Chapter 91: Live Stream 3

Liu Datie heard the commotion and poked his head out to look. He saw the massive shadows of drones swarming away across the sky. Stunned, he pointed upward and stammered, “…It—it really delivers packages?!”

Chen Ji nodded. “Why would I lie to you?”

The drones flying off were captured by the phone’s camera as well. Liu Datie was still craning his neck at the sky; otherwise, he would have seen the barrage exploding across the screen.

{emmm, this isn’t regular delivery. That’s the power of money!}

{Quick lesson for everyone: Drone delivery from SF Express starts at two grand! And that’s just the shipping fee—not the item price!}

{…? Weren’t we done being workhorses? Is that what it meant?! What?!}

The rest was a flood of 666s.

Liu Datie kept gawking foolishly. “Do normal packages get delivered like that too?!”

“Regular ones go to the village’s parcel station,” Chen Ji replied. He paused, as if recalling something. “The station’s been having some issues lately, though. Hasn’t reopened yet.”

And why not? Xiao Wang’s wife, her family, and Xiao Wang had all moved away. Only Old Master Wang refused to budge, so naturally, the parcel station stayed shuttered.

Chen Ji suddenly paused in thought. What about his own packages?

No wonder he hadn’t gotten any station notifications these past few days.

“Is the stuff expensive?” Liu Datie asked, practically bouncing with excitement. It was his first time seeing drone delivery—especially all the way up to this remote mountaintop. He was dying to know what kind of package merited that kind of treatment. From the way it had been dropped, it probably wasn’t fragile.

Chen Ji scooped up the package box almost casually and hugged it to his chest. He headed back inside with light steps, as if their chat were over. “Nah, not really expensive. I just need it quick… Go rest up. Dinner’s in half an hour!”

Any thought Liu Datie had of climbing out the window for a cool stunt vanished instantly. Right now, nothing mattered more than food. Since he’d already cleared it with Chen Ji earlier, he didn’t stand on ceremony. He plugged in the phone’s charger and positioned it to capture the best view—the courtyard of the Mountain Lord Temple. “Family! I’m off to shower. Dinner’s soon—keep an eye out for me! Back in fifteen!”

With that, he bolted for the bathroom.

The viewers had been grumbling plenty. Sure, the scenery was gorgeous, but staring at the same fixed shot got old fast. Today’s weather was perfect, too, with the clouds barely drifting. Nothing much to see. After soaking in the vista for a bit, some viewers tapped out to run errands or whatever. But right then, a small red-and-white animal scampered into frame.

The first thing that caught the eye was its blackish-pink nose, followed by a fluffy pinkish-white muzzle. Glowing red fur flashed by the lens, and only as the creature backed up did its full form come into view.

{Yooo—! Where’d that fox come from?}

{OMG so cute!}

The red-furred fox tilted its head at the phone. It knew what this was. Brother Chen had one. Second Grandpa Huang had one. It wanted one too… But the Huang brothers said these things cost a fortune in the human world. A little fox like it couldn’t sell itself for enough to buy one.

Its blackish-pink nose tip bumped the lens. The red fur pushed back… Hmm, this phone felt hot. Must be suffering from heatstroke! Brother Chen’s videos said bamboo rats with heatstroke needed to be rushed to a stream for rescue. Same deal here. It would carry the phone off right now to save it!

The livestream viewers felt the world spin dizzily. When things steadied, the perspective had dropped super low. At the edges of the frame, they could see fleshy pink gums and sharp little teeth. Everyone realized it instantly—the red fox had snatched the phone in its mouth!

{Da Tie! Get back here—your phone’s been fox-napped!}

{hhh!! I don’t care, I stan this new streamer. Let Da Tie step down!}

{This angle is wild!}

{It’s hilarious lololol!}

Gifts started flooding the screen like they were free.

From the kitchen window, Chen Ji spotted the red-furred fox slinking off with something in its mouth. “Little Red! Where are you off to?”

The red-furred fox froze, then kept sneaking away, hoping to play it off as if it hadn’t heard. But Chen Ji called out, “Not listening, huh?”

{…? ??}

{…?!}

{Ah… those words hit kinda sus…}

Certain viewers: {Daddy! I’m right here!}

{Be good, be good! Puppy incoming! Daddy!}

{…Where’d this phone daddy come from?}

{This ain’t the kindergarten bus—let me off!}

The red-furred fox let out a pitiful yip and whipped around. It scampered straight to Chen Ji’s side, hopped nimbly onto the windowsill, and pointed the phone camera right at Chen Ji’s face.

It was the first time the livestream audience got a proper close-up of Chen Ji. Even the fleeting glimpses before had left an impression, but face-on? He was breathtakingly handsome in a way that bordered on unreal. His features might have seemed almost delicate, but those pitch-black eyes—devoid of any light—dominated everything. They made you ignore the rest, leaving only a chill of gloom and eeriness, like locking eyes with a ghost.

Countless viewers felt the hairs on their necks stand up the moment they met his gaze through the lens.

{…Hiss. Can’t put my finger on it, but this guy’s kinda scary.}

{I feel it too…}

{Waaah so creepy! Bro’s hot af but why so terrifying?!}

Of course, saner voices chimed in: {Trust science. Just the uncanny valley effect.}

The debate got drowned out by a flurry of yips. The camera shook wildly, then steadied on the ceiling. Red fur whooshed past the lens, revealing half a fox head. A slender hand descended casually to ruffle its fur. “Where’d this phone come from?”

“Yip yip!” The red-furred fox rubbed its head frantically against Chen Ji’s palm, trying to hide its guilt.

Chen Ji pinched its ear. “Little Red, getting bold are we? Stealing phones now?”

The fox’s head twisted away, pulling it out of frame. Another round of yips followed—coquettish, sticky-sweet, utterly shameless.

{Jealous af…}

{I wanna be cuddled by a fox like that!}

{No fr, how does this guy have his fox so spoiled?}

Chen Ji’s voice drifted over. “Let it slide this time. No more after this, got it?”

“Yip yip!”

Chen Ji went on, “Sit tight right here. Later, you’ll apologize to the owner. Let him pet you as sorry. If you agree, yip three times.”

“Yip yip yip!”

The barrage was a sea of ???s. Plenty of viewers had already fired up search engines, wondering just how smart foxes really were—and if they could understand commands.

{This little fox is so spiritual…}

{What if… all the animals they’ve shown so far are super smart?}

{It seriously seems to get what he’s saying!}

{Chilling when you think about it… Snake, weasel, fox. What’s next? Just missing the white and gray immortals!}

Chen Ji picked up Liu Datie’s phone. In a mild tone, he addressed the audience. “Hello, everyone. One of the little critters got playful and snatched the streamer’s phone… Sorry about that. Heading back to return it now.”

{This real or scripted?}

{Damn, he finally spoke!}

Chen Ji could sort of make out the barrage now, but it was still a strain. He had to squint hard to read it. Pretending he couldn’t see a thing, he added, “My eyesight’s not great, so I can’t really tell what you all are saying… Anyway, returning it now.”

Liu Datie emerged from his shower to the sound of knocking at the door. He toweled off the water droplets on his neck and hurried over. Opening up, he found Chen Ji waiting outside—alone.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Chen Ji thrust something very familiar into his hands, along with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about this. One of the pets at home doesn’t know better—snatched your phone.”

“You can check if anything else went missing. It’ll dig it up and bring it back.”

“Oh, no worries, no worries.” Liu Datie had figured it was Second Master Huang’s doing. Thinking of that clever weasel from earlier, he couldn’t muster any anger—it wasn’t a big deal anyway. He took the phone and said, “Second Grandpa, right? He’s so smart. Even knows about phones…”

Chen Ji lifted his right leg slightly by way of indication. With a helpless sigh, he said, “Not Second Grandpa. It’s this one.”

Liu Datie glanced down and finally noticed the plump, round fox draped over Chen Ji’s leg. Its fur was a vivid, eye-catching red, yet somehow he’d overlooked it entirely until now. As if sensing his gaze, the red-furred fox looked up with big, pitiful eyes and let out a tiny, trembling whine: “Yip~”

That sound twisted and turned, melting hearts in its wake.

{Forgive King Zhou. Understand King Zhou. Become King Zhou!}

{Forgive King Zhou. Understand King Zhou. Become King Zhou!}

The barrage lit up in perfect unison.

“…” Liu Datie was momentarily speechless. Just then, Chen Ji nudged his leg. “Go on, apologize already.”

He turned to Liu Datie. “If you forgive it, give it a pet.”

The red-furred fox slid reluctantly from Chen Ji’s leg and shuffled over to Liu Datie’s. It rubbed against him halfheartedly.

Liu Datie kept filming on instinct. After a beat of silence, he crouched down and stroked its fur—gently, carefully. Satisfied with the pet, the red-furred fox bolted. Somehow, Liu Datie and the viewers alike could read pure mortification in its retreating form.

Liu Datie chose his words carefully. “Bro, level with me. How many of these wild critters drop by your place regularly?”

He didn’t dare say “pets.”

Chen Ji thought for a moment and smiled. “I keep two cats. One’s named Xiao Ba. The other’s… well, it abandoned me. Super shy around people anyway—you probably won’t run into it.”

Liu Datie let out a breath of relief. “Phew, that’s good. That’s good…”

He was truly terrified that Chen Ji would mention more horrors like five-step snakes, cobras, spiders, centipedes, or toads dropping by the Mountain Lord Temple all the time. If that was the case, Liu Datie would hightail it down the mountain right that instant, not sticking around for even a second longer!

Seeing that Chen Ji had fallen silent, Liu Datie quickly pressed on. “I’ve finished my bath. Is there anything I can help with?”

Chen Ji replied, “Then let’s move the table out to the courtyard. The weather’s great today—we can eat outside.”

Liu Datie had been about to ask if there might be bugs swarming everywhere outdoors, but as a guest, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Instead, he dutifully trailed after Chen Ji, helping to shift the table before fetching the dishes and bowls. But when they finally sat down to ladle out the soup, it stunned him into silence all over again.

He stared at the ginseng root in the big ladle—a massive thing thicker than his thumb. It took him a long moment before he finally managed to say, “…What other surprises is Zhen unaware of?”