Chapter 11

Bai Siyi finished his work early in the afternoon and returned to the Pink House with the show crew.

The gifts from the four male guests had already been delivered by the staff. Four boxes of different colors and sizes were placed on the coffee table in the middle of the sofa.

The other three female guests were already seated on the sofa. As soon as Bai Siyi entered, she took off her hat and mask and sat down next to Qiu Bo.

Off-camera, a staff member spoke up, “Finally, it’s time for our blind gift unboxing segment! Many viewers have been eagerly waiting. Now, please pick up your gift boxes and open them for us!”

Among the four female guests’ live streams, Qiu Bo, being an idol, had always had the highest popularity. However, starting yesterday afternoon, Bai Siyi had gradually caught up.

Currently, Qiu Bo’s live stream had the highest viewership, followed closely by Bai Siyi. As a complete newcomer, Bai Siyi’s popularity was entirely thanks to Piupiustar’s support.

The audience in the live stream was incredibly curious about the gift from Piupiustar.

Live Stream Comments:

【I can’t even imagine what kind of gift someone as stingy as Piupiustar, that greasy man, would give to Xiao Bai.】

【Whatever he gives is fine, it’s not like Xiao Bai gave him anything anyway.】

【But Xiao Bai said he had already prepared something and would even deliver it in person! But I’ve been watching the stream the whole time, and he hasn’t prepared anything at all.】

—

Since last night until this morning, the other three female guests had been busy preparing gifts. Xi Mo had gone straight to her own original brand store and picked out a full set of this season’s latest fashion for her online romance partner.

Qiu Bo, on the other hand, had carelessly ordered a lighter from a local online store, making it obvious she was just messing around.

Jiang Mianshu, despite being slow and not particularly interested in her online romance partner, had put the most effort into her gift. She coded a simple tile-matching game herself. It wasn’t anything special, nor did it have any hidden meaning—she just thought it was convenient, cost nothing, and required no effort.

Qiu Bo leaned in and asked Bai Siyi in a low voice, “What gift did you prepare for him? Can you tell me?”

Bai Siyi looked at the four boxes on the table. One of them, a dark green box, was huge!

Visually estimating, it was about 1.5 meters long and 20 centimeters wide. It had a leather surface with a small sticker on top, on which four crooked characters were scrawled: “For Macho Man.”

Bai Siyi: “……”

No doubt about it—this handwriting screamed “kindergarten-level education.”

She turned to Qiu Bo and said, “I prepared one. I already sent it over.”

Qiu Bo nodded and pointed at the dark green box. “This one looks pretty nice. Seems like he put some thought into it.”

Bai Siyi stared at the box. Judging from the exterior alone, it did look expensive at first glance.

But… Piupiustar was so broke and so stingy. Where would he get the money to buy a gift?

This box looks expensive. Could he have stolen it from somewhere?

Bai Siyi hesitated.

Suddenly, the gift felt a little too hot to handle.

The viewers in the live stream were already urging them on. The staff member chuckled and said, “Alright, hurry up and open it for everyone to see! We can’t wait any longer.”

Bai Siyi remained seated, not moving. He knew the show’s process—such a highlight-worthy gift unboxing had to be done one at a time.

As a fake guest who sneaked in disguised as a woman, with no popularity or industry connections, he obviously couldn’t go first.

But after waiting a few seconds, he realized that none of the other three female guests had moved either. Bai Siyi turned his head and found that all three of them were staring right at him.

Obviously, Piupiustar’s gift box was too eye-catching. Not only were the viewers eager to see it, but even the female guests were just as curious.

Meeting Bai Siyi’s confused gaze, Xi Mo was the first to laugh. “Xiao Bai, aren’t you curious about your gift at all? Unlike mine, there’s no mystery to it.”

Xi Mo’s gift was a small black box placed inside a gift bag. The brand’s English logo was visible at a glance—an obscure but expensive perfume brand.

Qiu Bo stood up. “Let’s look at mine first.”

She picked up a small pink box and casually opened it, revealing a pink diamond necklace.

It wasn’t cheap, and it matched her pink hair perfectly.

Qiu Bo was genuinely surprised.

After all, she hadn’t been getting along well with her online romance partner over the past two days. Sometimes, she barely replied to his multiple messages. She had assumed he would be just as half-hearted in choosing a gift for her.

But now, it seemed like he had actually put some thought into it.

Bai Siyi looked at these exquisite and expensive gifts. Although he was envious, he felt nothing deep down.

As expected, he didn’t belong in the same world as these people. The gap between ordinary people and the rich was like the distance between galaxies.

Jiang Mianshu’s online romance partner was an actor—probably not short on money either. He had gifted her a top-tier gaming PC and monitor, the most high-end specs available on the market. It must have cost at least a hundred thousand yuan.

Truly wealthy.

The viewers in the live stream were overwhelmed with envy:

【Ah, the stench of money…】

【Why do I suddenly feel bad for Xiao Bai? Everyone else’s gifts are so amazing, but his… Ugh, it’s all Director Liu’s fault! How could he match Xiao Bai with this kind of online romance partner?!】

【That box is huge. What’s inside? So curious!】

—

Bai Siyi was also extremely curious. He stood up, lifted the box into his arms, and said in surprise, “It’s quite heavy.”

A thought crossed his mind—could it be filled with rocks?

Or… a box full of dirt?

He couldn’t figure it out. Surely, it couldn’t be empty, right?

Was Piupiustar’s gift to him literally just a box?

Qiu Bo and Jiang Mianshu leaned in, staring at the box with curiosity.

Qiu Bo urged, “Hurry, hurry, open it! Let me see!”

She was even more excited than when opening her own gift.

Bai Siyi untied the decorative ribbon, flipped open the box’s clasp, and lifted the lid.

The moment the box opened, time seemed to freeze.

Everyone stared blankly at its contents.

A few seconds later, Jiang Mianshu suddenly said, “Is this ^[1]Three-Sword Style (三刀流, Santoryu) is a sword-fighting technique from One Piece, used by Roronoa Zoro. It involves wielding three swords—one in each hand and one in the mouth.Three-Sword Style?”

Bai Siyi: “……”

Bai Siyi didn’t have time for anime, so he didn’t understand.

He looked at the neatly arranged three long katana inside the box and remained silent for a long moment before asking, “What do you mean by Three-Sword Style?”

Qiu Bo patted Bai Siyi on the shoulder. “It’s Zoro’s three swords! Holy crap! This must be custom-made, right? It looks so accurate! A perfect 1:1 replica!”

Even people who weren’t hardcore anime fans knew about the Three-Sword Style. Seeing such realistic swords right in front of them, it was impossible not to reach out and touch them.

Qiu Bo and Jiang Mianshu leaned in closer, marveling at the three swords.

The live stream viewers were equally stunned:

【Whoa… Even a cheapskate has his own version of romance! He actually gave such an expensive gift?!】

【It probably isn’t that expensive, right? Zoro’s used and owned way more than three swords. The ones in this box are just the first three he had. A custom-made model wouldn’t cost much.】

【Bro, these don’t look like models at all… They seem real?】

【No way they’re real! Dangerous weapons would be regulated!】

—

Bai Siyi carefully picked up one of the swords and slowly unsheathed it. The material looked like an alloy, unsharpened. It was heavy but relatively safe.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. “That scared me. I thought they were real swords…”

But as he exhaled, a new wave of frustration hit him.

What the hell was wrong with Piupiustar? When asked to give a gift, he went and sent him three swords?!

Qiu Bo laughed. “Maybe he didn’t want to spend money on a gift, so he just grabbed some random stuff to make do?”

Just like her—she had given her match a 200-yuan lighter.

Bai Siyi thought to himself, Piupiustar probably wasn’t unwilling to spend money, he just had no money to begin with!

He put the swords back into the box and frowned at how much space the giant thing took up.

Damn it. When they met for the first time, he’d carry the box over and return it to Piupiustar in person. Then, he’d tell him to get lost as far as possible.

Just then, Piupiustar sent him a message:

【Man, did you get the gift I sent you?】

Huo Xingming felt like a genius—he had given such an amazing gift!

Piupiustar: 【Now, when you go dancing at bars late at night, you can carry the swords with you. I guarantee no one will dare to mess with you.】

Bai Siyi stared at the message, scratching his head. “So that’s what he was thinking?”

But seriously—who the hell would bring three swords to a bar?! Was there something wrong with Piupiustar’s brain?

Piupiustar: 【Macho Man, I’ve been waiting for your gift, but it never came! I asked the show’s staff, and they said they didn’t receive anything. Did you not prepare a gift for me? If you didn’t, I’ll be really, really sad!!!】

Bai Siyi: “……”

He walked to the window, watching the light drizzle outside, and sent Piupiustar a voice message in his best, most delicate, cutesy loli voice:

“Brother, do you have a window over there?”

Huo Xingming was sitting on the sofa, impatiently confirming with the staff for the nth time: “Are you sure? Really sure? Could you guys have lost it? Did someone take it for themselves?”

The staff: “……”

Huo Xingming didn’t believe it. The gift exchange was part of the show’s task—he had sent his, so how could the macho man not send one back?!

Everyone else would have a gift, and he’d be the only one left out! When the show aired, how humiliating would that be?

If they didn’t send one over soon, he was going to make a scene!

Just then, a new message arrived.

It was a voice message. Huo Xingming was stunned—this was the first time the other party had ever sent him a voice message.

He immediately played it, and a soft, cutesy loli voice rang out:

“Brother, do you have a window over there?”

Huo Xingming: “……”

He held his phone and, after a long pause, regretfully turned to the camera crew.

“Is macho man really a girl?”

The staff: “……”

Huo Xingming joked, “I thought Director Liu knew my preferences and would match me with a guy.”

The staff: “……”

The accompanying director tightly covered her mouth. After spending the past few days with Huo Xingming, they had gotten along quite well. She was afraid that if she wasn’t careful, she’d accidentally blurt out that “macho man” was actually a man!

Huo Xingming stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the flowers and plants in the yard before replying:

【Yeah, I do. Why?】

But deep down, he was still upset. “macho man” actually hadn’t given him a gift, while the other male guests were probably busy unwrapping theirs right now!

Then, Bai Siyi sent another voice message:

“Do you like it? The gift I gave you.”

Huo Xingming: “???”

He looked out the window, then at his phone, then back outside again.

No delivery person. No courier.

Not even a stray dog in sight.

Just as he was about to ask another question, a new message popped up from “Most Loves Macho Man”:

“This grand, magnificent rain—this is my gift to you, brother. I hope that on every rainy day from now on, you’ll think of me.”

Huo Xingming: “……”

He immediately threw his phone away, shuddering as he rubbed his arms.

“Ugh, that was so cheesy!”

“Wait…”

Suddenly, he snapped out of it. Turning to the camera in disbelief, he asked the staff:

“Did she seriously just say she gifted me a rain shower? Is she for real?!”