Chapter 35

“Restrict Shen Xin and Jing Yan’s live streams to follow this format.”

Zhong Suwen handed the plan to the partnered platforms, and then called the tech department. “Consider adding some new segments on the fly, mainly to give Zhou Xuan and Mingyue opportunities to shine… Wait, mainly Zhou Xuan. Ahem, let’s just do that for now with Mingyue.”

Even thinking about Mingyue gave him a headache. The young man had all the resources and talent, yet he insisted on coasting by in the game. He’d gone so far as to tail Jing Yan to the entrance of her cave last time, but he never entered, showing absolutely no ambition!

“Forget it. I bet that movie star doesn’t care about our company’s rewards anyway. Tsk, he’s signed a contract, so at least act a little more professional…” Zhong Suwen mumbled, then pressed the button to summon his secretary. “Xiao Zhou, can you bring me a cup of coffee?”

Three minutes later, Xiao Zhou entered Zhong Suwen’s office with a cup of coffee.

“Where’s my coffee?”

“Sir, there’s a gentleman here who wishes to see you…”

Upon hearing that the person who wanted to see him had something to do with Shen Xin, Zhong Suwen walked into the reception room, only to be greeted by an arrogant old man.

Why, exactly, was this man arrogant?

UOL was a gaming company, so there were plenty of gaming machines in their reception area. A group of young adults had come to visit the company today, and they were currently seated in the reception area playing games. Chen Zesheng stood beside them, watching the children play like a proper old man, hands clasped behind his back.

UOL’s games were notoriously difficult, so when one of the young men quickly beat a level, his friends showered him with compliments and cheers.

“Nice! You beat it!”

“No wonder you’re single; your reflexes are incredible.”

“Don’t make games anymore, go pro!”

“That’s it? Pro? My twelve-year-old granddaughter could beat this with her feet.” Chen Zesheng scoffed, catching the young men’s attention.

The youths laughed when they saw the one mocking them was merely a sixty- or seventy-year-old man.

“Sir, are you sure your eyesight is okay? Maybe you didn’t see me press the buttons and thought I wasn’t playing.”

Chen Zesheng was old enough to not get upset over a few playful jabs from some teenagers and instead returned fire. “Hm, are you a tortoise by any chance? Those buttons seem awfully slow; it’s painful to watch.”

“Oh!”

The two parties engaged in a playful banter.

“Your granddaughter’s pretty fierce. Might as well let her demonstrate, huh?”

“She’s busy.”

“Ah, so the old fart’s just blowing smoke. I’ve been wondering, why are all these old men such liars? They’re all talk, no action… Hey, what’s this? Are you trying to punch me now that you’ve been exposed?”

“Out of my way.” Chen Zesheng sat down at a machine nearby and turned on the highest difficulty setting. “Is this what you guys play?”

“Easy there, old man, don’t blow a fuse and send yourself to the hospital.”

The youths laughed and tried to stop him, but Chen Zesheng was undeterred. After getting familiar with the controls, he breezed through the level the young man before him had attempted, finishing it much faster and with a higher score.

Everyone watching was dumbfounded.

Chen Zesheng slowly got up from his seat under the shocked gazes of the youths, stretched his arm, and said, “Aiya, I haven’t been active for a while now. I’m getting old. Surely you can’t be serious—that I’m better at these games than some young lad?”

Embarrassed, the youths quickly excused themselves from the reception room.

Zhong Suwen remained speechless. Was everyone in Shen Xin’s family this infuriating?

He fixed his hair, walked up to the old man, and held out a hand. “Hello, sir. Are you Shen Xin’s family?”

Chen Zesheng studied the young man before him; he seemed quite courteous, but the old man remembered this was the same person who had attempted to bully his granddaughter earlier.

Chen Zesheng didn’t return the handshake, only responding with a hum of acknowledgment.

Smiling, Zhong Suwen withdrew his hand.

Ah, a lack of manners, great. He knew the type: people like this cared only about money. Easy enough to deal with.

“Please take a seat, sir. What brings you here today?”

Chen Zesheng cut straight to the chase. “I’m here to discuss business with you. My granddaughter, Shen Xin, can help boost your game sales; it would be best if you haven’t yet limited her live streaming reach.”

Zhong Suwen sneered at the first part, thinking, Boost sales? Why should she? Based on her academic background? Sell games to big-shot scientists? Yeah right!

Then he froze upon reading the second sentence.

How did this old man know about their internal company decision?

“Sir, you can’t just make baseless accusations. Our company is fair and just, and we would never rig a competition… Where did you hear such misinformation?”

“Don’t worry about it. Anyone with eyes can tell her stream’s been limited.” Chen Zesheng pulled a small stack of papers from his bag. “Here, take a good look.”

Zhong Suwen wanted to continue his interrogation, but upon glancing at the first line on the paper, he froze, then picked up the stack to examine it carefully.

“She’s—” Zhong Suwen set the papers down, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Yes, it’s her. Surprised?” Chen Zesheng could finally proudly show off his granddaughter to others.

Before Zhong Suwen could question him, Chen Zesheng took the initiative to pull out all sorts of account information, video footage, and other evidence, leaving Zhong Suwen stunned.

No wonder! No wonder Shen Xin could help boost their sales—Mingyue and Zhou Xuan couldn’t even begin to compare to her!

Though Shen Xin’s “PARENTS WON’T LET ME PLAY GAMES” only had a little over nine million followers—ahem, the number wasn’t small, it was just significantly less than Mingyue and Zhou Xuan’s follower counts.

But the quality of the followers differed too.

UOL’s product was a game, and Mingyue and Zhou Xuan’s fans were mostly made up of film and music enthusiasts, with a large portion being fans of their looks. After accounting for those differences, while the two celebrities could bring some attention, they couldn’t guarantee many actual sales.

Shen Xin was different. The majority of her followers played games, and after doing the math, her promotional effect on the game might even surpass Mingyue and Zhou Xuan’s combined efforts.

Besides, she was “PARENTS WON’T LET ME PLAY GAMES,” that mysterious big shot! This was her first-ever face reveal! With this hot topic, they’d explode in popularity, and UOL would be crying from counting all their money!

Zhong Suwen was about to lose it.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this amazing resource earlier? Aaaaah!”

Chen Zesheng responded proudly, “Hmph, it’s because we needed to keep it a secret from Xinxin’s parents… Oh no!”

Chen Zesheng remembered something. “Wait, if we expose her identity, her parents will find out too… Hey, wait! I take it back, you’re not allowed to expose my granddaughter’s identity!”

Zhong Suwen was baffled.

“Too late! We’re exposing her identity!”

“Deal with me! Do you dare? I’m going to sue you guys!”

【 Congratulations, player! Your Farmer profession level has increased by 1, and you have received the following blueprints: [Low-Level Fertilizer], [Low-Level Sprinkler]. 】

【 Yesterday’s advertisement column commission has been settled, and you have received the following items… 】

“Fertilizer? Sprinkler?”

Shen Xin opened his handbook.

【 Low-Level Fertilizer: Made from weeds and trash, it can gradually increase crop growth speed (reduces 5% of the time required to grow). 】

【 Low-Level Sprinkler: Made from copper ingots, waters the crops within an 8×8 area around it daily. 】

After reading the descriptions, Shen Xin bounced up and down on his bed in excitement.

A sprinkler! He’d no longer need to water his crops every day!

Shen Xin checked his furnace and storehouse; he estimated that he could make about four or five low-level sprinklers.

“That’s not enough,” Shen Xin said with disappointment.

Watering his crops every day was tedious, and he still had to worry about missing a patch, which would result in his crops maturing at different times.

Automated irrigation was a must.

It’d be ideal if he could automate farming as well…

Shen Xin put everything away, made a few low-level sprinklers, and stored them in his workshop, planning to use them when he planted his summer crops.

“Oh? The steel is ready.”

Shen Xin extinguished the furnace, removed all the ingots, and crafted a steel hoe.

【 Congratulations, player! Unlocked the achievement “Plowboy”! 】

Shen Xin was speechless. The achievement didn’t sound impressive, but the steel hoe certainly deserved its reputation. After more than ten days of exhausting labor, she had crafted a shining, beautiful hoe.

“I wonder how it performs in practice.” Shen Xin gripped the hoe, swung it at the ground as she usually did, and was met with a resounding boom. A 3×3 area of land, centered around her, was instantly plowed open.

“Wow! That’s pretty satisfying.” Shen Xin tested out the hoe by lightly swinging it at the ground. This time, no large area of land was affected, but with just a gentle touch, one square of soil became arable land without any effort.

“It seems the effect is judged on the strength the player uses.” Shen Xin tested the hoe and discovered that it could plow an area of up to 5×5 squares of land.

“Not bad; it certainly didn’t disappoint considering how much time I put into crafting it.” Shen Xin put the hoe away, feeling quite satisfied, and returned to her farming duties.

On the first day of Zhuang Yi Restaurant’s opening, quite a number of players and NPCs gathered to observe.

“A restaurant? Someone actually opened a restaurant at this time?”

Taking advantage of the characteristic that cooked food would not rot, Zhuang Yi prepared all the dishes early in the morning and placed them in the display window. The various delicacies looked exquisite, save for…the portions being a tad too small.

“Is this really enough to eat?” This was everyone’s first reaction upon seeing the portions.

Zhuang Yi had long prepared an explanation. He stood by the entrance and explained unhurriedly, “Everyone, our restaurant’s theme is not filling your stomach, but health and enjoyment.

“As everyone knows, eating single food items for extended periods will lead to vitamin deficiencies and other negative status effects. Our store’s offerings can solve this problem, and on top of that, we can bring you gustatory delights…”

Many people in the game chose chef as their profession, and their skills could make food taste more delicious. However, these were ultimately just data-driven enhancements to taste.

As a chef in reality, Zhuang Yi had more experience with cooking than other NPCs, and with the support of his professional skills, he could make the dishes even tastier. He was confident that he could use the flavors alone to entice players to become repeat customers.

NPCs didn’t have much of a mind; those who accepted the price settled down in the restaurant, and after they placed their orders and paid, Zhuang Yi served them.

“Life would be so much easier if I could just grab dishes from the fridge in reality,” he lamented, marveling at the conveniences of the game world.

Zhuang Yi’s dishes were scrumptious, but many players saw the portion sizes and menu prices and backed away. “It’s so expensive. Isn’t it better to just buy the ingredients for one silver coin and cook them myself? It’ll last me all day!”

“That’s right, this restaurant owner must be desperate for money. These prices are almost criminal.”

“Who’s criminal?”

“Shen Xin, silly.”

“Oh! Speaking of which, how come she hasn’t come out to sell her vegetables? I was hoping to buy some to cure my debuffs.”

“Vegetables? She doesn’t sell those anymore.”

Upon hearing the voice behind them, the players who had been gossiping turned around, sweat dripping from their heads.

Standing there was indeed the very person they’d been speaking of: Shen Xin.

She pointed at Zhaung Yi’s establishment. “Do you think who supplies his vegetables? There’s no more buying from me, so you’ll have to come here to consume if you want fresh produce.”