13: Chapter 13 The King of Freebies

The A380 climbed to cruising altitude, the fuselage shook twice, and the seatbelt sign turned off.

The overhead announcement chimed, cycling through Chinese, English, and Arabic—the in-flight WiFi was now active.

Li Li connected to the WiFi.

The first-class dedicated bandwidth was unexpectedly fast.

His left wrist felt a sudden heat. Blue text sputtered out.

[ In-flight WiFi connected. Ten guests' personal live streams have synchronized to "Flight Mode" broadcasting. ]

[ Current live stream data— ]

[ Jiang Rumu | Followers: 32.16 Million | Online: 5.31 Million ]

[ Gu Zeyan | Followers: 18.73 Million | Online: 4.76 Million ]

[ Shen Jue | Followers: 9.62 Million | Online: 3.48 Million ]

[ ... ]

[ Wen Ditang | Followers: 20,000 | Online: 3,300 ]

[ Li Li (Li Li in Plain Sight) | Followers: 187 | Online: 153 ]

The blue text lingered on the last line for an extra two seconds.

[ Note: Host's follower count ranks tenth. Out of ten people. Congratulations. ]

Li Li pulled down his sleeve.

One hundred eighty-seven versus thirty-two million one hundred sixty thousand.

A difference of one hundred seventy thousand times.

This isn't a gap. It's species isolation.

He glanced at seat 1F on the other side of the partition.

Jiang Rumu had her eyes closed, black straight hair spread over her shoulders, her breathing even. She was asleep.

Five million three hundred ten thousand people were online, watching her sleep.

This is the gold standard of a top-tier celebrity.

He tapped through the other live streams one by one.

Yin Ruoying slept wearing sunglasses, with 1.18 million people watching.

Han Xubai hadn't removed his gold-rimmed glasses, and his side-part was perfectly in place; lawyers maintained courtroom decorum even while sleeping.

Cen Ye had his head tilted with his mouth half-open, drool nearly dripping onto the Sichuan-Chongqing dialect printed on his t-shirt, with 840,000 people watching him drool.

Out of ten live streams, eight were people sleeping.

The only one not sleeping—Shen Jue.

He was walking across the business class aisle holding a phone stand with one hand, his 1.87-meter frame hunched over, not even bothering to brush away the comma bangs poking into his eyes, his mouth never stopping. 1.48 million people online.

One of the top ten unsolved mysteries of this Dating Reality Show—where exactly does Shen Jue get his energy?

Li Li exited the live stream.

He put away his phone and pressed the call button above his seat.

Three seconds later, a flight attendant walked over. Blonde hair, brown skin, gold wing badge pinned to the collar of her uniform.

"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Please bring me the menu."

A wine-red leather menu was handed to him. Gold-stamped letters, thick enough to rival a Xinhua Dictionary.

He opened it.

Appetizers, soups, main courses, desserts, beverages—five categories, three to four dishes each, plus half a page of red wine list.

Arabic roasted hummus. Persian saffron yogurt. Baklava. Persian rose water pudding. Dom Pérignon champagne.

He recognized every single dish name.

In his past life, he worked at a translation agency creating airline brochures; he had flipped through the first-class meal section over fifty times. He knew the dish names by heart, but had never tasted a single bite.

The translation fee for one menu was 300 yuan.

Now—it was free.

He closed the menu.

"For appetizers, I'll take both the hummus and the tabbouleh salad. For soup, both. For main courses, the lamb chops and the seafood gratin. For dessert—"

He paused for a beat.

"All of them."

The flight attendant's pen stopped.

"All the desserts? Are you sure, sir?"

"All of them. And bring me a bottle of 2015 Dom Pérignon."

The flight attendant looked at him for another second. She nodded and walked away.

The large first-class tray table was lowered. Li Li propped up his phone, the live stream camera aimed directly at the table.

Online viewers: 153.

The meals were served one after another. The flight attendant made three trips.

On the first trip, the hummus was in a palm-sized ceramic bowl, pita bread cut into triangles arranged like a fan, and two whole dates soaking in the pomegranate chicken soup.

On the second trip, three lamb chops were sliced diagonally and plated, resting on a bed of golden saffron spiced rice. The seafood gratin was brought out in a cast-iron skillet, steam rising from it.

On the third trip, four plates of dessert were lined up—baklava, rose water pudding, date cake, and macarons. Plus freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, a pot of Arabic mint tea, and a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

Eleven plates and bowls, a pot of tea, a glass of juice, a bottle of wine.

The tray table was full. The dessert plates were stacked.

Li Li picked up his fork.

He speared a piece of pita bread, scooped up a dollop of hummus, and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed twice, then scooped another piece. He finished half the bowl in three bites.

The speed was neither fast nor slow, the frequency steady, the chewing sounds clear—

The sound traveled through the half-lowered partition, followed the micro-recording device above Jiang Rumu's seat, and reached the ears of 5.31 million people.

"Smack. Crunch. Slurp"—the pomegranate juice.

The live stream chat for Jiang Rumu exploded.

[ What is that sound?? Who is eating?? ]

[ Mumu is sleeping, the sound isn't hers ]

[ Must be next door, it's probably that amateur, their first-class seats are adjacent ]

[ Can you stop eating, you're disturbing Mumu!! ]

[ Go to his live stream and tell him! What's it called again? Li Li in Plain Sight? ]

The first wave of the crusade flooded into Li Li's live stream.

153 jumped to 1,200. Three seconds later, 2,800. Five seconds later, 7,400.

The people flooding in already had their chat messages typed out—"Stop eating," "Keep it down," "You're bothering Mumu while she sleeps."

Then they saw the scene.

The large first-class tray table. Eleven plates and bowls. Hummus, pita bread, salad, two bowls of soup, lamb chops, seafood gratin, four plates of dessert. A pot of tea. A glass of juice. A bottle of champagne.

A man with short, messy hair sat right in the middle, holding a fork in his right hand, a soup bowl in his left, chewing something, with three open Ala Country airline magazines spread out on the table.

The chat paused for two seconds.

Then—

[ ?? Did I enter the wrong stream? Is this an eating show channel? ]

[ A whole table of food, how much did he order?? ]

[ Wait, did he order the entire first-class menu?? ]

Online viewers jumped from 7,400 to 24,000.

Jiang Rumu's live stream audience split. Half continued watching the sleeping broadcast, the other half gave in to their curiosity and clicked into "Li Li in Plain Sight."

Once they clicked in, they couldn't leave.

A message in the chat—

[ Don't just eat, introduce it for us ]

Li Li glanced at it. He was still chewing, swallowed, then wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

He picked up the bowl of hummus. Moved it close to the camera.

"This. Hummus. The Lao Gan Ma of the Middle East."

He tore off a piece of pita bread, scooped up a big dollop, and shoved it into his mouth. Chewed twice.

"It's smooth. Strong bean flavor, the aroma of sesame paste, a hint of lemon juice to brighten it up, not greasy."

[ "The Lao Gan Ma of the Middle East" Hahahaha ]

[ This way of introducing it is kind of addictive ]

He put down the bowl. Picked up the pumpkin soup. Scooped a spoonful, "slurp"—

"Sweet, the pumpkin is pureed finely, no graininess. This cinnamon crisp on top—"

He pinched a piece. Bit off half. "Crunch."

"It's crispy."

[ "It's crispy." That's it? Minimalist eating show, huh? ]

[ Why do I feel like I want to listen to whatever he says? ]

He speared a lamb chop.

"Arabic grilled lamb chops, with saffron spiced rice underneath."

He took a bite. The meat torn off had charred edges, with fat seeping from the cross-section.

"Not gamey. Middle Eastern grilled lamb has a characteristic—heavy spices—cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, layered on top of each other, suppressing the gamey smell until you can't taste it at all. It leaves just one word."

He took another bite.

"Fragrant."

The chat was flooded.

[ "Layered on top of each other" That description is so precise, I'm hungry ]

[ This man's understanding of food is too deep, what is this gold standard? ]

120,000. 160,000. 180,000.

His left wrist flashed. Blue text popped out.

[ Current follower count: 6,841. Encouraging growth. ]

[ Does the host plan to gain followers by eating? ]

[ ...Unexpectedly effective. The system is impressed. ]

[ Also: The host is currently flying over the Iranian Plateau. There are twenty-three military bases on the land outside your window. ]

[ Suggest eating more. Seriously. ]

Li Li glanced at that line of blue text and didn't respond.

He picked up the seafood gratin, scooped a big spoonful, the rice trailing cheese strings. He shoved it into his mouth, chewed twice, then scooped another spoonful—specifically scraping the bottom.

"Crunch, crunch."

"Rice crust. Burnt. Specifically scraping it to eat."

[ That sound of him scraping the rice crust triggered my DNA ]

[ Which Dating Reality Show amateur does an eating show in first class? I beg you, be normal ]

200,000.

The chat in Jiang Rumu's live stream had already started spamming "Go next door to watch the eating show." Die-hard fans were breaking down—

[ I'm here to watch Mumu, why am I watching an amateur gnaw on lamb chops?? ]

[ I can't go back, he's eating dessert, go quickly ]

Li Li picked up the plate of baklava.

Layers of flaky pastry sandwiched crushed nuts, honey drizzled on the surface, shimmering amber under the lights.

"This. The ceiling of Middle Eastern desserts. Baklava."

He took a bite.

The pastry shattered—

"Crack—snap—crunch—"

Crumbs fell onto the plate.

"At least twenty layers of pastry, each layer thin enough to see through. The nuts are a mix of crushed pistachios and walnuts. The honey isn't that blended stuff from back home, it's date nectar—"

He took another bite.

He closed his eyes while chewing.

"The kind that's sweet down to your bone marrow. But not cloying."

The chat went completely crazy.

[ He closed his eyes!! He closed his eyes while eating dessert!! What kind of gourmet reaction is this ]

[ "Sweet down to your bone marrow but not cloying" What a copywriting genius ]

[ I'm on a diet and I clicked in at midnight, I am guilty ]

230,000. 260,000.

A live stream with 187 followers, 260,000 people online. In any operations director's report, this would be flagged as a system bug and sent back for re-investigation.

Li Li put down his fork. Picked up the pomegranate juice for a sip, wiped his mouth.

Glanced at the chat. It was so dense he couldn't see anything.

Saw one message—

[ Did you order everything on the menu?? ]

Li Li faced the camera.

"Yes, ordered it all, it's free."

He paused for a beat.

"And this bottle of 2015 Dom Pérignon, it sells for about 1,500 outside. I just ordered a whole bottle."

Paused again.

"In my past life, translating these dish names, the manuscript fee for one menu was 300 yuan. Now I'm eating for free. If I don't finish it, I'm losing 300 yuan."

The chat exploded.

[ Translating dish names in a past life, eating the whole meal for free in this life, what kind of web novel plot is this ]

[ "If I don't finish it, I'm losing 300 yuan" The poor person's logic loop is complete ]

[ The first person in the history of Dating Reality Shows to turn first class into a cafeteria is born ]

[ Li Li, the King of Freebies!!! ]

310,000.

Another random comment came in—

[ Bro, aren't you here to date? What are you doing? ]

Li Li didn't reply to this one.

He picked up a piece of date cake and put it in his mouth.

While chewing, a rustling sound came from 1F next door.

Fabric rubbing. Someone turned over.

He turned his head.

The partition was half-lowered, he could see a corner of seat 1F.

Jiang Rumu's hand rested on the edge of the pillow, her fingers curled, slowly relaxing.

Her eyes didn't open.

Her nostrils twitched.

Her lips parted. Then closed.

She was smelling the scent.

In the 5.31 million live stream, a line of golden text spammed the chat—

[ Mumu smelled the scent!!!!!! ]

The fork in Li Li's hand, spearing the last piece of baklava, hovered in mid-air.

Jiang Rumu's eyelashes fluttered twice.

Her eyes opened a slit.