Chapter 41: Little Red Riding Hood, Minions, and Smurfs

"Hey brothers! Registration complete! From today on, I’m a Red Knight, haha!"

Luo Ge’s account, "Melon Brother Luo Ge Delivers Food," had been registered long before Po Jian Software opened its food delivery track. With the veteran status of his fan base combined with the tailwind of the new platform's promotional push, he had taken off in no time.

Back when he was a "Yellow Knight," he barely managed a few deliveries a day. By the time the late-delivery penalties were deducted, he was lucky if he didn't end up owing money. Now, in the midst of the delivery service wars, he was among the first to jump ship to the "Red Knight" team.

"Oh my~ the quality of this uniform is great! Windproof and waterproof, brothers. This gear has to be worth several hundred bucks! And this helmet—haha, Little Red Riding Hood! Call me Brother Red Hood from now on!"

Luo Ge’s livestreaming style was always lively and mischievous, carrying a sense of thrill as if he were up to something sneaky. Even though he had joined a new company and donned their uniform completely above board, the way he talked about it made it sound like he’d stolen the gear.

"I walk alone on the small path in the suburbs, bringing pastries for Grandma to taste..."

Humming a nursery rhyme, Luo Ge rode his scooter at a leisurely pace, eyes darting everywhere, always on the lookout for entertainment on the streets. Since the food delivery track had opened, they didn't even need to carefully curate or edit their massive amounts of footage. With all the commotion currently rippling across the internet, they only needed to start a stream to draw in a crowd.

"This Red Knight schedule is really generous. I feel like I could do two more rounds right now. Oh! There’s a Yellow Knight over there. Old company, huh? Let’s go tease him."

Because he was riding, Luo Ge couldn't see the comments from his viewers; he only had a wide-angle camera mounted on his helmet pointing at his face. With a flick of his hand, he switched the camera to face forward and chirped happily as he pulled up alongside the other delivery rider at a red light.

"Hey, Little Yellow Man, how many orders today?"

Dou Peng turned his head. A sports camera with the Po Jian logo was mounted on top of his helmet, too. But the shared company didn't make him feel any camaraderie; instead, he turned away with a hint of avoidance. "Thirteen."

"Oh wow, thirteen orders and it’s only ten o’clock? You’re really hustling, brother!" Luo Ge had only just started his stream, and this was his first order. He nudged his scooter a bit further forward. "You look like you're in a rush, right? About to be late? Look at me—two kilometers to go, twenty minutes left. Jealous? Why not join the Little Red Hoods?"

Dou Peng didn't turn back. He wasn't livestreaming, but his sports camera was running. While he hadn't managed to capture another viral hit like that "slap" video, the occasional extra income was decent.

"Too few orders."

"Oh, look at this workhorse, addicted to being exploited," Luo Ge rattled on. "When you have too many orders, you get tired, you get anxious, and the risk is higher! Look at me—to put it pretentiously, I don't even run red lights!"

Dou Peng was speechless. Wasn't not running red lights the most basic traffic rule? Even a five-year-old knew that! He was actually proud of it.

"Brother, what’s your streamer name? Let’s follow each other! We’re in the same circle, we can look out for each other on the road. I’m 'Melon Brother Luo Ge Delivers Food.' I’ve got plenty of active fans. Let’s interact, you won’t lose out!"

Dou Peng ignored him completely. Who cared how many fans he had? Fans couldn't be cashed out directly; the traffic for these videos ultimately depended on the platform.

As luck would have it, the light turned green. Dou Peng twisted his throttle and vanished into the intersection. Luo Ge didn't seem to care, swaying slowly as he started his scooter. "Look at how tired that Little Yellow Man is, didn't even have time to talk. But they definitely earn more than I do by working like that. To each his own!"

Luo Ge glanced at his map and realized he needed to turn right, so waiting at that red light had been entirely unnecessary. Just then, his eyes caught a "Blue Knight" nearby. Forgetting his previous target, he rode over to pester him instead.

"Hey, Blue Smurf! Don't go, let’s chat for a while, brother!"

In the distance, Dou Peng, who had long since sped away, didn't understand how someone like that could exist. Even though he had signed a contract with Po Jian, he still treated delivery as his primary job. Delivering food meant seizing time, taking on more orders, and picking up extra deliveries along the way to make more money. His "colleague" spoke in such an affected, dramatic tone—he probably had way more fans than him, but Dou Peng couldn't care less.

Dou Peng wasn't actually a very diligent person; he used to earn only about 3,000 yuan a month delivering food. Now, with the income from Po Jian’s short videos, he could earn an extra thousand or so. Plus, he’d been in a cold war with his girlfriend recently, which cut down on a lot of his expenses, leaving him feeling surprisingly flush.

*Hmph*, that girl was not only meddlesome but had dared to lose her temper at him. Long hair, short insight—she really needed to be taught a lesson. She must be regretting it like crazy by now, right? Maybe she’s missing him so much she’s going insane. Women couldn't survive a single day without him.

He’d been having a pretty good time for the past month.

Wait, actually, he felt a bit like he missed her now. It wasn't as fun as it was at the beginning.

That damned woman didn't even know how to take the initiative to apologize; she just knew how to cry at home. If she didn't come to him to apologize first, he wouldn't even think about paying her any mind.

Lost in these thoughts, Dou Peng rode up to the entrance of the target residential complex, only to find a crowd gathered at the gate. It looked like a few other delivery riders were stuck inside. He checked his phone—his sports camera was still recording—and then approached.

"What’s going on?"

Since the camera was mounted on his head, it wasn't as conspicuous as someone holding a phone to record, so the aggressive security guards didn't pay any attention to the newcomer.

"How many times do I have to say it? Forbidden means forbidden! It’s company policy! Unless you’re a resident, no one gets in!"

"Why can't delivery riders in? We never said we wanted to ride our scooters inside!"

"If you aren't a resident, you can't enter the lobby or the complex. If you’re not happy about it, go buy a place here! This is the rule for a high-end complex—do you understand what a high-end complex is?"

"What kind of high-end complex orders food delivery anyway? Make them come out and get it themselves!"

"You can make whoever you want get it! You just can't enter the complex!"

The scene was chaotic. Dou Peng grabbed an elderly man watching the commotion. "What’s the situation?"

The old man took one look at his gear and said knowingly, "Here to deliver food, too? Forget it! They aren't letting you guys in."

Dou Peng was confused. "Not letting us in? Why?"

What was this? Not letting them into the elevators was one thing, but now they couldn't even enter the complex? Why not just put a delivery locker outside? Everyone would be happy.

The old man's tone wasn't very friendly, clearly siding with the residents. "What do you mean 'why'? You delivery guys were reckless inside the complex before and hit a resident's child! The homeowners' committee wasn't happy and filed a complaint with the property management. Now, no delivery riders are allowed in. You delivery people do anything to save time; you hit people and run off. You have no decency at all."