I'm A Baller - Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Critical Reward
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Wang Yan had no idea what the people sitting opposite him were thinking. He hadn’t appeared that afternoon because he hadn’t wanted people to get a close look at his face, that was all. In fact, even then, he still had his sunglasses on.
He wished to remain low-profile in his home city, yet it was imperative that the event was put on.
Wang Yan’s original plan was to do it after college started, because too many people knew him in Gujiao, and anyone of them, especially those who might envy his current situation, could tell his father what he was up to, which would result in him having to cancel the event.
Since he had no choice, the only thing he could do was to try to be discreet.
Wang Yan’s solution was to show less of his face and cover it partially with a pair of tinted shades.
He really wasn’t going for a particular look and hadn’t meant to dress up like some boss stereotype.
However, it was everyone’s prerogative if they insisted on thinking otherwise of him, wasn’t it?
Come on, everyone bow down and greet the boss! Give him a warm welcome!
…
After counting the number of men present at the table, Manager Liu came forward with four bottles of Maotai, then bent down to ask for Wang Yan’s approval.
“Boss Wang, will Maotai be alright?”
Wang Yan lifted his head and looked at him quizzically.
Manager Liu was as smart as a fox. He understood Wang Yan’s concern, so he immediately explained, “Beverages are on the house, and the ladies may feel free to order anything they like! All drinks are complimentary!”
Well, that was interesting.
They were about to start the competition, so nobody would drink liquor or other beverages that could upset their stomachs.
This was simply a show of goodwill put on for Wang Yan’s benefit.
Although Wang Yan wasn’t perturbed by the offer, the same couldn’t be said of the viewers.
After hearing Wang Yan’s voice and seeing the expressions of awe on the hosts’ faces, but not knowing what the actual person looked like, the viewers could barely suppress their curiosity.
“He must be someone remarkable!”
“If there isn’t a close-up shot of him, I’m going to unsubscribe right away!”
“We don’t need to see the face, just his 24K gold, diamond-encrusted leg would do!”
“I’ve never seen such a baller before. Please let me have a glimpse. I’ll bow to you if you show us!”
“Do you guys dare to give him a close-up?”
Of course, Liu Yuanfang hadn’t dared, but he decided to take control of the situation instead of letting the audience dictate the pace of the show. Hence, he checked with Wang Yan whether it was okay to announce the start of the competition.
The seven contestants sitting opposite him immediately picked up a crab each as soon as the announcement was made.
It wasn’t too hard for the men, but the ladies were struggling to hold the crabs up.
Now that they had officially started, they finally realized just how big those crabs really were.
They were too big to even fit on their individual plates, and they had no idea how to eat the crab, or which part they should start from.
It was a good thing that the service staff on standby was able to advise them which tools to use to dismantle the crabs.
Truth be told, Wang Yan didn’t know how to do it, either.
But Boss Wang was smart and good at pretending!
He didn’t even have to lift a finger. Turning to the staff member next to him, he said, “Pretty girl, please help me with it.”
“No problem. Kindly wait for a while.”
The staff smiled so sweetly that her eyes were positively sparkling. She wasted no time in getting to work.
Liu Yuanfang was a little envious at the sight. There were two staff members on either side of Wang Yuan, and they were both very pretty and attentive.
That had been arranged by Manager Liu in advance.
One was to help with dismantling the crab, and the other was to prepare the sauces.
The hotel had prepared a dip made from hoisin sauce and wasabi.
It wasn’t actually wasabi but horseradish, which had a similar taste and texture, though it varied greatly in price.
Glancing at the dip, Wang Yan suddenly recalled the hoisin sauce that Liu Li had mixed for him.
“Please mix it again, this time with scallions, ginger, garlic slices, sliced peppers, and coriander. Add hoisin sauce and vinegar at a ratio of four to one, two drops of sesame oil, a dab of wasabi, and no horseradish.”
Naturally, the staff did as they had been instructed. The livestream exploded.
“Damn! I’m drooling!”
“You’re really a gourmand! I can visualize it…”
“I stupidly made the dip as well, only to realize that I had no crab!”
“I’m cooking instant noodles now. I’m going to make the dip to pair it with the noodles, instead of using the packet seasoning…”
“Wow, bro. I can’t even afford that crab! I’ll have to dip my fingers in it instead!”
Liu Yuanfang could barely contain his grin as he looked at the number of views and comments.
A hundred fifty thousand!
It was only 35 minutes into the livestream, and the competition had started just five minutes ago!
Excluding the bots, there had to be at least 5,000 actual viewers, right?
Oh my, oh my! They were going to be hot!
…
Wang Yan didn’t give a damn about the livestream.
Enjoying the crab with a perfectly mixed sauce was his priority.
Premium crab flesh was indeed different. The flesh was firm and sweet, and as the sweetness flooded his entire mouth, he felt as if he was being caressed by the waves. The feeling was so soothing that his scalp started to tingle.
After taking his own sweet time to savor the taste, Wang Yan then picked up a huge chunk of flesh from a pincer and dipped it in the sauce. The freshness was nothing like anything he had ever tasted before.
If one had a penchant for strong flavors, they could even chew extra garlic or peppers along with the meat. There would be an explosion of flavors in their mouth.
Wang Yan enjoyed the contrast between the thinly sliced garlic and the crab meat. One was crunchy, while the other was chewy. With every chew, the spiciness and the sweetness would intertwine and explode at the same time.
It would be an understatement to say that the raw garlic slices were a perfect match for the crab meat. Had it been mashed garlic instead, it wouldn’t have had the same taste.
Feeling extremely sated, Wang Yan looked up and happened to make eye contact with Ling Ya, who couldn’t help smiling shyly in response.
He turned around and said to the server, “Tell the chef to prepare another seven bowls of dip.”
Wang Yan then said to everyone, “Relax. Feel free to chat and interact with the viewers.”
Some viewers responded sardonically, “Oh, so he’s aware that there’s an audience, huh…”
By now, they had exceeded 300,000 viewers, and the numbers still continued to climb.
Liu Yuanfang quickly got in touch with his contact. “Boom, boom, boom.” A huge rocket started gliding across the screen.
At this moment, the arrangements that he had put in place to help boost viewership, such as the rocket and other special effects, were all coming in handy.
That day’s livestream was popular because it had an interesting theme.
Liu Yuanfang explained the rules of the competition. “Today’s competition will last for three hours. Whoever manages to eat the most crabs within the time period will become the champion. If there’s a tie, then the crab shells will be weighed, and the party with the lesser weight wins.
“No one is allowed to induce vomiting. Anyone who vomits will have their scores frozen.”
This was a rule Wang Yan had set. The System was rigid and principled, so it would surely disallow such tactics.
Therefore, it would have to be the real deal.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely up to Wang Yan.
It took less than 30 minutes for him to be full from eating so much, and he had barely had to lift a finger.
As for his results… he hadn’t even managed to finish an entire crab on his own. There were still three legs remaining.
The king crab weighed about ten to eleven pounds, and the flesh alone was slightly over three pounds, which would have been the equivalent of two meals for most people.
Wang Yan had already eaten more than he usually did, but he was still unable to finish a crab on his own. It was too bad.
But there was good news.
[You have finished 1 king crab. The Crab King Card is now activated.]
[You have been awarded a Critical Hit Multiplier of 420%. 8.8*498*42=184,060, you will receive a cash reward of 184,060.]
Awesome!
Apparently, it still counted as one crab, even though Wang Yan hadn’t managed to finish eating the remaining three legs. And the multiplier was 420 percent! Not bad at all!
Boss Wang was in a great mood, so he extracted another chunk of meat from the crab leg and chewed it slowly.
Earlier on, despite having enjoyed the food immensely, no food rewards had been activated. But the few mouthfuls that he had just casually taken suddenly triggered the System.