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

After the noise subsided, the searchlights on the construction site remained as bright as day.

Xu An squatted by the stove, like a child who had done something wrong, arguing with the remaining fish and meat in the pot.

Li Daguo led his engineering team to unload the scallions, and the shouts from the workers over there were deafening.

But Xu An, holding a pair of chopsticks, was performing a delicate surgery.

He picked out the tenderest part of the fish belly and placed it in the still-warm thermos.

Then, under the dim light, I carefully picked out the tiny thorns inside, one by one.

The movements were so slow, it was like defusing a bomb.

The camera in the live stream was so close that you could see the trembling of Xu An's eyelashes.

[ID Ophthalmologist]: This technique is even more stable than when I perform cataract surgery.

[A student of ID Fifth Aunt]: I cried. Back then, when I delivered meals to Fifth Aunt, I would just throw them at the door and run away, afraid of being caught and forced to memorize texts.

【ID Filial Piety Moves Heaven】: The blogger isn't nitpicking, he's nitpicking the sentiment.

Xu An didn't look at the comments; his attention was entirely focused on those fish bones, which were thinner than a hair.

"call……"

Finally, the last piece of fish was inspected.

Xu An wrapped the thorns he had picked out in a tissue and carefully tightened the lid of the thermos.

"that……"

"Family members."

"There wasn't enough fish soup, so I gave Aunt Wu two more pieces of tofu."

"My fifth aunt has bad teeth, so the tofu just slurped down in one go."

Xu An carried the thermos and stepped back into the night.

At this time, Xujia Village was unusually quiet.

Aside from the sounds of machinery at the construction site, the only other sound on the village paths was the whistling of the wind through the bare branches.

Xu An stepped onto the stone path, the hem of his military overcoat brushing against the withered grass by the roadside.

We arrived at the entrance of Aunt Wu's courtyard again.

The gate to the courtyard was ajar, and the sound of the sewing machine inside had stopped.

A dim, yellow light shone in the main room; it was an old-fashioned incandescent bulb, and the light was warm.

Xu An didn't dare to knock loudly, afraid of disturbing the tranquility.

He gently pushed open the door and peeked inside.

Aunt Wu was sitting at the eight-immortal table in the main room, holding the chipped enamel mug in her hand, lost in thought.

On the table, there was a pair of reading glasses and a yellowed photograph.

The orange cat, wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, was lying on her lap, snoring loudly.

Fifth Aunt.

Xu An stood at the door and called out softly.

Aunt Wu's body trembled slightly, as if she had been pulled back from a distant memory.

She turned her head and saw Xu An, whose stern face had softened slightly.

"Here we go again?"

"Didn't I tell you not to run around?"

Despite her apparent disdain, Aunt Wu still stood up and turned the photo face down on the table.

Xu An pretended not to see that action.

He walked over and placed the thermos on the table.

"I'm bringing you fish."

"I've removed all the thorns; it's all belly meat."

"And these steamed buns, fresh out of the steamer, are soft."

Fifth Aunt glanced at the thermos, then at Xu An's hands, which were red from the cold.

He didn't say anything, but simply reached out and touched the orange cat on his lap.

"Alright, just put it there."

"You should go home soon too."

"It's so late, don't let your grandfather worry."

Xu An nodded and didn't dare to stay any longer.

This atmosphere made him feel even more uneasy than being scolded.

It was a heavy sense of loneliness, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

"Well... Fifth Aunt, I'm leaving now."

Xu An retreated to the doorway, then remembered something.

"Oh, right, that truckload of green onions."

"I'll bring you two bundles tomorrow."

"If you get tired from sewing, just dip some scallions in sauce to refresh yourself."

Fifth Aunt chuckled.

"Get lost."

"Are you drinking scallions like coffee?"

"Let's go quickly."

Xu An chuckled and slipped out of the courtyard as if fleeing.

In that instant, he felt that his fifth aunt wasn't so scary anymore.

Walking home, Xu An felt his steps were much lighter.

On the phone screen, the comments were still scrolling, but much slower.

Everyone seemed tired, or rather, filled with the emotions of the night.

It was already 11 p.m.

Xu An glanced at the battery level of the Huawei Master Notebook; it still had 30% remaining.

This phone is really durable; it lasted a whole day of live streaming and still had battery left.

"that……"

"Family members."

"It's getting late today."

"Dean Li is overseeing the construction site, so I don't need to worry about it."

"I need to go back and fetch water for Grandpa to wash his feet."

"Shall we...end the broadcast?"

Xu An asked tentatively.

Based on past experience, netizens would probably post "Goodnight" at this point and then leave.

But today, something's not quite right.

Suddenly, the comments section exploded with energy, bouncing back like crazy.

【ID Doesn't Sleep】: What kind of broadcast is this! I just finished crying, how am I supposed to sleep?

[ID Night Owl Champion]: Don't go! I'm not sleepy! I just want to look at the night view of these mountains!

[ID Spiritual Shareholder]: Blogger, can you put your phone on the headboard of your bed and livestream yourself sleeping?

[ID Cloud Parenting]: Yes, yes, yes! I want to see the blogger sleeping!

[ID Want to See Bare Face]: Does the blogger snore? Grind their teeth? Talk in their sleep?

[ID: Enjoying the drama]: We want to immerse ourselves in the experience of rural sleep!

Xu An stared at the screen filled with "Live Sleeping" comments, and his scalp tingled.

Social anxiety triggers a sharp alarm at this moment.

Live-streaming himself sleeping?

What a joke!

That's privacy! That's underwear!

What should I do if I drool in my sleep?

What if I talk in my sleep and say something embarrassing?

What if your sleeping posture is indecent and gets turned into a meme and spread all over the internet?

Just thinking about opening my eyes tomorrow morning...

The entire internet is full of bizarre videos of people with their mouths wide open and drooling.

Xu An felt that at that time, it was more than just social anxiety.

That's social death!

That's to the point where we need to move to another planet to live!

"No!"

Xu An refused with absolute certainty, his voice even changing tone.

"Absolutely not!"

"Sleeping is a private matter, how can you broadcast it live?"

"We'll see."

"I'm sleeping... I'm not a good boy."

"My grandfather said I sleep like I'm punching a boxer."

"What if I kick the phone away and it breaks? Who's responsible then?"

"This is public property!"

Hsu An invoked the "public property" excuse to scare off these crazy netizens.

But these people were clearly unmoved by either soft or hard tactics.

[ID Loves Watching Boxing]: If you kick it away, we'll crowdfund to buy you a new one!

[Top ID Ranking Guy]: I'll refresh ten Carnivals just to see his sleeping posture!

[ID wants to stay here]: Blogger, don't scare people with the government. If Director Wang knew this could increase your followers, he would definitely send you a phone stand overnight!

Xu An glanced in the direction of the village entrance.

There really do look like car headlights flashing over there.

Could it really be Director Wang's sixth brother, who came here with a phone stand?

A sense of being dominated arises spontaneously.

"that……"

"Family members."

"Since everyone is so enthusiastic."

"Then I'll..."

Xu An took a deep breath and put on an extremely forced, even somewhat ferocious, smile.

Netizens held their breath, thinking he was about to agree.

Even the gift effects are starting to warm up on the screen.

"I just..."

"The broadcast ended at lightning speed!"

Goodbye!

With the speed of someone who'd been single for 23 years, Xu An precisely tapped the close button in the upper right corner of the screen.

"Smack."

The screen went black.

The whole world is quiet now.

Xu An let out a long breath, leaned against his own mottled wooden door, his heart pounding like a drum.

That's terrifying.

This generation of netizens is too difficult to manage.

When asked to donate money to repair roads, they actually donated; when asked to help with the work, they actually did it.

But this desire to pry into privacy is truly strong.

"Anzi?"

"What's wrong?"

"Were you chased by a ghost?"

In the courtyard, Grandpa was carrying a basin of water out to empty it when he saw Xu An leaning against the door, his face pale, and he was startled.

Xu An waved his hand, turned up his collar, and covered half of his face.

"without."

"More terrifying than a ghost."

"Those are millions of eyes that want to see me sleep."

Grandpa paused for a moment, not understanding, and poured the foot-washing water under the jujube tree in the yard.

Water vapor rises in the cold night.

"You're talking nonsense."

"Go wash up and go to bed."

"We still need to make dumplings tomorrow."

"That truckload of scallions will keep you busy."

Xu An nodded and walked into the main room.

Under the dim light, Grandpa's old cloth shoes were neatly arranged under the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

This sense of security finally put Xu An's mind at ease.

Although they escaped a disaster.

But Xu An knew.

Tomorrow morning.

There's definitely going to be another tough battle.

after all.

Those five thousand catties of potatoes and two thousand catties of green onions.

It's still at the construction site at the village entrance.

We're waiting for him, this "pig-slaughtering livestreamer," to turn them into steaming hot dumplings.

That night.

Xu An had a dream.

I dreamt that I turned into a giant green onion.

He was chased by millions of netizens wielding chopsticks.

Meanwhile, Director Wang was driving an excavator behind them, shouting:

"Don't run away! For the sake of the county's GDP, just give in!"