Troublesome – Chapter 15

Believe You

Like hell I believe you.

Lu Zhenqiu was stunned by what 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】 said in her stream. Besides her, many of her fans were also shocked. Sending red packets in a stream was a random giveaway. You could stuff a large amount into one, and anyone who followed the streamer could claim a piece—it was just a matter of how much. No one had ever sent one for over 1,000 yuan. At most, a streamer might get an 888¹ packet for their birthday. This 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】 was ruthless. The moment she declared she’d send an 8888 red packet for every loss, the entire stream erupted!

Lu Zhenqiu watched helplessly as her stream was shared one, two, three, four… seven, eight times. Her follower count began to leap. One refresh, it was up by four hundred. Another refresh, seven hundred, then over a thousand.

She was dumbfounded. She immediately sent a private message to 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】. She mulled over the wording for a long time, unsure how to address her, and finally sent: 【Boss, are you there?】

Boss? Jin Shuilan couldn’t help but smile when she saw that term of address. Her lips curled up, her eyes filled with amusement. She replied: 【I am.】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【About the red packet you mentioned, it’s really not necessary. Besides, I’m only doing PKs to complete a task. You don’t have to spend so much.】

Sanshui had a PK task, requiring thirty minutes to an hour a day, about five or six matches, with the option for overtime. While she hoped for as many gifts as possible—since she got a fifty percent cut—this kind of high-stakes gift-giving, easily costing tens of thousands, felt unnecessary to her.

Jin Shuilan felt like laughing. When other streamers saw her showering them with gifts like this, didn’t they all flock to her, calling her “dear sister” and “sweet sister”? She was even looking forward to Lu Zhenqiu being like the others, maybe calling her “rich sis.”

Oh well, whether she was called rich or not wasn’t important. She’d be happy just to be called “sister.”

What would that feel like, if she called me that?

Jin Shuilan coughed lightly, interrupting her fantasy and suppressing the tingling sensation that shot through her body at the thought. Just as she was about to reply, a message from Ji Zibo popped up: 【You’ve met your match!】

Attached was a screenshot from the stream, the one showing her promise of an 8888 red packet.

Ji Zibo: 【Holy cow, this picture is already going viral in our circles. Everyone’s saying some tycoon is throwing insane money to chase a streamer. Dropped ten Love Warships right after entering, and even made a bold claim that for every PK loss today, they’d send an 8888 red packet. A ton of people in our group chat just went to follow her.】

She had initially brushed it off with a smile, but then she saw a familiar face—the streamer was actually Lu Zhenqiu. That changed things. She had to give her a heads-up. Who didn’t know about Jin Shuilan’s feelings for Lu Zhenqiu?

The message was sent, but there was no reply. Ji Zibo: 【Not there?】

Jin Shuilan: 【I am.】

Ji Zibo: 【What are you thinking about? Hurry up and get online to PK against that tycoon!】

Jin Shuilan: 【Why would I PK against myself?】

Ji Zibo: 【???】

Ji Zibo: 【???? Holy f#ck, it really is you! I was just thinking, who would come up with such a flashy name.】

Jin Shuilan: 【…】

Ji Zibo: 【I get it now. You’re trying every trick in the book to give your crush a raise!】

Half of Jin Shuilan’s money went into Lu Zhenqiu’s pocket, and the other half went to the streaming platform. The crucial part was that the platform belonged to her family. This meant half the money went to her crush, and the other half went to herself.

Was she losing out?

Not at all! With that declaration made today, there would surely be a long line of people waiting to PK with Lu Zhenqiu. People would follow her out of curiosity or just for fun. In one night, Lu Zhenqiu’s follower count would definitely break a hundred thousand. The evening traffic was huge, and word was already spreading. Soon, people would be flooding in. She had just shared it in her group chat a moment ago herself.

This move generated a massive amount of traffic, far more effective than any “new streamer” recommendation list.

Then there was the PK itself. She had already made her stance clear: she wouldn’t let Lu Zhenqiu lose. Wouldn’t that make the opponents even more determined to see her fail? In the back-and-forth, after deducting the streamer’s cut, all the remaining money would go straight into her own pocket. She could give her crush a raise, generate massive hype for her, and make money all at the same time. A single stone to kill three birds.

Truly worthy of being Jin Shuilan.

Ji Zibo sent a “You’re a genius” sticker. Jin Shuilan remained unfazed. Two seconds later, Ji Zibo sent another message: 【Are you still at the magazine publisher? Did you sign the contract?】

Jin Shuilan glanced to her sides. There were tea and snacks prepared for her in the break room, but Zhao Siran hadn’t come in yet. She replied to Ji Zibo: 【Not yet.】

Ji Zibo: 【Then… have you heard the news?】

Jin Shuilan: 【I know.】

She had received the news not long after arriving at the publisher. There was a reason for the sudden attempt to lower her royalty rate. Someone wanted to promote Tang Yingxia, and they were promoting her right under Jin Shuilan’s nose. On one hand, there was her deal: a six million advance, a first print run of one hundred thousand copies, and an eighteen percent royalty rate. On the other hand, there was a low-price contract for two years, with royalties for any single book not exceeding twelve percent, and a total advance capped at one million per book, non-negotiable.

This other side was, obviously, Tang Yingxia.

She didn’t know when they had established this connection. Perhaps they saw Tang Yingxia’s wide current audience and considered her a potential future star, figuring they would earn a lot by signing her now. That must be why the boss had the confidence to press down on her royalty rate.

Even if negotiations with her fell through, they could still promote Tang Yingxia. Either way, they wouldn’t lose.

Besides, even with a four-point reduction, her terms were still unparalleled in the industry. No one else could afford them. Banking on this, the boss dared to be so bold in his price-cutting.

Ji Zibo: 【I just don’t get it. It’s not your first time working together. Can Tang Yingxia really bring in the kind of profits you do? Do they really think the money your books make is all because of their marketing?】

So they wanted to groom Tang Yingxia into the next Jin Shuilan?

What a fantasy!

Jin Shuilan’s expression was calm. Ji Zibo asked again: 【Then what are you still doing there?】

Jin Shuilan replied: 【Watching a stream.】

Ji Zibo: 【…】

She clicked into Lu Zhenqiu’s stream and discovered that while Jin Shuilan was chatting with her, she had sent another dozen or so Love Warships[. The red and blue bars on the PK leaderboard were neck and neck, a clear sign that both sides were going all out.

In reality, Sanshui’s PKs were the shortest among all platforms and had low requirements. Other platforms used to require entertainment streamers to PK for no less than three hours a day because fans, not wanting to see their favorite streamer lose, would pour huge amounts of money in. That kind of situation was rare on Sanshui.

There was also the tactic of “calling for backup²” after a PK started, getting the big-shot fans from both sides to battle it out with gifts. But that was for streamers with huge fanbases. For someone like Lu Zhenqiu to have this kind of spectacle on her very first day of streaming was truly a first.

The hype generated by this “first” was indeed immense. Netizens shared the link with their friends, then posted it to Weibo and the Sanshui forums. Idle people on their breaks all came over to watch the two streams. Some of Lu Yan’s die-hard fans also joined the gifting war, but no matter how much they gave, Lu Zhenqiu’s side was always ahead by one Love Warship.

Lu Zhenqiu’s fan count grew at a visible rate, like a sesame stalk flowering higher and higher³. It broke ten thousand in less than five minutes.

The stream was in an uproar.

【Wow! Does this count as the highest-value PK of the year?】

【Probably. I’ve been watching Sanshui for over half a year and this is the first time I’ve seen stakes this high.】

【This new streamer has her own fan club, a rich-sis fan club! Rich sis, adopt me!】

【Zhenqiu? That name sounds so familiar. Is that the same Zhenqiu who voiced the audio drama for xxx?】

【Yes, yes! Our Qiuqiu has a beautiful voice and a sweet personality. You won’t regret investing! If you like her, please drop a follow.】

【Followed. Waiting for the lucky draw.】

After this bullet comment, a whole stream of copy-pastes followed. Lu Zhenqiu’s fan count jumped by another thousand. She smiled into the camera, “Thank you everyone for the follows. Thank you to ‘A Little Fish’ from ‘What Do I Do,’ thank you for the love…”

After speaking, she received a message from a moderator.

【Qiuqiu, you can put ‘Send 8888 Red Packet For Every Loss’ in your stream title. Do you need my help to change it?】

Lu Zhenqiu: ???

She immediately replied: 【No, thank you.】

After replying to the moderator, she glanced at her private messages with 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】 again. There was no reply, but the person was still relentlessly showering her with gifts. Lu Zhenqiu: 【Boss?】

The mod sent her another message: 【You don’t want to? I guess it does seem a bit too flashy. In that case, Qiuqiu, you should do a couple more PKs today. Extend your stream time a bit to build up the heat.】

Lu Zhenqiu didn’t really want to. All she wanted right now was to get in touch with this 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】. But her private messages to the user went unanswered.

She was at her wit’s end. She asked the moderator: 【Can you contact 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】?】

Moderator: 【Hmm? Isn’t she your friend?】

They had all assumed it was Lu Zhenqiu’s friend, showing up to support her on her first day streaming on a new platform. Lu Zhenqiu was too tired to even type: 【No, she’s not. So, can you contact her?】

Moderator: 【Nope. We can only send internal messages. But you could ask her to add you on WeChat.】

Lu Zhenqiu was speechless.

The person wasn’t even replying to her PMs; she had no hope of getting a WeChat add.

Lu Zhenqiu bit her lip. While thanking the viewers for gifts, she sent another message to 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】: 【Boss, please check your private messages.】

Jin Shuilan saw the private message notification slide across the top of her screen. She didn’t click on it. The PK had entered its final minute. Lu Yan’s side was furiously sending gifts, and the PK total was steadily climbing. The hearts of everyone in both streams were in their throats, especially Lu Yan’s. She watched as the PK bar went from her being behind to her being ahead, surpassing Lu Zhenqiu.

Hold on for thirty seconds! Just thirty more seconds!

Her voice was hoarse from shouting in her stream. Her eyes were fixed, unblinking. Ten seconds left until the end! Nine! Eight! Seven! At this moment, she had completely forgotten the soreness from her squats, forgotten the background of her stream. Her eyes were filled with nothing but those red numbers.

Six seconds! Five! Four!

I’m winning! I’m going to win!

Just as the words were about to burst from her mouth, just as the fans in both streams were at the peak of their suspense, Lu Zhenqiu’s stream was suddenly bathed in a layer of purple.

【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】 has sent 【Zhenqiu】 a Love Warship X11.

Right in the last three seconds, the PK total shot past Lu Yan’s. The words she was about to shout got stuck in her throat. Her face turned ashen. She had clearly just received nearly a hundred thousand yuan in gifts, which would net her seventy or eighty thousand, but she couldn’t feel a shred of happiness.

Lu Zhenqiu’s stream was spammed with a barrage of “Holy f#ck, holy f#ck,” mixed with the dazzling special effects from the gifts. Lu Zhenqiu sat in her chair as Lu Yan forced a smile, her teeth clenched, “So, what’s the punishment this time?”

Before Lu Zhenqiu could speak, the bullet comments were already flying: 【Let the rich sis decide!】

【Rich sis, you say what the punishment is!】

Lu Zhenqiu said, “We’ll listen to the boss.”

She thought the boss wouldn’t send a message, but unexpectedly, two seconds later, 【Dream Lover Yi Zhenqiu】 posted: 【The loser has to meow three times like a cat.】

The punishment was simple enough, harmless. It was considerate, taking into account that she was a girl and not making any excessive demands. It was quite thoughtful. Lu Yan’s ashen face improved. She smiled and said, “Alright, whatever the boss says, goes. Boss, when will you come visit my stream? I’ll make you a moderator.”

Just as Jin Shuilan heard that, she opened her private messages. At the top were all sorts of pleas for mercy from Lu Yan, complete with pitiful-looking emojis. Below that were the two messages from Lu Zhenqiu calling her “Boss.”

She replied to Lu Zhenqiu: 【Hmm?】

Lu Zhenqiu’s hand trembled when she saw the reply. She quickly messaged Jin Shuilan: 【Boss, did you see my messages? You don’t need to send so many gifts. I only have three PKs left. I’ll be the one to send the 8888 red packet.】

She would just treat it as if she lost all three matches.

She would turn off the PK function after these three matches were over.

A smile flashed in Jin Shuilan’s eyes as she read the message. She sent to Lu Zhenqiu: 【Have you ever read a novel?】

The random question left Lu Zhenqiu stunned. It took her several seconds to reply: 【I have.】

Jin Shuilan: 【Then have you ever read the kind of novel where the more money the protagonist spends, the more they end up earning?】

Lu Zhenqiu blinked.

Jin Shuilan: 【That’s my situation right now. Do you believe me?】

Lu Zhenqiu: …

Like hell I believe you!!

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The author has something to say:

Thirty red packets, muah muah. Congratulations to the little cutie ‘What Do I Do’ for the successful cameo. Are there any other little cuties who want a cameo as a stream viewer?

Jin Shuilan: No, wife, believe me, it’s true!

Lu Zhenqiu: Which hospital did this person escape from?

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