Chapter 69: Signing Off

As an excellent host, Zhang Ze certainly didn’t forget Heartthrob Player, but that depended on who he was facing.

In the era of big data, staying anonymous was simple, but for a public figure to use their real name to send gifts, that was a huge gimmick no matter where you put it.

It felt way more intense than some random celebrity playing the same game.

Zhang Ze’s words toward Lin Shixia were full of praise. If he could, it seemed like he wanted to plaster her photo directly onto the live stream screen, enlarged to take up three-quarters of it.

Flattery wasn’t enough. When he noticed Lin Shixia’s cold attitude—just a simple comment of “Mm” that then vanished without a trace—he keenly sensed something.

“Little Light, Teacher Shixia is here to see you again. She sent ten Kunpeng Wanli right away. You gotta thank her properly.”

It was as if Lin Shixia’s family was wholesaling Kunpeng Wanli, sending them out like candy without batting an eye.

He even asked about poses and such, gesturing for Gu Liuguang to step forward a bit, just enough to see the comments in the live stream chat.

There was a few-second delay between the live stream and the actual view. Gu Liuguang had just moved closer to the camera when Lin Shixia’s comment popped up seconds later.

【Lin Shixia: Did you miss me?】

Gu Liuguang’s face flushed red instantly. She thought of Lin Shixia’s face, and other things too.

Holding the microphone, unlike the joking tone she’d used with Heartthrob Player earlier, she felt an inexplicable emotion she hadn’t even noticed in herself.

Her hand gripped the mic tighter, she lowered her head and pursed her lips, glancing at Zhang Ze to her left front before slowly, somewhat embarrassed, looking toward the live stream screen.

-Wife, why so shy?

-Two such dominant faces—can you two kiss for me?

-Did anyone see? Dual female leads, this is gonna explode!

-Feels real, like they’re dating.

-Little Light really seems like she’s dating someone. Never seen her like this.

-This is Lin Shixia!! Who could resist her? Not me [cracking up]

-You can tell she wants to cling to Lin Shixia and leech off her. The gap between influencers and celebs is well-known.

-With beauty filters on, she’s barely watchable. Offline, she’d scare Shixia away lol

……

“Of course I did…” Her voice was soft and low, lingering, like she was coquettish or embarrassed.

The moment it came out, Gu Liuguang was stunned herself, wondering in shock if that was really her voice. How could she make that sound on stream?

She cleared her throat quickly, straightened her expression, and spoke again with firm resolve: “Of course I really missed Teacher Shixia. It’s my honor to catch her attention. I never expected her to notice me amid her busy schedule…”

【Lin Shixia: So perfunctory.】

Gu Liuguang spotted the floating comment and froze, her words catching in her throat.

【Lin Shixia: I only want to hear your true feelings. Skip the fake stuff.】

The live stream chat exploded with comments again, but everyone was used to it by now, joining in naturally regardless of whether they’d be seen.

Gu Liuguang clutched the microphone, at a loss, biting her lip as she stared at the big screen.

Zhang Ze reacted swiftly: “It was all Little Light’s true feelings, Teacher Shixia. You don’t know how much she likes you. She was even planning to go see you offline before, but with work just starting, she couldn’t take time off.”

“The whole company knows it. Even a lot of longtime fans in the fan group know how much Little Light likes you!”

【Lin Shixia: So exaggerated. I don’t buy it.】

Zhang Ze let out an “aiyo”: “If it weren’t inconvenient on stream, I’d have to show Teacher Shixia the ‘evidence.’ Little Light has tons of screenshots confessing to you.”

Gu Liuguang finally snapped back and subconsciously started to protest: “I didn’t…”

From the moment Zhang Ze said everyone knew she liked Lin Shixia, Gu Liuguang’s face had been uncontrollably flushing, like she’d downed a lot of wine. A thin red spread across her exposed snowy skin.

It was like red wine had been poured over her, carrying a rich fragrance that made people want to lick every inch of her skin.

Her cheeks were the most obvious, flushed a deep pink.

Perhaps due to the filter, her beautiful emerald eyes seemed to hold water, wet and glistening as she looked up shyly, evoking images of dark red roses dotted with dew—mysterious and beautiful.

Her colleagues, facing Gu Liuguang directly, were utterly stunned.

They’d often heard that celebrities looked better offline than online, with clear explanations for why, but seeing Gu Liuguang made them even more convinced. She was so beautiful they couldn’t speak.

Unfortunately, the live stream had beauty filters, weakening the impact for fans. Even so, it still had everyone screaming in awe.

Zhang Ze: “What do you mean ‘didn’t’? Little Light, you denying your own words now?”

Zhang Ze’s confident tone made Gu Liuguang doubt herself. Had she really said those things before?

Zhang Ze: “But this involves personal and company privacy, so if Teacher Shixia really wants to know, better to chat privately.”

-The dagger’s out at last! Basically just wants to hook up with Lin Shixia.

-Ah, is Little Light gonna go into acting now?

-This face might work in group lives, but acting? She’d get sent packing.

-I stan Little Light’s looks. Such a shame she’s only streaming…

-LOL I’m in A City, seen Little Light in person. Filters are brutal—she’s just average.

-No way anyone looks like that IRL. Turn off the filter before dreaming of acting.

……

The chat’s tone shifted abruptly. The moderators, who had been enjoying the drama at first, couldn’t keep up with deleting and banning.

The comments scrolled too fast for arguments to even start before they were buried.

Gu Liuguang’s focus was entirely on Lin Shixia; she didn’t care what others said. Since Zhang Ze had said it, she didn’t argue further.

No more comments from Lin Shixia appeared. Seeing this, other big spenders started posting, asking Gu Liuguang all sorts of random questions, even if she wanted to date Lin Shixia.

Gu Liuguang ignored them, but Lin Shixia replied to one—automatically tagging the original poster.

【Lin Shixia: I don’t know her.】

The chat went nuclear.

Gu Liuguang was so shocked she didn’t know how to react. For a split second, she even wondered if she was the one desperate to protect her career.

Afraid Lin Shixia might drop more bombshells if she stayed silent, she quickly cut in: “My feelings for Teacher Shixia are purely admiration. Nothing complicated, and I don’t want to affect her. I wouldn’t even dare think about that…”

Realizing comments weren’t visible on stream felt like unlocking a new world. Many splashed cash to unlock the feature.

Barrages flooded the screen, like watching a video on Niconico.

【Sparkling Wine: I dare to imagine! I’ve already pictured you two doing it till you forget the world!!】

【Little Light’s Hand Touch Me: If you can’t hack it anymore, go make a yuri film! Dual female leads!!】

……

Gu Liuguang’s fox-like eyes widened. What was going on? Why did it feel like she and Lin Shixia had gone public?

She vaguely remembered the plot: Lin Shixia finally emerged from the shadow she’d cast, got together with another female lead, and on some dating variety show, spilled her as “black history.”

By then, Gu Liuguang was public enemy number one, with a bad end.

After the show aired, dual-female-lead fans dug her up, saw her downfall, called it karma, reveling in their cyber sleuthing triumph.

Stunned, she mentally called out to the System. Zhang Ze had already pivoted, wanting the hype but not a total crash-and-burn for both, so he shut down the topic.

“You can eat whatever, but watch your words. Don’t joke like that—it’s bad for both of them. Little Light’s feelings for Teacher Shixia are just a fan’s admiration for their idol. Everyone stay rational.”

He turned off the barrage feature and made Lin Shixia a moderator. The stream finally became viewable again.

No one dared mention her anymore. Regardless of whether Teacher Shixia wanted to chat with him, he’d realized he couldn’t let them talk unchecked or they’d tank both careers.

“Has Teacher Shixia wrapped up filming? How did she discover Little Light? Care to share with everyone sometime?”

Gu Liuguang breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Zhang Ze’s intent, she handed the mic to a colleague but stayed put, craning her neck to watch for Lin Shixia’s response.

Zhang Ze didn’t mind, so she stood there even more confidently.

【Lin Shixia: Wrapping up soon. You guys stream a bit longer and you’ll be signing off around then too, right? Girls streaming late—does the company provide rides?】

As if. Even if they streamed till midnight, everyone just cabbed back together. With so many groups, the company couldn’t provide cars for each person.

Zhang Ze was glad he wasn’t on camera, or his ugly expression would’ve been spotted: “Company’s still adjusting. Early stages, a bit of hardship is normal.”

He was thrilled yet tormented—thrilled by Lin Shixia’s traffic, tormented by how she inspected like a superior.

By the end, Zhang Ze wasn’t sure how he got convinced. In a daze, they streamed just one more hour before signing off.

She said late streams weren’t reasonable—even film shoots didn’t squeeze like this. Plus, revenue was high; her words weren’t moral blackmail, especially after she sent dozens more Kunpeng Wanli.

Claiming low revenue now would’ve made everyone look like fools.

She set the pace, and stream fans were fickle as weeds. He even thought if Lin Shixia said the sun rose in the west, they’d agree.

Luckily, it was just early sign-off today for tomorrow’s PK Tournament prep.

Lin Shixia promised to come tomorrow too.

With that guarantee, Zhang Ze agreed without hesitation. No need to piss her off. If she came often, revenue was no issue.

After signing off, Zhang Ze’s overheated brain cooled down, and he pondered what Lin Shixia’s maneuvers really meant.