Chapter 20

“Mr. Qin, I want to do a flour review…” Zhang Ze stated his main purpose.

It had been half a month since the bread review, and in that time, he had been going through a very rough patch.

Since the bread review ended, his followers dropped from 6.62 million to 5.5 million. It was no longer just about the bread; it was about his personal reputation.

He had never suffered such a huge grievance since childhood. He posted a comparison image of the bread packaging on TreeCat, carefully circling the icon labeled ‘Wheat Quality: Fengshan No.1’. The top comment read: 【Quietly watching your performance.JPG】.

Zhang Ze: …completely inexplicable.

Zhang Ze was not one to give up easily. After serious consideration, he decided to solve the problem at its source: by conducting a flour review.

He traced the bread information back to the Sunshine contract factory, and through the factory, he found bidding information from the Husheng provincial government. After some twists and turns, he finally found Fengshan No.1—

Name: Fengshan Farm.

Location: No. 337, Lushui Town, Jiang City, Gan Province.

Business Scope: Fengshan No.1.

Contact: 130XXXXX.

…

The farm information was brief. He decisively dialed the farm’s number. Due to signal issues, no one answered. Just as he was about to give up, the call finally connected!

“Mr. Qin, I really need this batch of wheat.”

Zhang Ze emphasized seriously. Holding to the principle of getting back up after a fall, he decided to give it his all. Even if it failed a second time, he would have no regrets.

Qin Yun listened carefully but didn’t immediately agree: “I need to think it over.”

“I can order according to the purchase quantity,” Zhang Ze assumed the farm wouldn’t sell loose orders.

“It’s not about quantity.” Qin Yun smiled.

Zhang Ze wanted to say more but, after hesitation, could only hang up.

“Buying wheat?” Inside Fengshan Farm, Liu Wensheng was curious.

“A TreeCat streamer wants to do a flour review.” Qin Yun repeated the phone conversation with Zhang Ze.

“Flour review?” Liu Wensheng and the others exchanged looks. With so much diversified information online, he didn’t expect such a strange review.

“Should we cooperate?” Qin Yun asked. Zhang Ze was a small matter, but it raised a bigger question: as the farm gets on track, should Fengshan Farm accept orders beyond Baisheng Agricultural Trade?

“I’ll think about it.” Liu Wensheng pondered seriously.

At one o’clock, Zhao Zhishun cooked a big pot of hand-pulled noodles.

“Delicious!” The moment the noodles went down, everyone gave a thumbs-up. The hand-pulled noodles were smooth and chewy; Zhao Zhishun’s seven-point cooking skill was instantly raised to ten!

The six of them finished eagerly. Liu Wensheng patted his stomach and relayed Zhang Ze’s situation to the team. After serious discussion, the Longxia Team suggested proceeding with the cooperation.

At three o’clock, Qin Yun called Zhang Ze.

On the sofa in a high-end villa in Chong City, Zhang Ze saw the caller ID and jumped up: “Hello!” A wheat order made him feel even more nervous than a TV station evaluation.

“You’re going to do a live flour review?” Qin Yun asked bluntly.

“Yes, Nuomi Live is a professional live streaming account.”

“How will you ensure the fairness of the test results?”

“Nuomi Live uses random passerby live scoring, then averages the results.” Zhang Ze explained the live broadcast process.

Qin Yun smiled: “As far as I know, Nuomi Live seems to have a credibility crisis.”

“It’s all fake.” Zhang Ze was so angry it hurt his teeth. Thinking about this credibility crisis, it felt like a huge black mark had fallen from the sky—so, so unlucky!

“Mr. Qin, you can trust the fairness of this review.” Zhang Ze tried hard to vouch for his own reputation, but Qin Yun shifted tone: “We can cooperate, but there’s one condition…”

Half an hour later, Zhang Ze hung up.

“Brother Zhang, what did they say?” The assistant nervously asked beside the sofa.

“No wheat needed. The farm can directly send fifty jin of flour.” Zhang Ze was a bit confused.

“That’s good.” The assistant was puzzled: “Any additional conditions?”

“The farm wants two notarized guests in the livestream.”

Assistant: ???

Zhang Ze looked at the assistant: “Cui Ning and Duan Yujie.”

Assistant: !!!

Online profiles—

Cui Ning: Born in 2982 in Qinghe County, Dong Province, host at Longxia Television Station. Since 3005, he has hosted 《Longxia Legal》, held the Longxia Spring Festival Gala seven times, and repeatedly won viewers’ favorite host.

Duan Yujie: Born in 2998 in Fang’an City, Husheng Province, graduate of Longxia Film Academy undergraduate class. Starred in 《A Wuxia Dream》 in 3020, 《Jadeite》 and 《Princess of Dawn》 in 3021… one of Longxia’s most beloved actresses and one of the four top stars.

Cui Ning is the pinnacle of legal hosts, Duan Yujie the top beauty among Longxia actresses. These two have never shared the screen—and now they are supposed to appear together in the flour livestream… impossible!

“Sounds like bragging?” The assistant didn’t believe it.

“Yeah.” Zhang Ze also doubted it.

Today was December 5th. According to the plan, Nuomi Live would restart on December 10th. While discussing livestream details, Zhang Ze kept thinking about Qin Yun’s call—

“I trust Nuomi Live’s fairness, but we still need some notarized guests… How about Cui Ning and Duan Yujie?”

Qin Yun sounded casual. When he first heard it, he really thought the farm could invite Cui Ning and Duan Yujie. But with their star power, even Shuilan Star was out of reach.

“Sounds young but a bit off,” Zhang Ze muttered. Whether Cui Ning and Duan Yujie would come or not, the fifty jin of flour would be delivered on time. After this episode, he seriously doubted his own guess. If the flour livestream failed again… social death.

…

While Zhang Ze pondered, inside Fengshan Farm, Qin Yun looked at Liu Wensheng with curiosity. Half an hour earlier, Qin Yun was about to reply to Zhang Ze when Liu Wensheng thought: “This is wheat’s first official debut, it needs publicity, and it’ll help with follow-up tasks…”

Then Liu Wensheng communicated with the Longxia Team, leading to what just happened.

The farm wasn’t sure if active advertising was against regulations. To be safe, Cui Ning and Duan Yujie are cooperating with the livestream, with no connection to the farm. Though unrelated, Fengshan No.1 is Longxia’s highest quality wheat. As long as both maintain fairness, this counts as indirect advertising for the farm.

Qin Yun understood the subtleties and asked again after some thought: “Will Cui Ning and Duan Yujie really show up?” He wasn’t a fan but grew up watching 《Longxia Legal》; Duan Yujie’s news often trended.

Seeing Qin Yun’s curiosity, Liu Wensheng chuckled: “If you want to see stars, I’ll take you to the Spring Festival Gala at year’s end. We’ll watch it live.”

Qin Yun was speechless. From an ordinary person’s perspective, celebrities aren’t just anyone you can meet at will. But in Longxia, whether ordinary people or celebrities, everyone is a citizen. The country has a professional PR team; all he needed to do was focus on the farm’s work.

Over the next three days, Qin Yun began the infrastructure process of [planting—harvesting—production].

…

“Notarized guests for the livestream?” Just as Qin Yun was gearing up, Cui Ning and Duan Yujie were asking the same question.

In the Longxia Television Station lounge, Cui Ning looked at the latest work plan. According to it, he had to arrive in Chong City by 8 p.m. the next night and serve as a notarized guest on Nuomi Live. The job: cooperate with the livestream process and ensure the broadcast was open and transparent.

The notarization work was simple, but he couldn’t understand the meaning behind having him notarize a flour review.

“Sent by the director’s office?” Cui Ning pointed to the director’s seal at the bottom after reading it.

“The assistant just got it this morning,” the assistant nodded.

Cui Ning thought for a moment and messaged the director: New work from the station?

Three minutes later, the director replied: Assigned by higher-ups, cooperate seriously.

Originally half-reclining on the sofa, Cui Ning immediately sat up straight after seeing the reply. Longxia Television Station was the most authoritative TV station in Longxia; even the director wasn’t clear on the document…

He then fixed his gaze on ‘Glib Glutinous Rice Ball.’

What was so special about Glib Glutinous Rice Ball?

…

“They just want us to cooperate,” said Xiao Chen, the manager, at Jinghe Film Base, just as Cui Ning was puzzled.

In front of him sat a woman in costume. She was elegant and tall, the popular Longxia actress Duan Yujie. At that moment, Duan Yujie was removing her hairpin while asking, “What’s the background of Glib Glutinous Rice Ball?”

She was twenty-eight this year and had just accepted a major martial arts epic last month. Before filming, the director repeatedly demanded the actors be dedicated and not leave the set except under special circumstances. The director was known for strictness in the industry, and after a month of shooting, no lead actors had left.

Everyone was secluded filming, but yesterday afternoon, the director came with a document, telling her to take two days off on the 10th and 11th to go to Chong City as a notarized guest. Duan Yujie saw the notarization details—it was basically a formality.

The director didn’t know why either, only saying it came from the film bureau and asked if she knew Glib Glutinous Rice Ball.

Duan Yujie was clueless. She had her manager check, and Glib Glutinous Rice Ball’s background and livestream content were completely normal.

After removing her hairpin, she shared Cui Ning’s thoughts: What was so special about Glib Glutinous Rice Ball?

Author’s note:

Glib Glutinous Rice Ball: ???