"Why is the streamer dragging the panda out when he's just going to collect firewood by himself?"
Li Ran replied, "He's eaten our food, so of course he has to contribute to the household!"
"No way! That panda is a national treasure!"
Li Ran: "So what? Just because it's a national treasure, it doesn't have to do any work?"
"Well… technically, that might be true…"
Li Ran: "I don't care. If you eat, you work. That's the rule in our house. I don't care if you're a national treasure or the Emperor himself—you follow the rules!"
[+10 Frustration Value from 'Chubby Teen', +50 Cash]
[+20 Frustration Value from 'Old Xu Here', +100 Cash]
[+6 Frustration Value from 'Mighty Dragon', +30 Cash]
...
The early summer sun rose quickly, soon burning away the mountain mist.
The air was fresh and carried a pleasant earthy scent.
Li Ran kept roasting the chat while marching up the hill, his mood lifted by the steadily increasing frustration values.
Whenever he spotted fallen branches in the woods, he'd gather them into a pile with a bamboo rake, planning to carry them down later.
The mountain trail wasn't steep, and Li Ran, used to running around since childhood, found it a breeze.
The same couldn't be said for Hanhan. After every few steps, the panda would dramatically tumble down the slope, then scramble to catch up. And whenever he saw a bird land nearby, he'd rush over and chase it away, acting just like a silly husky...
Hanhan wasn't exactly athletic to begin with, and before long, he collapsed on the ride, staring at Li Ran with a pitiful expression.
Li Ran was speechless. He stopped, took out some straw and twisted it into a rope, then tied up the bundle of firewood he'd collected.
"Hanhan, carry this bundle back home and leave it at the front gate. After that, come back up and find me."
"And no messing around on the way! If you don't finish your chores by noon, you're not getting any lunch!"
The livestream chat exploded.
"How can the streamer be so heartless?!"
"Didn't you see Hanhan can barely move, and he still wants him to carry firewood?!"
"I thought he was just joking when he told Hanhan to work. Turns out he was serious…"
"I'm reporting this. Streamer's abusing a national treasure!"
Another easy wave of frustration values flowed in...
Just as the viewers were outraged, the livestream screen suddenly changed.
The panda that had just been lying on the ground actually picked up the bundle of firewood that was taller than him! Then, with a loud thud, he started rolling down the hill with it...
The chat fell dead silent.
Two seconds later, the screen exploded with comments.
"Did I just see that right? The panda's actually working!?"
"Oh my god, am I dreaming?!"
"No wonder he's a domesticated panda!"
"This is hilarious, but why do I feel like crying instead of laughing?"
"This is insane—I'm telling my mom!"
Li Ran didn't have time to entertain the chaos.
He planned to finish all his recent farm tasks by the end of the day. Tomorrow, he'd redeem his points for the Advanced Construction Skill and start building his mountain villa...
He continued uphill and spotted two tiny white mushrooms, each the size of a baby's palm, growing under a tree.
Taking out a small knife, he gently inserted it into the soft soil, pried them out whole, dusted off the dirt, and tucked them into his bag.
"Wow, mushrooms! So cute!"
"This is my first time seeing someone pick mushrooms in real life! I always thought they grew on trees like apples..."
"Can you eat that kind of mushroom?"
"Anyone else constantly confuse edible mushrooms with poisonous ones? Streamer, can you explain?"
Li Ran sighed. These people really didn't get out much.
"These are common oyster mushrooms, you can easily find them in markets."
"But the ones in markets are farmed. These wild ones are way fresher and tastier."
"Poisonous mushrooms are easy to identify. If they look weird, smell funny, or have bright, flashy colors, they're probably toxic. Best to leave those alone."
"This mountain used to have poisonous mushrooms, but now they're rare. I can't give you a proper example. If you want to know more, just go look it up yourselves."
"Got it. Thanks for the mushroom lesson!"
['Mid Lane King' sent a sports car tip]
Li Ran blinked.
A sports car tip was worth 500 bucks. He didn't expect mushroom-picking to earn him a big donation like that.
"Can we see Hanhan again, please?"
"Yeah, don't you have three drones? Switch to one—we just want to see the panda!"
['Mighty Dragon' sent a helicopter tip]
Li Ran: "…"
Alright then. Now he understood their real motivation behind the generous tips.
Feeling slightly annoyed, he pretended not to notice the comments and kept picking mushrooms while chatting casually.
"When I was little, kids from the village used to come up the mountain to forage mushrooms and hunt wild animals."
"Now that life's better, the young folks have gone to the cities to work, and the kids just stay home watching TV or playing on their phones. Fewer people come up here anymore."
"That means mushrooms grow wild and untouched. I bet I'll fill two large bags before noon…"
Li Ran deliberately ignored the livestream chat, letting the frustration values rack up again.
After a while, the flow suddenly stopped. Li Ran checked his phone—sure enough, a few trolls had shown up:
"Is this some kind of wild food streamer? For real?"
"With this kind of camera quality and setup? He's gotta have a whole team behind him."
"Those mushrooms were probably planted beforehand!"
"Yeah, lots of streamers do that now—burying stuff in advance to trick viewers. Only fools fall for it!"
Whether they were genuine trolls or plants sent by rival streamers, they came in all high and mighty.
Li Ran was fuming.
But before he could retaliate, the rest of the chat beat him to it:
"These dumbasses must be in cahoots. Can't you use your own eyes?"
"Just because you're blind doesn't mean everyone else is!"
"They've probably never even seen a real mushroom. Imagine if they saw a panda—they'd lose their minds."
"Take your trolling elsewhere!"
"Exit's to the right. Don't come back!"
The trolls quickly shut up.
Li Ran chuckled. "Dang, you guys really came through!"
"All thanks to the streamer. Compared to you, we're just amateurs."
"So… can we see Hanhan now?"
"…Fine, I'll grant your wish."
With a mental command, Li Ran switched the drone feed.
In a blink, the screen shifted back to show Hanhan the panda.
Hanhan had already delivered the bundle of firewood to the front gate and was now slowly waddling back up the hill, step by exhausted step.
The chat immediately filled with sympathy and heartache.
Li Ran ignored it. More frustration points were always welcome...
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]