Chapter 45
Halfway through the meal, Ren Yi suddenly looked at Xia Anran and asked, “I remember on the day I fell unconscious, we promised to film the village banquet for the interstellar audience the next day. Did we stream it?”
In the days he had been unconscious, the production team had still diligently streamed on time. Eating Master Guo’s grand feast had reminded him of this. He wondered what the reaction of their interstellar friends would be to seeing Earth’s cuisine. He was actually a little curious.
Xia Anran was in the middle of fighting with Little Yan over the last piece of braised pork rib. She snatched it with lightning speed. Little Yan started to fake-cry and tattled to Master Guo, who smiled and comforted her, saying he would make it for her again tomorrow. Little Yan made a “V” sign and then started on the braised pork belly.
Eating her rib, Xia Anran looked up at Ren Yi and pointed to the system, which was playing dead by her hand. “This guy said I’ll be able to upgrade again in a few days and unlock the olfactory sharing function. So I just discussed it with the audience and moved the banquet to after the upgrade.”
The system, like a salted fish flipping over, lit up for a moment.
[That’s right! It was I who fought for this for you!]
Recently, the system’s functions had mostly recovered, and it was eating much less of her earnings than a few days ago. Plus, with the discounts, she estimated she would be able to buy something from the shop in the next few days.
After dinner, Master Guo brought out the mahjong set. The group had just enough people who knew how to play for two tables. The others wandered around, watching. In the end, they even successfully taught two people who didn’t know how to play before, and now their hands were itching to join in.
What surprised Xia Anran the most was that Ji Minghui, this refined-looking artistic youth, was actually a mahjong master. All night, she had watched him win her tiles in all sorts of ways. If she were given another chance, she would definitely not sit at the same table as him. She felt like her own mahjong addiction was about to be cured by him.
Finally, when a newcomer had learned the game, Xia Anran impatiently pushed the person onto the table. “Beginners have a buff! A beginner’s protection period guarantees a win!” At this point, she could only rely on beginner’s luck to counter him.
The cameraman who was pushed to the table was clearly a fearless calf. He was excited to start drawing tiles. The other two people at the table, besides Ji Minghui, exchanged a look of despair. They had missed the chance to let Xia Anran escape!
Ji Minghui pushed up his glasses. “Alright then, let’s play a few more rounds.”
“…”
…
Having successfully escaped before her spirit was broken, Xia Anran returned to her room to wash up and rest. The system was left on her dressing table, acting as a tool to read her the messages from the interstellar audience.
[Host Anran is so pretty. Can you post more pictures, hehe?]
[Ahhh, I like Anran so much!]
[Anran is my girlfriend, hehe.]
Xia Anran, who was washing her face: “…” Could you not read this kind of thing in such a lifeless electronic voice? It’s weirdly creepy. She suspected this cursed system was doing it on purpose!
The system, having been beaten up again, felt wronged. It had specially chosen these comments to praise her and make her happy, and this woman was so ungrateful!
[No one who watches Anran’s livestream can help but fall in love with… Ye Yuxing?]
Xia Anran was speechless. “What are you doing now?” It couldn’t go a day without pulling some stunt.
[It’s not me! Ye Yuxing has initiated a conversation!]
Xia Anran took her phone and saw that it was indeed a message from him.
His psychic power seemed to be still unstable. Each time he communicated with her, it would only last for two or three minutes, and he would need about a day to recover. But today, their chat page was a little different.
Xia Anran looked at the bright video invitation and asked with wide eyes, “What is this?”
[Wow, this person’s talent is not bad. He’s already developed it to video so quickly?]
…
On the other side, Ye Yuxing was also a little helpless. After learning that his space-type psychic power had greatly improved and that he could now open a video function, even Director Li had, for a rare change, rushed over.
Ye Yuxing hadn’t seen him in a while. The 115th Squadron’s base was a top secret of the United Star System, so it was normal that the director couldn’t come. He didn’t find anything strange about it. This time, it wasn’t just him; a large group of professors from the Academy of Sciences had come, all eager to communicate with Xia Anran.
The moment the video connected, Xia Anran saw an old man with a full head of white hair but a vigorous spirit squeezed in front of the camera, with a group of people crowded around him.
“Is it on? Is it on?”
“It’s connected! Hello, Host Anran!”
Director Li straightened his clothes and introduced himself very formally. “Hello, Host Anran. I am Li Sheng, the director of the United Star System’s Academy of Sciences. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Xia Anran: “Hello, Director Li.” This was also the first time she had seen what these so-called aliens looked like with her own eyes. To be honest, they weren’t much different from modern humans, but their eyes were rounder, like two large coins, their skin was fairer, and their limbs seemed longer.
Director Li carefully brought out a transparent container from behind him. Inside was a small sprout that had just broken through the soil, but it was already wilting and turning yellow. It was clearly about to die.
“We have already planted the fruit according to the suggestions you gave us, but to this day, this is the most we have been able to cultivate.” He looked at the withered little sprout with a pained expression.
Xia Anran leaned in for a closer look but couldn’t see anything wrong. She asked for more details about the cultivation process, and it all sounded fine. In the end, she could only say that her own planting experience was probably limited and that in the future, she could contact professional agricultural experts to explain it to them, especially now that they had this video call function.
The moment Director Li finished his question, the other professors squeezed forward again.
“Host Anran, I’d like to ask a question about history…”
“Host Anran, can you introduce more about archaeology?”
“We are also very interested in the biological species on Earth, but our data is incomplete…”
Xia Anran was dizzy from the barrage of questions.
Fortunately, in the end, it was Ye Yuxing’s lack of psychic power that saved her. This connection had actually lasted for five minutes before he felt his strength failing and was forced to terminate the video.
Every time he used his psychic power, he had to undergo targeted treatment from Leng Ying and experiments to enhance his abilities, so the moment it ended, a dedicated team had already taken him away.
Director Li hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to him this time, but seeing that he was in good condition, he felt a little relieved. Qin Feng had been communicating with the consuls from the consulate outside the room the whole time. Just as the professors inside dispersed, his communication also ended.
“Thank you. Yuxing looks well,” Director Li said, walking up to him.
Qin Feng took off his communicator and smiled. “It’s nothing. It’s what I should do.”
Director Li didn’t stay long. After a bit of small talk, he hurried off. There was a mountain of things waiting for him at the academy.
Qin Feng watched the professors leave, then put on his communicator again. A deep voice came through.
“Director Li Sheng of the Academy of Sciences? I’ve heard so much about him.”
Qin Feng leaned against the railing, looking at the perpetually dark sky outside the window, his eyes as deep and dark as the night that would never brighten. “Astaroth, you’ve crossed the line.”
There was a warning in his words, and Astaroth clearly sensed it. He chuckled. “Don’t be so nervous, my friend. You know I won’t do anything.”
“You can think about my proposal again. After all, we’ve fought side by side as comrades. And I was the one who told you about the Aler System. I think that should be enough to show my sincerity.”
“I do have to thank you for that matter,” Qin Feng said.
How could the United Star System, with no psychic power, have known about the special energy they needed on the Aler System, deep within Beastman territory?
“Qin Feng, we are the most suitable allies. You should have understood this sooner.”
“I will find time to discuss this matter with the Consul General,” Qin Feng said, opening the door to his room and turning on his photon-computer.
He operated it for a while and then, after verifying his genetic lock, entered a top-secret channel. Inside were detailed records and daily reports on a special group of people.
“The mixed-blood population of United Star System people and other races is living very well. We have always protected them and have not exposed them to the public. Besides a limited area of activity, we have given them the greatest freedom.”
Qin Feng selected some photos that wouldn’t reveal specific information and sent them to Astaroth.
Astaroth looked at the photos, at the smiles that were completely different from those of the mixed-bloods who wandered the stars, and sighed. “This is also why I chose to ally with the United Star System.”
“Only you are the sole saviors of this star system.”
…
Xia Anran’s livestream the next day continued from the previous two days, sharing the local culture and customs of Yanshan Village with her interstellar fans, especially the scenery on the mountain, with its hills, water, and various small animals that would occasionally pop out.
Today’s stream also ended smoothly. Xia Anran hummed a little tune as she walked down the mountain with Director Huang and the others.
“I feel like we’ve stayed in the village long enough. Director Huang, do you think we should change locations?” she said. If they stayed any longer, she was worried the audience would get a little tired of the scenery, and she didn’t have any great ideas for the stream right now either.
Director Huang thought for a moment and agreed. “You’re right, it’s about time. We’ll plan our next route when we get back.”
According to their previous plan, they were going to film the great rivers and mountains of the entire Hua nation. It was only because of the incident with Ren Yi that they had stayed in Yanshan Village for a relatively long time. Although being at home made her very comfortable and happy, the daily livestream content was also giving her a headache. She needed the stimulation of a new environment.
Before they had even reached home, the system, which had been eavesdropping on their conversation, began to vibrate wildly. But now, it didn’t dare to make a sound casually.
Xia Anran held up her phone and saw that it was indeed spamming her screen.
[What a coincidence! Our earnings are just enough to buy the Portal!]
[The key point is, that’s after the 70% discount I gave you.]
[Aren’t you going to thank me yet?!]