How did hiring someone to press a pig image during Chinese New Year become a top trend?

Xu An's thumb was still hovering above the screen; he hadn't had time to tap the private message.

The phone screen suddenly went black.

It was like an old light bulb that had reached the end of its lifespan; it flickered once and then went completely out.

The frantic buzzing and vibrations abruptly stopped.

The world is quiet.

Xu An breathed a sigh of relief, but then his heart suddenly clenched.

"broken!"

He quickly pressed the power button.

no response.

Press again.

Still a black screen.

This was a "high-end phone" that he had spent two whole months delivering takeout during his university years to buy. Although it was a two-year-old model, it couldn't just be scrapped like that, could it?

"What's wrong, my dear grandson? Was that guy too fierce and broke your phone?"

Grandpa watched worriedly from the side, still holding two cloves of garlic in his hand.

"No...it's probably out of power, or...I have a slight fever."

Xu An touched the back of his phone; it was so hot he could fry an egg on it.

This isn't a cell phone, it's a hand warmer.

He quickly tucked his phone into his coat, using the warmth of his military overcoat to "physically cool down," regardless of whether the logic made sense or not; his mind was a complete mess.

A full five minutes passed.

Xu An tried turning the machine on again.

The somewhat choppy boot animation finally lit up.

As soon as he entered the main interface, Xu An hadn't even had a chance to connect to his home's Wi-Fi, which was as slow as a snail.

Ding ding ding ding ding—!

The message notification sounds were so dense they sounded like a heavy machine gun firing in his ear.

The system interface froze again, resembling a PowerPoint presentation.

In the private message list, the red dots formed a sea of ​​blood.

Xu An swallowed hard, his fingers trembling as he tapped the message box.

There's simply not enough time to reply.

Even if he were to use his full typing speed after being single for 23 years, he couldn't possibly reply to such a massive number of messages.

"What do we do now...?"

Xu An squatted on the threshold, his brows furrowed into a "川" shape.

Not replying to messages is considered impolite; my grandfather taught me from a young age to be kind and considerate.

If I were to reply to all the messages, I'd never finish.

Xu Ann's simple mind raced, and finally, he came up with a brilliant idea.

Create a group!

Yes, putting everyone in a group and sending a unified notification—that's called efficiency!

Xu An thought he was a clever little devil.

He acted quickly and created a fan group on Douyin.

The group name is very simple: [Xujia Village Pig Slaughtering Help Group 1].

Click to create.

Almost the instant the group QR code was generated.

Xu An felt a blur before his eyes.

The group has reached its maximum membership limit of 500/500.

It took no more than three seconds.

Xu An was stunned.

He blinked, wondering if there was a bug in the system.

Is that all?

Immediately afterwards, my phone started vibrating wildly again, bombarded with countless private messages:

"The group is full! I can't get in!"

"Hey blogger, create another group! Who do you think I'm looking down on?"

"Open the door! Let me in! I have plenty of strength!"

Fine beads of sweat began to appear on Xu An's forehead, even deep in the Taihang Mountains where the temperature was minus five degrees Celsius.

Instinct drove him to create a second group.

【Xujia Village Pig Slaughtering Assistance Group 2】

Two seconds.

full.

Xu An's fingers began to tremble, and a sense of dread, of being caught in a dilemma, welled up within him.

But he dared not stop.

Because the urging in private messages has changed from "requests" to "wailing".

Group 3 is full.

Group 4 is full.

……

Xu An was like an emotionless group-creating machine, mechanically repeating the operation of "creating a group - filling up - creating another group".

Until the system prompts: "The current number of groups has reached the limit."

Xu An stopped what he was doing.

He looked at the ten groups neatly arranged on the screen.

【Xujia Village Pig Slaughtering Help Group 10 (500/500)】

The air freezes.

Xu An slowly raised his head, staring blankly at his grandfather who was adding firewood to the stove.

"Master..."

"What's wrong?"

"We might not have enough pigs to slaughter."

Xu An's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum.

Ten groups.

Five thousand people.

Even if you remove those who repeatedly join groups just for fun, those who lurk, and those who post "GG" (a slang term for being single or unsuccessful).

Let's fold it in half, it'll be two thousand five.

Let's fold it in half again, 1200.

Even if only a thousand people come...

Xu An glanced at the large iron pot in the yard, which was one meter in diameter and used for cooking large meals.

Even if you stew this pot until it melts, there won't be enough soup for everyone to have a sip!

and……

With so many people coming into the village, not only will they trample down the only dirt road in Xujia Village, but where will they stay at night? Where will they go to the toilet?

Xujia Village only has two public dry toilets!

At this moment, his extreme social anxiety traits fully erupted.

Xu An felt like a little lamb that had wandered into a pack of wolves, surrounded by green eyes.

No.

They should be advised to withdraw.

They must be persuaded to leave!

Xu An took a deep breath and opened [Group 1].

The messages were refreshing so fast that he couldn't even see the words; he could only see a blurry afterimage.

He typed shakily in the input box:

【Um... I'm Xiao An.】

The moment the message was sent, the frenzied flood of comments miraculously stopped for a second.

What followed was an even more frantic repeat-grade period:

"Catch the blogger alive!"

"Brother Xiao An has spoken up!"

"That tone...it sounds like an honest kid!"

Xu An didn't dare look at the praise, and quickly typed out his second sentence before it was drowned out:

Everyone's been so enthusiastic, I'm almost embarrassed.

Actually... I only have two pigs at home, and I just wanted to find three or five strong men to help me massage them.

We really don't need this many people. Please don't come. The roads are bad, and there's nowhere to stay.

I appreciate the sentiment, everyone can go now. The Lunar New Year is approaching, spend more time with your families.

After typing these few lines, Xu An felt that his sincerity had overflowed from the screen.

I've already said that, so everyone should understand, right?

however.

One minute later.

The atmosphere in the group suddenly changed.

[ID Taihang Car God]: Brother Xiao An, that's not right of you. You look down on your brothers? Do you think we're after your cheap food? We're just here for fun!

[ID Culture and Tourism Bureau Staff Member]: Exactly! Don't worry, blogger, we brought our own tents! I just want to go see those two 300-pound pig kings!

[ID_Defeats_Dissent]: Only three or five spots? Is this some kind of scarcity marketing tactic? Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! But I don't care, I'm already on the highway!

【ID Southern Little Potato】: I don't care! I'm going! I've never seen a pig slaughtered before! I'll bring my own bowl and chopsticks. I don't eat meat, can I just have some soup?

[Top ID on the leaderboard]: Brothers, Xiao An is just trying to avoid troubling us! What a kind and simple kid! Even at a time like this, he's still thinking of us! It would be an injustice if this kind of positive energy didn't go viral! Let's go! We have to fill up Xujia Village!

As Xu An read these replies, his face gradually lost its color.

He was like that unlucky guy standing at the breach of a dam, trying to stop the flood with a single finger.

That feeling of powerlessness.

That suffocating feeling of being the center of global attention.

It reminded him of that afternoon in his freshman year of college when his counselor forced him to go on stage and introduce himself.

There are also many people.

And with such fervent gazes.

He stood there for three minutes, finally managing to say, "Hello everyone, my name is Xu An, and I am a man," before fleeing in panic.

And now.

This is not a classroom with more than a hundred people.

These are five thousand netizens eyeing the situation with predatory intent!

And there's Da Biao, who's still on his way with "thirty brothers in five pickup trucks"!

Xu An's hand went limp, and the phone fell to the ground with a "thud".

The already shattered glass in the corner of the screen has now cracked even more, like a spider web mocking him.

"It's over."

Xu An plopped down on the threshold, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his gaze unfocused.

"This isn't about helping..."

"This is clearly an attack on Xu Family Village..."