Her Food Livestream Broke the Galaxy

Chapter 175: Do We Really Have to Do This? We’ll Be Exposed

"S-so, what do you guys think? Any flaws in this dish?"

"Umm..."

"..."

These were the studio’s veterans, heavy hitters who had flamed their way across the entire streaming company.

Before they entered Jiang Qiuqiu’s livestream, before they’d even tasted the dish, their minds had been brimming with a thousand lines of attack.

"It’s fragrant and crispy. When you bite through the coating, the meat inside is tender with a nice chew, not dry at all. Even the fatty bits aren’t greasy. There’s a hint of spice, but it’s not overpowering. It’s actually delicious. The only problem is the portion size is tiny."

"..."

"You sure paid close attention to the stream."

"Should we attack her on the portion size, then?"

"What are you thinking? If it tasted bad, who would care about the portion size? People only complain about portions when the food is good! You want to post that the portions are too small? We’re her haters, not her hype-men giving out free publicity!"

"Then what are we supposed to complain about?"

This was a big contract, and they had only received half the payment as a deposit. The other half was contingent on a successful job.

The leader of Group 1 didn’t dare rush a decision on their angle of attack. If they failed, that final payment would be gone.

So, he decided to ask the boss for instructions.

No. 1: Boss, something’s come up.

Boss: ?

No. 1: We might need to change our original smear campaign plan.

Boss: Why change it? It’s best not to. The client drew up this plan themselves.

No. 1: But... if we follow the original plan, our identities as hired trolls will probably be exposed very easily.

Boss: How could you be exposed?

No. 1: Well, the thing is, the food made by the streamer we’re supposed to be slandering is actually really good. No one is leaving bad reviews. If we start nitpicking in the comments, it’ll be way too obvious.

Boss: How is that possible? No one else is finding fault with it?

No. 1: No one.

Boss: ...

In the end, the boss decided to go and ask Li Ran.

But he barely got two words out before she arrogantly shot back a reply.

Li Ran: Just stick to the plan.

Li Ran: Don’t make excuses. "Pretty good" doesn’t mean anything. If you’re worried about being exposed, then figure out a way not to be. I paid you, do I also have to teach you how to be hired trolls?

For the money’s sake, the boss bit his tongue.

Boss: ’So be it. We’ll do it the client’s way. That can’t be wrong.’

’If anything goes wrong, it’ll be the client’s own fault anyway.’

’He had warned her out of goodwill. That was more than enough.’

’He was in the smear campaign business. Did she really think she could get away with not paying?’

No. 1: Well... alright.

No. 1 relayed the boss’s decision to the rest of the studio.

After hearing the news, the group of hired trolls all looked troubled.

Someone spoke up, "H-how are we supposed to systematically slander this?"

"Say it tastes bad?"

"..."

"Nitpick about the color, the texture, and all that?"

"How about we just say the fried pork looks ugly?"

’Forget it. This is too hard. Let’s just stick to the original plan and say it tastes awful.’

And so, after the hired trolls had "consumed" over ten thousand portions of Small Crispy Fried Pork, a number of new reviews appeared on Jiang Qiuqiu’s message board.

This was the first time she had received bad reviews on such a massive scale since opening her rating board.

They were almost all low-star reviews, between 1 and 3 stars. The group posted completely fabricated evaluations of the Small Crispy Fried Pork, criticizing everything from its taste to its appearance.

...

1-star review.

What is this stuff? It tastes horrible, and it’s so dry I feel like I’d need a basin of water just to swallow it. Only the streamer’s fanatic fans could stomach this.

2-star review.

This Small Crispy Fried Pork looks so ugly. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat something that hideous. A waste of Star Coins.

And so on, with a number of other reviews clearly written with the commenters’ eyes closed.

Before long, a row of question marks appeared below these comments: ????

Immediately followed by thousands of replies:

! Sir! I’ve caught a hired troll!

Me too—

Me too—

Me too—

This, perhaps, was what you’d call a mass unmasking.