Chapter 041: The Power of a VIP

Damn—talk about enemies crossing paths. This was literally nemeses locking eyes and going berserk.

Liao Ran seemed completely unaware that the livestream’s random draw had already concluded. She was still immersed in reading out the gift names.

“Stinky babies, I’m sending 10,000 yuan to our Weibo group! Whoever grabs a red envelope, come back and shower me with gifts—our emo channel on Deepnight NetCloud cannot lose!”

Hearing the non-stop stream of gratitude from the other side, Fang Yimeng suddenly felt the urge to stir things up.

Without even blinking, she sent out fifty 200-yuan red envelopes, spamming the Weibo super-topic group.

And so, a bizarre scene unfolded in that super-topic chat.

Fans—all bearing nicknames mocking Fang Yimeng—rushed to grab the very red envelopes sent by Fang Yimeng herself. With their hands full of cash, even their tone changed—they began speaking flatteringly, sounding like they genuinely liked her.

Those black fans who got the money even changed their usernames and started sending her extravagant gifts.

“Thanks to rich queen emo big sis—my wifey—for the sports car~”

When she saw gifts flooding the screen too, a smile lit up Fang Yimeng’s bright eyes. After reading out that line, she hadn’t yet realized how strange the situation had become. She shot a provocative glance toward Liao Ran on the screen.

Liao Ran originally planned to ignore Fang Yimeng’s existence, but when she heard “sports car,” her eyelid twitched involuntarily.

In livestreams, gifts definitely had a hierarchy. Cute tokens like pens or hearts were common daily items—nothing like the flash and prestige of sports cars or yachts.

“Wow, thank you to ‘Ran Is a Celestial Fairy Descended to Earth’ for the skyscraper gift.” Liao Ran quickly found something that could match the sports car in level.

Somehow, their livestream connection had turned into a bizarre showdown of who could read more over-the-top gift names.

Liao Ran’s fans had names filled with praise for her looks—pure, beautiful, angelic.

Fang Yimeng’s side, though now technically her fans, were all former black fans. They couldn’t resist taking playful jabs.

Although their gifts were more extravagant than Liao Ran’s, their names were absolutely ridiculous—like “Emo Daddy” or “Emo Ancestor”—each one more absurd than the last.

By the end, Fang Yimeng was practically gritting her teeth, puffing out her cheeks as she glared at the screen, shaking her tiny fists on camera.

“This is a sleep-inducing channel! What is wrong with all of you?!”

She was still trying to figure out how to threaten them without crossing the line when suddenly, the livestream screen exploded into a field of flowers.

It was a top-tier gift in the [iVisit] app called “Beauty of the Sea of Flowers.”

“Uh… thanks to ‘Xiang Chen Thinks Sister Yimeng Is the Best Senior’ for the ‘Beauty of the Sea of Flowers.’ Wait—can iVisit usernames be up to 13 characters?”

The sudden flash of petals left Fang Yimeng stunned. She picked up her phone in disbelief—sure enough, a new WeChat message had popped up.

Xiang Chen: “Sister Yimeng, you’ve worked hard.”

Fang Yimeng: …

This junior was even richer than she thought!!

As soon as the gift appeared on the main screen, the livestream went into a frenzy. Fans of Ou Xiangchen, known as “Sunflowers,” flooded in to silently witness their idol sending one lavish gift after another to his mentor.

At first, Fang Yimeng calmly read each one. But after three gifts and no sign of Xiangchen stopping, she gave up on reading and just stared at the screen like a hawk.

The producer sitting on the floor looked up at her, half-laughing and half-helpless, clearly panicking.

Why was this livestream going so off-script?! Wuwuwu, where’s her plotline?! TAT

“Xiang Chen, cut it out! This is supposed to be a sleep therapy show, not some casual chat. With the way you’re heating things up here, how am I supposed to lull people to sleep?”

Fang Yimeng couldn’t see Xiang Chen’s face, but she imagined his sharp, aloof features—eerily similar to Lu Jingshan’s cold and impassive expression—and felt so exasperated she wanted to throw a couple of air punches at the screen.

Emo Queen’s Black Fan Leader: “Didn’t expect their master-apprentice relationship to be this real. I thought it was just for show!”

Black Fan Who Keeps the Super-topic Alive: “Mama mia, all those gifts must add up to thousands! Spending a fortune just to make the beauty smile!”

The Sunflowers seemed to sense something, but the “wife fans” and “mom fans” firmly insisted that Fang Yimeng and Xiang Chen had nothing more than a normal mentor-student relationship.

Feeling the vibe of the stream was veering too far from its intended purpose, Fang Yimeng gave Li Ke a subtle signal.

Li Ke quickly stood and turned off the room lights, leaving only the dim glow of the bedside lamp and the soft illumination of the phone screen.

The contrast between the two livestream screens became stark—one light, one dark.

Liao Ran was still reading gift names, clearly keeping an eye on Fang Yimeng’s setup. Seeing the lights dim, she followed suit and had her room’s lighting adjusted to a soft glow.

Just as viewers noticed the more relaxed and sleepy atmosphere, the overly excited comment section finally began to settle.

Sensing the opportunity, Fang Yimeng’s brows gently relaxed, and she was about to begin softly whispering some sleep-inducing content when—

BAM.

The screen exploded with flowers again. But unlike the previous soft pink petals of the “Beauty of the Sea of Flowers,” this time, they were red—vivid, passionate roses. And she was sure Ou Xiangchen had already sent all the available gifts earlier. This effect was new.

Clearly, this came from a special VIP channel gift.

Sure enough, a name popped up in bold letters on the left of the massive screen: “Lu Jingshan, CEO of Hualing Group.”

Just when the livestream had finally calmed down, it exploded all over again.

“Anti-Deletion CP Forever!”: “I KNEW IT! I knew if I just kept camping in the livestream, I’d eventually catch this sugar moment!! AHAHA victory for CP fans!”

“Guarding This Love Against All Odds”: “Family, it’s basically New Year’s!!”

Emo Queen’s Black Fan Leader: “Whoa—emo queen’s sugar daddy is making a personal appearance. This is the kind of drama I live for.”

Deepnight’s Emo Anti-Fan: “Stinky babies, wake up! The whole super-topic is now full of CP fanfiction. I may be an anti-fan, but I’m a sucker for this kind of drama. I LOVE IT.”

Fang Yimeng stared at the chaos on her screen with a stormy expression, then glanced at Li Ke’s iPad—which showed Liao Ran’s livestream, calm and peaceful.

For the first time, she truly resented having a better atmosphere than Liao Ran.

She grabbed her phone and began furiously tapping at the screen, then finally turned off her microphone and made a direct call.

Less than five minutes later, a red-font comment appeared from “Lu Jingshan, CEO of Hualing Group”:

Lu Jingshan: “Apologies. I’ve been told I ruined someone’s livestream. No need to follow my example, everyone. Consider this a warning shot.”