Chapter 53: Qin Shi Knocked on the “Snail’s Glass Tank”…

Li Huanhuan raised her hand and covered her heart.

Initially, the account “Cat Princess” was created by her as a way for “cat owners” to share their beloved cat’s thoughts online.

Gradually, it evolved from simple sharing into live streaming, and the account’s followers increased. Li Huanhuan started investing more time and energy into it, thinking about how to nurture the account, how to make it interesting, and how to showcase the beauty, personality, and daily life of the cat princess. She wanted to share what she thought was beautiful with others who also loved the cat princess.

As she invested more and more, in the later stages, it became unclear whether she was spending more effort on the “Cat Princess” account or on her “Fantasy Symphony” account.

For someone as lazy as her, the things she did during her rest time were definitely things she loved.

Moreover, the “Cat Princess” account helped her meet several online friends, like “Cha Cha,” and gain a lot of followers, like “Not Eating Hotpot Means BBQ.” Similarly, it brought in a decent income, alleviating some of her financial pressure.

Recently, Li Huanhuan even planned to temporarily stop her public account side job. For her, as long as she had enough money, that was all that mattered.

However, due to the anniversary event, she learned from Eastern Pepper that “Not Eating Hotpot Means BBQ” was actually Qin Shi. This revelation disrupted her plans and made her decide to temporarily stop the “Cat Princess” account.

She kept saying that she didn’t like live streaming, that it was just a live stream account, and that she didn’t care about those things. Even her close friend Xiaojing believed her. But deep down, only she knew how much courage it took to “shut down the account” and how reluctant she was.

She thought this matter would pass, and even if it was exposed in front of Qin Shi, she never intended to restart the account.

This, to her, was a secret.

Who would have thought, Qin Shi would say to her: “If you want to thank me, come back and continue streaming.”

And he saw right through her reluctance.

Li Huanhuan’s world was small and narrow. Small enough to only have one or two friends, and narrow enough that her daily activities were confined to her apartment. Before Qin Shi came into her life, she barely spoke more than ten sentences a day, most of which were directed at the cat princess, with the remaining sentence being a random self-talk when bored.

Her long-standing “shut-in” life had almost severed her social circle. Prolonged isolation made her world dull, just like an NPC in a novel, without lines or plot. No one would stop to wonder about the story behind an NPC template.

Therefore, when she awakened on her 20th birthday to realize she was just an ordinary passerby in a novel world, Li Huanhuan wasn’t shocked. She didn’t curse the heavens or get excited or angry. She accepted it calmly because her life was like the backdrop of the world—dull and uneventful, like plain water.

Li Huanhuan never considered forming deeper connections with people or this world. No one was particularly interested in studying her thoughts or feelings.

Even her closest friend, Xiaojing, she had built a wall around herself during their interactions.

To others, Li Huanhuan seemed like an insignificant presence, someone with little presence, mild-tempered, not talkative, not fond of socializing, and maybe a little reclusive.

That was the impression she left.

If anyone were asked, they would look confused and say, “Is that all? I guess she’s a bit boring?”

When it came to socializing, Li Huanhuan never had high expectations. She spent most of her time at home, with a cat to take care of and work to do. Her time was filled, leaving no space for “being understood” or “making deep connections.”

For many years, since her father passed away unexpectedly, Li Huanhuan had gotten used to this state.

Who would have thought that one day, someone would speak the secret she had buried deep in her heart, someone would recognize her longing, and say she couldn’t bear to part with the “Cat Princess” account.

It was like a snail living in a glass tank. It had grown accustomed to the small world inside the tank, living each day in peace. Then, one day, someone from outside the tank reached in and knocked on the glass, saying, “Hey, snail inside the tank, you really like that leaf that flew into your tank yesterday, right?”

The snail inside the tank looked up, surprised, at the person outside.

Yesterday, the wind had been strong, and a leaf flew in through the open window and landed in its tank. It was fascinated by the leaf and wanted to keep it, but the person outside the tank believed the leaf obstructed the view and took it out.

The snail, confused, stayed in place for a while before leaving in disappointment.

Until one day, the tank was knocked, and the person asked, “Do you like the leaf?”

“Li Huanhuan, what’s wrong?”

Qin Shi, startled by Li Huanhuan’s long silence, quickly explained, “I just thought you liked that account. You seemed happy when you were streaming. If possible, there’s no need to stop streaming because of me.”

Li Huanhuan lowered her head, her fingers still pressed against her heart. After a moment, she raised her head and smiled at Qin Shi, “It’s nothing. It has nothing to do with you. Oh, by the way, thank you. You’re right, I do miss it.”

Thump, thump.

Her heart continued to beat loudly.

Li Huanhuan pressed her hand harder against her chest.

In the end, this matter wasn’t discussed further. Li Huanhuan agreed to Qin Shi’s suggestion because he said that without her live streaming, the barbecue was sent to his friend’s house, and his friend called to say that the barbecue was getting depressed.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, after a break from streaming, the “Cat Princess” account resumed broadcasting.

At first, not many people were watching, but once the news spread in the fan group, the number of people in the live stream increased rapidly.

“???”

“!!!”

“Oh my god?”

“What is this? Am I seeing things?”

“Cat Princess??”

“Grandma, the streamer you follow is finally live!!!”

…

The bullet comments were lively.

Some viewers, seeing the cat on screen, were moved to tears.

At that moment, the screen was flooded with gift effects:

[Not Eating Hotpot, Just BBQ] sent 1 Aircraft Carrier to Cat Princess!

[Not Eating Hotpot, Just BBQ] sent 1 Aircraft Carrier to Cat Princess!

…

That mysterious “Not Eating Hotpot, Just BBQ” benefactor was back.

“Is it the hotpot master?!” comments appeared.

“It’s that familiar tycoon vibe!”

“Wow, not a yacht, but an aircraft carrier~”

…

Behind the scenes, Li Huanhuan saw the gifts flooding the screen.

She now knew that “Not Eating Hotpot” was Qin Shi, and looking at the flood of gifts, she felt differently than before. Usually, she’d thank the gifts with a signboard, but today, she’d forgotten to prepare the signboard in her rush to start the stream.

Seeing the gifts accumulate, she felt nervous and blurted out, “No…”

The two words were abruptly cut off.

For a brief moment, the bullet comments stopped, but soon they resumed, even more frenzied than before:

“Qiqi? Was that Qiqi’s voice just now?”

“Huh? Did I hear that too?!”

“Wow, is that really Qiqi’s voice?!! Qiqi spoke just now!”

“Wife—”

…

Some viewers even shouted “Wife,” which gave Li Huanhuan goosebumps.

Others who came late, or had been too focused on the cat and screen, now asked in the comments:

“What?”

“Qiqi spoke?”

“Please say it again!!!”

“What tone? Soft, wife voice? Wow??”

…

Li Huanhuan had never experienced anything like this.

Looking at the bizarre bullet comments, her face scrunched up, and she seemed a bit flustered behind the camera.

In room 150.

Qin Shi sat on the sofa, watching the bullet comments saying “Wife,” “Soft wife voice,” his thick eyebrows furrowed, showing clear displeasure.

“What’s going on? What are they all shouting about? Just because someone’s voice sounds nice, they start calling them ‘wife’? What happened to composure? What about decency?”

The more Qin Shi watched, the angrier he got.

He suddenly regretted suggesting Li Huanhuan restart her stream.

He now wanted to rush to room 149 and turn off her live stream, block those shameless people shouting “wife,” and kick them out of the stream. But it was too late now, and with his injured leg, he couldn’t rush over.

All he could do was continue sending gifts to cover up the bullet comments.

Li Huanhuan, who had calmed down after her initial nervousness, suddenly realized how much she missed the warm, friendly bullet comments.

She had originally planned to get up and grab the signboard, like before, to write her thanks. But seeing the lively and kind comments, she felt that using the signboard wouldn’t express her gratitude enough. Only her voice could truly convey her feelings.

Moreover, she had already accidentally let her voice slip earlier during the stream. Perhaps overcoming her nervousness would allow her to speak in front of so many people.

With gifts flooding the screen, Li Huanhuan placed her hands on her knees, clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and slowly spoke:

“Not Eating Hotpot, Just BBQ, thank you for your gifts—”

Her voice trembled slightly, something she hadn’t realized.

But perhaps because she had called Qin Shi’s online name in front of so many people, it made her feel a mix of humor and unease, which brought her a sense of security. Gradually, her voice steadied:

“I can feel your intention, please stop now.”

After a brief pause, her tone lifted slightly:

“Hello everyone, I’m the owner of the [Cat Princess] account, and I have a cat named ‘Cat Princess.’ You can call me Fantasy Symphony. Thank you for your ongoing support and love. I apologize for the sudden stop of my streams earlier…”

As Li Huanhuan spoke, more and more people flooded into the stream, and the bullet comments grew even more chaotic.