Restart life

Chapter 558, 0546: [Livestreaming Sales, and Incidentally Insulting Others]

The day after the birthday banquet, Chen Guiliang started live streaming.

The live stream was in the afternoon, which is not a peak time slot.

However, the news of Chen, the richest man in Hong Kong, going live still quickly attracted a lot of viewers, and the barrage was full of comments such as "Old Master Chen has finally recovered his account password".

Holding his laptop, he pointed at the gate of his food factory and said, "Aren't you guys awesome? I even ran a network cable several hundred meters long just for this mobile live stream..."

"Some viewers suggested using Wi-Fi. I tried it, but the Wi-Fi signal is extremely unstable. When I'm moving around with my laptop, the live stream signal keeps cutting out..."

"We will develop a mobile live streaming app in the future, so you can do outdoor live streaming using your phone. We could actually make such an app now, but 3G signal is a problem..."

"This year, telecom operators have piloted 4G networks in six major cities across the country. Once 4G network coverage is nationwide, outdoor live streaming via mobile phones will be possible. At that time, all you'll need is a mobile phone to do live streaming anytime, anywhere..."

"See this factory's sign? Longdu Jurassic Food Factory. It's my dad's factory, and it's already lost over a million yuan. I really can't understand what he was thinking when he named it..."

Chen Guiliang shoved his laptop right in his father's face to conduct an interview: "Comrade Chen Xinghua, why did you name your brand Jurassic?"

Chen Xinghua appeared rather reserved, speaking in his heavily accented Mandarin, "We are the hometown of dinosaurs. The Jurassic period was the age of dinosaurs, which perfectly reflects our local characteristics."

Chen Guiliang asked, "May I ask if your food factory produces dinosaur jerky or braised dinosaur eggs?"

Chen Xinghua said in a serious tone, "We don't sell dinosaur meat or dinosaur eggs. We mainly sell processed rabbit meat, beef, and bamboo shoots. Our products are hygienic and clean, and we don't use gutter oil or... Don't take pictures yet. Aren't salt and MSG considered industrial additives?"

The live stream chat was already filled with laughter, mainly because Chen Xinghua's Mandarin accent was so funny, yet he still sounded nervous and serious while speaking.

Chen Guiliang carried his laptop and dragged a long network cable to the production workshop.

Chen Xinghua explained along the way: "This is our bamboo shoot processing workshop. The main raw material is Tianma bamboo shoots. After the great flood in 97, the country implemented the policy of returning farmland to forest in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Many of our farmlands here have been converted into bamboo forests. Every year when the bamboo shoots are in season, every household has so many that they can't even sell them for a good price..."

“Especially in rural areas far from cities and counties, carrying a load of bamboo shoots into the city can only earn you twenty or thirty yuan. You still have to pay for the round-trip transportation, and you have to work hard to harvest the bamboo shoots. It's not as profitable as growing vegetables…”

"Anyone who has grown bamboo knows that bamboo groves need maintenance; otherwise, they grow haphazardly. This is especially true for bamboo shoots; if left unattended for a year or two, the shoots will grow smaller and smaller... Many farmers' bamboo fields have become ruined because they don't make any money; the bamboo just grows wildly in them..."

“I don’t lack money; my son gives me enough for my retirement. I started processing bamboo shoots mainly to help my fellow villagers generate income. But I don’t have much ability; after a year, I couldn’t sell them, and the factory lost over a million yuan…”

Chen Xinghua is actually quite eloquent, but his Mandarin is not standard and he is too nervous in front of the camera.

As they spoke, they became more fluent.

"This is a place specifically for peeling bamboo shoots; they have those small peeling machines. The machines aren't expensive, and they peel very quickly... but I didn't buy that kind of equipment. I hire local farmers to peel the bamboo shoots. It provides employment and increases the farmers' income..."

"For cleaning bamboo shoots, I bought a drum washing machine. This isn't something a person would do; I want to be clear about this, I can't lie to everyone..."

"The workbench for cutting bamboo shoots is in front. I didn't buy a shredder or slicer; I hired local farmers to work as laborers to supplement their income... They all wore masks and hats so saliva and hair wouldn't get in..."

"Next is the cooking workshop, which is more mechanized... Look at our machines, the floor, the walls, everything is spotless..."

After introducing the workshop, Chen Xinghua tore open a bag of bamboo shoot slices: "These are called magnolia slices, used for stir-frying or hot pot. You can use these for stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat. The bamboo shoot season is over now, these are products that were made before. You can eat them directly, let me let you try some... I only sell my own products that I'm willing to eat myself..."

Chen Xinghua bit off a piece and swallowed it, then said to his son, "You have to eat too, eat it for everyone to see!"

Yang Shuo took the laptop and pointed the camera at Chen Guiliang.

The live stream chat was filled with comments like "eat, eat, eat," "hahahaha," and "please treat Old Master Chen to bamboo shoot stir-fried with pork."

Chen Guiliang took a bite, frowned, and said, "It's extremely salty. It's only preserved by salt water and vacuum sealing. After buying this stuff, it's best to rinse it before stir-frying it with meat."

Chen Xinghua tossed over another bag of pickled bamboo shoots: "You can eat this as a snack."

Chen Guiliang tore open two bamboo shoots and ate them, commenting, "Pickled pepper flavor, very crisp. Great for soaking instant noodles, or you can eat them while watching TV."

Chen Xinghua continued leading the way: "Ahead are the rabbit and beef processing workshops. Our products include cold-served rabbit, spicy rabbit heads, spicy rabbit legs, and braised beef..."

After wandering around the factory for a while, Chen Guiliang returned to the factory manager's office and said to the camera, "Brothers, stop mocking me for making this little money. Do you think I want to do this kind of live-streaming sales? My dad insisted on opening a factory, but he couldn't find a sales channel and lost over a million yuan before coming to me for help..."

"Whether it's food distributors or supermarkets, my personal connections don't matter. They'll only help sell if there's something in it for them. So, I can only try e-commerce channels..." "I just showed you the processing workshop. I can't guarantee anything else, but I can guarantee safety and hygiene. These products are all available online. The link is in the live stream. Brothers and sisters who are interested can buy some to try... Direct from the factory, very cheap. Supermarkets definitely don't sell for that much..."

"Dad! Bring over all the snacks you can eat directly. I'll let everyone try them... Oh, and a reminder: don't buy the really spicy ones. They'll give you diarrhea from the spiciness, not from poor hygiene..."

Next, Chen Guiliang started doing mukbang (eating broadcasts).

I was eating while watching TV.

Moreover, it's the campus sitcom "Our Love," produced by ByteDance Pictures, starring Qiao Renliang, Zhang Hanyun, and others.

This movie was filmed a long time ago, but it was delayed until now to avoid competing with the premiere of "iPartment 3" during the summer vacation.

"Holy crap, 100,000 people in the live stream were just watching Old Master Chen eat?"

"It's not just over 100,000, it's almost 200,000."

"This grandson is eating so heartily, it makes me hungry just watching him."

What TV series is this?

"Order, order, I want some too."

"I can't wait to place an order, I'll just go downstairs and buy something."

"..."

These days, there are no concepts like "mukbang" or "live-streaming e-commerce," but that doesn't stop people from enjoying watching them.

Moreover, viewers can watch the show together with Chen Guiliang and communicate with each other using bullet comments.

Chen Guiliang occasionally reads the comments on the live stream and talks nonsense.

"Mo won the Nobel Prize in Literature? Really? It's perfectly normal for him to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Stop hyping it up in the comments, and stop talking about Chinese literature going global..."

"I don't really like his books; they're too overpowering. There's a difference between literary fiction and slander. Take 'Big Breasts and Wide Hips,' for example. This book was heavily criticized in the 90s, but it's still being dug up and considered a classic now. Wait a minute, everyone, I don't have any materials on hand. I need to make a phone call first..."

"Hello, Professor Dai, this is Chen Guiliang... Could you find the old critical articles about 'Big Breasts and Wide Hips'? They need to be well-reasoned and supported by evidence... Okay, okay, just send me the photos on WeChat..."

Chen Guiliang continued eating snacks and watching dramas until he received the photos from the article, at which point he spoke again.

"Some people in the comments section, please shut up. In the novel, Sima Ting, the mayor of Dalan Town, is a positive character. He and his brother are exceptionally brave in their resistance against the Japanese, but their entire family and 18 relatives were killed in retaliation by the Japanese army. But what was the reality? At that time, Dalan Town was garrisoned by puppet troops. All the officials in the town government had also surrendered to the Japanese. In Mo's writing, these traitors who surrendered to the Japanese have been transformed into anti-Japanese heroes..."

"The guerrilla unit that Mo described as morally corrupt, lax in discipline, and promiscuous was not actually stationed in Dalan Town to commit atrocities. In reality, they had to traverse over 70 miles of occupied and Kuomintang-controlled territory to reach Dalan Town..."

"I just want to ask, what literary purpose could lead someone to move a people's anti-Japanese force stationed more than 70 miles away from the story's location to that place and have them commit atrocities all day long, while portraying the puppet troops and traitors stationed there as anti-Japanese heroes!"

"In the novel, the Sima brothers led their returning militia to drive away the people's anti-Japanese forces and liberate Dalan Town. The people joyfully welcomed the returning militia. The militia used ice blasting and fishing to improve the lives of the people. Oh my..."

"This is definitely not pure fiction, because the ice-blasting for fishing did actually happen. It was done by the people's army. The fact that Mo could write such a plot shows that he really did his research. But why attribute the good deeds done by the people's army to the Returning Home Corps?"

"Enough said. Let's congratulate Mr. Mo on winning the Nobel Prize. By the way, I'd like to sell some of my own food products; the online store link is below..."

The live stream was incredibly popular, and the chat exploded with excitement.

Surprisingly, there were Mr. Mo's fans here, flooding the screen with comments and hurling insults at Chen Guiliang.

That evening, several hashtags, including "Chen Guiliang live-streaming sales", "Chen Guiliang eating live online", and "China's richest man questions Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan", trended on social media.

Looking at his online store's sales figures, Chen Xinghua said, "Sales are really good. One day's sales are equivalent to one or two months' worth in the past. If you're just selling goods, why bring up those writers?"

Chen Guiliang said, "Many netizens in the live chat asked me to comment on this person's work. He just won the Nobel Prize, so he's very popular. I haven't criticized anyone in a long time, so I'll just do it during the live stream."

(End of this chapter)