Chapter 58: Livestream (2)
Having someone suddenly stand behind you and stare was kind of creepy.
Now that he’d been caught, Shen Xiu admitted honestly, “Learning by watching.”
Xiang Yueting: “???”
If he didn’t know Shen Xiu was just using a phone, with that serious and focused expression, he’d have thought Shen Xiu was doing some cutting-edge tech work.
“I’m just starting a livestream, that’s all…”
Shen Xiu nodded. “I know.”
He was someone who didn’t even have a Weibo account. Livestreaming? He had absolutely no idea how it worked… and suddenly, Shen Xiu felt kind of dumb.
Xiang Yueting froze for a second, then blurted out in disbelief, “You don’t know how to start a livestream on Weibo?!”
Shen Xiu replied, “No.”
To be more precise, he didn’t even have Weibo.
Xiang Yueting had yelled so loudly that it was impossible for anyone in the dorm not to hear. In an instant, everyone’s eyes turned to Shen Xiu.
What? Shen Xiu doesn’t even have a Weibo account?!
Wait… had they sunk so low that now they were comparing themselves to Shen Xiu based on whether or not they had a Weibo account?
Pathetic!
No, hold on… this actually kind of made sense. A lot of top-tier experts in various fields didn’t have Weibo—they were just too busy to bother with social media.
Shen Xiu was so capable; it must be because he was too focused on improving himself in real life, too busy bettering his skills and knowledge to waste time online.
With that realization, everyone wore expressions of sudden understanding, then turned back to their phones and resumed their livestreams. “Alright, let’s keep going.”
Shen Xiu: “?”
He didn’t quite understand why everyone had suddenly looked at him… or why they suddenly stopped looking at him.
Whatever. As long as they weren’t looking at him anymore.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream had also heard Xiang Yueting’s outburst.
[Boss Shen doesn’t even have Weibo?!]
[That’s honestly not surprising. No wonder no one’s been able to find a real account all this time.]
[There are so many fake accounts online—finally a real one appears. Shen Xiu stans, rejoice!]
Shen Xiu noticed that Xiang Yueting wasn’t moving and asked curiously, “Aren’t you continuing?”
Livestreaming was supposed to be a pretty normal thing, but with Shen Xiu watching, Xiang Yueting instinctively sat up straighter and replied seriously, “Continuing!”
He opened Weibo, navigated to the livestream page, and was about to sneak in a beauty filter. But with Shen Xiu watching, he was too embarrassed to do it. Bracing himself, he started the livestream without any filters.
The moment he saw himself and Shen Xiu in the livestream camera, Xiang Yueting instinctively pulled his neck back.
Yikes—who is that?!
He had just checked himself in the mirror and looked great, but now he looked terrible in the livestream!
Just to be clear—Xiang Yueting was talking about himself.
As he watched the livestream comments flood in with phrases like “Shen-baby’s beauty splits the sky!” and “Brother Shen’s god-tier looks!”, Xiang Yueting knew one thing for sure: the word “ugly” had absolutely nothing to do with Shen Xiu.
After watching how Xiang Yueting operated the livestream, Shen Xiu caught on quickly and thanked him sincerely, “Thank you!”
Xiang Yueting: “N-no problem.”
Seeing that all his roommates had already started their streams, Shen Xiu didn’t want to fall behind. After thanking Xiang Yueting, he quickly returned to his spot.
Once Shen Xiu’s figure disappeared from the edge of the frame, Xiang Yueting wasted no time in secretly turning on the beauty filter.
The moment his beautified self appeared on the screen, he smiled with satisfaction.
Hey—he had an idol image to maintain too!
[LOL, Brother Xiang turning on the beauty filter right after Brother Shen left is hilarious.]
[No offense, but you look more ruggedly handsome without the filter.]
[Breaking news: Brother Xiang turns on beauty filter behind Brother Shen’s back.]
[Got it. Brother Xiang = beauty filter enthusiast.]
[Brother Xiang can’t survive without a beauty filter.]
[Now I finally understand how gossip in small towns gets more exaggerated every time it’s told.]
Seeing the barrage of comments, Xiang Yueting whispered to his viewers, “Shhh, stop spamming, I have a reputation to maintain!”
Then he suddenly paused, “Wait… who’s ‘Brother Xiang’? That’s not me, right?”
…
Meanwhile, Shen Xiu sat down at his desk, powered on his phone, downloaded Weibo, registered an account, and—following the steps he’d just learned—started his own livestream.
Since it was his first time, he wasn’t very familiar with it and leaned in really close to the camera.
Before Shen Xiu’s stream went live, his die-hard fans—the Shen Scholars—had been camping out in other trainees’ streams, trying to catch glimpses of him in the background.
The moment his livestream started, the long-waiting Shen Scholars swarmed in like a flood.
[Finally!!! No one’s taking my spot as first comment!]
[Instant beauty filter-level visual attack—Boss Shen just sniped my heart.]
[Ahhh I got here so early I didn’t even have time to prep my witty comment!]
[Nice to meet you, Shen Xiu (shy shuffle). Let me introduce you to a few things (pulls them out of pocket one by one)—this is my power bank, this is my precious kitty (pulls out a rose, smirks devilishly), and you… you’re my Xiu-baby (dog emoji holding rose).]
Since Shen Xiu was using a brand-new account with zero followers, he felt nervous when he first started the stream—nervous that no one would show up, but also nervous that people would show up and he wouldn’t know what to say.
Either way, it seemed like an awkward situation waiting to happen.
But the moment the stream went live and he saw fans pouring in, the screen flooded with comments flying by so fast they were almost unreadable—Shen Xiu froze in place.
So… so many viewers?!
[So close! Look at those eyelashes—wow. Truly, when the face is this divine, any angle works.]
[Shen-baby clearly didn’t learn how to use beauty filters from Brother Xiang LOL.]
[His face is flawless from all 365 degrees. Every part is stunning, and together? Perfection. I’m losing it.]
[Who would’ve thought—almighty Shen Xiu doesn’t even know how to livestream. This contrast is too cute!]
[Shen Xiu look here! 🌹🌹 Here’s some flowers for you!]
[Shen-baby, watch me perform for you—💥(fireworks explode)]
The barrage of bullet comments flew across the screen, and with all the colorful gift effects popping up, Shen Xiu’s eyes were overwhelmed—his mind totally blanked out.
[Shen Xiu really is the cool and aloof type. Barely talks at all.]
[Whoa—thanks to that rich fan for sending Shen-baby a luxury cruise ship!]
Shen Xiu caught those two comments and quickly defended himself, “I’m not aloof.”
He might not say much out loud, but inside? He had so many thoughts!
Hearing Shen Xiu’s cool voice insist he wasn’t aloof, the Shen Scholars in the chat burst into laughter.
The way Shen Xiu so seriously explained that he wasn’t aloof—anyone could tell he was just joking around with them.
Naturally, the Shen Scholars didn’t take his words seriously at all.
After explaining himself, Shen Xiu saw the familiar luxury cruise gift animation flash across the screen again and quickly said, “Please don’t send gifts—it’s a waste of money. I really don’t need them.”
He had already paid off all his debts before entering the talent competition. Now, he was debt-free and the only thing he needed to do was live well, just as his parents had hoped.
Money doesn’t fall from the sky. Shen Xiu didn’t feel like he had done anything to deserve people spending their hard-earned cash on him. Even just seeing it made him feel guilty—accepting it was out of the question.
The fans watched him speak with an expressionless face and that same cool tone, but the seriousness in his voice couldn’t be ignored.
“No gifts, don’t waste your money, I don’t need them.”
That wasn’t something anyone could interpret as a joke.
[Huh? Don’t want gifts? A lot of artists get gifts from fans during livestreams.]
[If Shen Xiu says he doesn’t need them, then he really doesn’t need them.]
Shen Xiu nodded. “Mm, I don’t need them.”
Then he realized he was sitting too close to the camera and leaned back a little.
In the entertainment industry, there were plenty of artists from wealthy backgrounds who told fans not to send gifts during livestreams. The Shen Scholars figured Shen Xiu was probably the same.
[The little flower gifts don’t cost money—they’re free from signing in every day.]
[Oh yeah! I’ve saved up so many of those, totally forgot about them.]
When he heard the gifts were free, Shen Xiu nodded, “That’s fine.”
As soon as he said that, all the expensive gift effects disappeared, replaced with a flood of little flower icons from fans who had saved them up.
“Thank you all for the flowers.”
He’d originally wanted to read out each fan’s ID to thank them individually, but the comments were flying by too quickly. He couldn’t make out the names, so he gave a general thanks to everyone.
[You’re welcome~]
[Mwah! Love you, Shen-baby!]
[The free little flower gifts I saved up from daily sign-ins finally have a purpose!]
Shen Xiu stared at the comment and repeated it in the same tone: “Mwah to everyone.”
[LOL him saying mwah with a straight face—it’s giving flashbacks to the performance stage heart gestures!]
When he saw everyone bring up the “heart gesture” performance, Shen Xiu asked curiously, “Did you guys like it?”
[Absolutely loved it!]
[It was super cringey and over-the-top, but I couldn’t help loving it!]
[Yeah haha, it was kinda cheesy, but it made me so happy to watch.]
Getting this positive feedback from the audience, Shen Xiu let out a quiet breath of relief. As long as everyone liked it, that was what mattered.
[Shen Xiu, did you check the trending topics?]
[I’m dying of laughter—it’s like the saying goes: mess with anyone but not the melon-eating bystanders. The masses are powerful, one sarcastic comment per person can completely dominate the forums—way more effective than paid fans or bots.]
[I used to be a melon-eating bystander too, but after watching the playback of Youth Unstoppable, I fell head-first into the rabbit hole and became a proud Shen Scholar, loyal fan of our King of Effort Shen!]
[Welcome, sister! Investing in Big Boss Shen is always worth it!]
Reading the comments, Shen Xiu quickly figured out that Shen Scholars referred to the fans who liked him.
As for Big Boss Shen… they meant him?
Shen Xiu thought about it seriously for a moment and then said a little sheepishly, “I’m not a big boss.”
“And I haven’t checked the trending topics either.”
He added honestly, “The production team only lets us stream—we’re not allowed to use our phones for anything else.”
Shen Xiu was worried that if he opened the trending topics one second, the next second the staff would barge in and take his phone away.
The Shen Scholars replied with mock agreement:
[Mhm mhm, you’re totally not a big boss.]
[Yeah yeah, whatever you say.]
[You’re cool and handsome—we’ll go along with whatever you say~]
In their hearts: So modest—this is peak modesty! Of course, true big shots are never satisfied with where they are. They always believe they have more room to grow. They totally understood!
[Probably the show doesn’t let you check trending topics so it doesn’t mess with your mindset.]
[But judging from the current trending feed—LOL—the ones whose mindset got wrecked are definitely not the trainees!]
[That Duan’s mental state must be in shambles right now.]
Reading the comments about Duan Mingfei still trending, Shen Xiu felt like ants were crawling in his chest—he was so curious.
Shen Xiu glanced around and, in that moment, finally understood why gossip was so irresistible sometimes.
Leaning closer to the screen, he whispered, “The program team told us we can’t look ourselves—but I don’t think they said you guys can’t tell me.”
[!!!]
[Ohhh right! As expected of our Xiu Xiu—how come I didn’t think of that?!]
[Excellent. Schemer Shen activated. I like it~]
[Is this not a total flashback to the time Boss Shen pulled the plug and locked the door?]
[Quick, someone lock the door before production sees this and makes new rules on the spot!]
At the table next to Shen Xiu, Xiang Yueting, who had been chatting with his fans, suddenly lit up: “Right! The production team only said we can’t use our phones to do anything else—but they didn’t say we couldn’t ask the viewers!”
The roommates:
“!”
“Ohh right, thanks Shen Xiu!”
“Just in case the production team decides to update the rules, I’m locking the door first!”
Click—
Zhuang Yi’s dramatic locking of the door echoed through the dorm.
“Okay, tell me what’s new and juicy! I beg you—I’ve been going crazy without a phone to follow the gossip!”
“What? No way! For real?! Damn, that’s wild!”
“Damn, what’s he talking about? Anyone who’s seen the show knows, right? We were sent in by the production team! If you want to ask, ask the production team. What’s with coming to us trainees? So shameless. I strongly condemn this!”
“Oh, that’s how it is. Never mind then.”
“We can’t help it, we’re just that awesome. Some people just can’t help but envy us.”
The dormitory echoed with the roommates chatting about the gossip with the viewers.
Shen Xiu: “…” Sorry, production team, he didn’t mean it!
One second, Shen Xiu was silently apologizing to the production team in his heart, and the next second, when he saw the trending gossip on the bullet screen, his eyes widened.
He had fallen into the joy of eating melon.
When Shen Xiu saw the netizens sarcastically mocking Duan Mingfei, he was both surprised and pleased.
Shen Xiu was surprised why Duan Mingfei was mocking him and the trainees in such a sarcastic way.
But after thinking about it, Shen Xiu couldn’t make sense of it and could only assume that Duan Mingfei must have some serious issues. Even the dogs walking by the street would probably get bitten by Duan Mingfei, just like how he had inexplicably checked on Shen Xiu back then.
Of course, what Shen Xiu found amusing was how impressive the gossiping netizens were. Their eloquence was off the charts! The comments they typed, Shen Xiu thought, even in his next life, he probably wouldn’t be able to argue like that.
The staff members responsible for monitoring the live stream activities of each dormitory saw this scene and fell silent, quietly calling for the assistant director.
After watching, the assistant director sighed deeply. “The reason we didn’t want them to see this was to avoid affecting their mindset. But now, looking at their reaction, it seems they haven’t been affected, and they didn’t actually break any of the rules.”
They had just found a small loophole in the program’s rules!
“Let them be.”
“Understood, Assistant Director.” Since the assistant director had said that, the staff didn’t interfere further.
—
“Do you want to hear me sing?” Shen Xiu read out the comment and then asked, “What song do you like?”
Immediately, a bunch of song titles appeared in the comments. Some were songs that Shen Xiu had learned during practice, while others were unfamiliar to him, songs he had never seen before.
His roommates were all in the dorm, and singing in the dorm would not only be awkward but also disturb them. Plus, for songs he hadn’t learned yet, he would need multimedia equipment to study them.
So, Shen Xiu suggested, “I’ll move to another place to stream, it’ll be more convenient.”
[Anywhere is fine!]
[Where are you moving to?]
[The bathroom? I’ve heard singing in the bathroom is really popular.]
[It’s not just hearsay, it’s true! I love singing in the bathroom.]
[Damn, I’m not the only one!]
Seeing these comments, Shen Xiu thought of Xu Shaoming.
When he left the dorm with his phone and charger, Shen Xiu reminded his roommates, “Remember to lock the door properly. I’ll be back when I finish using my phone.”
If he left and didn’t remind them to lock the door, and the staff came in to set the rules, that would be a disaster for his roommates. Shen Xiu made sure to prevent that, nipping the issue in the bud.
“Got it~”
Hearing Song Chengwang’s response, the other roommates raised their hands and made an OK gesture. Only then did Shen Xiu feel assured and leave the dorm.
Upon arriving at the familiar practice room, the first thing Shen Xiu did was lock the door from the inside.
[Hahaha, why is he so adorably meticulous?]
[A different kind of ‘locked down’]
[Staff member: Hello? Is this polite, huh?]
Now in a different location, Shen Xiu placed his phone down, sat in a chair, and turned on the multimedia equipment. Worried about disturbing the audience while practicing the songs, he grabbed a pair of headphones and plugged them in—wearing one earphone while leaving the other ear open.
“All set now. What do you want to hear?”
“‘A Heart Moved at First Thought’?”
Seeing that the comment section was flooded with this song title, Shen Xiu perked up with excitement and said proudly, “I know that one.”
“Is a cappella okay?”
[Yes!]
[Hold on five seconds, I need to get ready!]
[Same here—Shen, can you start in five seconds?]
[Instantly understood, sisters hahaha]
Shen Xiu didn’t quite get what the audience was trying to do, but responded obediently, “Okay, no rush.”
His voice was naturally cold and aloof, yet the words he spoke always carried a surprising warmth. The Shen fans in the chat went wild, squealing that they were dying from his adorable contradictions.
[He told us not to rush. He’s waiting for us. That basically means he cares about us. It’s mutual love forever, sisters!]
[Who gets this? From his expression to his voice to his whole aura—he seems so cold, but I find him so gentle!]
[Exactly! Maybe… this is a different kind of gentleness? After all, who said gentleness only comes in one form~]
Shen Xiu, who had no clue what the comments were going on about: “?”
It seemed like today was another day where he didn’t really understand what his audience was thinking. Sigh.jpg
Soon, the chat was full of messages like “Ready! Start now!”
Worried that some people still might not be ready, Shen Xiu said, “I’ll count down from three. Once I say the last number, I’ll start singing.”
With that, Shen Xiu took a deep breath, raised a hand to gently press on his throat, and began the countdown: “Three… one.”
As the countdown ended, a clear, cool singing voice poured out, echoing throughout the entire practice room…
Just as Shen Xiu was singing, a verified user with a striking username entered the livestream.
Welcome @D Lin Jiashi to @Shen Xiu’s live stream!
