Transmigration of the Famous Cyber Star

Chapter 17: Live-streaming Chinese Calligraphy

Here comes 1,500 more words on TOTFCS.

Today… There will be no sell-out moment, but feel free to leave some feedback below. Enjoy the chapter! [:

When Liu Man finished feeding Daylight and had put away the cat food, her phone had already run out of battery.

When she finally turned her phone back on and re-entered the live-stream, most of her audience members had already left.

She stood up and decided to clean her desk. The original owner of her body had an assortment of bottles and cans filled with random things, which were lying around on the desk. Liu Man put them one by one into the drawers. She then carefully laid out a piece of rice paper used for calligraphy, which she had bought from Taobao. The rice paper was milky white and had a unique scent. She then placed the inkstone down and started to rub an ink-stick against the ink-stone, which would create the ink she uses when she writes.

“Otaku Boy”, the teenager, was just about to shut down his computer and finally study for his exam. When he glanced up, he suddenly realized that in his “following” list, the account listed as “Princess Man” was live-streaming again. He immediately threw his book back onto the pile and re-entered the live-stream.

“Just look at him, he’s beyond addicted,” Roommate A shook his head with resignation.

“I installed this live-streaming application before. A lot of women gained fans only by turning on beauty filters and flirting around foolishly. I considered it too boring and deleted the application within just a few minutes. I would rather read books,” Roommate B was very erudite.

Roommate C, however, said, “Aren’t you guys curious about what he’s even watching? Let’s go and see.”

The other two, who hadn’t felt curious at first, suddenly became curious as well, after hearing what Roommate C had said. The trio then went behind “Otaku Boy” and looked at his computer screen, but only saw a desk with a white piece of paper spread on top. “What’s that live-streamer doing?”

“I’m not sure either,” The teenager couldn’t wrap his head around it, “She usually live-streams herself selling AJs or films her cat. Why isn’t she doing either of them right now?”

What live-streamer? They couldn’t see the face of the live-streamer, but could only see a pair of hands with fingers that were extraordinarily long and pretty. One hand was pouring water into the ink-stone, and the other was rubbing the ink-stick, “Is she going to show off her calligraphy skills?”

Roommate B studied calligraphy a little when he was younger, so he knew a bit, “On this kind of live-streaming application where there are all kinds of low-quality live-streams, how many skillful calligraphists would there be? She must’ve only known a little about calligraphy and is now trying to make money off of it by showing off a bit of her poor skills.”

The teenager, however, was very excited about what’s going to be live-streamed. He felt as if he had found an amazing live-streamer. His guts told him that this live-streamer would go on fire in the future.

TL’s Note: ‘go on fire’… popular… GET IT?

In comparison with those other live-streamers, Princess Man made him felt different every time she live-streamed.

The teenager was never attracted to AJs, but he always found it very interesting to watch her sell shoes. When she sold second-handed shoes, she was never deceptive as a businessman would be. She would always tell her fans how many times the shoes were worn, where they were dirty and where they were slightly rubbed on, and the degree on how new it was. She truly wanted the buyer to accept and like her shoes.

Some fans inferred that since Princess Man’s cat was very expensive and because she owned so many AJs, her parents must’ve been incredibly rich. The teenager thought it different. Every time she live-streamed, he could only see her from below the chin. Her neck and her wrists never had any jewelry on, and her nails were clean, with no nail polish on. There was also a set of clothing that she had worn several times.

Whoever said boys weren’t observative was most definitely wrong. This teenager’s observations were astonishing.

He also discovered that Princess Man was wearing different clothes than the ones she had just worn during her last live-stream.

Liu Man had changed into a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, for she thought that it would be more convenient to write in. She didn’t feel a sense of coldness in her apartment, since the air conditioning was excellent.

“You know how to write calligraphy?” — Otaku Boy.

“Yeah, I’ve already sold around ten pairs of shoes, and there will come a day when they’re all gone. My cat sometimes falls asleep and won’t cooperate. I most certainly can’t just chat awkwardly with you guys,” Liu Man liked to interact with Otaku Boy. Although sometimes, this boy liked to tease or flirt with her, she never felt offended.

“What are you planning to write about?” — Otaku Boy.

Liu Man pondered for a moment, then laughed, “You’ll know once I’m done.”

The teenager felt as if his heart was going to melt when he heard her sweet-sounding laughter.

At this moment, the number of people watching her live-stream went back to two-hundred. This was now Liu Man’s normal number of viewers. Her shoe fans and cat fans were also very curious about what she was going to do.

Liu Man picked up her brush and soaked it with ink, “It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything in calligraphy. If my handwriting is bad, don’t laugh at me.”

As she finished speaking, she lifted the brush and wrote seven characters on the paper without pausing.

“What are these characters? I can’t read it?? (confused)” — Pancake.

“Hahahaha, isn’t this my nickname?” — Otaku Boy.

TL’s Note: Yes, otaku boy in Chinese would be seven characters

Everyone started to examine the characters. Although they looked very different from Simplified Chinese, they still looked a bit like “Otaku Boy.”

“What even is this font? It looks like an oracle bone script or something. Alright, I admit I’m an illiterate person.” — Peach is a fairy.

“They’re Seal characters.” — Dragon’s Roar.

TL’s Note: Back in Ancient China, each dynasty had their own fonts/handwritings. The “Seal characters” were apparently one of them.

“Yep, and they’re Qin Seal, nowadays known as the lesser seal character.” Roommate B said, dumbfounded.

The teenager, of course, never knew anything about these different fonts. He put the exact thing Roommate B said in a comment.

“Yes, it’s the Qin Seal.” Liu Man explained, “I didn’t do my best and it looks a bit bad. Please, don’t judge me.” Liu Man knew that she should practice more, since she didn’t exactly write like her usual self when she’s in another person’s body.

However, in exchange for her modesty, came,

“666.” — Pancake.

TL’s Note: 666 in Chinese is like a trendy phrase to compliment someone when they’re very skillful and awesome.

“6666.” — Peach is a fairy.

“66666.” — Harbor Teenager.

“666666.” — I love caaaaat.

“6666666, the next person, keep this up.” — Where there’s a cat, there’s me.

…

Viewers who hadn’t usually commented that much had all appeared.

“I just went out to have some midnight snacks, what did I miss? Why are you guys dominating the screen…?” — I’m here for the shoes.

There, on the screen, came a huge silvery-white castle. The outline of the castle was glowing, and there were constantly rainbow fireworks going off.

And then, came a pile of Hearts.

TL’s Note: Hearts & Perfect Castle are like gifts you can give to your live-streamer idol that are worth money and can be exchanged for money

“Otaku Boy gifted you with a Perfect Castle.”

“Peach is a fairy gifted you Hearts.”

“Dragon’s Roar gifted you Hearts.”

“Big face cat gifted you Hearts.”

…

There were suddenly 400 people watching the live-stream. Liu Man’s fan count had already gone over 100 and went straight to 184. This was way out of Liu Man’s expectations.

“Sis, can you please write my name? I’m called Chen Ting.” — I’m Tingting.

“My classmate is also called Chen Ting.”

“I have a colleague named Chen Ting.”

“My cousin’s name is Chen Ting.”

TL’s Note: Syd says that she thinks that this is the author’s way of trying to express how Liu Man has so many followers/viewers now that they all have someone in their life called Chen Ting

…

The comment section was in a cheerful and light-hearted vibe. It was as if everyone had become chatterboxes.

Liu Man carefully wrote down two words: Chen Ting.

“Oh, god! This looks awesome. Thank you so much, sis! (admiration)” — I’m Tingting.

A carriage crossed the screen.

“I’m Tingting gifted you a Fairytale Carriage.”

“With this font, if you guys don’t say what character it is, I wouldn’t even be able to recognize it. Such a tragedy…”

“There really aren’t many people who can write in lesser seal characters these days.”

“I don’t know if her calligraphy is good, but it sure looks awesome.”

“I think I’m just missing a brush like this.”

“No, you’re missing a pair of hands like this.”

“I thought it was only me that had noticed her hands. This pair of hands is… Just a beauty! (I’m a hand person just passing by.)”

“I’m also a hand person. I’ve been staring at her hands for a long time! Princess Man has beautiful hands and pretty legs. I really want to see what she looks like.”

…

“What should I write next?” Liu Man said to herself.

Writing, to her, was a stressbuster to comfort and pacify her mind. It was Madam Xu who had taught her: To make your heart clear of evil, you must calm your mind first.

TL’s Note: Madam Xu was her mentor back when she was in the cold palace.

Credits: Sydney & Kathrien