught the attention of the room moderators and Da Yu himself. Since they joined Jinjiang, they had been the top dog in terms of popularity. They were widely praised, and no other streamer could surpass them. While they knew of Jian Luo’s existence, he rarely streamed, and due to the unpredictable timing of his streams, the two channels had never clashed before. So, everything was peaceful.
However, it happened by chance this time that they went live at the same time.
Da Yu checked the barrage and said, “Alright, everyone, please stop spamming. Let’s focus on my content.”
“Room mods, check this.”
“Organize the content.”
Most comments mentioning Jian Luo were either deleted or the users were banned. However, even after banning a portion, others still came up. This, to a large extent, caused dissatisfaction among Da Yu’s fans.
“Why are there so many annoying people?”
“Just let him stream; why spam everywhere?”
“I can’t see Da Yu’s content now. It’s so annoying.”
Although Jian Luo didn’t instruct such behavior, it contributed to the invisible tension in the air.
Soon, some of Da Yu’s fans started fighting back:
“I downloaded Jinjiang Streaming just for him. Why can’t I say that?”
“Some people are spamming Da Yu in Jian Luo’s stream. Why isn’t Jian Luo moderating his fans?”
“Freedom of speech. I’ll say what I want.”
“Why are you guys so anxious? Jian Luo has only streamed a few times, and he clashed with us just once. Is it necessary to be so impatient?”
Fans argued vigorously, sapping the viewership from both live streams. In the past six months, although Jinjiang wasn’t a top-tier streaming platform, it had achieved some success in the industry.
The overall ranking displayed the popularity of various live streams on different platforms, and Jinjiang had been able to enter the top five of the top ten rooms. Today, the rapid growth in popularity in both streams was quite astonishing, and their combined viewership was leaving everyone else behind.
“What’s going on with these two live streams?”
“Why are they growing so quickly?”
“Wow, I heard they’re feuding.”
On the other hand, Da Yu’s staff quietly mentioned the popularity of the live stream in their room. They were part of a team, so they knew how to maximize their benefits. Finally clashing with Jian Luo after so much time, they decided to seize this opportunity for a boost in viewership.
A room mod said to Da Yu, “Since they like discussing this, you can mention Jian Luo a bit more. It’ll help keep the conversation lively.”
Da Yu replied, “I don’t like creating a fuss.”
The mod smiled, “Jian Luo also became famous through hype. Don’t be concerned; after all, money and fame are more important. You both can win.”
“…”
On the other side, Jian Luo was focused on cooking.
The fish on the cutting board was ready, and the seasonings were prepared. He faced the camera and said, “Remember, we have to remove the fishy smell.”
The viewers’ attention was still mostly on Da Yu’s live stream:
“Jian Luo is crossing the line.”
“He’s talking nonsense.”
“Who would intentionally clash with him to steal viewers? Ridiculous.”
??
Did anything happen while he was preparing the fish?
Jian Luo looked baffled, but he continued to cook the fish. In a calm and gentle tone, he said, “Alright, please don’t mind those comments. I didn’t choose this time to go live with any intention. Everyone doesn’t need to argue. If you prefer to watch someone else, go ahead. It’s all your choice. I don’t mind if you think someone else is better and watch them. There’s no need to argue, right?”
Even though he was working hard, the war still raged on. Jian Luo couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. He rubbed his temples and adjusted his settings while saying in a gentle tone, “If it continues like this, I’ll have to turn off the live chat.”
Initially, he had been wearing a mask while cooking to avoid the fishy smell. However, while massaging his temples, he inadvertently loosened the mask, allowing the fishy odor to seep through the gaps and assault his nose.
Jian Luo froze in his tracks, struggling to suppress the nausea building in his stomach, but he couldn’t hold back any longer, “Ugh…”
He rushed to the sink and began retching, his movements so rapid and intense that it left viewers in shock.
What truly shocked them was the intensity of their own sensations. Because Jian Luo’s stream was broadcasting in real-time, viewers could share in his experiences. The momentary nausea and revulsion felt by everyone watching were a revelation:
“My goodness, that sensation was so vivid.”
“I actually felt like I was going to throw up just now.”
“I’ve never experienced this before.”
“Is this what morning sickness feels like?”
A large group of viewers, who were suddenly experiencing the urge to vomit, flooded the chat with their reactions. The stream’s popularity soared to new heights, and all the prior arguments were quickly forgotten.
As people marveled at this unexpected twist of fate, Jian Luo straightened up, leaned against the sink, and let out a light chuckle. Initially, everything seemed normal, but suddenly…
Jian Luo placed his hand on his stomach and then chuckled softly.
At the same time, the anxious viewers who were experiencing these sensations were equally astonished. They almost simultaneously felt the subtle sensations, as if tiny fish were swimming by, or bubbles were gliding across their fingertips. It was as though the little one had given them a gentle greeting.
In an instant, they were overwhelmed by a sense of happiness. For those whose brains didn’t naturally produce happiness factors, the feeling of joy flooded their minds at the same time.
“Ah, the little one is saying hello to me!”
“It’s so adorable!”
“Rounded up, I’m pregnant too, sob!”
“Eh?! Who’s still arguing? I’m immersed in this moment.”
T/N: Hey there! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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