Chapter 204 - 158: Immense Traffic, Fans Surging to 10 Million

"Brother Xiang saved her! Brother Xiang saved her!" On the shore, Yao Yao screamed wildly. Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui were also extremely excited, with a single thought running through their minds: ’We’ve caught this wave of publicity!’

If Eternal Night Media took off, so would they.

’How could Brother Xiang be so lucky?’

’We were just trying to ride a small wave of publicity, but we ended up catching a huge one! With Luo Feifei falling into the water, how could it not become a top headline and trending topic!’

Luo Feifei was someone with over a hundred million followers.

Of course, Yao Yao had been filming the entire time, as were many other people. This was destined to be viral footage.

"Are you alright? I’ll take you to the boat." Li Xiang had originally planned to swim directly to shore with Luo Feifei, but when he saw the boat from before now heading toward them, he spoke up.

"Thank you." Luo Feifei nodded lightly, her charming face wearing a frightened and pitiable expression.

Li Xiang glanced at this future Female War God, feeling a thrill of excitement. He immediately put an arm around her and headed toward the boat.

Luo Feifei’s heart was racing too. Fortunately, her acting was flawless.

Soon, Li Xiang reached the side of the boat. He lifted Luo Feifei to help her aboard, and then climbed up himself.

Seeing this, the other rescuers still rushing over could only sigh in dismay and turn back, lamenting that their swimming skills weren’t good enough and their speed too slow to seize the opportunity.

But many people were also happy. As long as Luo Feifei was okay, that was all that mattered.

The news of Luo Feifei falling into the water and being rescued spread immediately.

"Feifei, Feifei~" Luo Feifei’s mother cried tears of joy and continued to swim hard toward her daughter.

"Sir, can you please help my mother up!" Hearing the shouts and seeing it was her mother, Luo Feifei quickly said to the staff on the boat.

The man replied, "You got it."

Soon, Luo Feifei’s mother was also on the boat. The mother and daughter hugged, comforting each other. Although Luo Feifei’s mother was older, she still possessed a graceful charm. It was clear she must have been a great beauty in her youth. Otherwise, she couldn’t have given birth to such a beautiful daughter.

"Young man, thank you for saving my daughter. May I ask your name...?" Luo Feifei’s mother had intended to ask for Li Xiang’s name and address so she could visit and thank him formally, but she suddenly felt he looked familiar, though she couldn’t recall where she had seen him.

Luo Feifei saw this and thought, ’Oh no.’ Although she mostly watched Li Xiang’s livestreams in secret, her mother had walked in on her a few times. ’She’s not going to figure it out, is she?’

So with a cry of "Ouch," she bent over, clutching her right leg with a pained expression.

"Feifei, what’s wrong?" Luo Feifei’s mother immediately turned back to check on her daughter.

"Mom, my leg is cramping again," Luo Feifei said, frowning as if in pain.

"Sit down, quick, just sit right on the deck." Luo Feifei’s mother helped her daughter sit down.

Luo Feifei said, "I was dazed when I fell, and then my leg cramped, so I couldn’t stay afloat."

"So that’s what happened. No wonder." Luo Feifei’s mother knew her daughter was a good swimmer, but in a deep, wild lake like this during early spring, the water was icy cold, making it very easy to get a cramp.

"Let me take a look," Li Xiang said, coming over and crouching down.

"Thank you." Luo Feifei glanced at Li Xiang, doing her best to pretend she didn’t know him. Then she felt him massaging her leg, and soon, a warm current flowed through it, making her feel extremely comfortable.

Luo Feifei’s heart skipped a beat as she secretly mused, ’This is the Spiritual Power from cultivating a Breathing Technique. He really is an Extraordinary Being. But there are no Mysterious Particles right now, so how did he advance to the Extraordinary realm?’

"And I still haven’t gotten your name, handsome," Luo Feifei’s mother asked again.

One of the workers on the boat spoke up, "He’s a local influencer. He’s even done livestream sales for the county government. His name’s Li Xiang, and he has over three million followers."

"Oh, so you’re a big influencer! Thank you, thank you so much. We’ll be sure to visit you later to thank you properly." Luo Feifei’s mother was very polite.

Li Xiang replied humbly, "I’m just a small countryside vlogger. As for a reward, there’s really no need. I’m a fan of Luo Feifei’s myself, so it was truly an honor to be able to help her."

"How could we not? Please, leave us your contact information. A life-saving favor must be repaid generously... ACHOO!" Luo Feifei’s mother couldn’t finish her sentence before she let out a sneeze.

Although it was spring, the lake water was freezing. They were soaked to the bone, their lips had turned blue from the cold, and both were shivering. It was worth noting, however, that even while freezing like this, their stunning beauty could not be concealed.

In fact, being soaking wet only made them more alluring.

Just then, the boat reached the shore. Li Xiang quickly said, "You two should hurry and change your clothes, or you’ll catch a cold."

"You should come change too, handsome. The film crew has clean clothes," said Luo Feifei’s mother.

"I’ll be fine. I’m in good shape. I’m just heading home!" Li Xiang waved and walked away quickly.

"Hey, handsome—" Luo Feifei’s mother cried out, flustered.

Luo Feifei stopped her, saying, "Mom, he’s a local influencer. We can just ask around to find out where he lives."

In truth, Luo Feifei already knew, she just couldn’t say it.

"That’s true. Let’s go, dear. We need to change quickly. I’m freezing to death," Luo Feifei’s mother said, shivering.

Luo Feifei couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for dragging her mother into this and making her jump into the water.

On another note, she was slightly relieved that her mother didn’t seem to recognize Li Xiang. In fact, although her mother had walked in on her watching Li Xiang’s livestreams a few times, she wasn’t interested in countryside-themed content and had never paid much attention.

As for the hairpins, bracelets, and other things Li Xiang had given Luo Feifei, her mother simply thought her daughter had bought them online.

After Luo Feifei and her mother had changed their clothes and stepped out of the tent, the director came over to console them.

With such a major incident, filming was naturally out of the question. The director decided to give Luo Feifei a three-day break to rest and recover. He also suggested they go to the hospital for a detailed check-up. Even though she seemed fine now, who could be sure after a fall from that height?

Luo Feifei was the main draw for viewership, not to mention a key investor who had brought funding to the production. If anything happened to her, the film crew would suffer a huge loss.

Luo Feifei didn’t want to go at first, but she went under the strong insistence of her mother and the director. Fortunately, the check-up revealed no serious issues. That night, they checked into a four-star hotel in the county town, which was also the best hotel available.

Meanwhile, the news of Luo Feifei falling into the water and being rescued was rapidly gaining traction, eventually hitting the top headlines.

Luo Feifei took a hot bath and was now nestled in the large bed in her hotel room, playing on her phone. A quick scroll through her feed showed that it was all news about her.

There were also many videos online of Li Xiang’s heroic rescue of Luo Feifei. Some were posted by Yao Yao and then reposted by others, while some were filmed by different people. After all, there had been so many people present at the scene, with videos from every possible angle.

In addition, there was the video of Yao Yao shouting Luo Feifei’s name from the crowd, and Luo Feifei turning back with a smile from the bow of the boat.

Seeing the buzz she had single-handedly created and the flood of videos about her and Li Xiang everywhere, Luo Feifei was quite pleased.

’Alright, Brother Xiang, let’s interact. Let your Little Aunt give you a boost!’

Luo Feifei logged into her main account, found Li Xiang’s profile, and first clicked "Follow." Then, she went into his feed, found the several videos about her, and liked and commented on each one.

First comment: "Thank you for saving my life, Brother Xiang. I’ll never forget it. I’ll come to thank you in person tomorrow."

Second comment: "You all made me look so beautiful! I’m not actually that pretty. Thank you, thank you."

Third comment: "Brother Xiang is amazing! He’s the fastest swimmer I’ve ever seen. He could totally compete in swimming competitions."

Fourth comment: "Brother Xiang, I’ve followed you. Follow me back, please!"

...

She posted six comments in one go!

Holy crap! She was a celebrity with over a hundred million followers, and right now she was the top trending topic. Within a single hour, screenshots of her comments were all over the internet.

What was especially shocking was that Luo Feifei had actually taken the initiative to follow Li Xiang and even asked for a follow-back!

This "humble" attitude left netizens completely stunned.

"When have you ever seen the Little Celestial Immortal be this proactive? If I were Li Xiang, I probably would have fainted from happiness by now!" one netizen commented.

"Oh my god, the usually aloof Little Celestial Immortal is actually asking for a follow-back?"

"The Little Celestial Immortal only follows six people, and her list is private so you can’t see it. Without a doubt, they’re all major figures. And Li Xiang is actually one of the six!"

"Well, it was a life-saving favor. It’s understandable."

"I was there too! I even jumped in the water, but I was just a step too slow. I’m slapping my thigh in regret!"

...

Li Xiang, of course, replied to each of Luo Feifei’s comments. As for the follow-back? Li Xiang responded with a laugh, saying he’d followed her long ago! He was a loyal, die-hard fan.

Luo Feifei: "I’m so honored!"

The two of them interacted online, replying back and forth as if they were chatting in public, making countless onlookers burn with envy.

Someone guessed, "Whoa, these two aren’t going to start dating, are they?"

Someone said with a broken heart, "That’s impossible, right? How could something that good happen?"

"But a life-saving favor is often repaid by pledging your life to them."

"Right, right, right! If the rescuer is handsome, you repay them by marrying them. If they’re ugly, you offer to work like an ox and a horse for them and repay the debt in your next life. Brother Xiang is so handsome, it might actually happen!"

"Has anyone noticed the wordplay in their names? ’Xiang’ and ’Feifei’ sound just like an idiom for having... ’improper thoughts.’"

"What the hell? You mean like, ’Xiang *enters* Feifei’? That’s so lewd. Could it be fate?"

In Li Xiang’s fan group, many people were also discussing it.

Then, "Top Aunt" also came online and teased him about the matter for a bit.

After teasing him, Luo Feifei hid under her covers and laughed like a honking goose. Then she switched back to her main account to continue chatting with Li Xiang. She had two phones, one for each account.

Luo Feifei’s main account hadn’t joined Li Xiang’s fan group because if her official account joined, it would cause a lot of trouble, and she would definitely be harassed by the group members.

However, she had successfully added Li Xiang as a friend on WeChat using her main account.

Li Xiang was also emotional. He had finally gotten Luo Feifei’s WeChat.

As the news continued to spread and the hype kept escalating, Li Xiang’s follower count shot up. The next morning, people were shocked to discover that while Li Xiang had just over 3.1 million followers the previous night, he now had over 5.6 million!

And his follower count was still growing at a rate of over a hundred thousand per hour. It was a terrifying pace.

One couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer scale of the Little Celestial Immortal’s influence!

One netizen commented, "Li Xiang has really made it big. Now that he’s latched onto Luo Feifei, it’ll be impossible for him not to get famous."

When Li Xiang’s former classmates and colleagues saw the news, they were also extremely surprised. They remembered how they used to mock him behind his back, saying he’d never make it. They never expected him to skyrocket to fame like this. His luck was just off the charts, even stumbling into a golden opportunity like rescuing a drowning Luo Feifei.

In reality, when Luo Feifei saw these comments, she scoffed at them. ’What do you all know?’ she thought. ’The truth is, I’m the one latching onto *his* leg. I’m just being more discreet about it.’

When Yao Yao woke up in the morning and saw the numbers, she screamed and jumped out of bed before she even had clothes on, then immediately shared the good news with her colleagues in their work group chat.

By ten o’clock that morning, Li Xiang’s follower count had already surpassed six million.

Li Xiang: "..." He also hadn’t expected that his very first meeting with Luo Feifei would bring such an overwhelming deluge of publicity crashing down on him.

He had worked his tail off for over half a year to accumulate three million followers. But with Luo Feifei’s arrival, he had gained over three million more in less than a day, and the number was still growing at a terrifying rate. He estimated it would probably break ten million.

Because today, countless influencers and fans had flocked to Li Family Village.

Everyone was spreading the rumor that Luo Feifei and her mother would be coming to thank him in person today, so they were all staking out the place.

The remote Li Family Village was once again bustling with activity, even more crowded than during the previous village gala or when Li Xiang held his banquet!

The only question was when they would arrive.

Some of the more quick-witted villagers in Li Family Village began setting up stalls to sell things, including plenty of local delicacies like leaf-wrapped sticky rice cakes, "Burning Noodles," and hot pot skewers.