Chapter 67: Ending the Stream

The viewer count soared to three hundred thousand, and the live room rocketed up the tracks to claim first place on the popularity rankings.

Zhang Ze couldn’t quite put his finger on what he felt. He never imagined that one day he would grow numb to money.

Gu Liuguang reacted even faster than him. When she heard it was another ten Kunpeng Wanli gifts, she stood in place, stretched her arms high, and formed a big heart above her head.

The large heart moved from above her head to in front of her chest before vanishing. She pressed her left hand to her lips, kissed it, and blew it toward the camera while mouthing: Thank you.

Now Zhang Ze was one hundred percent certain that Lin Shixia was in the live room. He couldn’t control the room’s rhythm—the hype was essential, and ending the stream was out of the question.

He paid no attention to Gu Liuguang. The live BGM had already switched to cheerful standby music right after she finished dancing. Zhang Ze grabbed the microphone and started talking, with nine out of ten sentences revolving around Lin Shixia. He wished the whole world knew that Lin Shixia was in their live room.

“Teacher Shixia, did you send these to our Little Light? It’s Little Light’s honor to earn Teacher Shixia’s favor… Please show lots of support for Teacher Shixia’s works too. Heavenly Dao is airing hot right now, and Shadow Butterfly is in production. Follow Teacher Shixia’s account for more…”

Zhang Ze shamelessly launched into promotion. Now he didn’t need to scheme to push Lin Shixia’s account to the top—with all those gifts, it was already there.

He went on for quite a while until his mouth grew dry. He realized Lin Shixia wasn’t responding to him at all. Her account still lingered in the live room, leaving him unsure whether it was just left open or if she simply had no interest in acknowledging him.

Lin Shixia’s “silence” did nothing to dampen the fans’ “enthusiasm” in the live room. Zhang Ze finally caught on and had someone pass the microphone to Gu Liuguang, hinting to her:

“Teacher Shixia really likes you. You didn’t realize it while you were dancing earlier, but Teacher Lin Shixia showered gifts the moment she arrived. Thank her properly—start by following each other.”

He secretly hoped the two of them could stay in touch this way.

Gu Liuguang hadn’t exerted herself much; even after two dances, she was only slightly out of breath. Sitting to rest helped a lot, but the microphone suddenly thrust into her hands caught her off guard.

She still had no idea how everyone knew Lin Shixia was in the live room or why they knew it was Lin Shixia who had sent her the gifts.

With no time to think, she pretended the two didn’t know each other. She glanced toward the projected screen and spoke with a hint of shyness.

One of Zhang Ze’s apprentices inexplicably shoved the equipment in close, holding it high and aiming right at Gu Liuguang. Her attention caught, Gu Liuguang lifted her beautiful eyes. Her thick, long lashes pressed heavily against the corners, making her eyes appear large yet narrow.

Her emerald irises gleamed like gems. The camera pushed in until her stunning eyes filled the entire frame, leaving viewers dazed and breathless, reality blurring with illusion.

Those eyes seemed to speak. With a gentle blink and an upward glance, they conveyed shyness—or words held back on the tip of the tongue. An inexplicable affection took root in their depths, captivating everyone to stare only at them.

Even the apprentice holding the equipment seemed stunned. She paused for three seconds before snapping back and slowly pulling away to capture the rest of Gu Liuguang in frame.

“Thank you for Teacher Lin Shixia’s gifts.” Gu Liuguang’s cheeks flushed pink. As she spoke, those amorous fox eyes grew even more tender and affectionate. The way she gazed at the lens turned into teasing little hooks, evoking thoughts of vivid sensuality.

“I’ve always really liked Teacher Shixia. Can we really follow each other?”

Group lives usually had a segment to thank big spenders, but their group did it rarely. When they did, it was almost always Gu Liuguang holding the mic. She wasn’t great at it, though—her thanks were always dry and brief before she hurriedly passed it back.

Xiao Yao had even searched up some thank-you scripts and sent them to Gu Liuguang, but she could never remember them. Occasionally, inspiration struck, and one would come to her.

She had anticipated Lin Shixia might watch the live stream and figured she would use a new account. From this distance, she couldn’t make out what was happening in the room anyway.

Zhang Ze insisted on a premium route, so he never let them check their phones while posing. With no clue about Lin Shixia’s situation, Gu Liuguang went through the motions to thank her but held back from saying anything too bold.

Toward the end, it was as if instinct took over. She poured out her genuine admiration for Teacher Lin Shixia—from Yao Xia in Heavenly Dao to her rare public appearances, even interactions in Super Topic fan groups.

She wanted to prove her fandom was real.

Her groupmates nodded along now and then, using body language to affirm that everything Gu Liuguang said rang true.

She often chatted about Lin Shixia with the others, who were fans themselves. They saw nothing off in her words—even Zhang Ze chimed in with an occasional “Exactly.”

Gu Liuguang nearly moved herself to tears before remembering she was live and thanking Lin Shixia for the gifts.

“I’m truly grateful for Teacher Shixia’s encouragement.”

Running out of things to say, she quickly handed the microphone back to Zhang Ze.

Then she saw Lin Shixia use noble privileges to send a comment that streaked across the screen as a barrage.

【Lin Shixia: [fox.jpg]】

Gu Liuguang thought to herself that the account nickname was just “Lin Shixia,” which was why everyone kept spamming the name—they were memeing it.

Another barrage drifted by.

【Lin Shixia: Off to film now. Back tonight [fox tilting head.jpg]】

Gu Liuguang’s eyes widened instantly. Wasn’t that her favorite emoji from WeChat?

Why did the other have it?!

Zhang Ze said, “Got it, got it. Thanks to Teacher Shixia for taking time out of her busy schedule to ‘encourage’ Little Light. Go handle your business, Teacher—and please look forward to Teacher Shixia’s new drama, Shadow Butterfly.”

Once Lin Shixia left, the viewer count plummeted straight to two hundred thousand. Zhang Ze’s mood swung wildly, but anyone who had hit three hundred thousand could accept such a cliff-like drop.

He was confident that as long as Gu Liuguang stayed with the group, he could eventually stabilize the live room at three hundred thousand online viewers.

As the drop slowed, Zhang Ze switched the music and put his ace card, Gu Liuguang, in charge.

Sure enough, with the ace in place, stability followed.

Once Gu Liuguang took the stage, the numbers stopped falling and even trended upward slightly, though much slower than before.

After dancing continuously for ten minutes, Gu Liuguang flagged. She panted heavily, her face flushed beyond what concealer could hide. The exposed skin from her neck to her shoulders took on a faint layer of pink.

It was like painting on pristine white canvas. The live room viewers stared, entranced.

She sat there, beautiful as a sculpted artwork, inhumanly perfect. But once tinged with human desire, that beauty came alive.

Still breathtaking, an embodiment of mortal temptation.

Her slightly parted red lips exhaled breaths that seemed to mist the lens. Fine sweat on her forehead sparkled like scattered diamonds under the lights—gold leaf from the creator himself—making it impossible to tear greedy eyes away.

She had reached a new pinnacle of beauty.

Zhang Ze stared at Gu Liuguang on the feed, marveling inwardly. Even a rising star like Lin Shixia couldn’t resist her.

High popularity was great, but seeing how exhausted Gu Liuguang looked made Zhang Ze reluctant to push her further. The moment she glanced his way, he immediately cut the song and switched performers.

The audience felt like they had been rudely awakened from a beautiful dream. Dissatisfied complaints flooded the live room.

Those with means simply showered gifts—no specific dances required, as long as it was Gu Liuguang.

Objectively, the other members of the BH Girl Group were attractive too.

But with Gu Liuguang sitting right there, it was like trying to stay calm beside a radiant jewel.

The live room grew chaotic. Those who met moderator requirements neared a thousand, but permissions fell short, so they used noble privileges for comments, demanding Gu Liuguang dance like it cost nothing. They treated privileges like the bottom-left comment feed. Rich folks were as numerous as carp crossing the river.

Gifts kept coming, but no more Kunpeng Wanli. Puzzled, Zhang Ze checked the gift rankings.

Lin Shixia was gone, her account vanished.

At the top was fox. The account lingered but sent no more gifts.

Zhang Ze said, “I know everyone’s eager—hang tight. Little Light needs a break too; she can’t dance nonstop, right?

“We can tally requests first. Later, type the dances you want to see in public chat.

“Tomorrow’s the Guild’s personal PK Tournament. Winners get special perks—follow us and tune in to the BH Live Room tomorrow…”

Zhang Ze worked hard to liven up the atmosphere, but without Gu Liuguang dancing, the viewers kept trickling away.

At six twenty, their group ended the stream early.

Once the live room shut down, her colleagues couldn’t hold back their cheers. They swarmed Gu Liuguang, screaming and hugging her.

It was hard not to feel lucky to be in the same group. Her traffic and fans were terrifying—they barely needed to campaign; Gu Liuguang’s fans brushed whatever gifts they had, regardless.

When she got meat, they got soup.

Some newcomers didn’t grasp the rules and sent whatever gifts flashed at the top, which still counted toward their revenue.

After the screams died down, they crowded Gu Liuguang for details on Lin Shixia.

“How did she even find our live stream? Isn’t she filming?”

“Even stealing time from set to watch—this has to be true love, right?”

Xiao Yao was even more excited. “Liuguang, you said Shixia was your girlfriend—is it real?” She almost wanted to believe it.

The words drew laughs from the group, all wearing “no way” expressions.

Tiantian grabbed her phone and chimed in while scrolling. “No way two people that unconnected are dating. Probably business ties—maybe Lin Shixia knows the boss?”

The others calmed down. Xiao Xia said, “It’s Teacher Zhang! Teacher Zhang’s friends with Lin Shixia; he posted a photo together on Moments.”

Zhang Ze walked over just in time to hear Xiao Xia. Without thinking, he said, “She’s here for Liuguang—what’s to question? Don’t believe me? Go ask Teacher Shixia yourselves.”