Chapter 65 - 64: Flights of Fancy

In his past life, Jiang Cai’Er had been a doctoral student the year the Apocalypse began. She’d gone home to visit her parents during summer break, and that’s when tragedy struck. Still, dying with her parents was a better fate than what many others had faced.

So, Li Xiang had no idea if Jiang Cai’Er had any talent for Cultivation.

He had tried using the Mutant Creature Identification Function to scan the people around him, but it didn’t react at all. It was possible the "Program Module" didn’t include humans in its "Database."

In his past life, aside from "household names" like Luo Feifei, there were other powerful individuals whose names he knew. He even knew what some of them looked like, but he was clueless about their pasts. Perhaps he would only find out upon meeting them.

Luo Feifei was an exception because she was already a national goddess before becoming one of the powerful, making her far too recognizable.

Jiang Jianguo drove more cautiously this time. The trip home was tense but uneventful, and they arrived safely.

Li Xiang parted ways with them at Jiang Cai’Er’s front door and headed home.

When he got back, his grandmother told him that Aunt Jiang had stopped by. She’d mentioned that he had gone with them to pick up Cai’Er and had also returned the shovel he left behind.

Aunt Jiang had mainly come by because she was afraid Granny Li Xiang would worry, so she wanted to let her know what was happening. She also told her not to bother making lunch for Li Xiang.

Third Granny was keeping his grandmother company. The two old women were warming themselves by the fire and chatting, and their complexions looked much better than they had that morning.

Li Xiang put some soybeans to soak, preparing to make tofu the next day.

Then, he checked his fan group and the comments on his older videos. Many people were stunned, leaving messages like, "I can’t believe Brother Xiang’s prediction was so accurate."

One person wrote, "We get light snow here every year, but a blizzard like this is really rare. I never thought it would actually happen, and a superstorm at that. I’d say this isn’t a once-in-a-decade event, but once-in-a-century. I just wonder how long it’s going to last."

Li Xiang smiled faintly and replied, "It might last for a while."

Before long, they replied, "That’s terrible. We probably won’t run out of supplies, since it’s a big city, but my mom said vegetable prices have already started going up today. If this goes on for much longer, forget fresh vegetables—pork prices will be sky-high."

Some of his newer fans had no idea what was going on and started asking questions, because Li Xiang had deleted the weather prediction video.

Then, the older fans started explaining what they meant by a "god-tier prediction."

"Oh, so that’s what happened. That’s seriously amazing. I believe Brother Xiang; this is going to last a long time. We’d better brace ourselves."

"Haha, I’m not scared at all. In fact, I’m kind of excited! I believed Brother Xiang from the start, so I stocked up on tons of supplies. My French-door refrigerator and my big chest freezer are both packed full. I’ve got enough food for at least a month. I don’t care how much it snows. I hope it gets bad enough that we get time off work. Then I can just stay home, binge-watch shows, and play games all day."

Someone else lamented, "Too bad. We have to go to work even if it’s raining knives."

"Actually, going to work isn’t so bad. Who doesn’t love mooching off the free heating at the office?"

"Haha, not only do I blast the heat at work, I also have a ’little sun’ space heater hidden under my desk. It’s super warm, but it makes it easy to get drowsy and nod off."

"Our company doesn’t allow ’little sun’ heaters, oil radiators, or anything like that. You get fined if you’re caught. Plus, the bathrooms at work are freezing. Your butt literally freezes to the seat."

"I’ll never understand you southerners. We northerners have heated bathrooms."

"That’s just rubbing it in!"

In the fan group, someone also brought up the last skit, asking for the next installment.

"Brother Xiang, are you still going to film more of *The Saintess is Tempted, Ten Thousand Poisons Devour Her*? With this blizzard, the Saintess should be on break and home by now, right?"

Li Xiang explained, "We can’t film anymore. Her teacher chewed her out."

One fan immediately went on a tirade: "About time! I couldn’t stand to watch it. You’re a grown man, twenty-four or twenty-five, hitting on a high school girl. Have you no shame? You’re worse than an animal!"

Another fan wailed in mock-despair, "The only tragedy is that it wasn’t me!"

Li Xiang quickly shut down the discussion. "Alright everyone, don’t take the jokes too far. The Saintess is in this group, too. She’s probably just busy with homework and not looking at the chat."

"Oh, really? In that case, I take back what I said. By the way, which username is the Saintess again?"

Of course, Jiang Cai’Er was "incognito," lurking in the fan group under a different name. In reality, she was peeking at her phone and stifling a laugh. She turned it off and went back to her homework, but it was hard to quiet her racing heart.

’My teacher was right,’ she thought. ’Looking at my phone while doing homework really kills my productivity.’

...

In Yunnan Province, at a coffee resort hotel, He Zhixiang gazed out at the endless snow and felt a sudden wave of relief. Thank God for that flash of inspiration he’d had to prepare for the cold. Otherwise, this year would have been a disaster. No, next year would have been. The other coffee plantations would surely have countless plants frozen or dead, but his was fine. Next year, his harvest would probably be the largest.

’This Li Xiang is something of a mystery,’ He Zhixiang couldn’t help but mutter to himself. He was also in Li Xiang’s fan group, so he made sure to praise him a few times.

For one, it was a show of goodwill toward Li Xiang. For another, he took the opportunity to post an ad, encouraging everyone to buy his coffee. Even though the blizzard had halted most delivery services, people could still place their orders now and he’d ship them out once service resumed.

Li Xiang, of course, didn’t mind him advertising in his group.

In fact, it was quite rare for a boss to personally advertise like that. Some business owners were very high and mighty, but He Zhixiang was much more down-to-earth.

As for He Zhixiang’s net worth, Li Xiang had visited his plantation and hotel. He had at least achieved a "small goal," as they say. How many "small goals" he’d achieved was unclear, but while he might not be fabulously wealthy, he was by no means a small-time businessman.

’I’m already incredibly honored to have a ’big fish’ like He Zhixiang in my little pond of fans,’ Li Xiang thought.

Little did he know, there was another "big fish" in the group, one who was countless times bigger than He Zhixiang.

His top donor, "Feifei," was also in the group. She was very aloof and never spoke. The one and only time she had, someone had asked her age, and she’d replied that she was 43.

Everyone guessed she must be some rich, older woman. At that age, they figured she was probably already married with kids.

At that very moment, the top donor was muttering to herself, ’This guy... he’s more accurate than the weather forecast. No, he’s more accurate than my own Divination Technique!’

She had actually predicted the snowstorm as well, just not with the same accuracy as Li Xiang regarding its timing and intensity.

She couldn’t help but wonder, ’My last Divination... why did it tell me to get closer to him? Is there some sort of fated opportunity involved?’

The Divination Technique had prompted her to approach someone named Li Xiang, but what if there were other people with the same name? She hadn’t been sure if this Li Xiang was the one from her Divination. The results had only given her two words: "Xiang" and "Li."

She didn’t know what those two words meant, or even if they were a name, until she stumbled upon one of Li Xiang’s videos while scrolling.

The channel was called "Brother Xiang’s Secluded Little Farmstead." He was a vlogger with a pastoral theme, and his last name was Li.

And the first line of nearly every one of Li Xiang’s videos was, "Hi everyone, I’m your pastoral vlogger, Li Xiang, and in this episode, I’ll be sharing..."