Three drones hovered silently in the air, streaming footage of the old house and its surroundings into the livestream—
The elderly woman had pulled a rattan chair into the courtyard. She was basking in the sun, nibbling slowly at a piece of mung bean cake.
A tall cactus, already several meters high and even blooming, stood lushly at the edge of the courtyard. Behind the house grew a small cluster of bamboo. When the breeze passed through, the branches swayed and the leaves rustled softly against each other...
"What a heartwarming scene, it's pure serenity."
"This is the life I dream of—free, peaceful, and full of warmth. Who needs mansions and luxury cars to be happy?"
"Look at Granny's expression while she's eating—absolutely adorable…"
As viewers were sighing contentedly, the scene suddenly took a surprising turn—Li Ran walked out of the house with an unexpected creature trailing behind him.
The live chat instantly exploded—
"HOLY SH*T, WHAT IS THAT?!"
"Did a giant panda just walk out of the streamer's house?!"
"Is that really a panda? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
"This guy must be insanely rich—who else can afford to raise a panda?!"
"Judging by his annoyed face, I guess he's used to having this panda around."
"Oh my god, he's actually annoyed with a national treasure…"
Truth be told, Li Ran was a little annoyed.
A panda? As a reward?
It's not like his home was a zoo that could sell tickets for people to come see it.
A girlfriend would've been way more practical—at least she could help with farming, laundry, and cooking…
The creature clearly saw Li Ran as its new lifeline and waddled over, trying to cling to his leg and act cute, only to be pushed away without mercy.
Whether it was from poor balance or deliberate play, the panda rolled twice across the ground before stopping against a wall.
"Did the streamer just kick a panda?!"
"So cruel! How could you do that to something so adorable?!"
"I'm reporting you for animal abuse!"
Li Ran looked helpless. "Which one of you saw me kick it? I just gave it a little push."
But then he noticed something curious on his system panel—a welcome change.
[Annoyance Value +10 from Wandering Swordsman; Money +50]
[Annoyance Value +8 from Northern King; Money +40]
[Annoyance Value +7 from Tes007; Money +35…]
In just a few seconds, his annoyance value had jumped from 0 to 157—and it was still climbing.
"So that's how I get annoyance value?"
Li Ran's eyes lit up. He had just discovered a brand-new use for a national treasure.
The creature was wobbling its way back toward him again, so Li Ran casually grabbed a bamboo pole from under the eaves and handed it over.
"Here, go play with this."
He planned to check the system shop for something useful.
But the panda casually opened its mouth and—crack!—snapped the pole clean in half!
[Annoyance Value +20 from Li Ran]
"Whoa, panda jaws are that strong?"
"Look it up—giant pandas are literally called iron eaters for a reason."
"Streamer, for the love of god, feed it something! It's starving!"
The poor creature really might have been hungry. After one bite, it realized the bamboo pole wasn't edible, spat out the splinters, and looked up at Li Ran with a pitifully innocent expression.
Li Ran sighed and went to the kitchen, returning with a bowl of porridge.
"It's leftover cabbage porridge from this morning. No point wasting it—here, eat."
"You're feeding leftover porridge to a panda? Seriously?!"
"Streamer, please act like a decent human being!"
"My three-year-old knows pandas eat bamboo!"
"Still not abuse, huh?!"
Another flood of annoyance points rolled in—over 200 in just a few seconds—and more than 1,000 in money.
Perfect.
"You guys don't know anything. Our panda's always eaten rice porridge!"
Li Ran used 250 annoyance points to redeem an Advanced Beast Mastery Manual, then watched as the panda slurped up the cabbage porridge and let out a satisfied little burp.
After that, no one mentioned animal abuse again.
The panda's presence sent viewership skyrocketing—it was like the livestream had boarded a rocket. In no time, the count had passed ten thousand.
New viewers were stunned when they saw the panda.
"OMG, a giant panda!"
"Is the streamer brasting from a zoo?"
"Why's there only one panda?"
"This zoo looks kinda... run-down."
Li Ran couldn't be bothered to explain to each one, so he just rolled with it.
"This is the world's largest panda zoo. I'm the head keeper."
"You're looking at a meticulously recreated natural panda habitat—built with astronomical investment!"
"It's free-roam time right now. The rest of the pandas are off in the hills. They'll come back when it's lunchtime."
Some actually believed him for a second, until others in the chat exposed the lie. That triggered yet another wave of annoyance points…
"I can't believe someone in western Sichuan is actually raising a panda!"
"I told two of my foreign friends about this just now—they were stunned!"
"There's no way we can explain away the rumors that every Chinese family keeps a panda now…"
"Streamer, what's the panda's name?" someone asked.
Soon, others echoed the question.
Li Ran was preparing his tools to head up the mountain and gather firewood. Seeing the flood of questions, he replied offhandedly:
"I call it Hanhan." (Note: Hanhan roughly means "Dorky" or "Goofy".)
"Hanhan? Are you serious?"
"Other pandas have names like Tuan Tuan (Reunion), Yuan Yuan (Reunion), Ping Ping (Safety), An An (Safety)—names full of good meaning. Hanhan just sounds… random!"
"But to be fair, it's kind of the perfect name. Haha…"
"I object! Let's vote to give it a proper name!"
Li Ran ignored the complaints. He personally thought Hanhan sounded just right.
"Grandma, I'm heading to the mountain for firewood!" Li Ran called out.
The old woman, hard of hearing, didn't respond from her rattan chair.
Li Ran walked over and repeated himself.
"Firewood? Wait a bit, I'll come too."
Li Ran quickly stopped her. "Grandma, you stay and watch the house. I can handle it."
"Alright then, be careful."
"Got it."
As Li Ran stepped out, the old woman squinted at what seemed like an unfamiliar figure tagging along. She rubbed her eyes but wasn't sure, so she lay back down to enjoy her mung bean cake again.
Li Ran had a bamboo rake in one hand and a large basket strapped to his back.
Inside were a small machete and a few cloth sacks.
Before leaving, he also grabbed a bundle of dry rice straw from under the eaves.
Hanhan happily waddled along behind him.
"These are the basic tools for gathering firewood," Li Ran explained casually.
"Our family's got a few fields at the foot of the mountain. After each harvest, the leftover rice straw, sorghum stalks, and sweet potato vines are dried and used as firewood."
"But that's not nearly enough to last through the year. Most of our firewood has to come from the mountain—fallen leaves, dead branches, and trunks blown down by storms. Those can be burned right away without drying."
"Plus, removing dry brush like that helps prevent forest fires. It's a win-win."
"Thanks for the lesson, streamer. I actually learned something."
"Be careful out there—and take good care of Hanhan!"
"What are you talking about? If they run into a predator, you'll see who's protecting who."
Li Ran: "…"
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]