Lin Qimian zoomed in on the live streaming room’s screen, gazing at Xu Yueliang’s face—focused and serious on the surface, but clearly distracted underneath. She savored the sight quietly for a few seconds before typing a single character in reply: 【Mm.】
Xu Yueliang’s eyes drifted downward, her eyelashes fluttering faintly.
Seizing the lottery draw as her excuse, she placed both hands squarely on the keyboard and fired off several lines in quick succession:
-【Are you okay?】
-【I saw the messages in the group. Thanks.】
-【If you’re up late, hang on for a bit. I have something to tell you.】
Lin Qimian arched an eyebrow. Weren’t they talking right now?
This secretive back-and-forth felt oddly thrilling.
That familiar spark of mischief ignited in her once more, and she shot back:
-【I’ve got time now. Not sure about later.】
Xu Yueliang’s announcement of the prizes hit a snag. “Dr-drawing three… Winners, don’t complain if it’s not much. Losers, no regrets—we’ll do another round next hour…”
She paused for a beat. “I might end the stream a little early tonight… It’s nothing, just tired. Yeah, makes sense—I did have that minor surgery not long ago…”
Lin Qimian received a new message from the very patient in question: 【I’ll message you after I go offline. Reply whenever you’re free.】
She didn’t respond in private chat. Instead, in the live stream, she sent a small gift and typed into the barrage: 【Okay.】
Her message appeared in a dazzling rainbow of colors, topped with a tiny crown, making it impossible to miss as it scrolled by.
Xu Yueliang glanced at the screen and smiled.
She carried on with her stream while Lin Qimian turned to her own “pressing matters.”
The Orange discussion boards were full of threads about female streamers, though outright malicious personal attacks or baseless slander got reported and deleted.
Lin Qimian dug up plenty on Xu Yueliang. Most were official posts about Orange events, each buried under hundreds of replies. Xu Yueliang’s popularity had surged this year, so the earliest clear signs of her die-hard fans—gushing hype comments—only showed up in recent threads.
A smaller handful were fan-driven: beauty contests pitting streamers against one another, demands for Moon’s “midnight special” video from a certain date, or dissections of her friendships (and rivalries) with other broadcasters.
As for the infamous incident with 【Just Playing】, Lin Qimian couldn’t piece together a straightforward timeline, but it was clear many treated it as Moon’s biggest stain. Anytime someone wanted to trash her, that story inevitably came up.
With no other leads, Lin Qimian slid into the private chat with the Voyage Group’s admin.
The admin’s tone and style screamed veteran superfan—inside scoop on everything, no doubt.
But the moment she brought up the refund to 【Just Playing】, he popped back: 【Moon asked you for a refund?】
Lin Qimian:？？？？
Admin:
-【Sigh, that’s Moon for you. She chats up gifts on stream every day, but deep down, she hates taking big ones.】
-【Knew she’d hit you up about today’s haul.】
-【Look, bro, I’m only telling you this ’cause I can tell you really like Moon. Try to talk her into refunding less, yeah?】
-【Gifts we send? Platform skims sixty percent. Moon pockets just forty. She refunds, she’s covering most of it out of pocket.】
-【She might seem hot right now, but scraping by to this point wasn’t easy.】
Lin Qimian:……
She steered the conversation back: 【So the refund to that Just Playing guy before—was it the same deal?】
Admin:
-【Nah, different story.】
-【Moon usually pulls that for fans who go overboard in the heat of the moment, dumping way too much at once. Or broke college kids fronting like ballers—she figures they’ll regret it later.】
-【Just Playing? Dude’s loaded. Splashed cash on streamers left and right before landing on Moon’s channel. Held top spot on her list forever. Was all good… till his mouth.】
Lin Qimian: 【His mouth?】
Admin: 【Dirty jokes are one thing, but he straight-up bragged to folks that he’d hooked up with Moon privately. Screenshots hit the boards, and her stream chat blew up that day—all “How much for a night?”】
Lin Qimian squeezed her eyes shut as a seething rage bubbled up from every fiber of her being.
Admin:
-【That very night, Moon called him out. Ended up refunding every cent he’d ever gifted her—including the platform’s cut.】
-【Dropped the transfer receipts right in that rumor thread.】
-【Fight got ugly. Bruised the bigshot’s ego bad. And let’s be real—viewers drop cash thinking it buys some kinda claim…】
-【Afterward, a swarm of morons lost their shit, like she’d stabbed ’em in the lung. Cursed her out nonstop with the vilest crap. Took ages to die down.】
【I think Moon’s got some trauma from this too. From now on, whenever someone sends her a big gift, she tries to talk them out of it.】
She did try to dissuade people, that much was true. On Lin Qimian’s very first day in Xu Yueliang’s live stream room, she’d been asked if she was an adult.
At the time, Lin Qimian had just assumed it was a joke. She never imagined there was a reason behind it.
The words on the screen stung her eyes and pierced her heart. Rage simmered in Lin Qimian’s chest, with nowhere to vent.
Lin Qimian: 【If Moon wins today’s PK, those idiots are gonna lose their minds again.】
Admin: 【Oh, they’re losing it alright. They’ve posted a bunch of threads, but me and the other mods reported them quick and got them taken down.】
Lin Qimian:
【Thanks for the hard work.】
【Ask around privately—whoever regrets their gifts tonight can come to me for a refund.】
【Don’t tell Moon.】
【I won’t let her give the money back.】
The admin typed for a good while before finally sending: 【Big Bro 11, you really love her, don’t you.】
Lin Qimian: “……”
Lin Qimian:
【Oh, right—one more thing.】
【From now on, anyone into that “play” stuff? Just call them idiots.】
【Bigshot? Nah, this is what a real bigshot looks like.】
The admin was floored, flooding her with a screen full of clasped-fist emojis.
Lin Qimian switched back to the live stream interface.
For the rest of the time, she watched the stream while handling the refunds and reimbursements, right up until Xu Yueliang went offline.
True to her word, the moment the screen went dark, a message popped up.
Not from the Orange account this time, but from Little Moon’s personal WeChat.
Under a cute pink avatar, the message was soft and sweet: 【1111, you asleep? I just went offline!】
Lin Qimian stared at the text but didn’t reply.
Two minutes later, another message from Xu Yueliang:
【Looks like you’re out cold. Sweet dreams then~】
【I’ll go ahead and say my piece. Reply when you wake up.】
【Thank you so, so, SO much for today. Without you, I definitely would’ve lost.】
【But honestly, losing a PK isn’t a big deal. It happens all the time. What matters to me is whether everyone enjoys my streams, whether they like my dances.】
【I know you really like me, that’s why you gave me all those tips and spent so much money.】
【You shouldn’t have had to shell out like that. Your usual gifts are already more than generous—my streams aren’t worth more than that~】
【So… can you give me your account info? Let me send back what you spent tonight~】
【I swear I don’t mean anything by it! Please don’t get the wrong idea! I just know how hard everyone works for their money…】
【This’ll be our little secret between us! I won’t tell a soul, and you shouldn’t either, okay?】
【Thank you again—deep bow! I’ll keep practicing my dancing. Tell me any dances you wanna see!】
【Oh, and I saw your barrage. With fans like you, I’m number one—and I’ll keep working hard to stay there as long as I can~~~】
A flood of messages, each one brimming with emotion just like the girl herself. Lin Qimian could almost picture Xu Yueliang standing right in front of her, saying it all.
Nervous, anxious, scared—but trying so hard to stay upbeat and bubbly.
Every tentative word revealed her innocent little thoughts, all so sincere and kind, like qualities straight out of a fairy tale princess.
She kept explaining herself, afraid 11 might misunderstand her reasons for offering a refund. She assured him it was a secret, that she’d never breathe a word to protect his pride. She made promises she could actually keep within her line of work.
And most precious of all, after enduring so much malice, vitriol, and those horrific incidents, she still chose to believe the best in 11.
That he was just a simple guy who liked her.
Who enjoyed her streams, her dances, chatting with her, and tossing in some gifts.
Nothing darker.
She hoped for nothing darker.
Lin Qimian felt a pang of jealousy toward 11—this partial version of herself, hidden behind an online handle, able to fulfill Xu Yueliang’s hopes without complication.
Because it was only a part of her, it could live up to those expectations.
But the real Lin Qimian… even after lecturing herself over and over, couldn’t help but want to claim Xu Yueliang for herself the moment she glimpsed that sparkling cuteness.
Her throat tightened as she set the phone down.
That night, she lay awake staring at the ceiling until dawn, losing count of how many sleepless nights she’d spent over Xu Yueliang.
The next day, she still hadn’t replied to Xu Yueliang’s message.
The best way to refuse was simply not to engage her on the matter.
Because the moment she did, Lin Qimian had no clue what she might end up doing.
At ten o’clock that morning, her backup phone chimed with a flurry of notifications.
She wasn’t chasing after the mountain—the mountain had come straight to her. Xu Yueliang greeted her with boundless energy, asking if she’d woken up yet, if she’d eaten breakfast, and since it was the weekend, was she kicking back at home?
Lin Qimian toyed with her phone but still didn’t respond.
That afternoon, just before Xu Yueliang went live, another message arrived.
With no other choice, Lin Qimian logged out of her Orange account and lurked in the stream as an anonymous viewer.
No gifts to send, no comments to post, no way to interact—it left her fingers itching, as if ants were gnawing at her tips.
The weekend dragged on like that, followed by the workweek.
Xu Yueliang was stubbornly persistent, firing off messages twice a day like clockwork, all in pursuit of Lin Qimian’s bank account so she could wire over the money.
Yet her persistence was all soft and yielding, laced with gentle words chosen for times least likely to intrude. The messages came in perfect measure, never enough to annoy.
To be so persistently pursued—to have Xu Yueliang chasing after her like this—filled Lin Qimian with a hazy, cloud-skimming happiness.
—Lower your head, and there might just be a message from the one you like.
A week later, Xu Yueliang finally threw in the towel.
She sent Lin Qimian a massive cat-sighing emoji, followed by: 【I won’t send your money back.】
Lin Qimian popped up instantly: 【Really?】
Xu Yueliang went silent for a long stretch before her reply came—a voice message.
“Aaahhh—you’re really dodging me on purpose!!!!!”
Only voice could capture the full force of her exasperation.
Lin Qimian burst out laughing. She played the clip once, then again, and added it to her favorites.
A dozen seconds later, Xu Yueliang regained her composure and typed:
【If I bring up returning the money again, are you just gonna vanish?】
Lin Qimian replied without shame: 【Yes.】
Xu Yueliang: 【You haven’t even logged into Orange or watched my streams?】
Lin Qimian, now hooked on lying: 【Yes.】
Xu Yueliang wilted completely:
【Fine.】
【For real.】
【But you have to let me make it up to you somehow, right?】
【Blech, not make it up.】
【At least let me thank you with something?】
Lin Qimian fell into thought, but Xu Yueliang beat her to it: 【Something special~~】
