Chapter Sixteen

“Old Lu, you’ve got packages coming every day, huh?”

Xingfu Li was an old residential compound, mostly home to electronics factory workers. As Lu Guogang rode along on his e-bike, several familiar neighbors called out to him.

“Double Eleven. Stocking up on household supplies,” Lu Guogang greeted each one politely. By the time he entered his apartment carrying packages, it was already 7 p.m.

“More packages?” his son Lu Kai asked as he came home from school.

“I got you a down jacket and three boxes of pen refills,” Lu Guogang said, setting the boxes down.

“Next time just send me the pickup code. I’ll grab them on my way home,” Lu Kai said, already tearing open packages. When he got to the last box, he asked, “You bought bread?” It was a 20×30 cm box labeled Qianzhiwei Original Flavor Bread.

Lu Kai opened the box. Inside were twenty pieces of bread, each 50 grams, like oversized French rolls.

“Just in time—I haven’t had dinner,” he said, opening one and taking a huge bite.

“Discounted price was twelve and a half yuan—comes to sixty-two cents each…” Lu Guogang was calculating the cost aloud when he saw Lu Kai had already wolfed one down. “Pretty good.”

“Acting like you haven’t eaten in ages?” Lu Guogang chuckled and headed to the kitchen to make noodles.

By 7:30, he turned off the stove and came out. His wife had come home at some point and was sitting on the couch eating bread with their son.

“When did you get back?” Lu Guogang asked casually.

She didn’t answer but raised the bread in her hand. “Where’d you buy this?”

“Longbao’s official site.”

“How much?”

“Twelve and a half.”

“Stock up on more,” she said, then headed into the bedroom with her bread to work. As she walked away, Lu Guogang called after her, “Not eating dinner?”

“Not hungry.” She shut the bedroom door. It was the end of the month—accounting time—so she had to work overtime.

“Noodles are ready,” Lu Guogang said to his son.

“I’m full now. I’ll go do my homework.” Lu Kai had eaten seven rolls and went into his room with his backpack.

“Ah…” Now alone in the living room, Lu Guogang thought back to when he used to work overtime and his wife would wait up for dinner.

He listlessly ate half a bowl of noodles, then opened a roll.

Half an hour later, his wife came out to get more bread and froze when she saw the empty box. “You ate them all?”

“There’s half a roll left…” Lu Guogang wiped the crumbs from his mouth. The bread was soft and fluffy, with the pure aroma of wheat. He’d only meant to eat one, but just couldn’t stop.

His stomach bulged—he was stuffed.

…

“Good evening, darlings in the livestream! We’re currently at Qianli Commercial Street.”

At the same time, in Qianli Commercial Street, Chong City, Glib Glutinous Rice Ball greeted viewers through his phone camera. Glib Glutinous Rice Ball was a product review livestreamer. With his good looks and magnetic voice, he had over 6 million followers and was one of TreeCat platform’s hottest creators.

“Tonight’s theme is French-style bread.” It was 8 p.m. As he finished his intro, Glib Glutinous Rice Ball brought out a basket of bread.

Xiyue, Pinliang, Qianzhiwei, Kangaroo Baby… the basket held fifteen different kinds of common mini loaves found in supermarkets.

“These breads are so down-to-earth.”

“I’ve had the Xiyue purple sweet potato bread—way too sweet.”

“Pinliang’s pine nut bread is okay, we keep restocking it at home.”

…

There were over 17,000 viewers on Nuomi Live. As Glib Glutinous Rice Ball introduced the brands, viewers busily sent live comments.

“Let’s get everything prepped first.” He labeled each bread with a number and brought out a waist-high rolling rack with fifteen numbered plates.

“We’ll place the bread in their respective plates according to number…” He cut each bread into small pieces and laid them on the matching plates.

“Try Mengmeng’s bread, it’s really good.”

“I’ve seen a few of these livestreams—the real thing never looks like the video.”

“Honestly, just buy from your local bakery…”

…

While Glib Glutinous Rice Ball got ready, viewers shared their own bread experiences.

At 8:20, the fifteen breads were all prepared.

“Alright, let’s go find some adorable random passersby…” Glib Glutinous Rice Ball made a gesture to the camera and wheeled the cart toward the crowd.

Participants would receive a random gift. Soon, a little girl agreed to join, accompanied by her mother.

“How old are you, sweetie?”

“Four.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet…”

The little girl was soft-spoken and adorable. Glib Glutinous Rice Ball crouched down. “We have fifteen kinds of bread here. Try a bite of each and pick your favorite, okay?”

“Okay.” She looked nervously at the cart.

Viewers melted at her cuteness. She picked up Bread No. 1 and stuffed it into her mouth. “Yummy.”

Then Bread No. 2: “Yummy.”

Bread No. 3: “Yummy.”

Bread No. 4: “Yummy.”

…

She ate six in a row, giving the same verdict each time: “Yummy.”

“So cute.”

“Another day of wishing I had a daughter.”

…

Comments flooded in good-naturedly. Though she was the first tester, nobody expected a serious review—they were just enjoying her adorableness.

Five minutes later, she finished all fifteen pieces. Each bite-sized chunk added up to about the same as one small French roll.

“Was the bread good?” Glib Glutinous Rice Ball asked, crouching again.

“Yummy,” the little girl replied in her soft, glutinous voice.

He smiled. “Which one was the best?”

He expected her to say all of them were good, but she tilted her head, looked at the plates, and said, “Number Seven was the best.”

“Number Seven?” he asked, surprised.

“Mhm.” She nodded solemnly.

“How good was it?”

“Really really good.”

He decided to change tactics. “If these breads were taking an exam, what score would you give No. 7?”

“One hundred!”

“What about the others?”

“Fifty-five.”

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball: …

…

“Which brand was No. 7?”

“Qianzhiwei.”

“Isn’t Qianzhiwei a jerky brand? Never heard their bread was any good.”

…

A score gap of 55 to 100 was huge. Viewers figured the girl was just too young to understand scoring.

Five minutes later, the little girl happily left hugging a plush toy.

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball moved on to the next random reviewer—a fashionable, stylish young woman.

The young woman saw Glib Glutinous Rice Ball and greeted him like an old friend. “You’re Glib Glutinous Rice Ball? I’ve watched your videos—I didn’t expect to get on camera…” She turned confidently to the camera. “Hello to everyone watching the livestream! I’m today’s random passerby. Glutinous Rice Ball is even cuter in person than in the videos!”

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball looked a little embarrassed.

After saying hello, the woman jumped right into the tasting.

“This one’s too sweet. Must be from Xiyue.”

“This one’s from Pinliang’s ‘Whole Sale Bread’ series—I bought it while dieting before.”

“This one… I can’t tell what it is. Not good. Next.”

…

Maybe because she’d seen livestreams before, she gave a critique after each bite, and her comments were blunt and sharp.

Soon, it was time to try No. 7.

“Delicious!” Her eyes lit up the moment she took a bite.

“This one has a strong wheat aroma, not too sweet, and you can feel the graininess of whole wheat on your tongue…” She carefully finished the piece and looked at Glib Glutinous Rice Ball. “Which brand is this?”

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball pressed his palms together. “Livestream rules.”

Only then did the woman remember—during the random tastings, brands weren’t revealed until the end.

She had no choice but to continue with the next sample.

“Not bad.”

“Too much artificial flavoring.”

“Not good.”

She quickly finished the remaining breads and turned again to Glib Glutinous Rice Ball. “What’s the brand for No. 7?”

“This one…” Glib Glutinous Rice Ball motioned for his assistant to open the product bin.

Three minutes later, the woman left holding two of the No. 7 breads and a plush toy.

“Today’s random tasters total five. Let’s pick our next participant…” Glib Glutinous Rice Ball continued. Praise focused on one number happens often in these livestreams. To get a sense of differences in male and female preferences, he randomly selected a middle-aged man.

“No. 7 tastes good.”

“No. 7 has a rich wheat aroma. Feels like it’s crafted with care.”

“Is No. 7 fresh-baked?”

…

Middle-aged men, middle-aged women, passing young people… In the next half hour, Glib Glutinous Rice Ball randomly picked three more people, all of whom shared the same preference: No. 7 was the best.

“No. 7 again?”

After the last young person said their piece, the livestream viewers started grumbling.

Nuomi Live had seen consistent tasting results before, but that was for 【Premium Baijiu vs. Supermarket Liquor】—the differences were obvious.

Qianzhiwei wasn’t a well-known brand. These common supermarket breads usually didn’t differ that much in taste, but now everyone was choosing the same one…

The viewers immediately became suspicious—

“Is the host pushing products now?”

“How much did Qianzhiwei pay you? I’ll give three times more to promote Kangaroo Baby!”

“LOL this tasting result is way too forced.”

…

The comments section turned hostile.

It was now evening rush hour at Qianli Mall. To salvage the situation, Glib Glutinous Rice Ball decided to pick one more taster. He wandered near the mall entrance and finally approached a security guard. The guard listened to his pitch and agreed to help out with the tasting.

Fifteen minutes later, the guard scratched his head. “No. 7 is pretty tasty.”

“Think again—really, which one was the best?” Glib Glutinous Rice Ball asked, not giving up.

The guard thought seriously, then confirmed: “No. 7.”

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball：【……】

“This is the most obvious paid promotion ever.”

“Watching a livestream crash and burn.”

“Host’s too eager to push product.”

…

There were now over 30,000 viewers. After the security guard’s comment, it was basically confirmed: the stream had turned into a product plug.

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball：【No way to talk my way out of this now】

【Author’s note】
Qianzhiwei：【Pie from the sky.JPG】