Volume 1, Chapter 5: The Sound of the Strings

The pipa melody came to an end, and Xian Yin’s dance movements concluded perfectly in sync with the final note.

Xian Yin was the first to speak. "Baby, your pipa playing was absolutely divine! I just caught the tailwind to dance along. We really made a perfect team—sending you flowers, flowers everywhere!"

"Xian Yin, your water-sleeve dance was breathtaking. It’s the kind of performance that belongs only in heaven; one rarely hears such music or sees such art in the mortal world."

Yu Yansui winked sweetly at Xian Yin. Xian Yin played along, clutching her chest. "Ah! I’ve been struck in the heart by that wink! My whole being is filled with pink bubbles now."

For the next five minutes, the two continued chatting happily, appearing like long-lost sisters.

Seeing that the time was nearing its end, Chang Ye and Wan Feng began to ramp up the stakes. Large gifts rained down one after another, exploding like a cascade of game tokens.

[Wan Feng gifted the streamer Moon Over the Starry River *3] (58,888 Cat Coins)

Xian Yin was a major streamer with 500,000 followers, and her broadcast had over 20,000 viewers. Her fan base was highly engaged, and many small contributions poured in.

On Yu Yansui’s side, it was mostly Wan Feng holding down the fort. There were very few fans capable of contributing significant points, and with Chang Ye also pouring in support, the pressure was immense.

[Wan Feng gifted the streamer Moon Over the Starry River *5]

Chang Ye was playing aggressively, sending ten-unit combos of thousand-coin gifts. Perhaps feeling humiliated by his "good brother," he was fueled by a mix of resentment and a desire for revenge.

"That's enough! We’ve crossed a million! You dog, Chang Ye, we agreed this was a friendly match. Have you lost your humanity?" Xian Yin quickly reached out in a mock-desperate gesture to stop Chang Ye’s frantic gifting.

[(Admin) Chang Ye: Open the comments, let's talk.]
[(Admin) Chang Ye: Do you yield?]
[(Admin) Wan Feng: Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Go back to sleep.]
[(Admin) Chang Ye: Dammit!]

[Chang Ye gifted the streamer Diamond Carnival *10] (30,000 Cat Coins)

658,954 (Sui) : 1,658,953 (Yin)

[Wan Feng gifted the streamer Moon Over the Starry River *2]
[Your account balance is insufficient.]
[Dear user, due to the high volume of cross-border fund transfers, you are required to provide documentation.]
[Top-up failed.]

...?!

He had been careless; he hadn't estimated the amount well and hadn't topped up enough. It seemed he would have to have his butler open a cross-border financial card later. He had assumed that since Sui was a rookie streamer, her PK matches would likely be against other small streamers with little support; he thought 200,000 RMB would be more than enough to win an entire night of matches.

Who would have thought she would be matched with Xian Yin immediately? He had underestimated the Seven-Meow platform’s matching algorithm. A tactical error.

[(Admin) Chang Ye: @Wan Feng brother, do you yield? Are you still going to keep up?]
[(Admin) Wan Feng: The strong care only about the process; the weak care only about winning or losing. Heh. (Middle finger emoji)]

The PK could be lost, but the spirit could never be defeated.

Damn it! Yan Huaifeng, that dog, was being passive-aggressive.

[Sang You: Heehee, that’s some top-tier snark!!]
[Many Fish: Daddy Wan says the PK can be lost, but the attitude must remain.]
[The Night Emperor seems to have won, but in reality, he lost.]
[Listening to the sound of something shattering.]

For the remaining time, Yu Yansui simply learned the popular internet dance "Love Circulation" from Xian Yin during the broadcast. Xian Yin offered guidance from time to time, mostly praising Yu Yansui for her intelligence and ability to learn instantly.

Yan Huaifeng’s ability to top up was truly abysmal; even after the PK ended, he still couldn't get the funds through. He took it in stride, though. If his "son" wanted to win, let him win. It might be the only time in his life he’d ever beat him—poor soul. Besides, it was meant to be a friendly match for networking; he’d treat it as a favor.

The final score saw Yu Yansui just crossing the one-million mark, while Xian Yin hit two million. On Seven-Meow, such a score was reserved for top-tier streamers.

[(Admin) Chang Ye: Stop finding excuses, dammit. I don't care, I beat you. (Picking nose emoji)]
[(Admin) Wan Feng: Ah, yes, yes, yes. (Clapping emoji)]
[(Admin) Wan Feng: You’re so smart, you’re so talented. (Thumbs up emoji)]

...

For some reason, he felt like Yan Huaifeng wasn't actually praising him.

This PK match had been huge. Yu Yansui’s viewer count surged to over ten thousand that night, and her followers rose to 5,000. Many people followed the gift notifications into the room to watch the chaos.

[I thought this was some new big-name streamer, I didn't expect a rookie.]
[Is the agency trying to hype her up?]
[Bullshit! Didn't you see Daddy Wan is the top contributor? Which agency could command Daddy Wan to hype someone up?]
[What a beautiful newcomer, no wonder she attracted Daddy Wan.]
[Attracted? My ass. I’ll bet she won’t last more than a few days with Daddy Wan.]
[How does a rookie have such high popularity?]
[Seriously? Does someone not understand the Seven-Meow traffic mechanism? Rookies get fourteen days of traffic support. If someone sends big gifts, the platform pushes the stream to a wider audience.]
[Holy crap, this newcomer is streaming without any beauty filters.]
[Honestly, this level of beauty—she’s even prettier than Sophie.]
[Are you blind? What kind of low-tier trash deserves to be compared to our Sophie?]
[Don't try to piggyback on her fame, you won't live to regret it.]
[Each has their own beauty, they have different styles.]
[What "each has their own beauty"? My Sophie is the number one beauty streamer on Seven-Meow, don't let some ugly trash touch her.]
[With what kind of talent do you dare to compare? You'll be forgotten soon enough.]
[Sophie’s lackeys are here again, everyone back away.]
[Wasn't it you guys who brought up Sophie first?]
[I'm speechless. I really hate Sophie; her fans are truly classless.]

Sophie was a "chatting" streamer in the beauty section. She had built her career by mimicking the style of the streamer "Pretty Beauty" and leeching off her traffic. Her room was notorious for having classless fans.

As long as anyone mentioned Sophie—whether the comments were positive or negative—they would be bombarded by her fans. She and Pretty Beauty were in the same agency, Star Brilliance, so Pretty Beauty had been turning a blind eye, but Sophie’s fans were mindless.

As soon as Sophie gained fame, she kicked the table over. She went to Pretty Beauty’s stream to cause trouble, loudly claiming that Pretty Beauty was the one mimicking her, accusing her of plastic surgery, and alleging that she slept with "big bosses" behind the scenes.

Pretty Beauty’s fans were furious. It wasn't just eating someone else's food; it was smashing their pot. Could they tolerate that? The friction between the two fanbases became incredibly toxic on Seven-Meow. Any topic involving them resulted in a war, filling the air with smog.

The situation escalated, and the agency eventually stepped in to warn Sophie, forcing her to reluctantly host a joint stream with Pretty Beauty.

"I can't control what my fans do~ They just love me too much. Besides, if you have nothing to hide, why are you afraid of what the fans say? Flies don't bite seamless eggs!"

The grudge was set in stone. Since then, Sophie's fans had become even more rampant, and she had become an object of disgust for many female streamers on Seven-Meow.

[Sang You: Welcome to Sui Sui’s stream! Sui Sui is a new streamer, she’s beautiful and talented, please hit that follow button!]

Sang You tried to help Yu Yansui manage the chat, but the messages were flying by too fast. She couldn't keep up with so many people on her own. Even her message was seen by almost no one; it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

[Sang You gifted the streamer Sports Car *1] (1,200 Cat Coins)
[Sang You: Princess, Princess, give me an admin role, please!]
[(Admin) Wan Feng: There are too many people, I can't keep up either. Just give her a regular admin role.]

"Okay."

Yu Yansui followed the instructions Wan Feng gave her and expertly set up the admin roles.

[Announcement: User Sang You has been set as a stream administrator by the streamer.]

[Many Fish: Princess, I want one too! I can help you manage the stream too!!]

[Announcement: User Many Fish has been set as a stream administrator by the streamer.]

[(Admin) Sang You: Welcome to Sui Sui’s stream! Sui Sui is a new streamer, she’s beautiful and talented, please hit that follow button and join the fan club!]

Having achieved her wish, Sang You immediately used the admin function to pin her message to the top of the chat. Wan Feng took the opportunity to send a 10,000 Cat Coin lucky bag with the prompt: "Welcome everyone, if you like Sui Sui, please follow."

The comments from Sophie’s fans were quickly buried, and order was restored to the chat.

Chang Ye also popped into Yu Yansui’s stream to pay his "medical bills."

[Chang Ye gifted the streamer Carnival *1] (30,000 Cat Coins)
[Chang Ye: Wishing you great success, Sui Sui. Bring that dog Wan over to play with our Yin more often.]

After sending the gift and posting the message, Chang Ye left.

Yu Yansui made a heart gesture with her hands against her cheeks and thanked them sweetly. "Thank you, Brother Chang Ye, and thank you, Brother Xiao Feng, hehe."