Troublesome – Chapter 13

New Account

Starting a PK.

Lu Zhenqiu’s name wasn’t on the promotional image. She didn’t rush to question it, but instead waited for about an hour. Only when the official Weibo account of Sanshui Live started reposting the posts of other signed streamers did she message the person in charge.

The person in charge had just finished a meeting about promotions for the new streamers. They had formulated several activity plans, including a newcomer support program and a newcomer showcase event. Among the newly signed streamers, Lou Yifeng was probably the most well-known. Coupled with Lu Yan’s recommendation, they planned to have her do a few PKs¹ to boost her popularity. The head of the Entertainment Section had already contacted Lu Yan to make preparations.

They were scheduled to go live tonight.

The person in charge sat down in front of his computer. The moment he turned on the screen, he saw a flashing profile picture. He clicked on it. It was a message from Lu Zhenqiu: 【Hello, am I not part of this promotion?】

What did she mean?

The person in charge frowned. Promotions were the planning department’s job, not his. He had just been in a meeting and hadn’t seen the official Weibo post yet. He clicked on it now, his thick brows knitting together.

How could they have missed someone?

How could they make such a low-level mistake? It was a good thing Lu Zhenqiu was just an unknown streamer. If it had been someone with a bit of a reputation, the fans alone would have flamed the platform to death!

Still, he couldn’t take the blame just yet. The person in charge mulled it over for a moment before replying to Lu Zhenqiu: 【Miss Lu, please wait a moment. I’ll go ask what’s going on.】

Lu Zhenqiu pursed her lips when she received the message: 【Okay.】

Just as she sent it, a message from Xiao Yu came in.

Xiao Yu: 【What the hell are they playing at! Did they leave you out on purpose? It must be Lu Yan’s doing! She must have found out you were among the new streamers!】

Lu Zhenqiu could feel Xiao Yu’s anger even through the screen. She typed: 【I’ve already contacted the person in charge.】

Xiao Yu: 【What did he say?】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【He said he’s going to ask.】

Xiao Yu: 【Don’t let them pass the buck² and get away with a simple ‘sorry.’ No way. You have to be tough, you know?】

This wasn’t Lu Zhenqiu’s first job, so she understood. But Xiao Yu’s words still warmed her heart. Lu Zhenqiu sent: 【I know what to do.】

Xiao Yu: 【Good that you know. I was afraid you’d be silly enough to get tricked and still count the money for them. I’m telling you, this is definitely Lu Yan’s doing!】

Lu Zhenqiu pursed her lips. To be honest, she and Lu Yan didn’t really know each other. But during that dinner, Lu Yan had taken a jab at her, seemingly for Yu Wen’s sake. Perhaps… Xiao Yu was right.

After sending the message, Xiao Yu gritted her teeth.

She was 100% sure this was Lu Yan’s handiwork!

The reason she had left the voice acting circle back then was because she was so disgusted by Lu Yan. She never thought that two years later, she’d have to deal with this disgusting feeling again. Furious, she had already gone to question the head of the Entertainment Section.

Sanshui’s main focus was gaming. Although her fanbase was larger than Lu Yan’s, she couldn’t compete in gifting battles³. After all, Lu Yan was in the Entertainment Section, which lived and died by fan gifting. The Gaming Section was different; there were hardly any gifting battles. But in terms of popularity, Lu Yan couldn’t compare to her. Plus, she knew many gaming streamers, all of whom were quite famous on Sanshui and had their own fanbases. She had already sent a message to the head of the Entertainment Section. If this matter wasn’t handled promptly today, she would go squat at the main company’s entrance and demand an explanation!

The head of the Entertainment Section, whose surname was Zhou, felt like he’d just been handed a hot potato when he received Xiao Yu’s message. Lu Yan had indeed approached him before the promotion. At first, she just asked him to help take care of Lou Yifeng, and he had readily agreed. The Entertainment Section only had two or three pillars, and Lu Yan was one of them. She knew how to engage her audience, had a huge fanbase, and could even climb to first place in gifting battles. She was basically his star streamer. There was no reason to refuse a request from his star. But later, he didn’t know how Lu Yan found out that Lu Zhenqiu was among the newcomers.

He didn’t know what kind of grudge the two had, but seeing that Lu Zhenqiu had no backing, he had planned to suppress her a bit. Originally, he could have explained away the promotional post by saying they’d missed her, then personally apologize to Lu Zhenqiu, and the matter would be over. After all, what could Lu Zhenqiu do to him? He was the head of the Entertainment Section. Offending him meant no future recommendations. He believed Lu Zhenqiu wouldn’t be that foolish. Plus, it would be a way to appease Lu Yan. A win-win.

Who would have thought that Lu Zhenqiu actually knew Xiao Yu!

Xiao Yu was one of the more active streamers in the gaming world. Her activity wasn’t just limited to her stream; she also had excellent relationships with various major streamers. She used to be a singer and was very good-looking. Not long after she joined Sanshui, he had tried to poach her for the Entertainment Section, but she had refused.

In the past two years, Xiao Yu had thrived as a gaming streamer, amassing a considerable number of fans. The key was the people she knew—none of them were people he could afford to offend. This left him feeling cornered and aggrieved.

He hadn’t even replied to Xiao Yu when the general manager called him. He jumped, thinking Xiao Yu had already complained to the leadership. He quickly answered, “Hey, Boss.”

“What’s going on with that promotion of yours? The promotion department said you only gave them one photo?”

He blinked, having already prepared his excuse. “Yes, Miss Lu—we were planning to give her a solo post.”

“A solo post?” the man on the other end of the line asked, confused. “Why?”

“We looked at her profile. Although Miss Lu hasn’t had many fans these past two years, her streams used to be quite popular…” This was obviously bullsh#t, but he’d hit on a good point. Lu Zhenqiu’s old streams had indeed been pretty good. Moreover, her voice was unique and hard to replace. It was only because she went to a small platform that she fell off the radar. If she had been on Sanshui, she would have been made a star long ago!

He relayed this to the general manager, who nodded. “Alright, you handle it then. I’ve given you the person.”

The person in charge felt a wave of relief. “Ah, okay.”

Afterward, the general manager sent him Lu Zhenqiu’s contact information. Zhou Ye⁴ stared at his phone, suppressing his frustration. He added Lu Zhenqiu as a friend. Just as the request was sent, a message from Lu Yan popped up: 【Zhou-ge⁵, good afternoon!】

Zhou Ye sighed and sent her a sticker. Lu Yan asked: 【What’s wrong, Zhou-ge? Are you in a bad mood?】

She had the nerve to ask.

Zhou Ye told Lu Yan about the message from Xiao Yu. There was no reply from her end for several minutes. Just as Zhou Ye was getting annoyed, Lu Yan sent: 【I’m sorry, Zhou-ge. It’s true I didn’t think things through properly. I’m sorry you had to go through that.】

With a few soft words, she not only apologized but also gave Zhou Ye a way to save face.

【Zhou-ge, let’s just give Lu Zhenqiu a solo promotion. We can say our Entertainment Section values her. Don’t be angry, Zhou-ge. Have some black tea 【Transfer 2888】】

Zhou Ye accepted the transfer, and his expression softened considerably. He replied to Lu Yan: 【We’re already preparing the solo post.】

Lu Yan gritted her teeth and sneered, but the words she typed were sweet and delicate: 【Thank you, Zhou-ge.】

Zhou Ye contacted Lu Zhenqiu and explained the solo promotion to her. His attitude was polite and courteous. Lu Zhenqiu was on a voice call with Xiao Yu and Hua Luo. When Xiao Yu heard about the solo post, her mood improved significantly. “Not bad,” she said, “but Lu Yan is probably going to be furious about your solo promo.”

Hua Luo said, “Let her be furious. It’s so random. Don’t they need to tell Qiuqiu in advance about a solo promo? I suspect they never planned one in the first place. They only agreed because of your tyrannical might.”

Xiao Yu huffed, “What tyrannical might?”

Hua Luo laughed. As Lu Zhenqiu listened to them banter, she saw a mention pop up on her Weibo. Soon, her solo promotional post was up. Lu Zhenqiu reposted it with a heart emoji.

Her fans were also very happy, calling her “Qiuqiu this” and “Qiuqiu that.” A few said they were surprised she had signed with Sanshui and that Sanshui was great. Lu Zhenqiu replied to a few fans before exiting Weibo.

Xiao Yu asked, “Are you streaming this afternoon?”

Lu Zhenqiu said, “A test stream at two.”

A test stream meant entering the stream room, adjusting all the equipment, and communicating with the admin. If there were no problems, she could go live. Hua Luo, who had been watching the streaming platform, muttered, “Is that Lu Yan streaming? So early?”

The Entertainment Section usually had the most traffic from evening until midnight. It was rare for anyone to stream during the day. Xiao Yu rolled her eyes. “She’s probably making up her required hours.”

Lu Zhenqiu said, “I’ll head into the stream room to prepare then.”

She logged into the room number the admin had given her. Perhaps because of the recent promotion, many fans clicked the link from Weibo and entered her room. In no time, her follower count broke a hundred. Even before she went live, many fans were already flooding the chat with comments.

Although Lu Zhenqiu’s room wasn’t fully decorated yet, its basic form was there. There were two stuffed dolls on the bay window, making it look particularly cozy. Some sharp-eyed fans had already noticed that her streaming location was different from before.

【Did Qiuqiu move?】

【Qiuqiu’s bay window is so pretty!】

【The new room is so nice!】

Lu Zhenqiu saw the comments and said, “It’s not fully tidied up yet. Yes, I moved. Just moved in these past two days. Singing? I might have to wait a bit. I need to adjust my equipment first.”

After a flurry of activity, quite a few people had entered her stream, including many newcomers. They came in exclaiming how beautiful the streamer was. Lu Zhenqiu smiled gently. “Thank you for the compliment. Feel free to follow.”

【Ahhh, I love her voice too!】

【I’m in love with this voice! Is she a new streamer? She has such a great aura.】

【Not a new streamer, but our Qiuqiu’s aura is super-duper amazing!】

When Lu Zhenqiu finished her setup, she saw the bullet chat was already lively. Some of her old fans were chatting with the new ones who had just entered the stream. The atmosphere was friendly and cheerful. Xiao Yu also sent a message through the stream: 【You there?】

Lu Zhenqiu replied: 【Here.】

Xiao Yu: 【Let’s do a PK later. I’ll help you get some popularity.】

Lu Zhenqiu knew that the Sanshui platform had PK events. There were two types: one was random matching, where you enter the PK pool and the system pairs you up. The other was an arranged PK with someone you know. She had just started streaming, and Xiao Yu was an established streamer with over a million fans. A PK with her would be a huge boost to her popularity. She typed: 【Okay.】

Just as she sent the message, a PK invitation popped up on her screen. She clicked accept. The page changed, and to her surprise, it was Lu Yan.

On her end, Lu Yan had a look of utter shock on her face. She blinked. “Oh my, sorry about that. I connected to the wrong person. I was trying to connect with Fengfeng, but I ended up with you. Are you a new streamer too?”

Lu Zhenqiu watched her fake greeting and smiled. “Yes, a new streamer.”

“Zhenqiu, what a beautiful name. Since we’ve connected, it must be fate. Shall we have a PK?” Lu Yan said with a beaming smile, hiding the rage and resentment that had flared up in her heart because of Lu Zhenqiu.

Her fans quickly flooded into Lu Zhenqiu’s stream room, typing: 【So pretty, so pretty! Followed!】

【This young lady is gorgeous.】

【Let’s get the PK started.】

The phone Lu Zhenqiu had placed beside her computer lit up. It was a message from Xiao Yu: 【F#ck! How can Lu Yan be such a dog? She’s not here to kindly help you gain popularity. She definitely wants to humiliate you after you lose!】

A PK ends with a winner and a loser. The winner can make the loser perform a dare or a punishment. Usually, everyone just does it for fun, but this Lu Yan… she was definitely doing this on purpose!

Lu Zhenqiu had just finished reading Xiao Yu’s message when Lu Yan started the PK mode. She tensed up, her gaze darkening. She didn’t notice a new account that had just entered the room at the very bottom of the viewer list.

The account’s ID was—Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu.

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The author has something to say:

Thirty red packets, muah muah.

Xiao Yu: This ID is so interesting. Someone actually wants you to be the 1?⁶

Lu Zhenqiu: …

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