Chapter 11:
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Hu Tao opened her cherry-small mouth and said playfully: "Five million? That's barely enough for a full funeral package service. If you want to sign me, you're still way short!"
The moment those words came out, the viewers were stunned.
What the hell? Funeral package service? Aren't you a 2D girl? How does that connect to funerals?
Countless question marks flashed through the netizens' minds.
But they quickly came up with a theory: Hu Tao said it on purpose—to piss off Zhao Xiaozhen. That meant she wasn't tempted at all. And by mentioning a "full funeral package," she was basically cursing Zhao Xiaozhen to die.
On the other side, Zhao Xiaozhen's face turned as dark as frost. She never expected Hu Tao to give her zero face.
You have to know— the streaming circle might seem big, but she, Zhao Xiaozhen, had a real name and reputation in it. Offend her, and aren't you afraid she'll make trouble for you later?
It's hard for a streamer to blow up, but collapsing (getting canceled) is ridiculously easy.
Not long ago, Zhao Xiaozhen had ruined a disobedient streamer simply because that streamer sang a copyrighted song live. With a little maneuvering on her part, the streamer was completely done for!
Zhao Xiaozhen's expression flickered between rage and calculation. In the end, she swallowed her anger. She still wanted to win Hu Tao over at all costs. If she could sign her, she could squeeze every last drop of value out of her.
She forced a smile and said to Hu Tao: "Little girl, think carefully. Join Yaoshi Rongguang and the benefits will be endless." "We'll pull every string to get you recommendations, plan your content—we can guarantee you'll become a 10-million-follower big streamer within three months."
She paused, then raised her brows confidently: "I can raise it to eight million a year signing fee."
With that, Zhao Xiaozhen crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Hu Tao and Tang Yu with absolute self-assurance.
Tang Yu's heart jolted slightly when he heard the new offer. From his memories, Zhao Xiaozhen was a notoriously stingy capitalist. Her contracted streamers were squeezed to the bone. The capable ones were constantly trying to escape her control. But her methods were so ruthless that no one dared to rebel openly.
The viewers in the live room were buzzing.
Eight million a year! That was three million more than five million. For ordinary people, that kind of money was a lifetime dream.
Now Hu Tao just had to say yes and eight million would land in her account.
{Eight million a year?! Holy crap—if it were me, I'd sign for life.} {Hu Tao sis, be real—take the deal! Money doesn't grow on trees!} {Miss this village and you might never find another. Not everyone has the power to gamble with that much cash.} {Exactly! If you feel bad for the male host, just give him some compensation money!} {....}
The viewers were brutally realistic. Most of the barrage urged Hu Tao to accept Zhao Xiaozhen's offer.
As for Tang Yu? They didn't think too hard about him—at most, give him a bit of compensation and call it even.
Tang Yu himself stayed silent.
At that moment, Hu Tao's small hand sneaked around the camera from below and gently rested on Tang Yu's thigh. She rubbed it lightly, signaling him to relax.
Her tiny gesture instantly cleared the gloom that had been weighing on Tang Yu's heart.
To be honest, he had been a little afraid Hu Tao might actually leave.
When Hu Tao crossed over, somehow (probably the system's doing), she already had a legal ID and everything. If she really wanted to go, he had no way to force her to stay.
Just as Hu Tao was about to speak, a fairly attractive woman appeared in Zhao Xiaozhen's live window.
The woman said to Zhao Xiaozhen: "Sister Zhen, I…"
Before she could finish, Zhao Xiaozhen's eyes lit up. She interrupted: "Oh! Lu Yan, perfect timing!"
Zhao Xiaozhen stood up with a smile, pulled Lu Yan's hand, and sat her down in the streaming chair. She herself stood beside her.
Lu Yan looked confused but still smiled politely. When she looked at the computer screen, her smile froze instantly.
Zhao Xiaozhen patted her shoulder and said: "Go on, persuade your old flame not to do something stupid."
Lu Yan looked puzzled. She turned to Zhao Xiaozhen: "Sister Zhen, what's going on? Why are you on call with him?"
Zhao Xiaozhen quickly explained everything that had happened so far.
After listening, Lu Yan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She never imagined her useless ex-boyfriend would suddenly blow up thanks to a 2D beautiful girl. A thick wave of jealousy surged in her heart.
"You should come back to the guild," Lu Yan said to Tang Yu. "Sister Zhen took you in back then. Now that you're famous, you wouldn't be ungrateful, right?"
On the other side, Tang Yu looked at this suddenly appearing woman. Memories of the original owner's past with her flooded back.
The original had been her simp. Back when she was still in college, the original worked delivery after streams just to fund her luxurious lifestyle. Most of the money went straight to her.
But after graduation, she hooked up with another streamer from the same guild.
That was actually the real reason the original got terminated— he just never knew.
Tang Yu pulled himself out of the memories and looked at Lu Yan coldly.
The woman in front of him was average-looking at best. Her only "advantage" was probably dressing skimpy.
That's it? Tang Yu genuinely couldn't understand why the original had been so PUA'd by her.
"If we're talking ungrateful, you and I aren't even in the same league," Tang Yu said without giving her any face, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Lu Yan's face immediately darkened.
She knew exactly what Tang Yu was referring to.
At the same time, she was secretly shocked as she re-evaluated him.
The Tang Yu in front of her was still the same handsome-but-useless guy. But his aura… was so much more confident and sharp now.
The old Tang Yu had been handsome, sure—but the simp energy was overpowering. Easy on the eyes, but not someone worth loving.
Now? Handsome and cold—straight-up male god template. The kind of man women would swoon over in any era.
Lu Yan had no idea what happened to Tang Yu to cause such a drastic change.
"I know you're still mad about the past," Lu Yan said, suppressing her irritation and speaking softly: "As long as you're willing to come back to the guild and stream, I'm willing to get back together with you."
The moment those words dropped, the viewers smelled fresh gossip.
Every mouth in the chat curled into a grin.
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