The Art of Eat-casting

Chapter 1 Eating Noodles with Spicy Sauce Today In the ASMR livestream room of "Impoverished Mr. Song". A young man in a black T-shirt is seated at the edge of the screen. The camera is angled downwards, capturing only his fair, pointed chin and shapely thin lips. In front of him, there's a bowl of noodles placed in a ceramic dish. They're simply ordinary instant noodles, boiled and under the glow of the incandescent light, exuding the unique sheen characteristic of food, making the noodles appear both smooth and al dente. The young man types a few characters on the screen: "Today's dish: Noodles with spicy sauce." "True to his title, eating such down-to-earth meals!" a bullet comment soars across. "Hahaha, yet another day feeling sorry for Mr. Song..." "By the way, who remembers the last time Mr. Song had meat?" "That was in the age of creation, when Pangu was shaping the world..." "That Pangu reference is taking it too far, don't you think?" The barrage of comments heatedly flows, but Mr. Song seems entirely unperturbed, offering no response. He ladles a spoonful of spicy sauce onto the noodles from off-camera, stirring it in with his chopsticks. The noodles, now uniformly coated in the vivid red spicy sauce, appear far more appetizing. "I'm totally envying Mr. Song's hands right now!" In the frame, Mr. Song's hands, with their slender fingers and clear joints, are indeed a rare sight of "fine hands." Mr. Song lifts a chopstickful of noodles to his mouth, concurrently wiping off the sauce that had smudged his lips with a tissue, and chews. The well-placed microphone picks up the sound of noodles being stirred and ground against his teeth. Munch, munch... "Why doesn't this mukbang host talk? Isn't that rather impolite!" "Hey, Mr. Song's silence during his streams is his trademark, okay?" "Wow! A mukbang host who just eats without speaking is quite a rarity!" Naturally, Mr. Song does not attend to the minor disputes occurring in the bullet comments, choosing instead to continue eating in silence. The sight of the quietly eating Mr. Song arouses affection from the viewers. "Today is another day where I want to donate to Mr. Song!" "Me too..." Mr. Song steps away from the camera for a moment, only to return with a small bowl of peeled sugar garlic. On the screen, Mr. Song types: "Today's side dish." There's a moment of silence in the bullet comments, before they suddenly explode— "I can't bear it, I feel so heartbroken!" "Is a bit of sugar garlic considered a side dish?" "My goodness, come over here, honey, Mama will treat you to some fried chicken!" "I'm crying. What about you all?" Mr. Song sits in front of the camera, crunching sugar garlic. The sour-sweet, crisp taste puts him in a good mood, and the corners of his mouth curve up slightly. He wraps a sugar garlic clove in the noodles and puts it in his mouth. The sound of noodles being chewed, punctuated by the occasional crisp crunch, fills the air. The sour sweetness of the sugar garlic, mixed with the umami and spiciness of the hot sauce, makes the dish so delicious that a thin layer of sweat appears on his nose. With the addition of the sugar garlic, the bowl of noodles quickly disappears. "Finished eating." After typing on the screen, Mr. Song pours himself a glass of cooled boiled water, gulps it down, and releases a contented sigh. "Thank you for your hard work in the livestream, Mr. Song!" "Maybe you could eat something better next time..." "Mama feels so heartbroken!!!" Mr. Song gives a nod to the camera, bringing his hands together in a gesture of thanks, and turns off the camera. Mr. Song's real name is Song Luo. The origin of this name is simple: his father's surname is Song, and his mother's is Luo. This implies that at least at the time of his birth, their relationship was fairly good. Currently, Song Luo is in dire straits. He graduated this year and was supposed to go out and find internships or work to support himself. Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted by a pandemic, which resulted in him becoming unemployed upon graduation. With no prospects for employment, he had no choice but to join one of the popular self-media industries of today - the mukbang. Truth be told, Song Luo, with his mild and timid personality, is not cut out for livestreaming. Before he embarked on this one-way journey, he had struggled. He tried part-time typist jobs but got swindled. He tried to boost sales on Taobao but got scammed again. Undeterred by the setbacks, he even tried to work as a virtual boyfriend but got honorably discharged due to his silence. Having no other options, he tried live-streaming. Because he was unwilling to talk in front of people, he always communicated with his viewers through typing. Unexpectedly, Song Luo's livestream room gained a surprisingly good popularity. Thanks to his poverty, Song Luo always ate the cheapest food, which unexpectedly won the pity and love of his viewers. In just over half a month, he had nearly one hundred thousand fans. After the platform's cut from the tips he received, he still had an income of one to two thousand. Song Luo was quite satisfied. In fact, Song Luo's family is quite wealthy. He knows that as long as he asks, his parents won't abandon him. But the idea of relying on his parents after graduation bruises his pride. Anyway, he can still persist for now! Song Luo placed the dirty bowls and chopsticks from the table into the sink to soak and returned to his computer. He edited his live stream video and uploaded it to the Xilixili website. After all this, he checked the time, and it was already past eight thirty. He dragged his feet to the kitchen to wash the dishes, then took a shower and put on his pajamas, ready to sleep. But the pre-sleep routine must be followed! He opened the official account of "Hejing Radio Drama Society" on site X, put on his headphones, and clicked on their latest update. Though he often wanted to mock the society's name for sounding like a retirement home, Song Luo was undoubtedly a hardcore fan of Hejing! Well... love can turn into loathing, right? Song Luo loved listening to radio dramas, especially danmei radio dramas. His sexual orientation was one factor, but he also loved the voice of the top star in the Hejing Society - the great "Suihe"! How could someone's voice be as versatile as Suihe's! Capable of sounding aggressive, submissive, dominant, and nurturing! Was this the update? The legendary bed scene of Suihe playing the domineering CEO? At the thought of it, Song Luo couldn't help rolling thrice in bed out of excitement. He eagerly clicked the play button, wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, and listened attentively. Hmm, the female secretary had pushed open the door of the CEO's office and told the CEO that the person he wanted had been captured. The CEO responded languidly, Suihe's dominating voice coming through the headphones: "Is that so? Then let's go, let me see that... little kitten with tear-stained face..." Suihe's deep voice carried a hint of wickedness, even when uttering lines that were extremely embarrassing, it stirred Song Luo's youthful heart. The sound of leather shoes rubbing against the marble floor, step by step, dull and slow, each one seemed to knock on the bottom of Song Luo's heart. Song Luo felt as though he was the innocent little-white-flower bottom, blindfolded and tied up in a dark room, awaiting the ruthless judgment of the CEO. As the CEO's footsteps approached, he tightly held the fragile jawbone of the innocent bottom, "Why did you run? Was I too kind to you before?" The voice of the innocent bottom, as broken as the clothes on his body, stuttered, "No... not that..." The CEO leaned in closer to him, his breath huffed in thin anger, venomous as a snake's hiss, "Very well... give me a reason then. If you convince me, I might let you go today... how about it?" Hearing this, Song Luo's toes curled up in excitement. This crucial, intense moment was absolutely not to be disturbed! Absolutely not! "Knock, knock, knock..." The clear sound of knocking on the door came at the most inappropriate time. Song Luo's body stiffened, and he almost wanted to roar in frustration. Ah! Who could be so oblivious! He flung the blanket aside in irritation, scowling as he shuffled in his slippers to open the door. Standing outside was a strikingly handsome man with long eyebrows and starry eyes. His nose was high and his lips, of an attractive shape, were lightly pursed, showing a charming hint of pink. He was tall and upright, half a head taller than Song Luo, wearing a tight, pure black turtleneck sweater under a camel-colored woolen coat. "I'm very sorry to bother you at this late hour!" He brought his hands together in a bow towards Song Luo, "I'm your neighbor across the hall. I forgot my keys today, and my phone has run out of power, so... could I borrow your phone to call a friend?" As if fearing Song Luo might not believe him, he pulled out his own phone, which was powered off due to a drained battery, to show him. The man's voice was extremely pleasant, warm and comforting, like an April breeze brushing over Song Luo's cheeks and hair. Being a voice enthusiast, Song Luo was quite taken and, somewhat dazed, he unlocked his phone and handed it to him. As he handed it over, Song Luo's phone was still on the page of the radio drama. The man glanced at it, his eyebrows raising slightly, but he didn't comment. After making his call, he returned the phone to Song Luo. "Thank you!" The man breathed a sigh of relief, "You've been a great help." A touch of laughter appeared in the man's eyes, he was courteous and friendly, seeming easy to get along with. "My name is Jiang Suihe, feel free to visit anytime." Just as his name suggested, he did seem very "easy-going". "Ah... I... " Song Luo couldn't help blushing when he talked to people, "My name is Song Luo." Having seen off the handsome guy from across the hall, much of the annoyance at having his radio drama interrupted had dissipated. Phew... when did such an attractive person move in across the hall? As Song Luo pondered this, he wrapped himself in his blanket and resumed the radio drama. The sound of the CEO tearing the innocent bottom's clothes came through the headphones. "Wait!" The innocent bottom sobbed and screamed, "I'll talk!" Then, for more than half an hour, it was all about the innocent bottom narrating his life story. He was heartbroken in the radio drama, while Song Luo was on tenterhooks listening outside of it. Could they finally get to the steamy scenes? Could they finally? At last, after the innocent bottom finished his confession, the CEO, both compassionate and cruel, gently touched his hair and said, "A very touching story, it's a pity..." With the sound of clothes being torn and the bottom's scream, the radio drama episode ended. Song Luo nearly threw his phone. After all that build-up, this? Just this? Frustrated, Song Luo shut off his phone and grumbled to himself while trying to drift off to sleep. Hmph... all that suspense for nothing! The CEO must have no sexual ability!