Chapter 60: Can’t Eat Despite Getting Paid to Do So

Due to the fact that the watermelon-eating video had reached the hot search, there were plenty of people who showed up at the live on-site tasting events held by Trendy Fruit Bar. 

Of course, many of the people who showed up were hired by Trendy Fruit Bar prior to the event. During the tasting, the paid attendees would be mixed in the crowd to influence the mindset of the other attendees. 

For safety reasons, the paid attendees had all eaten the watermelons from Trendy Fruit Bar. 

"Remember that we'll be serving our watermelons first later. Don't get it wrong." 

"Okay, no problem." Most of the paid attendees thought that the watermelons would be too unpalatable to the extent that they could not stomach it. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been on the hot search. To their surprise, the watermelon was not too bad. 

The watermelon was juicy, hydrated, and had an appropriate sweetness. At least, compared to the watermelons available on the market, they were much better. They felt that the tech company and the female host had probably colluded to hype the watermelons up. 

However, as professional paid attendees, they definitely had to compliment the watermelons since they had already been paid. 

Actually the personnel of Trendy Fruit Bar was very confident in the watermelons of their own company. This was the reason why they dared to step forward and issue clarifications immediately. They thought that there were definitely no problems with their own watermelons and that the matter arose because the female host merely wanted to gain fame for herself. Such matters were way too common in the broadcast industry. 

With respect to the arrangement of watermelons, they also had selfish intentions. They placed their own watermelons at the front. As long as the watermelons that were tasted after theirs weren't sweet, then as a result, they would seem unpalatable. 

Having organized the venue and watermelons, they just had to wait for the female host to bring her watermelons.

When Huang Ailin arrived with her watermelons, she caused a huge uproar among the crowd. 

"Wow, the female host is here." 

"She really has the audacity to come here. The thing is, she still looks pretty without the filter. I'm a fan now." 

"Brother, how can you be unprincipled? Aren't we here to eat watermelons today?"

"The fact that we're here means that we've already lost. Regardless of who's hyping up the watermelons, they've succeeded."

"I'm just here to taste how bad that unpalatable watermelon really is."

"Hehe, then you will eat all the unpalatable watermelons later. Save the delicious ones for me."

Seeing that there were many people at the event, Huang Ailin reckoned that there must have been a lot of paid attendees, given the unscrupulous means that the advertiser often resorted to.

"Alright, now that we've arrived at the tasting event, let's see how ordinary this company's watermelons really are."

Huang Ailin had started a broadcast on her way here, so as to provide a deterrent effect and ensure that she wouldn't be at a disadvantage when communicating with the other party. 

"Miss Ailin, hello, I'm the manager of the operations department of Trendy Fruit Bar. My surname is Wu."

"Hello, Manager Wu, what is the tasting event going to be like later?" 

In front of the camera, both parties were rather polite during the opening. The viewers of the broadcast felt that it was a promotion. 

As a result, the viewers of the broadcast suddenly began to throw out words of criticism. 

"What's that? Why do they look like they're running a promotion? Surely, it can't be a real publicity stunt?" 

"They're just being courteous before the fight. She can't possibly tell them that she was there to wreck the place and ruin things as soon as she appeared." 

"I believe the host. Let's continue watching." 

Huang Ailin was still talking to Manager Wu in front of the camera. 

"During the tasting later, 50 members of the audience will be tasting the watermelons of both parties respectively. They will judge the results then."

Upon hearing those words, Huang Ailin frowned slightly. The audience at the venue was extremely fake, and once the paid attendees tried the fruit, things would be uncertain. 

"There's no need to vote. Since they've decided to attend the event, they must be people who enjoy eating watermelons. How about we give each of them half of the watermelon of each party and see which half is finished first? How does that sound?" 

Manager Wu was slightly stunned, as he did not expect Huang Ailin to come up with such a method. However, after thinking that they had already arranged for a lot of paid attendees to join the tasting, he nodded and agreed to show how magnanimous their company was. 

The testing finally began. Noticing that the first batch of watermelons that were sent to the audience was from Trendy Fruit Bar, Huang Ailin immediately knew which tricks they had up their sleeves. 

They were clearly pulling a sordid move, and she felt that their plans would definitely fall through later. 

Due to the fact that 50 members of the audience were picked on the spot, they did not consist entirely of the people who had been hired by Trendy Fruit Bar. Some of them were Huang Ailin's fans. 

"Ailin, look at me. I'm a fan of yours." Many of the members of the audience looked at Ailin's camera. 

Huang Ailin was not the only one who was holding a live broadcast. Trendy Fruit Bar had hired another host, who was a lifestyle broadcaster, to do a live-stream of the tasting event. 

Soon, Huang Ailin's watermelons were served. 

The dark red flesh seemed to be seedless, and it was also giving off a strong aroma of watermelon. As soon as the watermelons were served, they caused a huge commotion. 

"Whose watermelons are these? They smell so fresh, and the flesh looks so delicious!" 

"Ailin, we want some watermelons too. Hurry and point your camera at the watermelons, I want to eat them!"

"Eat watermelons!" 

"Eat watermelons!" 

"Eat watermelons!" All of a sudden, the viewers of her broadcast clamored about wanting to eat the watermelons. 

"The second batch of watermelons are the ones I brought. We'll see the results of the tasting of watermelon later," Huang Ailin said to the screen. 

"Ailin's watermelons win in terms of appearance."

"That unpalatable watermelon doesn't look bad either."

As the host's warm-up ended, the watermelon tasting event officially began.

There were quite a few ordinary tasters who had decided to eat the second batch of watermelons first, as soon as they were served. Hence, after taking a bite, they realized that the watermelons really did live up to their expectations.

The core and the sides of the watermelons were all sweet and delicious. One of them finally fulfilled his childhood dream of eating watermelons that were sweet throughout. 

Delicious! 

However, since he was there to taste the watermelon, he had to eat the other one too. 

Hence, he dug into the other watermelon as well.

"Yuck, why is this watermelon so bland like water?"

After taking a bite, the man abandoned the tasteless melon without hesitation and turned to the one he had just eaten, which was the watermelon that Huang Ailin had brought. 

Basically, all the ordinary tasters chose Huang Ailin's watermelon. 

The situation with the hired attendees was the complete opposite.

Due to the fact that it had already been arranged in advance, the hired attendees chose to try the watermelons from Trendy Fruit Bar first. They took several bites of it before trying the watermelon brought by Huang Ailin. 

Why is this watermelon so delicious!?! Although everyone had that thought in mind, they had already taken the payment and had to continue with the act.

Hence, after taking a few bites, the paid attendees continued to eat the watermelon from Trendy Fruit Bar. 

However, they were surprised by how much blander they had become. 

Since the entire tasting event was broadcasted live, everyone's expressions were clearly visible to the audience.

"Hurry, look at the two people who are dressed in blue and yellow at the extreme side. Why are they eating the watermelons with such a conflicted expression?"

"Damn it, their expressions are the same as Ailin's. Surely, it can't be that they had encountered the same thing as her?" 

"Ailin, hurry and focus the camera on them while they're eating the watermelons. I'd like to see which watermelons they're eating." 

"Hahahaha, is it a flop again?" 

"Why are they still forcing themselves to eat it even though they're feeling so conflicted? Could they have been paid to support the fruit company?" 

"Paid actors? Are they so unprofessional that they can't even eat when they have been paid to do so?"