Meanwhile, Qu Nanzhu had just finished reading the gossip Qin Siyi had sent him when he received a call from an unknown number that had bypassed his spam filter.
Somewhat curious, he answered. After hearing him offer a greeting, the caller immediately began introducing himself respectfully.
"Hello, Mr. Qu." The voice was steady, the wording precise. "I'm the head of the Supernatural Incident Management Department. My surname is Wen."
After hearing this, Qu Nanzhu brought his phone in front of him for a look, then put it back to his ear. "Mm, hello."
Hearing his relatively calm tone, Wen Youfang breathed a sigh of relief and got straight to the point. "First, we have been paying close attention to and highly commend the abilities you have demonstrated in your recent livestreams, particularly the assistance you have provided in public incidents."
Qu Nanzhu gave a quiet "Mm."
Wen Youfang continued, "The main reason for this unexpected call is to explain the previous ban on uploading your livestream content online."
"Oh, go ahead."
"That decision was indeed made out of preliminary caution regarding standards for disseminating content in certain emerging fields. However, after a period of observation and assessment, we believe your livestream content has demonstrated a positive side, particularly in guiding the public toward a rational understanding and helping resolve practical difficulties."
"Therefore, on behalf of the Investigation Bureau, I formally inform you that, going forward, the authorities will no longer restrict traffic to or suppress the popularity of clips from your livestreams, provided they do not endanger national security or social stability, or disseminate explicitly illegal information. We hope you can understand the reasoning behind our earlier work and accept our apology for any inconvenience we may have caused you."
Holding his phone, Qu Nanzhu had no particular thoughts about it. He nodded even though the other man could not see him. "Understood. Keep distribution compliant. No problem on my end."
Hearing this, Wen Youfang relaxed completely, his tone becoming a little warmer. "Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We look forward to working more closely with you in the future."
The call ended there.
Qu Nanzhu put down his phone and smiled. He simply found the man's initial respectful, meticulous manner rather amusing. It was quite interesting.
The shift in the authorities' attitude had indeed surprised him. Presumably, after this incident had left him being cursed out across the internet for nearly an entire day and night, they were worried he would throw in the towel and turn against society.
In truth, whether uploading was banned made little difference to him personally. He no longer needed livestreaming to earn money. Once the money from selling the jade jewelry arrived, he could fulfill his original goal: leave the internet and become a master hidden among the masses.
His fans, however, did not see it that way.
It began when someone came across a clip from Qu Nanzhu's livestream. They were a new fan who knew nothing about the upload ban, and after they happily uploaded it, a crowd of longtime fans immediately gathered to watch.
[? What's going on? It's been half an hour. Why hasn't the video been taken down yet?]
[This isn't right. This really isn't right.]
[This comment section is so weird. Why is everyone hoping the uploader's video gets taken down?]
[Don't talk. I'm grilling.]
[Well, you certainly know how to eat.]
[Hold on, hold on, all eyes on me! I just discovered God Qu's account shows up in searches now???]
[Live update: God Qu's follower count has already reached two million.]
[Holy crap, can someone tell me what actually happened!!?]
Over the course of a single afternoon, Qu Nanzhu's follower count on Douyin reached an astonishing thirteen million.
At eight that evening, Qu Nanzhu started his livestream as usual. In the time it took him to grind some cinnabar, the livestream's concurrent viewer count had already surpassed one million.
Qu Nanzhu worked his mouse in confusion. "There seems to be something wrong with my backend data. Why are there so many people?"
[Hahahahaha! Our God Qu has finally made it!!]
[!!! Aaaaaah, I'm so excited! My favorite streamer is finally getting his time to shine!]
[Maybe he should stay hidden. It was already hard to snag a reading, and now it's even harder...]
[So what actually happened? Streamer, why does your livestream show up in searches now?]
[Is this the master who divined that a celebrity had broken the law? He doesn't look like it.]
[Don't jump to conclusions, person above. Just watch what the streamer does in a bit.]
[I think so too. This kid might really have some ability, but in my opinion, for fortune-telling, you still need Daoist Priest Fuchen of Clear Heaven Temple.]
[Why hasn't he started yet? How does this work?]
[Huh? Huh? Wait, why can't I send gifts anymore?? Streamer, what have you done!!?]
Qu Nanzhu kept clicking his mouse and happened to glance up at that comment. "I disabled gifts. There are too many people, and the screen's lagging a little."
[????]
[Are you saying you've earned all this money and still can't bear to buy yourself a better computer?]
Even Huo Sili could not resist posting a string of ellipses. Fortunately, he was in the habit of sending some gifts first, so he still sat securely on the throne as the top donor.
After setting out his brush and ink, Qu Nanzhu enabled video calls. There were so many comments that he really did not want to read them.
"Let's start the calls. Three readings as usual, three thousand per reading."
As soon as he said that, another overwhelming flood of nasty comments filled the screen.
All he could say was that with more people came all sorts of freaks. Hearing him charge three thousand per reading, the chat was instantly flooded with comments saying he was "desperate to fleece people." The handful of longtime fans could barely make themselves heard.
In a rare moment of irritation, Huo Sili typed.
[Please use your brains. He's disabled gifts. Does he need that pocket change?]
In fact, Huo Sili had discussed the reading fees with Qu Nanzhu before.
Essentially, the karma Qu Nanzhu carried was too great. He really could change someone's fate with a single sentence, so he charged a higher reading fee. If he charged too little, the client would suffer all sorts of natural disasters and man-made calamities because they could not withstand Qu Nanzhu's karma.
Although Shang Ni'en knew nothing about this, she still declared imperiously, [Newcomers, stop sticking your noses where they don't belong. If my favorite streamer wants money, he can ask me directly.]
Some onlookers who did not know the situation opened Shang Ni'en's profile. Good grief, the Jade Group's young heiress...
What was even the point of arguing?
Amid the clamor, the first call connected. The screen split in two, revealing a middle-aged man who looked like a big business owner.
"Hello, Master."
His voice sounded weary and helpless. Judging from the background, he appeared to be in a hospital.
On camera, the man's temples were white, his eyes densely webbed with blood vessels, with two grayish shadows beneath them.
At first glance, he looked fifty or sixty, but Qu Nanzhu could see that he was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight this year.
The chat filled with concerned comments.
[Sir, are you going through something difficult? God, the look in his eyes breaks my heart...]
[He looks so desperate. If he's an actor, his acting is incredible.]
[Master Qu, please hurry and help him.]
The man on the other end also saw these concerned comments. He choked up, tried to compose himself, and slowly began speaking. "Thank you for your concern, everyone. Master, please enable gifts so I can pay the reading fee first."
Qu Nanzhu explained, "I won't be enabling gifts. I'll message you privately, and you can send it to me."
Despite saying that, Qu Nanzhu did not move. Just as confusion began creeping into the man's eyes, he received a new private message. Since it came from an account he had set special notifications for, it had a special alert.
Not inclined to look at the accounts messaging him with offers of large sums to give up his reading slot, he opened his private chat with Qu Nanzhu. There was a payment QR code.
Seeing this, he promptly transferred the three-thousand reading fee.
Meanwhile, on Qu Nanzhu's end, Little Eighteen, who was off camera, waved at her master after receiving the fee. Qu Nanzhu understood and asked the man what he wanted a reading about.
The man began, "Master, just call me Xu Chengbing. I came to you hoping you could help my wife. She's ill, very seriously ill. We've gone to many hospitals for examinations, but they all say they can't find anything wrong. And now she's started falling unconscious for no reason."
At this point, the man could no longer contain his emotions, and his eyes reddened. "It's already been half a month since she last fell unconscious. The doctor says she's now showing symptoms of organ failure... But, but she was always perfectly healthy before, and the hospitals can't find the cause. Can you help me? I'm begging you, please help me!!"
[Sob, sob, he's such a devoted man. Sir, you really love her so much.]
The chat was full of sympathy, but after hearing his account, Qu Nanzhu fell into thought with his brows knitted.
Seeing his reaction, the viewers' hearts immediately leaped into their throats.
[What's going on? Why does God Qu have that expression?]
[If you keep this up, I'm going to start coming up with conspiracy theories!!]