Gold Medal Mediator [Quick Transmigration] 44

Chapter 44: Sugar Mommy, Kisses (II)

Grumbling was one thing, but even if Hua Baihe was now angry enough at the System’s arrangements to want to rail against the heavens, she had to face a more severe problem—

Her dad’s company was about to go bankrupt. The days of drinking yogurt without licking the lid were gone forever. So, what was she supposed to do with her life now?

As Hua Baihe cleaned up the mess in her room, sweeping up the glass shards that needed sweeping, arranging the tables and chairs that needed arranging, and looking at the TV that had been smashed to the point of being unwatchable, she leaned on her broom, pulled out her phone, and planned to buy herself a new one.

She had already chosen the brand, size, and price, and had even added it to her shopping cart. She pressed “pay”—

“Insufficient funds in this card.”

Hua Baihe: “…”

She carefully read the identity memory the System had given her, then tried several other cards, only to find that none of them could complete the payment. The composure on her face finally cracked.

“System, my son?”

The System acted as an ATM, speaking in a deadpan voice. “Don’t bother checking. The total balance of all your cards right now is twenty-three cents.”

Hua Baihe suspected she was hallucinating.

“Your identity is set as a profligate young lady who spent money like water before her family went bankrupt. You never kept any savings; you spent it all,” the System informed her truthfully.

Hua Baihe had never faced such a severe financial crisis. She sniffed.

“No wonder I smelled something poor and sour.”

It was emanating from the depths of her soul.

She thought for a moment and called Ning Wanwan’s parents. The central message was simple:

Me, your biological daughter. Send money.

Father Ning sighed. “Wanwan, I just gave you a million last month. Weren’t you supposed to live frugally for a year? You’ve already spent it all?”

Hua Baihe was thick-skinned enough to reply, “Yeah.”

Father Ning was rendered speechless by her directness. It took him a long while to gather the courage to ask, “So what did you spend all that money on?”

Hua Baihe, respecting her persona, answered with utmost honesty, “I used it to pursue Wen Congshu.”

A flicker of joy appeared in Father Ning’s heart. “Did you succeed?”

Hua Baihe replied truthfully, “She kicked me out of the company.”

Father Ning: “…”

He trembled as he called out, “Wanwan.”

Hua Baihe cooperatively replied with affection, “Dad.”

“Wanwan!”

“Dad!”

Ning Wanwan’s father was getting a massive headache from his daughter’s debt-collector-like demeanor. Finally, he suggested seriously, “Dad’s out of money. How about we call each other brother and sister from now on?”

Hua Baihe: “…”

Where on earth did this mudslide of a father come from?

As she was speechless, Father Ning secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said earnestly, “Wanwan, you’re an adult now. You should learn to earn your own money. Brother Ning Xi really has no money left. You should find another father.”

Then Hua Baihe heard the “beep, beep, beep” of her own father hanging up the phone.

This was truly…

Her biological father.

The smile on her face gradually faded. She guessed that her mother probably couldn’t provide any support either. She could only search the house for anything she could sell.

After all, she didn’t even have money for today’s meal.

* * *

Meanwhile.

After hanging up the phone, the worried Ning Xi asked his wife, “Is this really okay? Wanwan has never suffered before. What if she starves to death on the street today?”

The moment he finished speaking, he was met with the sole of his wife’s loving shoe. “What do you mean, what if! Isn’t our daughter the way she is today because you spoiled her! With Wanwan’s complete lack of ambition, if we don’t let her suffer a little, and the company goes bankrupt tomorrow, what will you use to support her?”

Seeing her husband was about to say something else, Zhao Aiyi quickly added, “Let it go. Just let her starve for two days. I know my daughter—she’d rather borrow money from a friend to get by than come to me for a scolding.”

“Besides, if she can’t handle living alone, doesn’t that just play into our hands? Wasn’t that Liang family boy I told you about yesterday not bad? When our daughter can’t take it anymore and comes back, that’s when she’ll obediently get married.”

“By then, she’ll be wasting someone else’s money,” she said with a serious expression.

Ning Xi: “…”

He thought about it and found it made some sense. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy anyway, and his daughter’s spending was so extravagant. Letting her suffer for two or three days should make her much more manageable, right?

Just as Ning Xi figured it out, he heard his wife muttering as she walked into the room, “A young brat, still thinking about taking my hundred-thousand-yuan set of La Prairie. Doesn’t she know whose husband bought it for me, hmph.”

Ning Xi: “…”

He found his wife a little childish.

But Hua Baihe didn’t know about the conversation between her parents, nor did she know that her current state of poverty was a bloody case brought on by coveting her mother’s luxury cosmetics. She was genuinely racking her brains for living expenses.

First, she rummaged through her closet and pulled out many new seasonal items she hadn’t had a chance to wear, along with a few pairs of globally limited-edition shoes from her shoe cabinet, and several designer bags that were 90% new. She took pictures of them all and posted them on her social media.

The caption read: “The above products are for sale at 20-80% off. Private message if interested.”

After doing all this, she walked around the large house and asked the System, “Where’s my property deed?”

System: “?”

Hua Baihe said seriously, “After looking around, I’ve found that selling the house is the fastest way to get money.”

That afternoon, Hua Baihe went to a real estate agency to list her house for sale. She even brought people home to take pictures. After all, it was in the business district of a first-tier city. The apartment her parents had bought for her, now 150 square meters, could still sell for ten million with the decorations and furniture.

Before long, she had sold several sets of clothes and shoes and received sympathetic inquiries from her friends:

“Ningning, why are you suddenly selling your clothes and shoes? Are you short on living expenses lately? You can borrow from me.”

“Oh, stop doing this embarrassing stuff. I have money, I’ll lend you some first. Put your things away, be good.”

Hua Baihe thought for a moment and replied to everyone with a single message:

“Thank you all for your concern. My family is on the verge of bankruptcy, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay back any loans. Let’s just hope to meet again someday, my dear friends.”

After this reply, her social media fell silent.

Her friends in the same circle quickly created a group chat:

Friend A said: “Oh my god! Do you guys remember that little bitch at the Wen Mountain Villa party the other day who threw herself at Little CEO Wen?”

“Are you talking about the first half of ‘For your first love, choose me, Ning Wanwan; Wen Congshu, who will never bend’?” asked Friend B.

Friend A said excitedly, “Yes, yes, that’s her! Did you know her family is going bankrupt? Did you?”

The group chat fell silent for a second, and then everyone, whether they knew her or not, exploded.

I Am a Fish: “OMG! Her family is bankrupt and she still has the nerve to go after the Wen family? Good thing Little CEO Wen isn’t blind!”

The Dog Downstairs Is Really Loud: “Wow, that’s not the Ning-bitch I know. Hasn’t she always been the most concerned about face? Although everyone knows the Ning family is bankrupt, she never admitted it. I really thought things might turn around.”

Eight Honors and Eight Shames: “@I Am a Fish, it’s probably because they’re really going bankrupt that she’s in a hurry to find a big thigh to hug. Hey, I heard she had a crush on Wen Congshu back in school.”

* * *

The discussion in the group chat was heated, but it had nothing to do with Hua Baihe.

She had comfortably secured this month’s living expenses by selling second-hand luxury goods. She spent two days leisurely at home, living on takeout, being a salted fish while thinking about how to continue making money.

The System asked doubtfully, “Have you forgotten you still have a mission to do?”

Hua Baihe was sucking on a juice straw, looking at the opened, used, and hard-to-sell cosmetics on her desk. She swayed in her lazy hanging chair and said slowly:

“The economic foundation determines the superstructure. I can only complete the mission after I’ve filled my stomach. Not having a seven or eight-figure sum in my bank account makes me feel very insecure.”

System: “…” It was now regretting, just a tiny bit, making Hua Baihe so poor.

Hua Baihe sucked on her juice for a while, an idea coming to her. She placed the empty bottle on the table next to her, got up from the chair, stretched, and then headed towards the mountain-like pile of cosmetic storage boxes.

After checking the various skincare and makeup products, she had a plan. She opened the shopping page on her computer and started buying things.

“A beauty camera? A high-definition camera?” the System asked. “You want to live-stream?”

Hua Baihe didn’t say anything, just placed her order and waited for her goods to arrive.

But before the goods arrived, she received a call from her old father.

“Brother Ning, it’s been a few days. How’s everything at home?” The moment Ning Xi answered the phone, he was taken aback by the way Hua Baihe addressed him.

He steadied himself before replying, “It’s fine,” and then tentatively asked:

“Wanwan, how have you been lately?”

It had been three days, and still no distress call from his daughter. He and his wife were getting a little restless, afraid to imagine how much money their child had borrowed from her friends.

In the end, it would be the two of them who had to pay it back!

Hua Baihe thought for a moment and replied truthfully, “It’s alright.”

Father Ning didn’t get the answer he wanted and could only patiently ask further, “How is it alright?”

Hua Baihe pondered for a few seconds. “I have enough money. Mom and Dad, you should take care of yourselves first.”

Ning Xi’s breath caught in his throat, frightened by her words “enough money.” He didn’t dare to imagine the astronomical figure hidden behind them and only asked tentatively:

“Wanwan, do you have money in your account right now?”

Hua Baihe answered very honestly, “Yes, I should have about ten million coming in soon. Dad, don’t worry—”

Before she could finish, she heard a cry from the other end of the line, “Honey! Honey, what’s wrong!”

“Dear… it’s not good… Wanwan went to rob a bank…”

Hua Baihe: “…”

Hua Baihe said with a wooden face, “I did not.”

Father Ning’s excellent hearing caught the protest from the other end. He instantly returned to normal, no longer clutching his chest, and picked up the phone. “Then where did you get the money?”

Hua Baihe was unusually calm. “I sold the house.”

Ning Xi breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it was just selling the house—

Huh?

Wait??

Selling the house???

He almost couldn’t catch his breath. “You sold the house? What house? The one you’re living in now, the one that’s supposed to be your dowry? Foolish! Wanwan! How are you going to catch a golden turtle husband if you sell the house?”

Hua Baihe was almost sprayed in the face by her old father’s spittle through the phone. Her mouth twitched, and then she said seriously:

“It’s like this, Dad. Our family is about to go bankrupt. We can’t catch a golden turtle husband. I suspect only tortoises will bite the hook. I’ve thought about it and decided it’s better to rely on myself to earn money and support myself.”

Ning Xi was shocked by his daughter’s unprecedentedly clear tone.

“Wanwan, I’m very happy that you have this intention, but you’ve failed every subject since you started school, and you don’t have a single skill in society. You find laundry and cooking too tiring. What prompted you to embark on this irreversible path of self-reliance?”

Hua Baihe: “…Dad, you meant the road to hell, didn’t you?”

Ning Xi earnestly tried to dissuade his daughter from the idea of earning a living by her own skills. “Wanwan, listen to Dad. Getting married early is the proper thing to do. Don’t think about all that nonsense. Your mother has already found someone for you. Although we can’t marry into the Wen family, the Liang family in this city is not bad either—”

“Beep, beep, beep…”

Ning Xi listened to the busy tone, looking at his phone in a daze. “Hello? Wanwan? Hey, what’s with this child!”

His wife, peeling grapes next to him, patted his shoulder. “What’s the hurry? She won’t shed a tear until she sees the coffin. When she’s squandered the house money, she’ll know she was wrong.”

After saying that, she patted her chest in relief. “Good thing I didn’t tell her about the other villa in her name. Old man, hide the property deed well. Don’t let it slip. We’ll need that for her dowry.”

Ning Xi sighed heavily. “Sigh… I guess that’s the only way.”

Hua Baihe didn’t know she had another villa under her name. After hanging up, fueled by the frustration of being pushed into marriage, she opened her computer to register as a streamer on the NB Live platform.

She glanced at the registration conditions, one of which was:

“After registering as a streamer, the company will evaluate your qualifications. Once you meet the standard, a contract will be signed with you. You have no right to refuse to sign the contract.”

Hua Baihe: “…” What kind of rogue is this?

She thought about the process of a beauty live-stream. Live-streaming might be a bit difficult. It was more reliable to post videos.

So, the System watched as she closed the NB Live platform and opened the Jinjiang Live platform next door.

Hua Baihe scanned the user registration conditions, pressed “agree to terms,” and just waited to post her videos in a couple of days.

Before going to sleep, she heard the System sigh faintly. “I’ve discovered that you truly have no will to live.”

* * *

Three days later.

Xiao Qian was a beauty video enthusiast. Besides the established bloggers, she also liked to discover new faces. Unfortunately, even in the video submission section of Jinjiang Live, there were few works that satisfied her.

Beauty bloggers weren’t as suitable for full live-streams as game streamers, because sometimes the audience didn’t have the patience to watch you remove your makeup—how to tear off double eyelid tape one by one, and apply new eyeshadow.

And sometimes, applying makeup on the spot could go wrong. If a small accident happened on camera…

That would be a car crash scene.

In contrast, post-production could cut out a lot of unnecessary trouble and let people see at a glance whether the products you were trying were suitable for them.

Today, Xiao Qian started searching for new talent again. She clicked on a video whose popularity was slowly rising.

The moment she entered, she was hit by several bullet comments:

[I have never seen such a mudslide of a streamer]

[But her face is so damn beautiful]

[2:55 has the climax, don’t say I didn’t tell you]

Xiao Qian only glanced at it before pressing play. A girl with a good complexion even without makeup and very beautiful facial features appeared. Her face had no dark circles, no spots, no acne marks, and no uneven skin tone.

She was stunned for a second—

Mom, I’ve never seen such a divine face. This must be fake!

Then, the girl in the video spoke with a cold expression, “Actually, I never planned to be a beauty streamer. As you can see, my face is perfect. I don’t need any products to improve its condition.”

Xiao Qian: “…” Those are fighting words.

“But, since I was young and reckless, I bought a lot of skincare and makeup products. Since I can’t recommend anything that would make you look better, however—I can tell you what unsuitable things will make you look worse after using them.”

Xiao Qian: “Oho?”

The person in the video slowly took out a box of foundation cream. Xiao Qian recognized it at a glance as a popular foundation cream of the year, said to be extremely hydrating, making the makeup very compliant, and having strong coverage without being too thick.

The advertisement proclaimed perfection.

Hua Baihe said slowly, “This foundation cream, the legendary internet-famous foundation cream. I’m sure many people want to try it. I’ve tried it too.”

“But do you know when this stuff is suitable for use?”

“It’s suitable for when you’re so broke that this is the only thing you can afford. Because then you can’t compare its awfulness. Once you can afford a primer that’s just a hundred or two cheaper, it’s basically useless.”

Hua Baihe in the video looked disgusted. She picked up the box of foundation cream and said to the audience:

“This thing is not whiter than my primer. Using it is like not using it. It can’t be used to ward off disaster, nor can it hide your poverty. It’s like the ginger mixed in with shredded potatoes, making you waste your money for nothing.”

She sighed and showed everyone a picture of her with the makeup on. The time was now exactly 2:55. She held the bottle and threw it—

“For products that deceive me like this, I have only one attitude.”

The glass bottle made a crisp sound as it shattered on the floor.

The bullet comments were all a chorus of “Ahhhhhhh”:

[Money! I heard the sound of money flying away!]

[Don’t! Give it to me, I’m begging you!]

[What do I do, I’ve never seen such a punchable streamer!]

[I don’t know why, but I feel kind of satisfied]

Xiao Qian’s heart skipped a beat. Looking at the face that showed satisfaction after smashing a thousand-yuan-plus foundation cream, a face that looked incredibly bitchy, she clutched her heart.

Help, what do I do if I’ve become a fan of a bitchy streamer! Waiting online! It’s urgent!

* * *