After Transmigrating into a Cannon Fodder Submissive, I Became Popular by Foraging on the Beach - Chapter 14

“The production team of The Good Life has an issue with you. You’re not allowed to take leave midway.”

Gao Peng was angry and stubbed out his cigarette: “I still have auditions to attend. Who wants to film this rotten variety show?”

The agent frowned: “Enough, say less. I’ll go negotiate.”

He endured it for a moment but couldn’t hold back: “Who told you that after you joined, you weren’t even as good as the unknown on the other side? All the traffic was snatched away.”

“That Shen What’s-his-name Qiu?” Gao Peng opened Weibo and saw the hot search, his face instantly darkened. “What capabilities does he have? Relying on cheap tricks to create hype.”

He stared intently at Shen Qiu’s hot search, and after a while, he scoffed: “Negotiate? That’s easy.”

Gao Peng raised his phone: “He already has a ready-made weakness.”

The agent leaned in to look and saw that some comments were questioning Shen Qiu’s clam digging.

The agent was slightly tempted: “That could actually work…”

Gao Peng: “Then hurry up and go. He deserves it for stealing my traffic.”

That night, a post appeared on the gossip forum:

[Just wondering, isn’t the hype for that recently explosive person a bit too fake?]

Main post: Honestly, the楼主 (original poster) lives by the sea and has never seen so much seafood.

1L: The censorship is too thin. Instantly decoded as Shen Qiu.

2L: I’ve always wanted to say, it looks like seafood placed there in advance. If there were really that many clams, they would have been picked up long ago. And so plump? Is everyone else blind?

3L: Isn’t that show scripted anyway? LOL, I hope no one actually believes it.

4L: The poster is a hater, confirmed. Never been clam digging and talking nonsense.

5L: I said “Just wondering” (李濤, internet slang meaning just discussing), did Shen Qiu’s water army arrive this quickly???

…

37L: Guessing the shell inside based on the breathing hole bulge and getting it right every time—that’s impossible. Why say it’s not pre-buried?

38L: Look at his previous videos, they are heavily edited. Isn’t he afraid of people discovering the fakery?

39L: I feel there’s nothing special about him. He became popular for no reason.

…

99L: Now that you mention it, it does look like hype.

100L: Speechless. Is this kind of small UP host rare? Thinking they can enter the entertainment industry just because they’ve edited a few videos and gained some fans.

101L: I’ve wanted to say this for a long time. The moment Shen Qiu joined, the show’s quality dropped. It’s not as good as the one next door.

102L: Get lost, drama queen. I miss Gao Peng.

It was late at night. Night owls saw the post. Many, not knowing the full story, frequently asked questions under the newly released behind-the-scenes footage.

The filming for Experience Life continued as usual.

Before the start of the third day of filming, the director suddenly pulled Shen Qiu aside: “…Look at the official Weibo.”

Shen Qiu was puzzled. He opened some of the behind-the-scenes footage and found that the direction of the comments was wrong.

[Can we have fewer shots of this hype creator!]

[The good relationships in the show are probably acted out, too. Whose status isn’t higher than Shen Qiu? He still acts like a condescending teacher. It’s disgusting.]

[I watch variety shows to see celebrities. Who wants to watch a nobody clam digging?]

[Can the faking of clam digging still be defended? It’s so fake that someone can guess the seafood based on the breathing hole.]

[Qiu Qiu, please explain, is it a script or not?]

Shen Qiu had decent traffic, so he naturally had more screen time in the footage.

But somehow, he was being relentlessly scolded, giving the director a headache. The fire was close to burning the show itself.

The internet was widely questioning whether there was a script.

The director didn’t dare to offend Shen Qiu: “What, what should we do?”

He had personally watched Shen Qiu clam digging and naturally knew it wasn’t fake, but he couldn’t stop the netizens from believing otherwise.

Shen Qiu pursed his lips and watched the footage once.

Around 8 or 9 a.m., as many people woke up, the traffic increased.

Comments and bullet screens exploded. The online skepticism grew louder and louder.

[The seafood for clam digging must have been buried in advance.]

Shen Qiu frowned, seeing the abusive text in the bullet comments, and nervously picked at his phone.

Suddenly, Weibo pushed a new message.

Wang Xiaobai posted a Weibo:

“Shen Qiu is a great friend! He even made me a late-night snack! [Image] [Image]”

One image showed delicious snail rice noodles, and the other was a group photo of the two of them taken during their break, with their arms around each other like good friends.

Wang Xiaobai was a popular celebrity who had been famous for several years, and his number of fans and their loyalty were much higher than Shen Qiu’s.

As soon as the Weibo was posted, fans instantly cheered.

[Yes! Finally active! My brother and I both love snail rice noodles!]

[So happy for Xiaobai being on this show.]

[Anyone with eyes can see that Shen Qiu takes great care of Xiaobai on the show.]

[Is Wang Xiaobai taking a stand and supporting Shen Qiu?]

[They clearly have a good relationship, don’t over-interpret it.]

Shen Qiu stared at his phone, stunned.

With Wang Xiaobai’s statement, his fans naturally showed support, and the comment section was filled with praises for Shen Qiu.

Wang Xiaobai walked over: “Aiya, Brother Shen, did you offend someone? Someone is setting a narrative against you.”

Shen Qiu looked at him, sincerely: “Thank you.”

“What’s there to thank? We know what kind of person you are, don’t we?”

Only then did Shen Qiu realize that everyone else had gathered around.

“Of course, we know about the commotion online regarding the show,” Jiang Wei said, putting down her phone and blinking.

Shen Qiu looked down and saw that several people had posted on Weibo one after another.

Jiang Wei V: “Shen Qiu is a great friend! He taught me how to dig for clams and catch crabs! [Video]”

The video was taken by Jiang Wei herself, recording her first time digging up a painted crab.

[Sister is so amazing!]

[You people who say Shen Qiu is faking it, open your eyes and see! It’s not like Jiang Wei would fake it too, is it?]

[Shen Qiu’s popularity is really good.]

[Speechless. As expected, they’re starting the damage control. They’re on the same show, of course, they have to present a united front.]

[Upstairs is the only clear-headed person in the world. Where did this idiotic water army come from?]

Zhou Bin V: “Shen Qiu is a great friend! I finally don’t have to let Jiang Jiang cook anymore! [Image]”

[Brother Zhou, stand up for yourself! Don’t be a whipped husband!]

[LOL, it seems Brother Zhou was super jealous that other men ate the food made by Jiang Wei.]

Zhong Zhanhong V: “Shen Qiu is a great friend! Please share some of your good luck with me, TAT”

[When I watched the show, I didn’t feel anything bad about Shen Qiu. He’s being unfairly targeted, right?]

[They are all speaking up for Shen Qiu. Are they taking sides?]

Shen Qiu looked at the Weibo posts from everyone, looked up at them, and clenched his fingers.

“Thank you all.”

Jiang Wei comforted him: “You’re not from the entertainment industry. This must be someone who hired a water army. We’re also helping ourselves.”

Wang Xiaobai hugged his shoulder more directly: “If you quit in anger, I wouldn’t get to eat hairy crabs. How could I let you go!”

Shen Qiu burst into laughter: “I’m fine. Since they’re accusing me of faking it, I’ll make sure they can’t find anything to criticize.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Live broadcast,” Shen Qiu said confidently. “I’ll go talk to the director.”

After the guests posted their Weibo messages, the online sentiment improved somewhat.

[But who can prove that he’s not faking it?]

[Stop arguing! The official Weibo posted a message! They’re going to start a live broadcast!]

Experience Life Official Weibo: “Want to know what the guests are doing outside of filming? See you in the live stream today at 5 PM [Link]”

[LOL, does it hurt for the haters to be proven wrong?]

Some people were still stubborn: [Let him prove he’s not faking it first!]

Regardless of the varied opinions, the number of people who reserved the live stream increased exponentially.

As soon as 5 PM arrived, the number of viewers in the live stream skyrocketed.

The audience entering the live stream only saw a view of the sea.

[Did I go to the wrong place?]

[What’s going on? Hasn’t it started yet?]

[Is Shen Qiu scared? Afraid to show his face in the live stream?]

“Welcome to the Experience Life live stream! Today, we’ll show everyone the guests who are obsessed with clam digging!”

[Where are the guests? Why are you showing us the sea?]

Shen Qiu showed his face in the live stream, and the bullet comments instantly started scrolling faster.

He could barely make out a few lines, then turned the camera sideways, capturing the fully equipped “fishermen” guests holding plastic buckets and shovels.

[…]

[Thank you. Have they completely given up on their celebrity image?]

“To prevent anyone from doubting us, we’ll start the live stream before the tide recedes,” Shen Qiu aimed the camera at the sea. “As you can see, the water is already very shallow. In about ten more minutes, this beach will be completely exposed.”

[Awesome, Shen Qiu! Let’s see who still says it’s fake now.]

[If those haters have the guts, go and bury seafood in the sea!]

[Shen Qiu is so pitiful, being unfairly targeted for no reason.]

[I really don’t understand what’s so wrong about clam digging. Anyone who has experienced it knows how much stuff is on the beach, right?]

[Baseless accusation of fakery, you ***]

The fans of the other guests also spontaneously supported Shen Qiu.

Under the overwhelming public sentiment, the haters quietly shut up, and the occasional envious comment was drowned out in the bullet screen.

The guests chatted while waiting for the tide to recede and looked at the bullet comments.

Without the haters, the bullet comments were harmonious.

“Alright, it’s time to go clam digging!”

As soon as Shen Qiu finished speaking, Wang Xiaobai rushed out first: “Cat’s eye snails, here I come!”

The cameraman quickly carried the live stream equipment and followed.

Wang Xiaobai was clearly becoming a new star in the world of clam digging. Having learned from Shen Qiu for so long, he was confident: “I think I can do it too! Look, this is the breathing hole of a giant razor clam. I even brought salt specifically for it.”

He squatted down, peered closely at the direction of the hole, poured salt into it, and waited intently.

“Ah!”

A stream of water suddenly shot out of the hole, spraying Wang Xiaobai’s face.

Wang Xiaobai miserably wiped his face.

“Stop looking, it’s about to escape,” Shen Qiu arrived in time, digging while speaking. “Giant razor clams spray water, too. Don’t stand right over the hole.”

He drew an imaginary guiding line, accurately dug open the razor clam’s escape route, and successfully captured it.

While Wang Xiaobai was still wiping his face, Shen Qiu found another cat’s eye snail, washed its shell, and showed the audience a beautiful splash of water.

[Daily Mission (1/1)]

“No choice, this cat’s eye snail was about to shrink back. The ones right after the tide recedes are alert.”

Shen Qiu looked at the live stream comments while clam digging with the others.

“…Yes, I’ve liked it since I was little and slowly taught myself…” Shen Qiu answered a question from the bullet comments. “It’s not difficult. If you see it enough, you’ll know what kind of breathing hole it is.”

[Nothing special, just practice makes perfect.]

[My family works in fishing. Experienced fishermen can all do this.]

[Feeling bad for Qiu Qiu, being unfairly targeted. Qiu Qiu, don’t worry about what they say.]

[I don’t think so, this backlash came too quickly.]

Shen Qiu didn’t want the live stream to turn into an argument, so he quickly changed the subject: “Come and see what everyone else has caught.”