You're just a locksmith! What are you doing catching swindlers at the start?

The video also compared the performances of other contestants on the first day.

A student who was studying to be a chef spent a day chopping vegetables in the kitchen of a five-star hotel and earned 800 yuan.

The finance student made two thousand yuan from stock trading, but because the process was tedious, the number of viewers watching the live stream never exceeded one hundred.

A programmer took on an outsourcing project and received a deposit of 2,000 yuan, but the project will take three days to complete.

Lin Zhou—within one day, he crossed paths with the scene of the anti-prostitution operation twice.

The live stream clips have garnered over a million views across the entire network.

With over 20,000 new followers, they became the biggest dark horse since the start of the entire professional peak competition.

The style of the comments under this video is completely different from the previous two.

"Honestly, he doesn't create content; content chases after him."

"The first time was when the lock was open and the door wasn't closed; the second time was when the police broke down the door while the lock was being repaired. He was passive in both incidents, but he got all the online attention."

"This is the legendary innate live-streaming physique."

"I watched his live stream replay, and the scariest thing is that there was absolutely no acting throughout. He was just doing his work normally, talking normally, calling the police normally, and fixing the lock normally. And then everything just happened."

"Upstairs, you missed the most important point—he unlocked the door in three seconds. This technology itself has value, but it was overshadowed by the bizarre events that followed."

Lin Zhou was woken up by his phone vibrating.

It's not an alarm clock. It's a notification. Lots and lots of notifications.

He reached for his phone with his eyes closed and turned on the screen.

At 7:43 a.m., the notification bar was already overflowing.

Backend messages from live streaming platforms, private message notifications on Weibo, and new friend requests on WeChat.

The red numbers are marked in the upper right corner of each app icon, like a row of silent alarm clocks.

He placed his phone face down on the bed and turned over.

She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. The radiator made a gurgling sound.

About thirty seconds later, he flipped back, picked up his phone, and opened the backend of the live streaming platform.

Fan growth: +52700.

He scratched his hair, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

The cold water splashed on my face and jolted me awake.

I saw a slight bluish tint under my eyes in the mirror, but it was much better than last night.

He wiped his face with a towel, sat back down on the bed, picked up his phone, and tapped the live stream button.

The show has started airing.

The moment the live stream lit up, a flood of comments poured in.

"Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!"

"The King of Three Seconds is Here"

"Lock Picker, you're awake!"

Do you know how many times you were trending on social media last night?

"Where is the Three-Second King going to get the lock repaired today?"

Good morning, Three-Second King!

"Has the Three-Second King had breakfast?"

"The King of Three Seconds"

"The King of Three Seconds"

"The King of Three Seconds"

The screen was filled with "Three-Second Kings." Neatly arranged, like a line of soldiers. Occasionally a few other ones were mixed in, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the new "Three-Second Kings."

Lin Zhou stared at the screen, his lips twitching slightly: "What 'Three-Second King'? Who came up with that name?"

The comments section responded incredibly quickly.

"Named by netizens"

"Your current universally recognized ID is 'Three-Second King'."

"The Lock-Picking King and the Three-Second King are known as the Two Kings."

"Three seconds to unlock, three seconds to call the police, three seconds to be raided for prostitution, three seconds to prove your innocence."

"Your life is made up of countless three-second intervals."

"The title of 'King of Three Seconds' is already welded on, just accept it."

Lin Zhou opened his mouth, wanting to say something in rebuttal, but after thinking about it carefully—it did take three seconds to unlock the door, it did take three seconds to connect to the police call, it did take him three seconds to react when Lao Zhou broke down the door, and last night he threw stones—no, the comments didn't mention throwing stones.

He swallowed back what he was about to say and instead said, "Alright. Let's get back to work today."

The comments section started flooding again.

Where to go today?

"Is it going to be another foot massage parlor?"

"The crescent-shaped lock cylinder hasn't been replaced yet."

"Three-Second King, you still owe your sister a lock cylinder."

"Do you still dare to go today?"

Lin Zhou put on his coat while watching the live chat. He zipped it up to his chest and said, "I'll go to Banwan this afternoon. I'll take on some other orders this morning; I missed several calls yesterday."

He picked up his other phone—the one he used for work. There were three missed calls on the screen, all from the same number, made around 11 PM last night. Just as he was about to call back, the phone suddenly vibrated.

call.

He glanced at the screen, answered the call, and pressed speakerphone.

"Feed?"

"The locksmith?"

The voice on the other end was that of a young man, speaking very quickly.

"The doorman won't unlock it? It's a security door, I'm locked out, I left the key inside."

Lin Zhou draped his work pants over the back of the chair.

"address."

The other party gave me an address.

An old residential area in the north of the city.

After Lin Zhou wrote it down, he heard the sound of a lighter coming from the other end of the phone.

"How much?" the person on the other end asked.

"Two hundred for unlocking. If the lock cylinder is broken and needs to be replaced, that's extra."

There was a silence on the other end for about two seconds.

The sound of the lighter stopped.

"Okay. Come on. Hurry up."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Zhou glanced at the call duration on his phone screen and put the phone in his pocket.

He put on his coat, zipped it up to his chest, and said to the mini camera on his chest, "Let's go, North City."

A few scattered comments drifted in.

"So early today."

"An old neighborhood in the north of the city? I used to live in that area; it's a mixed bag and very chaotic."

"Locksmith King, please be careful!"

I'd rather go to a foot massage parlor.

Lin Zhou hailed a taxi at the entrance of the residential area.

After providing the address.

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

A young man, with a camera clipped to his chest and a tool bag slung over his shoulder. "Live streaming?"

"The locksmith."

The driver nodded and didn't say anything more.

Turn the steering wheel to the left, and the car will turn onto the main road.

It took about twenty minutes to drive there.

The taxi turned off the main road into an old residential area.

The road narrowed, and the buildings on both sides were six stories high. Several tiles on the exterior walls had fallen off, revealing the gray-black cement underneath.

Lin Zhou paid the fare, asked for an extra receipt, folded it, and put it in his pocket.

He stood at the entrance of the residential compound and looked up.

The three six-story buildings looked even older in the morning light.

The number of comments increased. The number of online viewers climbed to over 500.

"This neighborhood looks like an old, run-down apartment."

The paint on the walls is peeling.

"The environment is like this for the first order of the Three-Second King today."

"Something doesn't feel right here."

"Be careful, lock-picking master!"

Lin Zhou walked into the residential area.

The three buildings are on the left. The iron gate downstairs is open, but the lock is broken, and the bolt is retracted into the door panel, so it cannot be closed.

The hallway was dark; one of the motion-activated lights was broken, and the other was casting a dim, yellowish light.

The wall is covered with little GGs, one after another: locksmiths, drain cleaners, document processors, and phone numbers written in different colored pens: red, black, and blue.

Third floor.

302.

The door was an old security door, with several patches of green paint chipped off, revealing brown rust underneath.

A young man was squatting at the doorway.

My hair is all messy.

It was as if he had just gotten out of bed, or as if he hadn't slept all night.

He heard footsteps and looked up.

Twenty-three or twenty-four years old.

Very thin.

High cheekbones, sunken cheeks, and an unnaturally pale complexion.

He looked at Lin Zhou, his gaze lingering for a moment on the camera on Lin Zhou's chest.

Then he stood up quickly, his knee making a cracking sound.