And so, Dong Dongdong, who had just arrived, was immediately identified as a paid troll.
He pulled out his "circle master" badge and a medal for following for 14 years, declaring that he couldnāt possibly be a paid troll.
However, the trolls said: Itās precisely because your profile is so impressive that Jiang Jiujiu was willing to pay a high price to recruit you as a troll.
Look at what youāre saying. Which part doesnāt sound like youāre just singing her praises?
Dong Dongdong: ...
Dong Dongdong: Calling me a paid troll? You guys are the real paid trolls.
[Youāre the real paid troll! Who knows who bought you off, but donāt believe him, everyone!]
[You only know the truth once you taste it. Itās the kind of stuff you eat once and never want again, and youāre still here hyping it up?]
They were so convincing, acting as if they were genuinely passersby who had been scammed.
Dong Dongdong only knew how to reason with them, but one man is no match for many, and he was actually starting to lose the argument against the trolls.
Luckily, he had backup!
With a rallying cry, the foodies who had gone to Jiang Qiuqiuās live stream with him finally showed up. As people who were actually there, it was obvious at a glance who was just trying to stir up trouble.
How could the foodies tolerate such delicious food being slandered like this? They all rolled up their sleeves and jumped into the fray.
Because they were so organized and disciplined, with coordinated replies and such sincere, over-the-top praise for Jiang Qiuqiu, some clueless passersby who joined the chaotic fray actually thought they were witnessing a war between rival paid trolls.
And so, a perfectly good thread turned into a scene of everyone accusing each other of being paid trolls.
The two sides went back and forth. Because the opposing faction of haters was so articulate, Dong Dongdongās team of middle-aged folks gradually started to fall behind. Fortunately, thanks to their superior numbers, they were still locked in a stalemate.
Seeing they were about to lose and that newcomers all thought they were paid trolls, he had a flash of inspiration and started talking like the haters.
He started speaking exclusively in sarcasm.
[How could you give five stars to such disgusting food? Everyone knows youāre just a paid troll blinded by Star Coins!]
[How could you give one star to such delicious food? Everyone knows youāre a fake!]
At this, the studio had enough: [Why are you paid trolls copying the way we talk?]
[Because us middle-aged folks have a limited vocabulary, and we discovered that talking like you is actually quite persuasive.]
...
What followed was all sorts of childish bickering.
Suddenly, someone from the middle-aged circle-member group started swearing oaths to prove their innocence: [Weāre telling the absolute truth! If Iām lying, may I lose three hundred hairs tomorrow!]
[Weāre the real circle members! Weāre definitely not faking it, or else may I gain ten pounds in one day!]
[...Or else I wonāt get my promotion!]
[If Iām lying, may my stocks plummet tomorrow!]
An onlooker, seeing how earnest these people were, replied in shock, "Are you guys really going that far?"
As soon as that was said, the paid trolls started swearing oaths too. After all, swearing an oath is free. Itās just empty words.
[If Iām a paid troll, may I lose my job tomorrow!]
[If Iām a paid troll, may I fail my exams!]
[May I lose my boyfriend!]
A perfectly good flame-war thread suddenly turned into a massive oath-swearing ceremony.
Just then, Jiang Qiuqiuās fans also heard the news and rushed over to support their goddess.
āIām a hardcore fan, Iāll join in!ā
[Jiang Jiujiuās food is super delicious! If itās not, Iāll live stream myself drinking the most disgusting Nutrient Liquid in the entire interstellar space!]
[If itās not good, Iāll wash my hair while doing a handstand!]
[If itās not good, Iāll eat a Distilled Bird right here on the spot!]
[If itās not good, Iāll...]
Yet another group of people, with a completely different style of swearing oaths, had arrived.
With so many people pouring in, the thread became more and more popular.
Countless onlookers laughed as they watched, but a flicker of curiosity also crossed their minds.
āJust who is this streamer, Jiang Jiujiu?ā
And so, after a full day and night of battle in that thread, Jiang Qiuqiuās live stream started right on schedule.
Tens of millions of curious onlookers flooded into Jiang Qiuqiuās live stream room.
What a beautiful scene it was.
To Meimei, who was monitoring the backend data, these people werenāt just visitorsā
They were fans. Tens of millions of fans.