Chen Xun sat silently in his car with the window open. The wind felt a little cool against his face, and he could not tell whether there was more sorrow or joy in his heart.
Once the two disconnected their call, someone suggested letting viewers join the voice chat and share gossip, since they had time anyway!
After all, what had so many of them stayed here for!?
For the gossip!
The viewers quickly embraced this suggestion. Qu Nanzhu did not spoil their fun, bringing up one viewer after another who was bursting with things to share.
Meanwhile, he listened as he cut out paper figures.
Huo Sili had already been discharged during the day. His injuries were not serious, mainly a hairline fracture in his lower leg, and he could recuperate at home.
He watched Qu Nanzhu's livestream while working, occasionally sending him small gifts to ensure he remained firmly in the top donor spot.
Partway through, the young woman in second place suddenly wanted a turn on the throne and showered him with a hundred Carnivals. The viewer sharing gossip stopped mid-story, repeatedly crying, "Sis, stop gifting! You're scaring me!"
The chat mocked him: [What are you scared of? She's not sending them to you.]
The man swore at them, saying they did not understand!
Although Huo Sili did not understand the young woman's competitive spirit, he respected it.
So he only sent ninety-nine.
Before the Carnival effects had even finished floating across the screen, the young woman left the livestream in a huff.
[Wow, he actually drove our number two sis away.]
[Couldn't big bro let her have this one?]
[The person above isn't letting her off either.]
[So much money, so much money! This is all money!]
[What would happen if this world had just one more rich person-me!!]
[You'd make the people who were already rich even richer, so you're still poor.]
[? Is that something a human would say?]
For once, Qu Nanzhu commented on the gifts. "Please spend responsibly, both of you."
Huo Sili's hand paused in the middle of sending gifts.
4567318875: [All right. It won't happen again.]
He was genuinely reflecting on his behavior, but to those looking for trouble, Qu Nanzhu was an ungrateful streamer lecturing his top donor, who had now outright declared he would stop gifting.
The gloating comments came particularly quickly.
[Seriously, how can someone become a streamer and still pretend to be so pure and untouchable?]
[Exactly, lol. Deep down, he's dying for big bro to send more.]
[Well, big bro isn't gifting anymore either.]
[Seriously, why are there so many bitter people? Our big bro is strictly a career fan. Do some of you understand that?]
4567318875: [I'm not stopping. I'm just spending responsibly.]
Huo Sili knew netizens loved jumping to conclusions, so he had to clear things up immediately.
4567318875: [I am a career fan. I have great faith in him.]
Those two messages left the haters speechless. In the end, unable to stand the laughter and cheer in the livestream, they beat a sorry retreat.
After leaving, they lost their composure again and hammered out posts on social media-Am I the only one who thinks a certain fortune-teller surnamed Qu is really pretentious...
The lively, noisy stream continued until nearly ten. Huo Sili lifted his head from his pile of documents, took off his glasses, and rubbed his tired eyes before picking up the tablet beside him.
4567318875: [Time for bed.]
[Huh? Why is someone policing me when I'm just watching a stream?]
[Person above, is he talking to you?]
[I think it's bedtime too. I have school tomorrow, sob.]
[Speaking of which, has baby Qu been cutting out paper figures all evening?]
[Ah! I know! Are they those paper figures that can move like real people? You can use them to do all sorts of things.]
[You're getting ahead of yourself. With the current level of mystic arts, bringing paper figures to life still isn't possible, understand?]
After that comment appeared, Qu Nanzhu patted the bottoms of a string of paper figures off-camera.
Where the viewers could not see, eighteen little paper figures laughed and jostled one another as they jumped off the tabletop. After drifting to the floor, they headed straight toward the corner where Xiao Zhu was.
His task for the night was complete, and the viewers were gone too, so Qu Nanzhu said goodbye and prepared to end the stream.
These viewers had gotten smarter and typed goodnight directly into the chat. Sure enough, just over ten seconds later, the screen went black.
After ending the stream, Qu Nanzhu opened his private messages for once, intending to clear them out. Just as he finished, a new message popped up from an ID he recognized.
Seeing a familiar person, Qu Nanzhu opened it without his usual reluctance.
Only then did he discover that this person had sent him quite a few messages, while he had merely replied with a hello last night and said nothing since.
Qu Nanzhu immediately felt a little guilty. This person had stayed in his livestream for two nights and spent as much as three million, yet he had not even spoken a word to him.
Although the man regarded him as his lifesaver and did not mind.
The other party presumably saw the read receipt and sent another question: [Is it inconvenient?]
Qu Nanzhu quickly glanced at the message the man had just sent. He was asking whether they could meet for a meal, as he wanted to thank him in person.
What a loyal, grateful person.
Qu Nanzhu sighed inwardly.
He had originally planned to seek these people out himself once his peace pendants arrived, but since Huo Sili had invited him to a meal, he did not seem to have a reason to refuse.
With that thought, Qu Nanzhu agreed.
Huo Sili was overjoyed and immediately asked whether there was anything he particularly liked or could not eat.
Qu Nanzhu replied quickly, with two words: [Anything's fine.]
They exchanged contact details and names, then agreed that he would come to Huo Sili's home for lunch the next day.
Huo Sili called the internal line and told the butler to arrange a meal for a guest at noon tomorrow.
The butler asked in detail about preferences and dietary restrictions. Huo Sili simply said anything would do.
In that short time, Qu Nanzhu's inbox had been flooded again. With no other choice, he cleared it once more and exited the dashboard.
Remembering that he had plans with someone tomorrow, Qu Nanzhu checked on Xiao Zhu again before going to bed.
A little after seven the next morning, a group of little paper figures woke him by bouncing around on his chest.
He could only sit up. After thinking for a few seconds and clearing his head, he looked at the little paper figures on the floor.
They were hopping about joyfully, their giggles ringing incessantly through the little rented room.
"Ahh..." Qu Nanzhu stretched lazily. "What happened?"
As he spoke, he followed the little paper figures to the door and linked his senses with one that had slipped outside. It turned out there were people out there.
Qu Nanzhu frowned, unable to think of anyone who would visit him at this hour.
But they did not seem to intend to knock, and Qu Nanzhu, who had just woken up, had no intention of opening the door either.
Even after he finished washing up and had to go out to buy breakfast, none of the people outside showed any intention of disturbing him.
He could hardly starve himself to death over a few complete strangers.
With that thought, Qu Nanzhu threw on a jacket and pushed the door open.
Hearing the door open, all five people outside sprang to their feet.
Qu Nanzhu looked up. Well, judging by their formation, there were two groups.
The three on the left wore very ordinary work clothes. On the other side stood two celestial masters in matching uniforms, one old and one young.
Qu Nanzhu gave them a quick glance. Since none of them spoke, he treated them as though they were not there for him and walked straight between them.
Just as he passed them, one of the three spoke cautiously. "Brother Nanzhu."
Qu Nanzhu looked over. Hearing such a familiar form of address, he wondered, Someone I know?
But that face looks so unfamiliar.
Reading the confusion in his eyes, she introduced herself. "Brother Nanzhu, I'm an agent with Yinxie. This is President Wang. He heard that you terminated your contract with Yinxie and that there had been some unpleasantness, so he came especially to apologize."
Qu Nanzhu followed her gesture and saw a potbellied, middle-aged man giving him an affable smile.
Qu Nanzhu turned and stopped. The moment he heard Yinxie, he knew why these people had come. Now, sounding somewhat uncertain, he asked, "You do know what I'm doing these days, right?"
She nodded. "Of course. You're one of the hottest new streamers in the business! You've only streamed twice, but your concurrent viewers on both occasions exceeded the vast majority of major streamers. You're an absolute phenomenon!"
Qu Nanzhu shook his head. "You've missed the point. The point is that I tell fortunes and read faces now."
At this, she tilted her head, seemingly not understanding the connection.
Qu Nanzhu said, "Meaning, are you joking, sending someone who likes being two-faced to negotiate a contract with me?"
He looked at President Wang as he spoke. It went without saying who the two-faced person was.
The young agent's expression stiffened, and she did not dare turn to look.
The other young woman accompanying them reacted the same way. She was only a new employee at the company and had been allowed to come because of her exceptionally pretty, sweet looks. Her boss said negotiating with beautiful women present got twice the results for half the effort, so he had brought her along too.