Chapter 22: Data Brushed in the Background?

"Oh my god, the oil's oozing out..."

"I was thinking about sending some shark fin and fish balls, but now, emmm, forget it, not worth it."

"Suddenly reminded of how my dog looks at me every time I eat..."

"Burp!"

After finishing off a whole rabbit, Bi Fang let out a satisfied belch.

At the same time, another rabbit was almost done smoking.

Bi Fang wrapped the smoked rabbit in reed leaves, picked it up, and walked towards the forest: "Although my backpack can block out scents, I still don't feel safe. Just like when we buried the entrails before, we can't leave leftovers near us."

"But we can't simply bury leftover food like entrails because it will likely spoil and go bad by the next day, so we can choose a tree to hang the food from. This way, it can be kept safe from carnivores and also prevent spoilage effectively."

As Bi Fang moved on, he casually found a few thin vines. That's the beauty of the forest; even without a rope, you can use readily available vines instead.

He secured the reed-wrapped rabbit meat with several vines, passed a sturdy one through it, tying it tight, and a Meteor Hammer-style meat package was ready.

He gave it a gentle swing, and it was quite firm.

Bi Fang looked up, found a tree of the right height, held one end of the vine, and threw the meat package over a branch, where it dangled down.

Hit on the first try.

After tying the other end to the meat package as well, Bi Fang wiped the sweat off his forehead: "There we go, now my rabbit meat is secure."

The live stream audience looked at the meat package swaying on the tree and fell speechless.

"This the hell isn't about preventing carnivores, it's more like fishing, right?"

"What we're fishing is fish, but what we got is..."

"Hey, watch your language up there!"

"Ah this, it slipped out. Sorry, I went too far with the joke."

"Alright, that's it for today's livestream. It's getting dark, and I should go to sleep."

Returning to the camp, Bi Fang crawled into his shelter, getting ready to end the stream.

"Ending so soon?"

"Newcomers need to get used to it. After all, the wilderness isn't like the city; you can't just stay up all night."

"Just to watch Master Fang's livestream every day, I've even changed my daily routine. Went to bed early yesterday, got up early today. My parents are starting to doubt if I'm really theirs."

"Haha, same here."

"Haha, thanks for your love, guys. But seriously, it's important to go to bed early and get up early. Staying up late can be very harmful."

Bi Fang cracked a few jokes with them, chatted a bit more, but eventually, he bid farewell to the drone and shut off the livestream.

Before bed, he checked today's active viewer numbers and saw that it had broken through six hundred, stabilizing at eight hundred, which was beyond the System's requirement of five hundred visits. He just didn't know why the task hadn't shown as completed.

Perhaps it had to wait until after the survival challenge was over?

Feeling drowsy after being well fed and watered, Bi Fang didn't think much of it. He lay down inside his shelter and quickly fell asleep.

That night, at the Shark Tech Department...

Knock knock knock, a series of knocks sounded at the door.

"Come in!" Manager Wang Weifeng closed a file and called out to the entrance.

As the door opened, an employee who had been granted permission walked in, holding a report straight up to Wang Weifeng: "Manager, there's a data report that needs your attention."

"Hmm? What is it, another streamer manipulating data? Just issue a warning, and if that doesn't work, ban them. Do you really need to come to me with this?"

Wang Weifeng took the document but didn't open it. Instead, he pressed it onto the desk and asked a question, his tone slightly dissatisfied.

He had glanced at the first page of the document, which was a line chart showing rising popularity, along with related analysis.

Generally, when such a situation arises, it is due to a host violating regulations, artificially inflating data and popularity, or even tampering with the backend. These cases are handled with a warning followed by account suspension, without any need to consult him as the supervisor.

"That's not the case here, Supervisor. This time, the situation is a bit special." The staff member noticed that Wang Weifeng was showing signs of displeasure and hurriedly explained, "It's because this host has become too popular. In just two days, he has gathered an audience of over a thousand, with an average of nearly five hundred online viewers, and the momentum is getting stronger. However, we haven't detected any data manipulation, and he hasn't even advertised, so we came to consult with you."

"Oh? Is it some new method of vote rigging?"

But the staff member shook his head: "No, that's not it. We haven't detected any anomalies. The real active engagement in the live stream is also very high."

Hearing this from his subordinate, Wang Weifeng became curious and began to browse the document, and he was immediately taken aback. The line on the chart was shooting upwards sharply as if it was about to pierce the sky.

If the rise in popularity was over two weeks, then Wang Weifeng could understand. But such traffic in just two days seemed a bit too exaggerated, didn't it?

Wang Weifeng knitted his brows in thought, then suddenly considered a possibility.

"What is this Bi Fang broadcasting? It's not prohibited content, is it?"

"Of course not, and we've watched this Bi Fang's broadcast. It's an outdoor survival show, and indeed very engaging."

How could such an outrageous mistake occur?

The young staff member wiped the sweat from his forehead. If it had been prohibited content and they had allowed it to broadcast for two days, then he might as well pack up his belongings and go home.

"Fine then, I will personally take a look tomorrow. If he really is a high-quality host, you'll have earned your merit!" Wang Weifeng tossed a ballpoint pen onto the document and waved the young man away.

Filled with joy, the staff member showed a bright smile. He had delivered this report late precisely to hear these words.

He had not thought about getting credit for discovering a big host, but making an impression on the leader was worth the trip!

Once the staff member closed the door, Wang Weifeng picked up the report once more, muttering to himself.

"Wilderness Survival? What's that? Can it be that interesting? Tomorrow I'll have to see..."

Meanwhile, after resting for a night, Bi Fang got up early the next day. He extinguished and buried the fire just as before, cleaned up the site, and then checked the two rabbit skins that had been smoked overnight.

The rabbit skins had dried thoroughly, and their originally pale red flesh turned waxy yellow, almost fully smoked.

Bi Fang nodded in approval and started the live broadcast. Almost as soon as he went live, dozens of people joined in. In the following minutes, the number continued to rise until it stabilized at around two hundred viewers.

[Here it comes, got the sofa!]

[Front row is mine!]

[Good morning, Master Fang!]

[Master Fang looks very energetic!]

Looking at the barrage of messages from the audience vying with each other, Bi Fang felt a bit moved. Just the day before yesterday, he had been worried about whether his broadcast would be successful; now it seemed he had worried unnecessarily.

It was astonishing that so many viewers would wake up early just to watch his stream, especially on a Sunday!

Indeed, wilderness survival shows were popular everywhere.

Seeing the increased viewership, Bi Fang didn't keep the audience in suspense and said outright.

"After a night of smoking, the moisture in the rabbit skins has been dried out, and now we have some excellent raw hides. However, this isn't enough because we are going to make a fur hat. Raw hides can easily rot when wet and become rather hard and prone to bugs, mold, and bad smell when dry. So, we need to tan them!"

[Doesn't tanning require chemicals?]

[Yeah, my family works in this field, and all the materials are very particular. How can you tan in the wilderness?]

Many viewers were puzzled, wondering if Bi Fang could really accomplish a process that seemed to require modern industrial methods.

"Of course, I can!" Bi Fang's voice was filled with confidence and certainty.

"Nature is full of wonders, and we must always remain humble. Many times, the things you think are impossible are only so because you don't know the methods."