Chapter 101: Vexing Part 2

Nothing unusual. Surprisingly, Lin Shixia’s Super Topic was friendly toward her, with only scattered haters.

Others reassured: At least it’s a girl—what’s wrong with that?

Looks evenly matched, and they’d shipped it hard.

[Can’t you tell? This is the company giving a heads-up so you won’t freak when they announce. They’ve been together forever—evidence everywhere.]

[Don’t use her full name publicly, though. Posts get deleted, accounts banned.]

[Can’t say it, but she’s gorgeous. Saw her IRL today—stunning. I get why Lin Shixia and Ye Qingying fought over her hair.]

Gu Liuguang checked her own Super Topic. Her childhood sweetheart tale should’ve moved Ye Qingying and boosted girlfriend-shippers.

But discussion was sparse. Shockingly, fans had photoshopped her with Lin Shixia and Ye Qingying.

Worst: A trending clip wasn’t simple edits but a pro mix.

It cut her and Lin Shixia as innocent childhood friends, then Ye Qingying swooping in big city-style—stealing her away.

Comments gushed rainbow farts: Great edit, so juicy. Little Light as Pillow Princess confirmed.

She had thought the so-called “meat” referred to human flesh and skin. It was only later that she realized it was one of those stream-of-consciousness driving videos, with shots constantly switching back and forth, creating the illusion that she was rolling in the sheets with someone.

Gu Liuguang instinctively wanted to comment that it was fake, that it was Photoshopped. But right before sending it, she remembered she was using her main account.

There were no cameras installed at home, so no fans would believe it anyway. Everyone was just entertaining themselves.

With that self-reassurance, she force-quit Weibo without noticing that her thumb had accidentally swiped over the like button on the screen.

After closing Weibo, Lin Shixia knocked on the door from outside, saying that the takeout had arrived.

Gu Liuguang hurriedly took a shower and, upon coming out, saw a lavish dinner laid out.

“You ordered so much—we can’t finish it. It’ll go to waste.”

“I didn’t order this much. The delivery person said it was a promotion—they hit the ten-thousandth order, so they sent a bunch of signature dishes.” Lin Shixia explained.

Gu Liuguang stared at the late-night snacks that Lin Shixia had artfully plated for her. She hesitated to speak, especially upon seeing several of her absolute favorites. She fell completely silent.

She silently sat down on the low stool. Lin Shixia was a bit surprised: “What a coincidence—so many of these are your favorites, and there’s even dessert afterward.”

She took out her phone, snapped photos of the food, and posted them to Moments with the caption: Love this lucky meal~ Even better when sharing it with the person you like~

After posting to Moments, quite a few people joked, asking if she had someone she liked to be posting like that.

Lin Shixia gave an ambiguous reply, saying that liking someone didn’t necessarily mean that kind of liking.

Gu Liuguang saw her post to Moments but pretended not to know anything as she started eating on her own.

Only then did Lin Shixia set her phone aside, fully focused on feeding Gu Liuguang. Gu Liuguang hesitated for just a second before accepting the feeding. She picked up her own phone and began scrolling Douyin.

Because she often searched her own name, most of the recommended videos were related to her. Then she saw a bunch of clips featuring that slip-up where her words had been accidentally amplified.

What shocked her even more was that, after the mic was muted, she had indeed told the two male commentators that if there was a backer behind the scenes, she would get them both fired first.

Even that off-mic comment had been recorded.

The audio was too quiet, though. Without the subtitles specifically pointing it out, most people probably wouldn’t have known what she said.

Gu Liuguang’s heart sank for a moment. Getting removed as a commentator didn’t matter—what she feared was the issue blowing up and affecting Dream Fish’s attitude toward her.

Her expression shifted back and forth. In the end, she comforted herself: her fame had already been boosted by Lin Shixia and Ye Qingying anyway. Worst case, she could switch to the Cloud Full Platform that Lin Zhenshuang had acquired. It would just mean starting over from scratch.

Even starting from scratch, she would still have some fans following her. It wasn’t like she’d truly be at zero.

With that reassurance, Gu Liuguang felt irritated watching the video. The world wasn’t all that friendly to women. She was clearly in the right, but the organizers would still shove the blame onto her because of her gender.

Her displeasure showed in every way. Lin Shixia keenly noticed her off mood and naturally glanced at Gu Liuguang’s screen, spotting the video.

The video was paused, not looping. Gu Liuguang hadn’t even looked at the comments before swiping away.

Even though it hadn’t played, Lin Shixia recognized the scene at a glance. She scooped a spoonful of ice cream and fed it to Gu Liuguang, softening her tone to comfort her: “Don’t be mad. I’ll handle those two commentators. You don’t need to worry about the online chatter.”

Lin Shixia had hesitated over whether to interfere. If she hadn’t, maybe fewer people would have noticed Gu Liuguang.

Gu Liuguang opened her mouth and took a bite. She held the spoon in her teeth for a moment before releasing it: “Did you ask your little aunt for help?”

Lin Shixia looked down and scooped more ice cream: “Dream Fish has deep ties with this game’s organizers, and they’ve just started talks with Cloud Full Platform. Those two commentators? We still have some pull.”

Gu Liuguang hesitated visibly.

Lin Shixia continued: “This isn’t the first time they’ve bullied a female commentator. The game itself isn’t all that friendly to girls.”

Gu Liuguang immediately relaxed. After a moment’s thought, she casually added: “Always troubling your little aunt like this—doesn’t it make us seem useless?”

Lin Shixia looked at her in confusion.

Gu Liuguang smiled: “Just kidding. I just think your little aunt is amazing. If we didn’t all have people we like, I might even fall for her.”

Lin Shixia’s grip tightened on her spoon. After a moment, she smiled and pinched Gu Liuguang’s cheek. “Would you like my little aunt?”

“We do look a lot alike,” Lin Shixia said meaningfully.

That night, Gu Liuguang couldn’t eat much, and Lin Shixia needed to watch her weight, so more than half of the food went leftover.

Most of it was Gu Liuguang’s favorites. After agonizing over it for a long time, she decided to put some in the fridge. But when she woke up the next morning, the leftovers she had stored were gone.

After searching everywhere and confirming they weren’t in the fridge or kitchen, Gu Liuguang finally thought to ask Lin Shixia. Lin Shixia then admitted that she thought overnight food wasn’t healthy, so she had thrown it all out. The cleaning lady had taken it away that morning.

A flurry of thoughts flashed through Gu Liuguang’s mind, but she ultimately said nothing. She planned to order more takeout, but Lin Shixia said she had already ordered groceries via delivery and was preparing to cook.

Gu Liuguang was a little surprised, but luckily the hotel had some snacks on hand to tide her over.

While Lin Shixia cooked, Gu Liuguang offered to help out, but Lin Shixia refused. Her words all implied that being with her should always feel the easiest and most relaxed.

Gu Liuguang sensed that Lin Shixia was acting a bit strange today and wondered if she had gone too far in provoking her yesterday.

After hesitating repeatedly, she still didn’t message Lin Zhenshuang. She even straight-up blocked her. With the plot derailed like this, she didn’t want Lin Zhenshuang stirring up more trouble.

Two days before the finals, Gu Liuguang wanted to hole up in the hotel and grind out her streaming hours, but Lin Shixia dragged her out to tour several spots in S City, hitting quite a few landmarks.

Lin Shixia was still not satisfied, but Gu Liuguang said she needed to try on her dress, so Lin Shixia finally stopped dragging her around wildly.

Leaving the dress alterations to the organizers, the rest of the time was spent streaming from the hotel. During this period, Lin Shixia didn’t cause any more drama, and even Ye Qingying was eerily quiet.

On the day of the finals, Lin Shixia—who had planned to go onsite to watch Gu Liuguang commentate—suddenly got called away for urgent work. She apologized profusely and said she couldn’t accompany her. Gu Liuguang quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The two days of finals commentary went quite smoothly for Gu Liuguang. The new commentators were one guy and one girl, both very friendly toward her and tossing her plenty of topics to riff on.

After the finals ended, the two commentators even added her on WeChat, saying they could team up for games sometime.

After lingering in S City for one more day, Gu Liuguang returned to C City.

Three days after getting back, while Gu Liuguang was live-streaming and teaming up with her new commentator and streamer friends for ranked matches—estimating that another week of streaming would hit the minimum threshold for top female streamer status—she looked relaxed as she stuck close to Wu Yan.

When she heard movement at the front door, she remembered Aunt Huang saying she would come by later to make her some late-night snacks. She called out toward the door a few times.

With no response and the game in the midst of contesting neutral resources, Gu Liuguang planned to check the living room after this match.

Twenty minutes later, the game finally ended. Gu Liuguang took off her headphones and stood up—only for the room door to open the next second.

The intruder was dressed head to toe in black. Upon seeing Gu Liuguang, she clearly froze for a moment, then removed her black mask and hat. With a brilliant smile, she greeted Gu Liuguang: “What a coincidence, Liuguang—you’re home.”

Gu Liuguang went from wary and scared to utterly speechless. While debating whether to call the cops, she dialed 110 and asked: “How did you get in?”