"Oh, handmade woven goods. The small purse in your hand is very pretty. Did you weave it yourself?" Elliot asked with a smile.
"Thank you! Yes, I wove it myself."
"May I ask, your face... is that a burn?" Elliot hesitated for a moment, but still asked the question in his heart, then immediately added, "Sorry, if you don't want to answer, you don't have to."
"It's okay, yes, it's a scar left by a burn." Little Leaf didn't feel embarrassed, but admitted it very generously.
"How much are these handmade items?" Elliot changed the subject.
"One dollar."
"That cheap?"
While speaking, Elliot clicked on Little Leaf's streamer backend and found that she had already published over a hundred works, but her follower count was less than thirty thousand.
Elliot understood that in this era of judging by appearances, the scar on Little Leaf's face was undoubtedly the biggest obstacle in her live streaming journey.
At this moment, the room door suddenly opened and a middle-aged woman walked in.
Little Leaf quickly turned her wheelchair and moved back, but accidentally bumped into the corner of the table.
Only then did Elliot notice that Little Leaf was sitting in a wheelchair.
The middle-aged woman picked up the trash can under the table, turned around, and walked out, gently closing the door before leaving.
"Do you usually sit in a wheelchair?" Elliot asked.
"Yes, my legs and feet are not mobile," Little Leaf said softly.
"Is that also caused by the fire?"
Little Leaf nodded silently.
Elliot felt a mix of emotions, finding it hard to imagine that a girl who should have had a beautiful youth had lost her appearance and the ability to walk due to a fire.
Elliot opened his mouth, wanting to say some comforting words, but found that language seemed pale and powerless.
"Little brother, what do you want to say?" Little Leaf asked when she saw Elliot hesitating.
"I want to say... you are a very beautiful girl, you are really amazing!" Elliot's tone was sincere.
After a pause, Elliot added, "I'm serious, you are much more beautiful than many female streamers on TrendTok."
Elliot's words were not meant to comfort. In the past two days, he had connected with hundreds of "beauty" streamers, and without the beauty filters, they all turned into "demons and ghosts."
In comparison, in his eyes, Little Leaf was a truly beautiful woman.
"Brothers, tell me, is that right? Those who support Little Leaf, type '1'." Elliot said loudly to the live stream.
[1.]
[111.]
[Little Leaf is so beautiful!]
[Beautiful person, kind heart.]
[Followed, followed!]
[Becoming a fan.]
[@Little Leaf, it's a pity I only got to know you now, but I'm happy I got to know you.]
[Sister is so beautiful, mwah mwah!]
...
The bullet comments surged like a tide, and the number of online viewers in Little Leaf's live stream also rapidly soared from three hundred to six thousand, and quickly surpassed ten thousand.
With the sudden change, Little Leaf was a little overwhelmed for a moment.
"Brothers, I've connected with hundreds of streamers in the past two days, and there really aren't many natural beauty streamers like Little Leaf!" Elliot exclaimed, "Little Leaf is an optimistic girl, and streamers like her are worth our love."
After speaking, Elliot sent out a Carnival without hesitation.
[Little Boy sent streamer Little Leaf a Carnival × 1]
Elliot's action was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand ripples.
[Lone Wolf sent streamer Little Leaf a Carnival × 1]
[Sister-in-law sent streamer Little Leaf a Plane × 1]
[Everyday sent streamer Little Leaf Flowers × 6666]
...
Gifts came one after another, almost covering the entire screen.
Not only that, but many netizens also spontaneously emptied Little Leaf's shopping cart.
Little Leaf looked at the incredible scene before her, so excited that she didn't know what to say, and could only keep saying "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
[Little Leaf, you're really great, keep it up!]
[Mwah mwah!]
[Love you!]
[Go Little Leaf!]
With the screen full of heartwarming bullet comments, Little Leaf's eyes became moist.
"Let's connect again if we have a chance next time, bye bye!" Elliot waved his hand, preparing to leave the live stream.
"Little brother, what's your name?" Only then did Little Leaf remember that she didn't know the little brother's name.
"My name is Little Boy."
"Why are you wearing a mask?"
"Can't you tell? Isn't it cool?" Elliot said with a smile, "I am a
"Let's connect again if we have a chance next time, keep it up, you're really great!"
Elliot exited.
In Little Leaf's live stream, the number of online viewers remained over ten thousand.
Her follower count also surged by one hundred thousand in just a few minutes, more than her efforts over the past year.
All the items in the showcase were also swept away by enthusiastic netizens.
All of this made Little Leaf feel like she was dreaming.
...
After ending the connection with Little Leaf, Elliot then connected with two more female streamers.
One quickly recognized him, while the other was completely unprepared and crashed on the spot.
[Hahahahaha!]
[I'm dying of laughter, I just love watching these crash scenes!]
[Oh my god, are these freckles all over her face for real?]
[This is too... real, it's blinding!]
[Suddenly I feel like I can be an internet celebrity too, with the beauty filter on, I'm the most handsome guy on this street!]
[Isn't this streamer an idiot? Does turning on a beauty filter bother you?]
[And you're even doing live streaming with this, hurry home and wash up and go to bed!]
...
There was continuous laughter in the live stream, but some discordant voices gradually appeared. A few minutes after the live stream started, sporadic curses began to mix with the cheerful bullet comments, and the number increased, showing a tendency to escalate.
At first, Elliot thought it was paid trolls setting the rhythm, but after careful observation, it didn't seem like it.
Most of these accounts were female users, and if you clicked on their homepages, you would find that they were neither streamers nor private accounts, just ordinary netizens.
Elliot pondered for a moment and suddenly realized that his action of turning off the beauty filter had offended some female groups, making them feel that their "love for beauty" had been insulted.
In addition, there were also a few trolls who had been relentlessly criticizing him since the live stream began.
Elliot didn't care about this at all, only seeing them as free traffic contributing to his popularity, and even welcomed it.
At this moment, an
Elliot clicked accept.
A woman in her thirties immediately appeared on the screen, who was none other than Teacher Maggie, a well-known emotional streamer on TrendTok.
"Little Boy." Maggie got straight to the point, "You connect with female streamers and turn off their beauty filters, do you think this behavior is appropriate?"
Oh, here comes someone to criticize me.
"What's inappropriate?" Elliot asked in return.
"First of all, your behavior itself is illegal." Maggie said righteously, "I know you are a very skilled
Maggie paused and continued, "To take a step back, even if I don't mention the legality of your behavior, just regarding the matter of 'beauty filters' itself, this is every streamer's personal right. By what right do you deprive others of the right to use beauty filters?"
"According to you, those streamers using beauty filters to deceive netizens and earn profits is also their right?" Elliot asked with a half-smile.
"I didn't say 'deception' is right, and I myself firmly oppose any form of deceptive behavior." Maggie was a little agitated, "What I'm emphasizing is that using beauty filters is everyone's right, including male streamers. I'm actually very curious, why don't you connect with male streamers, but instead keep targeting female streamers?" Maggie sneered and pointed out sharply, "Ultimately, isn't it because connecting with female streamers gets more traffic and is more topical?"
It was obvious that Maggie was implying that Elliot was deliberately creating hype to attract attention.
"Ultimately, you yourself are wearing a mask, isn't that a form of 'beauty filter'? Why don't you dare to show your true face?" Maggie mocked.
[Teacher Maggie is absolutely right. *Applause*]
[Teacher Maggie is simply speaking my mind.]
[Who does it bother if we turn on a beauty filter? Are we eating your rice?]
[The love of beauty is common to all, why should we be pointed at by you?]
[Well said! Support Teacher Maggie!]
[@Little Boy, aren't you hyping and seeking attention? Come explain!]
...
More and more voices in the bullet comments supported Maggie. Elliot didn't need to look closely to know that these were basically female netizens.
"Since you say I'm seeking attention, then can I also question whether you are standing up for people like Sweet Nina? Do you want to whitewash them?" Elliot remained unmoved, still maintaining a smile.
The online world is like this, once you take it seriously, you lose.
This Teacher Maggie kept saying he was seeking attention, but what was she doing by eagerly connecting with him?
To put it bluntly, wasn't it just to ride on his coattails to gain popularity?
"You... you actually said I'm whitewashing Sweet Nina?" Maggie looked as if she had heard some incredible joke, "First of all, let me state my point of view, Sweet Nina is a complete and utter liar, there's nothing to whitewash! What I'm talking about now is the matter of 'beauty filters' itself, whether we women have the right to turn on beauty filters. Your action of turning off beauty filters without permission is illegal in the first place. Even the platform doesn't have this right, by what right can you? Isn't it just relying on your technical skills to do whatever you want? What is this if not bullying?"
Well, well, she even used words like "bullying". This Teacher Maggie's combat power is indeed not to be underestimated.
"Hold on for a moment." Elliot interrupted her endless accusations, "There's a troll in the comment section who has been spamming, I'll deal with it first."
"This friend with the username 'Chic', you've been trolling me since the live stream started, right?"
A netizen with the username "Chic" had been spamming frantically for over an hour since the live stream began, saying, "The streamer is a piece of sht, a piece of sht who eats sh*t."
His persistent spirit left Elliot in awe. Even professional paid trolls probably weren't as dedicated as him.
"Come on, come on, I'll connect with you, you come up and troll me face to face." Elliot sent him a connection request without hesitation.
The other party seemed startled by the sudden invitation and didn't accept immediately.
"What, scared?" Elliot continued to use provocation, "You've been trolling since I started the live stream, now I'm giving you a chance, why are you chickening out? Hurry up and come on, let me see your 'great insights'."
Perhaps Elliot's provocation worked, and "Chic" accepted the connection request.
A new window popped up, the screen was completely black, indicating that the other party hadn't turned on their camera.
Then, a voice with a heavy accent and a slight stutter came through: "Little... boy... you... why are you... slandering... spreading rumors... Sweet... Sweet Nina..."
"I'm spreading rumors?"
Elliot was angered by his words and laughed, "What rumors did I spread? Why don't you tell me!"
"You... you said... Sweet Nina... is... is a 60-year-old auntie." The tone of Brother Chic's speech sounded as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"Sweet Nina is a 60-year-old auntie, isn't that the truth?" Elliot asked in surprise.
"Sweet... Sweet Nina... said... said... she... she used... the elderly effect... you... you don't know anything!" Brother Chic said exasperatedly.
"What? What did she turn on?" Elliot wondered if he had heard incorrectly.
"El... elderly effect!"
"What effect?" Elliot still didn't understand.
Even Teacher Maggie, who was next to him, showed a puzzled expression: "What effect?"
Brother Chic's accent was truly hard to commend. Elliot and Maggie looked at each other, completely unable to understand what he was talking about.
[What is this guy talking about?] [What kind of contestant is this? Can't even speak clearly, how dare he get on the mic?] [Hurry up and get off, don't make a fool of yourself here.] [Brother, go home and straighten your tongue before coming back.]
Netizens started the mocking mode one after another, and there were very few people who could clearly understand what Brother Chic was talking about.
"Elderly effect! Elderly effect! You idiot, can't you understand me?" Brother Chic said angrily.
This time, Elliot finally heard what he was saying.
"Elderly effect?... I, hahahahaha!" Elliot really couldn't help it and burst out laughing.
"Brother Chic, you are too funny!"
Even the usually composed Teacher Maggie couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.
"What are you laughing at?!" Brother Chic shouted in dissatisfaction.
"Okay, okay, not laughing, not laughing." Elliot suppressed his laughter and asked, "Brother Chic, where did you hear about this 'elderly effect'?"
"Sweet Nina herself said it in a video she posted," Brother Chic said confidently.
"Then do you believe what she said?" Elliot asked in return.
"Why wouldn't I believe her? If I don't believe her, should I believe you, this idiot?" Brother Chic chose to stand by his goddess without hesitation.
"Brother Chic, can you speak properly?" Elliot rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"You idiot, hurry up and apologize to Sweet Nina!" Brother Chic not only didn't restrain himself, but became even more arrogant.
"Spreading rumors... idiot... %# ￥ *..."
Brother Chic completely ignored Elliot's words and started his crazy output mode on his own.
(End of this chapter)
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Translator and Editor - Husband
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