The final stream of IShowSpeed’s now legendary China trip in Changsha, Hunan, was one of the most watched and most discussed streams of his tour. Not only did it include the dream team-up between the American streamer and Da Zhang Wei (大张伟, Wowkie Zhang), the singer-songwriter who penned the “neige” song, but also many controversies surrounding the organisers and people around the IShowSpeed stream, especially the self-proclaimed “boss” of the Wenheyou (文和友) restaurant complex chain, Weng Donghua (翁东华), known on Western social media as the “green guy”.
By now, you have probably heard of the “Unc” or “Uncle” (卤鹅哥, lit. Braised Goose Bro) who started off following Speed across 5 cities, feeding him braised goose from his hometown, Rongchang, Chongqing and ended up sitting next to Speed at the final banquet in Changsha. The man who began his journey in Chongqing, wearing the “Dongbei Dahua” floral print.
There has been footage circulating of Weng videobombing Speed, screaming “Changsha” in Wenheyou and then trying to move Unc, who’s sitting beside Speed, by telling him “I’m boss” [sic] and trying to take the seat next to the American streamer.
Netizens feel that the “green guy” showed little respect to the people present, including IShowSpeed. And those following Speed’s streams have already developed a soft spot for Unc and won’t tolerate this behaviour from a stranger. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, the topic “Wenheyou boss videobombing IShowSpeed stream sparks controversy” (#甲亢哥直播文和友老板抢镜引争议#) reached number 5 on the Hot Search list with 38.42 million views.
Weng was later found out to be not actually the “boss” of the restaurant chain but a co-founder and board member. However, another co-founder of Wenheyou doesn’t seem to be concerned about the backlash and said it’s not necessary to respond to the situation.
While Unc receives a reward of 100,000 RMB (13,605.35 RMB) from his hometown for promoting its braised goose, the Changsha branch of Wenheyou has been flooded with thousands of negative reviews for the behaviour of its co-founder. It would seem that the righteous indignation from netizens has finally been vindicated.
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