Chapter 407 - 262: Bro, You Smell So Good

Chapter 407: Chapter 262: Bro, You Smell So Good

Smoke wafted endlessly from the barbecue stall.

The surrounding area was filled with the clamor of the crowd.

Gnawing on a chicken wing, Lin Chu’s mouth was slick with grease and dusted with chili powder.

He took a gulp of ice-cold beer, hissed, and let out a deep, satisfied breath.

The viewers in the livestream watched the scene, a stark contrast to his usual broadcasts. With no glamorous setting or A-list celebrities, many of them couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

"What’s he doing?"

"Did the boss go bankrupt?"

"Can’t afford celebrities anymore?"

"He’s eating at a street stall now?"

"Holy shit, Xiaoqiang’s Skewers! Isn’t that near my place?!"

With no promotional hype and no teaser videos released beforehand, the stream’s popularity wasn’t very high. The viewer count had just passed ten thousand, the bullet comments seemed listless, and the only gifts popping up were a few small stars.

Lin Chu, however, found this perfectly normal. Livestreams required meticulous planning; for content that hadn’t been carefully planned, having ten thousand concurrent viewers was already pretty damn impressive.

But right now, he was just slacking off.

He had no desire to plan anything elaborate.

’This is good enough.’

Eating with a complete disregard for his image, Lin Chu smiled. "Hello everyone, my name is Lin Chu. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m eighteen this year, still in school. I ran away from home after a fight with my dad. Now I’m just going wherever the road takes me."

The viewers: ...

’Talk about a split personality!’

’Who the hell are you trying to fool!’

But some people figured Lin Chu was just goofing around, putting on an act for the stream.

"He really is in North Sea! Let’s go, guys, charge! We’re gonna catch him!"

"What’s the show today?"

"I’m on my damn e-scooter and already on my way! I’ll be there in ten minutes!"

"Hold on, I have the owner’s number. I’m calling him right now to send over ten skewers! Time to feed him IRL!"

Seeing that bullet comment, Lin Chu was momentarily surprised. Then he saw the owner—a tall, sturdy man, shirtless and wearing only an apron—scanning the crowd. His eyes finally locked onto Lin Chu, and he walked over carrying a small metal tray.

"You’re Lin Chu, right? You’re the only one here livestreaming."

"A regular customer of mine, probably one of your fans, ordered some skewers for you."

"Not bad, pretty damn cool. You even have fans buying you dinner."

The owner said with a theatrical grin.

He leaned his head over to look at Lin Chu’s phone screen.

When he saw the concurrent viewer count was over ten thousand, he was stunned.

"Holy shit!"

"That’s a crazy number of viewers!"

"Hey, hey, hey, give my place a plug! To all my bros in the stream, come on down to Xiaoqiang’s Barbecue on Charming Street! A big-time streamer is here, so hurry on over if you’ve got nothing better to do!"

Lin Chu: ...

This lack of personal boundaries made him laugh out loud, but it also sparked a warm feeling inside him. The city usually felt so cold and indifferent. ’I’m just a kid who grew up in a village,’ he thought, ’but after being immersed in this life for a few years, I’ve become cold a lot of the time, too.’ He smiled and said, "Yeah, the food here is honestly great. And no, I wasn’t paid for this. I haven’t sunk to the level of getting sponsorships from barbecue stalls. It’s just really, really good."

The owner chuckled, handed Lin Chu a cigarette, and pulled out a lighter for him.

"I’ll just hold onto it for now. You can’t smoke on stream."

Lin Chu took it, set it aside, and shook his head with another smile.

...

「Meanwhile.」

At the headquarters of LC Media, a sudden knock came at the door of Zhang Peng’s office. A young female assistant, the one who used to be in charge of Lin Chu’s livestreams, hurried inside.

"President Zhang, I just saw that President Lin is streaming. It looks like he’s in North Sea, at some barbecue stall."

"This is a total clash with his previous streaming style. His viewership isn’t high, either. There was no promotion, and he only has ten thousand viewers right now."

she said, her voice laced with anxiety.

A lot of money, time, and effort had been poured into this account with its tens of millions of followers. She was worried that if President Lin kept messing around like this, he’d run the account into the ground.

Zhang Peng was taken aback for a moment. He came to his senses, pulled out his phone, and entered the livestream.

After a few minutes of watching, he gave a resigned smile.

"Don’t worry about him. He’s just finding new ways to amuse himself. It’s fine. You can get back to your work."

Zhang Peng said, his tone calm and unconcerned.

"But... sigh... Okay."

She sighed, forced a polite smile, and turned to leave the room.

Watching her leave, Zhang Peng lit a cigarette. ’Lin Chu’s life is so damn carefree,’ he thought.

’But that’s obviously impossible for me.’

’I still have a mountain of work to get through.’

’Several new branch offices need to be set up, and every single detail needs to be ironed out. I’m thinking about work even when I’m eating.’

He watched for another two minutes before mustering all his willpower to close the stream and get back to the tasks at hand.

’Grind, grind, grind!’

’Achieve financial freedom by thirty-five!’

...

A motorcycle sped down the road and came to a stylish stop by the curb.

Qin Weiliang, dressed in a yellow uniform and a helmet, had just completed a delivery. He was about to accept another when he saw the shocking news in the livestream and rushed over at top speed.

It was hard to believe that a major influencer with tens of millions of followers, a big boss from Peng City, would suddenly show up at a tiny barbecue stall.

After parking his motorcycle, he spotted Lin Chu a few tables away. Qin Weiliang took a deep breath, his prominent Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, and strode forward.

"Brother Chu."

He greeted with a smile as he approached the table.

Lin Chu grunted in acknowledgment and looked up to see a tan, skinny delivery guy standing before him. ’He must know me if he knows my name.’ He nodded with a smile and pulled out a stool. "Have a seat... Want some?"

"Sure, I’ll have some."

Qin Weiliang sniffed the air appreciatively as he sat down. He waved to the owner. "Boss, bring us another hundred skewers and a dozen beers!"

After ordering, he grinned at Lin Chu. "It’s on me. ’Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?’"

Lin Chu: ...

Uh.

’Is he seriously trying to get all literary on me?’

"Scoot over a bit. Alright, since you’re the first to show up, you’re the celebrity guest for today’s stream. I usually pay my guests appearance fees in the millions—I won’t say how many millions, don’t want them fighting over their rank. For you... how about a million? Sound good?"