Chapter Twenty-Two

“This is too exaggerated…” As Nuomi Live continued, Sun Yunxuan muttered while looking at the tablet in Luohua Cake Shop, Huai Province.

Sun Yunxuan is the owner of Luohua Cake Shop and watches some news videos when work is not busy. On this weekday, he opened TreeCat as usual. Who knew that after just two videos, Cui Ning appeared in the TreeCat live room, and immediately, the whole scene was comparable to a large-scale advertisement site.

He has been running the cake shop for ten years. The shop mainly sells birthday cakes, towel roll cakes, and these new-style pastries, while French bread, mainly made from flour and eggs, is a slow seller due to its bland taste. But now… he can no longer recognize French bread.

“What’s wrong?” His wife walked out from the back kitchen as he muttered. They run a husband-and-wife shop; she makes the cakes, and he is responsible for cashiering and delivery.

“Do we have any French bread?” Sun Yunxuan looked up and asked.

“There’s some in the basket,” his wife pointed to the outermost basket. The bread is freshly made, and they usually eat the unsold ones themselves.

Sun Yunxuan pulled out a baguette from the basket. The video showed small bread, but he took a baguette, both made from egg flour.

He took a bite; the bread tasted bland, not the same variety as in the video.

Sun Yunxuan put it on the table.

“What’s wrong?” His wife noticed something was off with him.

“Could the brand of flour affect the taste?” Sun Yunxuan recounted the live broadcast tonight.

“Cui Ning and Duan Yujie were there?” His wife’s focus shifted.

“They’re still in the live room.” Sun Yunxuan placed the tablet between them, but couldn’t help sighing in his heart: the power of capital is too strong, even Cui Ning and Duan Yujie got involved.

…

“My Duan Duan is so ethereal, why promote flour?”

“Promoting flour… it’s too low-class!”

“Help! I can’t look at ‘Longxia Legal’ the same way anymore!”

…

While Sun Yunxuan sighed, other netizens had the same thought. The past hour was extremely surreal; after the police officer stepped down, eight more reviewers took the stage. Despite differing ages and professions, they all had the same reaction after tasting the bread: Number Twelve had the best taste.

French bread is the most basic bread. The production process of these breads is the same, and even if the flour affects the taste, the difference wouldn’t be this significant.

“Other streamers, take notes quickly.”

A netizen spammed the screen. Now, celebrity live streaming has become a trend, with the general routine being: 1. Celebrities pay out of pocket to give benefits. 2. I pamper my fans, original price 999, now 69. 3. Price quote error, 399 limited to 9.9.

The live streaming routines are varied, and now it has escalated to celebrity reviews…

At 10:20, the tenth reviewer took the stage. The tenth reviewer, named Wang Yingying, is a junior in college, and now she is nothing but excited.

“Hello, Teacher Cui, Teacher Duan.” Wang Yingying expressed her admiration for the two notaries, and Zhang Ze asked, “Do I need to reintroduce the rules?”

“No need.” Wang Yingying took a deep breath. She had been watching for two hours and knew the evaluation process.

“To ensure fairness and impartiality in the evaluation, we have changed a box of bread.” Zhang Ze signaled the baker to switch the bread.

Previously, the bread numbers were attached to the right side of the plate, but from the fifth reviewer onward, they were attached to the bottom. Reviewers could only know the bread number after eating, and in this series of evaluations, Number Twelve stood out.

Three minutes later, Wang Yingying began her evaluation.

“This one is relatively fluffy and soft.”

“This one has a grainy texture…”

“Not bad.”

…

With the same production process for the twenty-one types, she could only try to experience the differences as much as possible.

At 10:20, all twenty-one types of bread were finished.

“If you were to rate the bread, which one is the high-score bread in your mind?”

“This one!” Wang Yingying pointed to the middle plate without hesitation.

Zhang Ze picked up the plate, and the number on the bottom was: Twelve.

“Clap!”

“Clap clap clap!”

At the moment the number was highlighted, thunderous applause erupted on site. They originally came to watch Cui Ning and Duan Yujie, but as each evaluation unfolded, Number Twelve flour became the mysterious highlight of the night.

“This is so exaggerated?”

“Is there a mark? It’s too exaggerated.”

Amidst the thunderous applause on site, two voices emerged in the Nuomi Live room. One believed the flour selection and evaluation were high-quality scripts, while the other believed Number Twelve deserved its reputation.

“Definitely a script.” In Luohua Cake Shop, Sun Yunxuan decisively guessed. He browses TreeCat every day and has seen live streaming routines countless times. Although he doesn’t know how Nuomi Live achieved it… it’s definitely a routine!

“These people must know the bread numbers.” Sun Yunxuan was about to discuss it with his wife, but halfway through, he realized no one was responding behind him.

Sun Yunxuan turned around, and his wife was searching for Longbao.

“What’s wrong?” Sun Yunxuan asked curiously.

“It’s not sold online…” His wife looked up in confusion. She started as a cake apprentice at seventeen and has never experienced high-quality flour, but low-quality definitely affects taste. She was just curious and searched, but there was no Fengshan No.1 online.

…

At 11:20, the Nuomi Live evaluation ended. Nuomi Live’s rule: the best product is chosen by the public, and the live room will not make decisive comments. Among the twenty-one types of flour, Fengshan No.1 won unanimously.

“There’s only Fengshan leak-proof online, no flour.”

“Longbao Mall doesn’t have it either.”

“Didn’t see the little yellow car… did the manufacturer forget to post the link?”

…

After Nuomi Live ended, countless netizens searched for Fengshan No.1. They believed this evaluation was a celebrity script, but there was no Jingbao, no Longbao, and no web search results… Fengshan No.1 seemed to have suddenly appeared, yet was untraceable.

“Too careless!” Netizens were frustrated; whether they buy it or not is one thing, but you can’t not have it.

Netizens frantically refreshed the comment section, and at 11:50, Duan Yujie posted—

Duan Yujie: Very delicious bread. PS: First time as a notary guest, a happy experience. 【Image】【Image】

Duan Yujie is a big celebrity with twenty million followers, and the images were of French bread and himself eating bread.

“Isn’t Duan Duan in the ‘Flying’ crew? Did the director agree to a holiday?”

“Woo woo woo, another day lost in Duan Duan’s beauty.”

“The bread looks so delicious.”

…

The front rows of comment section are all fan comments. Amidst the harmony, a netizen asked: Did Duan Duan eat Fengshan bread? [Dazed][Dazed]

Duan Yujie replied: Yes, it’s very, very delicious. 【Happy】

“What is Fengshan?” The interaction between the two caught the attention of other fans.

“Just reviewed in the live broadcast room, didn’t you watch?” A netizen explained the earlier live broadcast.

“Ahhh!” The fans were completely confused. Duan Yujie is one of the four great actresses of Longxia, endorsing products like Baojie Sports Car and Lancome Perfume, which are global luxury brands. Now she’s advertising for a niche flour… it doesn’t match at all.

Before netizens could recover from the flour advertisement, another comment topped the hot list: “Quick, go to Cui Ning Weiwen!(Weibo similar to twitter) @Longxia host Cui Ning.”

Netizens clicked on the portal—

Cui Ning: “A very happy evening, fair review, Fengshan bread is very delicious. [Picture][Picture]”

Cui Ning’s attached pictures: French bread, live broadcast scene.

The first thought of netizens after seeing it: Cui Ning, you’ve fallen too.

At two in the morning, 【Cui Ning and Duan Yujie promoting flour】trended on social media. Although Cui Ning and Duan Yujie were impartial guests, their fame was too great, and their unexpected appearance in an unknown small live broadcast room made it hard for anyone to believe it wasn’t an advertisement.

Loyal fans hoped the two would come forward to explain, but Cui Ning and Duan Yujie remained unexpectedly silent, and even Longxia Television Station did not express any opinion.

Seeing no information could be gleaned from Cui Ning and Duan Yujie, netizens turned to Glib Glutinous Rice Ball. Glib Glutinous Rice Ball mainly mingles on TreeCat, with only 20,000 followers on Weiwen. The last Weiwen post was two months ago: a cloud photo taken through the bedroom window by Glib Glutinous Rice Ball.

“Chong City Jinyu Bay community, unit price over fifty thousand!”

“I’ve seen the community introduction online, the smallest is three hundred square meters.”

“Damn! To invite Cui Ning and Duan Yujie, what kind of status is that?”

…

Through the details outside the window, netizens quickly uncovered the villa where Glib Glutinous Rice Ball was located. Cui Ning and Duan Yujie are top-tier in Longxia, and now being able to invite them for a live broadcast… for a moment, Glib Glutinous Rice Ball’s identity became mysterious. Various rumors like ‘capital coercion’ and ‘Duan Yujie forced to promote’ quietly spread.

According to netizens’ speculation: Glib Glutinous Rice Ball’s identity is mysterious, Cui Ning and Duan Yujie were forced by Nuomi Capital to promote, Fengshan No.1 might end up like the explosive milk tea from a few years ago, eventually becoming a flour store franchise…

Fengshan No.1’s only purpose is exaggerated publicity, attracting user investment, and running away with the money!

This is not their conspiracy theory, but this kind of routine has been seen too many times in recent years. They often see local celebrity hosts fail, but never expected Cui Ning and Duan Yujie to join the ranks of capital.

“What a mess!”

In a high-end villa in Chong City, Zhang Ze looked at the news comments with frustration. This live broadcast was completely open and transparent, and the reviewers were randomly selected from ten thousand live audience members. He tried to avoid any cheating as much as possible, but in the end, it turned into a flour franchise.

“Do I look like a franchisee?” Zhang Ze looked at his assistant with frustration.

The little assistant hesitated to speak.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Ze was a bit puzzled.

“Do you really have a background?”

The little assistant held back and asked. He only knew that Zhang Ze wasn’t short of money, but being able to invite Cui Ning and Duan Yujie today, and coordinate so much police force on-site, wasn’t something an ordinary wealthy person could do.

“My family runs a clothing factory.” Zhang Ze explained irritably.

At this moment, the phone rang—

“Damn! What kind of background do you have? You can even invite Cui Ning and Duan Yujie?”

“Brother Zhang, were you on a secret visit before?”

“Isn’t your family running a clothing factory?”

…

These were all sent by relatives and classmates. After reading them, Zhang Ze had one thought: it’s impossible to explain clearly.

Suddenly, Zhang Ze remembered a call from a week ago—

“I trust the fairness of Nuomi Live, but we still need some impartial guests… How about Cui Ning and Duan Yujie?”

At that time, he only thought the farm was unreliable. But now… his face felt a bit hot.

…

“Cui Ning and Duan Yujie appear on Nuomi Live, cross-field same frame!”

“Fengshan Flour: No such brand found online.”

“Is it a real review or live marketing?”

…

At three in the morning, Fengshan news continued to explode on Weiwen. Although netizens speculated that Fengshan flour was a scam, the effect of Nuomi Live was real, and with both Duan Yujie and Cui Ning posting on Weiwen, netizens’ curiosity reached its peak.

Netizens peeled back layer by layer, and apart from Fengshan Farm and Fengshan Flour Factory, there was no additional information about Fengshan No.1 online.

Netizens: Suddenly it’s a bit mysterious.

…

“Still alive…”

While netizens continued to speculate, on the slope three miles east of Fengshan Farm, Qin Yun looked at the cub in his arms with a bit of a headache. It was a twenty-centimeter white wolf cub, covered in blood, squinting its eyes looking for milk.

The night wind in the Uninhabited Zone was a bit strong, Qin Yun unzipped his down jacket and tucked the wolf cub into his arms.

At this moment, everything was silent, and Qin Yun looked down at his feet, where there was an adult white wolf covered in blood.

Time rewound to an hour ago—

Qin Yun couldn’t sleep and was observing the wheat on the farm when he heard a series of urgent wolf howls in the distance. The wheat had just been planted, and he was worried about another incident like the Hyena event last time, so he drove the irrigation machine to check the situation.

He crossed two mountain tops, and when he arrived, a white wolf was fighting dozens of hyenas. The white wolf was bitten on the neck by a hyena, and its howls were getting weaker.

Qin Yun didn’t hesitate to rush into the hyena pack. Survival of the fittest, he shouldn’t participate in animal fights. But the farm had been damaged by hyenas for twenty acres, and with the rabbit carcasses in the field, he had no goodwill towards these hyenas!

The hyenas were startled by the sudden large object. They bared their teeth at Qin Yun, but the irrigation machine’s material was special, and after some threatening, they reluctantly left.

Once safety was confirmed, Qin Yun got out of the car to check the situation.

The white wolf had been bitten on the major artery and had died from excessive blood loss. Qin Yun was about to bury the white wolf when he discovered a white wolf cub under its belly.

The wolf cub was dirty all over but had no major injuries.

Qin Yun picked up the wolf cub, leading to the current scene. He guessed the white wolf had been separated due to special reasons and didn’t escape from the hyena pack to protect the cub.

Now at 3:20, Qin Yun took a hoe from the irrigation machine and began digging to bury the white wolf. He had no relation to the white wolf, but sacrificing oneself to save a child was something he’d only read about in books. At this moment, Qin Yun had great respect for the white wolf.

“Awoo!”

The cold wind howled, and just half an hour after Qin Yun left, a pack of white wolves arrived at the spot where Qin Yun had been. These white wolves were agile and fierce, with various wounds on their bodies, clearly indicating they had just been through a battle.

The leader of the white wolves circled around the spot where the she-wolf was buried, and at that moment, a rustling sound came from afar. It was a larger pack of hyenas than before. Without hesitation, the white wolves headed straight towards the Deep Uninhabited Zone.

……

“Oh my!”

Early the next morning, Zhao Zhishun was about to start a fire to cook when he was startled by something furry in the yard. There was now a fluffy cub in the yard, lying in front of a basin drinking goat milk. Upon hearing the noise, it glanced at Zhao Zhishun and then continued drinking.

“Where did it come from?” Zhao Zhishun was curious. Having been in Gan Province for twenty years, he could tell at a glance that this was a white wolf cub.

“Brought it back last night.” At this moment, Qin Yun came out of the room, holding a bottle of iodine. He opened it and began to bandage the cub’s wounds.

“Whimper!” The cub allowed Qin Yun to bandage it without moving, obediently staying still.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” Zhao Zhishun noticed Qin Yun’s dark circles.

“No…” Qin Yun yawned. He had returned from the hill at four o’clock, first helping the cub bathe, then finding goat milk. By the time he finished everything, it was already this time.

“A white wolf?”

“Where did you bring it from?”

……

At 7:10, Liu Wensheng and others came out of their rooms, all very curious about the white wolf.

Qin Yun recounted the events of the previous night.

“This is nature…” Liu Wensheng remarked with emotion. Both white wolves and hyenas are social animals, and now with the weather getting colder, the conflicts among animal groups are becoming more intense.

Qin Yun and Liu Wensheng discussed the issue of the cub’s future. At this moment, the cub noticed Liu Wensheng’s shoelaces and curiously approached. Liu Wensheng was wearing old-fashioned cotton boots with a bow on the sole, and the cub tried to bite it twice but couldn’t move it.

“You little thing!” Liu Wensheng picked up the cub, which was soft, fluffy, and white, resembling a domesticated Samoyed.

“Whimper, whimper.” The cub struggled violently. Seeing its increasing struggle, Liu Wensheng reluctantly put it down.

As soon as the cub touched the ground, it dashed straight to Qin Yun’s feet.

Zhang Hu and Zhao Zhishun wanted to pet it, but the cub was uncooperative.

“Little wolf cub.” Liu Wensheng jokingly scolded. This cub was at most ten days old, yet it already had such a temper.

“I’ll report to the Forestry Bureau later.”

After chatting for a while, Liu Wensheng pondered. The white wolf is a second-class protected animal in Longxia. The state advocates returning them to nature, but the cub has no ability to protect itself, and with winter approaching, they decided to feed it for two months before releasing it.

At 7:30, Zhao Zhishun finished cooking porridge. He made millet rice and Gan Province steamed buns, using farm wheat. Once eaten, everyone felt a warm sensation throughout their bodies.

“Refreshing!” Liu Wensheng took a big gulp of porridge and then looked at Qin Yun, “The team has been arranged, and we’ll produce according to the twenty-pound specification.”

The team had already negotiated with the pilot area, which ordered a total of 15,000 tons of flour.

“Three machines aren’t enough.”

Qin Yun quickly calculated. Currently, the maximum wheat output in five days is 3,750 tons, and considering the flour yield loss, the farm would need to plant non-stop for five days. Wheat is easy to grow, but flour production is also a major challenge.

“I’ll sleep at the flour mill for now, and everyone should work some overtime…” Liu Wensheng sighed. There were only six of them on the farm, handling both wheat planting and flour production, each person doing the work of three.

“Beep beep—” Amidst the idle chat, Qin Yun’s phone beeped twice.

Unread message: “Hello, I am from the Natural Noodle Factory. Do you have any flour for sale?”

“Someone buying flour?” Qin Yun was puzzled and was about to take a closer look when a flood of messages came in—

“I am from Hutoeng Agricultural Trade Company. Do you need a flour agent?”

“How much is flour per ton?”

“Hello…”

……

The signal in the Uninhabited Zone was poor, and the phone had no signal before, only now receiving the messages.

Qin Yun skimmed through them; all the messages had the same purpose: flour cooperation.

“Congratulations, Host, on achieving a random achievement: [Overnight Sensation]. Achievement reward: 20,000 Host points. Upon detection, the Host currently meets the upgrade conditions. Would you like to upgrade?” As Qin Yun was feeling dizzy, the system notification appeared.

“What’s wrong?” Liu Wensheng noticed something was off with Qin Yun.

“The system upgrade…” Qin Yun shared the interface.

“Upgrade!” Liu Wensheng agreed without hesitation after seeing it.

The Longxia Team had been researching the Host’s upgrade method, and unexpectedly, during breakfast, it upgraded directly.

Qin Yun decisively clicked.

“Congratulations, Host, on completing the permission upgrade.”
…..
Host level: Beginner Farm Owner.

Unlocked permissions:
1. Recruit 20 farm employees.
2. Open labor purchase permissions. (Limit 50)
……

The system upgrade was straightforward. Qin Yun looked around and clicked on [AI Labor].

Name: [AI Labor].

Attribute: Third-generation product of DH6 Planet, non-intelligent AI, labor-type AI.

Price: 1 million points.

……

[AI Labor] seemed to be an AI Robot. After reading, Qin Yun asked, “Should we buy it?”

1 million was relatively cheap. Liu Wensheng waved his hand grandly, “Buy it.”

“Purchase?”

“[Yes].”

“Use immediately?”

“[Yes].”

As Qin Yun confirmed, a mist rose in front of him, and three seconds later, it transformed into a half-human-sized robot. The robot had round hands and a square head, somewhat resembling the popular “Wall-E.” At this moment, the robot’s head turned around and mechanically looked at Qin Yun, “Sir”

“Artificial intelligence?”

Liu Wensheng was a bit dazed. With global diversification, artificial intelligence is a research direction for all countries. However, due to technological constraints, there is no true artificial intelligence globally. And now… although they didn’t understand AI, the robot in front of them indeed looked futuristic.

Plowing, planting, harvesting…

In the next three hours, the AI Labor diligently went to the farmland. It harvested the planted corn, then carried it to the corn factory. The machines operated, and soon, three large bags of cornmeal were produced into flour bags.

After collecting the cornmeal, the AI Labor turned to the wheat feed machine. It collected the waste into feed bags. Once everything was done, it went to inspect the wheat planting…

“So efficient.”

Liu Wensheng looked at the labor with a complex expression. The AI Labor was like a tireless program, completing six people’s half-day work in an hour. The AI Labor could easily lift a thousand pounds, and looking at it, Liu Wensheng felt like an idle person for the first time.

AI laborers greatly accelerated farm efficiency, and in the following week, the farm once again entered the [planting-harvesting-production] mode. Baisheng Agricultural Trade also came regularly to purchase. Farm points flowed continuously, and whenever points were earned, Qin Yun would directly click on [AI Laborer].

A week later, the farm had a total of fifty AI laborers, which was the upper limit for farm laborers.

“Old Liu, AI laborers can only be used within the farm’s range. Our AI group definitely needs to enter the field for research.”

“Fengshan No.1 has been under study for five months, and now is a critical moment…”

“We agreed before that you have to give our biology group a spot.”

…

This upgrade mainly concerns both farm employees and AI laborers. AI laborers are simple, but employee slots are highly coveted by various groups. From the first day of the Host upgrade, Liu Wensheng received calls from various teams. At this moment, Liu Wensheng looked at the information from each team, feeling a headache.

Who to give it to and who not to… it’s hard to allocate.

…

“Still not on the shelves…”

While Liu Wensheng was feeling extremely frustrated, Zhao Xuan was bored scrolling through TreeCat at Luohua Cake Shop. Zhao Xuan is Sun Yunxuan’s wife. Since Nuomi Live ended, she has been following Fengshan No.1, but in the past week, there has been no information about Fengshan No.1.

Fengshan No.1 seemed to appear out of thin air and then vanish into thin air.

“There must be qualification issues. These internet-famous brands are hardly ever legitimate,” Sun Yunxuan said nonchalantly.

“Sigh.”

Zhao Xuan sighed. She started as an apprentice at seventeen and has worked in the cake industry for seventeen years. Although Fengshan No.1 seemed unreliable, it was like a swordsman encountering a peerless sword. She was very curious about what Fengshan No.1 would look like as a cake, but now… there might really be qualification issues.