Chapter 78: The Desire to Redeem Past Shame

After receiving a one-million appearance fee from Zebra Live, Zhang Qiyang naturally had to give it a good promotion. On Wednesday noon, he posted a photo of his "I Sing" trophy on Weibo, proudly proclaiming, "Promise kept! Tonight at eight, Zebra Live will keep sending trophies! @ZebraLive @Master Huan @Zebra_Lydia."

At present, his Weibo boasted 34 million active followers.

The moment this post went up, it sparked heated discussions—

"Master Cannon is awesome!"

"Damn, am I the first to comment?"

"I snatched Master Cannon's first comment, ha! Anyone wanting to advertise, DM me with your rates!"

"Master Cannon, pure man, iron-blooded true hero! Killed a chicken at one, built a plane at three, drove a tank at five, wore armor at six, at eight his fame spread a hundred miles! All feared him! Hmm, seems my rhyme's off."

"Will your idiocy ever be cured?"

"Trash Zhang Cannon, you insulted Teacher Tan into the hospital, and you still have the nerve to show up?"

"Where's the scrap collector? Hurry up and sweep this trash away!"

"Haha, Master Cannon, you’re out to enrage all the other singers! My Nine Dragons Street’s Little Fei supports you!"

"Idiot, let’s see how long you stay arrogant!"

"I’ll answer for Master Cannon: as long as you idiots live, he’ll stay arrogant!"

"Buying things for millions and giving them away casually—rich people really live in style."

"Rumor has it supporting Master Cannon will bring down five bolts of lightning from heaven. I don’t believe it! Today I’m supporting Cannon... ah!"

"Zhang Cannon truly fights for the audience, spending millions every week to buy a championship and give it away. Incredible, I’m convinced!"

"Master Cannon, here’s a suggestion: before giving away the trophy, sign your name on it and write the winning song. That way, when you have many trophies, each one will have its unique meaning."

...

Reading the latest comment, Zhang Qiyang was inspired and called Qin Xueyang: "Bring me a kitchen knife, I want to engrave 'Extravagant' on the trophy."

Qin Xueyang was dumbfounded: "With a kitchen knife?"

"What else?"

"An engraving knife! It’s called an engraving knife because it’s for engraving."

"Engraving knife is too small, doesn’t feel right. Just bring me the kitchen knife."

"If you ruin the trophy with the kitchen knife..."

"Stop whining. Bring me the knife, and I’ll show you how well I handle it."

Half-believing, Qin Xueyang fetched a kitchen knife from the kitchen, one that had never been used.

The moment Zhang Qiyang took the knife, his whole aura changed, as if... Ximen Chuixue had picked up his sword?

Cradling the trophy, like a master chef carving a radish, Zhang Qiyang swiftly and deftly engraved a beautiful signature and the word "Extravagant" on the back.

"My god, are you even human?"

The trophy was so hard, yet Zhang Qiyang carved it as easily as if it were clay. The sheer strength in his wrist left Qin Xueyang utterly stunned.

"Now you know why my pen name is 'Kitchen Knife.' Don’t mess with me."

Looking at the stunning engraving, Zhang Qiyang’s face radiated genuine pride and satisfaction.

In his previous life, he would never have been able to carve such fluid characters with a kitchen knife.

Now, with absolute control over his body, able to unleash strength beyond normal limits, engraving on alloy had become a trivial skill.

...

Seven-thirty in the evening.

The Zebra Live special broadcast room opened early.

Dong Huan and Lydia, who had hurried over from the Magic City, bantered and prepared themselves.

After meeting Zhang Qiyang once, they discovered he was nothing like the aloof, unapproachable figure people imagined. Instead, he was an easygoing, handsome guy who could take a joke, and both women were ready for a lively exchange with him.

Last time, Dong Huan teased Zhang Qiyang with a song called "I am Zhang Cannon" and felt guilty about it.

Tonight, she came armed with a new song, "Mr. Zhang," determined to give Zhang Qiyang a serious musical tribute and redeem her weak impression in his mind.

Lydia had been shy last time, flustered by Zhang Qiyang’s flirting, barely daring to joke with him during the entire broadcast.

Watching the replay, she realized how timid she’d been!

No wonder the cheeky fans joked that she was in love with Master Cannon.

With her demure performance, it really did look like she was facing her crush.

...

This week, Lydia was determined to redeem herself!

She couldn’t let people think she’d fallen for Master Cannon, let alone that she’d slept with him.

Compared to last week’s sexy short cheongsam, Lydia’s outfit this week was much more “conservative”—a sky-blue flight attendant uniform, black stockings, and a flight cap, cosplaying as a curvaceous, convincing stewardess. She was ready for a proper interview with Master Cannon.

The nerds in the broadcast room went wild at the sight, the comment section flooded with “666.”

Every now and then, the chat was full of jokes aimed at Lydia, while Dong Huan was ruthlessly ignored.

"Hey Lydia, be honest, is Master Cannon really that big?"

"Now I finally get his kink—he’s got a thing for flight attendant uniforms!"

"Lydia, where's your chest? Did you forget it?"

"You blind? Didn’t you see her chest is about to burst the uniform?"

"Please be civilized, foul-mouthed viewers get out."

"Look at Lydia, ready for three hundred rounds with Master Cannon!"

"Don’t mix with trash like Zhang Cannon, Lydia, or you’ll get burned! You’ll be a disgrace in history! Just wait and see!"

"Lydia, no, you should be called Mrs. Cannon now—love bravely! Even if he dumps you, I’ll take over!"

[Lydia, less scheming—Master Cannon doesn’t like tricks, he likes sincerity. Let me suggest: undo all your collar buttons, that’s real sincerity. —Burning Flowers, Burying Love]

"Burning Flowers’ carrier group is here, 666!"

"Careful, Burning Flowers! Lydia’s Mrs. Cannon now, watch out or he’ll come after you!"

"Even Burning Flowers sees Lydia likes Master Cannon, so stop pretending."

...

Seeing the screen full of viewers teasing her, Lydia was delighted inside, but her face showed grievance as she kept explaining, "Don’t talk nonsense, okay? I’m an upright, unique woman—if I really hooked up with Master Cannon, I’d tell you all. But I haven’t! Have a heart, last week after the broadcast, didn’t I send you guys another late-night photo from the hotel? I was alone, feeling sorry for myself, admiring my own beauty, singing to myself, scratching my own itch... what are you guys going crazy for? I got bitten by a mosquito and just scratched myself!"

Dong Huan showed an utterly helpless expression, wishing she could retort: "Seriously, why are you acting up now? Wait until Master Cannon arrives! Don’t chicken out again when he shows up!"