Chapter 5
Xia Anran didn’t stream for two consecutive days. For one, she still hadn’t figured out how to handle this sudden interstellar livestream. For another, the village was holding its annual Fruit Festival, and she was too busy helping out to have any time for it.
The interstellar viewers, having been stood up by their host for two days, were practically tearing their hair out in anticipation. But with no way to contact Anran directly, all they could do was wait.
During their anxious wait, some viewers discovered a hidden function: by clicking on Anran’s profile picture, they could send the host a physical gift. It currently indicated there was one chance available. They clicked it with wild excitement, only to be met with a system prompt: “Remaining uses: 0.”
The interstellar netizens: O_o
Who was it?! Which bastard beat us to it?!
The Wasteland Planet Administrator, who had discovered the function first and already sent the cryo-freezer, smiled faintly, content to remain an unsung hero.
….
Today, Xia Anran and Uncle Li picked several dozen pounds of cherries and took them to the wholesaler at the village entrance to be weighed. The final price they got was 8.50 yuan per pound, which was indeed much lower than in previous years. The villagers’ attempts to negotiate were brushed off with perfunctory excuses about the poor economy and how this was the going rate for everyone.
Xia Anran returned home, her mind heavy with thoughts of the livestream. She had just sat down and taken a few sips of water when there was a knock at the main gate.
“Anran, someone from the county is here to see you!”
Recognizing Uncle Li’s voice, Xia Anran answered and hurried to open the gate. Outside stood two young men in short-sleeved shirts. The one wearing glasses smiled and asked, “Are you Miss Xia Anran?”
Xia Anran frowned, studying them both carefully. She was certain she had never seen them before.
Uncle Li noticed her expression and realized something was off. When he had brought the men over, he’d assumed they were her classmates.
Xia Anran nodded and said cautiously, “I am. What can I do for you?”
The young man with glasses continued, “We’re government staff. We’re here today because we have some questions regarding your bank transactions.”
Xia Anran’s eyes widened slightly, and her heart skipped a beat.
She immediately thought of the more than ten million yuan in income from her last stream. What’s going on? In the novels I’ve read, this kind of system-generated money is always legitimized! How come when it’s my turn, they track me all the way to my front door?!
Hearing that it was the government asking about bank matters, Uncle Li grew anxious. “Anran, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Xia Anran forced a smile. Despite her inner turmoil, she reassured him, “It’s nothing, Uncle. It’s probably about my parents’ compensation payment. You should head back first.”
Uncle Li knew she had received a large sum of money, so he believed her and felt relieved. As he left, he reminded her to call him anytime if she needed help.
Xia Anran opened the gate and let the two men in, leading them into the house and nervously pouring them two glasses of water.
The man with glasses was very friendly. “No need to trouble yourself, Miss Xia. You can just call me Little Liu. We’re here today about the 13.85 million yuan that suddenly appeared in your bank account two days ago. That’s not a small sum, and the bank shows the sending account is a virtual one. They were concerned about potential criminal activity, so they reported it to the police.”
The moment Xia Anran heard the bank had called the police, she was so scared she started to stutter. “I… I didn’t commit any crime! I really didn’t!”
She suddenly remembered the bullet comment from the stream, the one that said synthesizing plants was illegal and she’d be arrested. She felt like crying. Am I really going to be arrested?
Seeing her face turn pale with anxiety, Little Liu quickly said, “Don’t worry, Miss Xia. The fact that we’re here today and not the police means that our investigation has determined this money is not related to any illegal or criminal activity. It’s just that a situation like this is unusual, so we’re making a routine visit to understand the circumstances.”
Xia Anran, who had unknowingly been thoroughly investigated, finally breathed a sigh of relief. She bit her lip, thought for a moment, and ultimately decided to tell them everything.
In fact, for the past two days, she had been thinking that she should report this matter herself. It was best to let professionals help her, and besides, connecting with alien technology would surely be a great benefit to the country’s development. She just hadn’t found the right method or opportunity. Today, with government officials showing up at her door, it was the perfect chance to lay it all out.
Steeling herself, she said, “This money came from gifts sent by viewers during a livestream.”
“A livestream?”
Little Liu thought back to their investigation. There was no mention of Xia Anran being a streamer. And for such a huge amount in donations, she would have to be an incredibly popular host. It made no sense that their background check hadn’t turned up anything.
The other young man, who was taking notes with a pen and notepad, was equally surprised.
“Yes. It’s my income from a stream two days ago.”
Little Liu considered this and continued, “Could you tell us more about the platform and the content of your stream?”
“It’s on a livestreaming app. The content… is introducing fruit to aliens.”
Little Liu: “…?”
He recognized every word, but strung together, they made no sense at all. What did she mean, “livestreaming for aliens”? And introducing fruit, of all things?!
Even the young man taking notes couldn’t maintain his composure. He put down his pen and asked, “Miss Xia, is it possible that due to the sudden passing of your parents, you’ve been experiencing… some mental instability?”
From any angle, she sounded like she had mental health issues.
Xia Anran: “…”
“Everything I’m saying is true! Otherwise, where did that money come from?”
Little Liu’s expression turned serious. “We hope you can tell us the truth and stop joking.”
But this is the truth! It couldn’t be more true!
With no other choice, Xia Anran ran into the back room and brought out the cryo-freezer that a viewer had sent her.
“Look, this is a gift from one of my alien viewers. It’s a cryo-freezer. It can reach absolute zero.”
She handed them the instruction manual as well. Little Liu and the other young man took it, read it several times, and then circled the machine, inspecting it.
It was a silver, oval-shaped machine. The material was indeed peculiar; it looked like stainless steel but felt soft and resilient to the touch. Little Liu tried to lift it and found it was extremely light, about the weight of a pillow.
Fearing they still didn’t believe her, Xia Anran opened the lid. The inside was empty; she hadn’t dared to use it since she got it. She set the temperature to minus thirty degrees Celsius and pressed the button. The temperature inside the freezer began to drop rapidly, a visible white mist of ice forming. It took only a few seconds to cool down completely.
Then, the machine began to flash a red light and issue a warning.
“Warning. Chamber not sealed. Warning. Chamber not sealed.”
Xia Anran closed the lid, and the machine quieted down, entering a standby mode.
Little Liu was dumbfounded.
To cool down to minus thirty degrees in a matter of seconds… he wasn’t sure if the Academy of Sciences could do it, but there was absolutely no such machine available to the public.
Xia Anran then showed them the livestreaming app on her phone. Strangely, it seemed Little Liu and his colleague couldn’t see the app at all. In their eyes, Xia Anran was just randomly swiping across her phone’s lock screen.
Realizing that apparently no one but her could see the livestream, Xia Anran put her phone away.
“You should believe me now, right?”
Little Liu replied, “Miss Xia, my rational mind still harbors doubts, but… for now, please bring this machine and come with us.”
….
An hour later, sitting in a reception room, Xia Anran’s legs were trembling with nerves. They’re not going to dissect me or something, are they?
The wait was agonizing.
Little Liu stayed in the room with her while the other young man had left with the machine.
“Don’t worry, Miss Xia. We’ve already reported this to our superiors. Just wait for further news,” Little Liu said, trying to comfort her as he noticed her dazed state.
Xia Anran managed a weak smile and looked down at her phone, opening the livestream app. She hadn’t streamed for two days, but the time hadn’t accumulated. It still showed she only had ten minutes of broadcast time for the day.
After another half hour, a middle-aged man in a gray Zhongshan suit entered, leading a refined-looking elderly gentleman.
Little Liu immediately stood up. “Secretary Liang, Professor Gong.” He then introduced them to Xia Anran. “This is our city’s Party Secretary, Secretary Liang, and Professor Gong from the National Academy of Sciences.”
Secretary Liang waved his hand and smiled at Xia Anran, who had also stood up. “You must be Comrade Xia, correct?”
Xia Anran nodded. “Yes. Hello, Secretary Liang.”
“Please, sit. Don’t be nervous.” Secretary Liang and Professor Gong sat down, observing the young woman who was barely in her twenties. She was green, but she was holding herself together.
As soon as Little Liu and his team had returned with Xia Anran, they had immediately reported this bizarre incident up the chain of command. It just so happened that Professor Gong, an academician from the Academy of Sciences, was in Liyang City for an academic conference at the university. After the conference, Secretary Liang had invited him to his office for tea, which was when his subordinate had burst in to report this strange affair.
Professor Gong’s interest was piqued. He immediately performed a cursory examination of Xia Anran’s cryo-freezer. Even without experimental equipment, a simple look was enough to excite him. He clutched the machine and wouldn’t let go, proclaiming it to be a truly epoch-making product.
No external power source, an unknown type of energy cell that could operate continuously for over two hundred years, the ability to achieve instantaneous cooling, and even its manufacturing material was unheard of—light, thin, durable, yet smooth and delicate.
Even though they couldn’t yet test if it could reach the absolute zero mentioned in the manual, based on these factors alone, Professor Gong was already convinced this was absolutely not modern technology. To call it alien technology was no exaggeration at all.
With the guarantee of an academician from the Academy of Sciences, Secretary Liang had rushed over with Professor Gong to meet this Miss Xia.
When Professor Gong saw Xia Anran, his eyes lit up, but he restrained himself, not wanting to frighten the young woman. Suppressing his excitement, he asked her for the details of how she obtained the cryo-freezer.
Xia Anran recounted everything, from her very first livestream, holding nothing back. Professor Gong listened, nodding, his cloudy eyes growing brighter and brighter with every word.
After hearing the entire story, he delivered his verdict with finality.
“Old Liang, I’m taking Little Xia back to the capital with me. This young woman possesses a great power.”
“A power great enough to change our scientific community, to change our entire country!”