Page Seventy-One
Chain Reaction
“Oh, you finally noticed? Then I don’t have to pretend anymore. Although not much, I’ve gathered quite a bit of evidence.”
Linhua said this as she placed a voice recorder half on the table. The female drunkard realized what it was and reached out to grab it, but Linhua wouldn’t let her succeed.
She slapped the part of the voice recorder that was outside the table, causing it to spin in the air and fall into my hand.
I was sitting face-to-face with the female drunkard, separated by a grill with burning charcoal. She couldn’t bypass me directly and could only glare at the voice recorder in my hand… She thought Linhua was on the first floor while she was on the second floor, but when Linhua took out the voice recorder and revealed she was on the third floor, she felt deceived.
“—Actually, we’re on the fifth floor.”—
Cherry Sauce added.
Linhua showed a wicked smile.
“Alright, let’s move on to the next phase of our conversation.”
“What do you little brats want?”
Realizing she had fallen into a trap, the female drunkard became restless, which greatly stimulated Linhua’s devilish heart.
“Of course, I’m collecting evidence of the Glorious Family’s misdeeds. Isn’t this a simple question? It seems your brain isn’t very sharp, sister.”
The female drunkard frowned and asked, “Are you trying to blackmail us?”
“No, no, no. Actually, I don’t need money. As for why I’m doing this… Lingmeng, remove the tape.”
The tape on my face was indeed uncomfortable. When Linhua mentioned it, I found the tear lines on both sides of my ears and pulled the tape down to my jaw, feeling my facial muscles lift.
“…Ouch, it hurts.”
My skin still stung. I patted my cheek and removed my sunglasses.
“Do you remember me?”
“…It’s you?!”
She recognized me.
After all, she had just seen my lewd pictures. There was no reason for her not to recognize me.
Linhua’s laughter grew even more unrestrained at the female drunkard’s reaction, her tone rising several decibels. Despite holding the banner of justice, she looked more like an antagonist now.
“I’ll tell you, the guy you hired has been turned against you by me. Meeting you face-to-face for a transaction was my plan.”
She patted the Scorpion Man’s arm, hitting his wound, causing him to wince but not dare to react.
He was sweating coldly and whispered, “Miss Huangfu, there’s nothing left for me to do here, right?”
“Yes, I know. Here you go.”
Linhua threw the bag containing the eighty thousand yuan to the Scorpion Man.
“You can leave now. Do better from now on.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The Scorpion Man nodded repeatedly, holding the bag and looking back every three steps as he fled the scene… Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to turn him into a lewd picture.
Linhua then turned to the remaining female drunkard.
“Oh, oh, such men seem to have no prospects. Don’t you think so, sister?”
The female drunkard, who had no interest in joking, coldly asked, “What do you plan to do with this evidence? Are you going to sue us?”
“Don’t be so serious. How about I buy you a drink?”
Linhua’s words only made the other party angrier. I took over, “The Glorious Family monopolizes the platform’s middle-tier earnings through despicable means, threatening small streamers, directing water armies to attack their live streams, thus blocking their path to success. Your goal is to strike down any potential competitors… What do you think will happen if these things come to light?”
Linhua watched me with great interest, and the female drunkard retorted, “…Is it really necessary to go this far?”
“Of course. Once you targeted my friends, it became a matter of life and death.”
The female drunkard sneered, “Life and death, huh? To bring us down, the content of this recording alone is probably not enough.”
“We don’t just have this recording. There are also threatening letters online, surveillance footage above our heads, and records of the first payment to the Scorpion Man. If you think these aren’t enough, there might be even more explosive information… Even without filing a lawsuit, just posting this content online will leave no room for the Glorious Family.”
“Have you considered the consequences of your actions? Your actions will affect the income of over a hundred girls in our union. Without meeting their performance targets, they won’t be able to fulfill their contracts… And you still call yourselves righteous?”
She seemed ready to debate, as if she wanted to argue.
But the Glorious Family actually had over a hundred streamers, which was surprisingly many.
I asked again, “The girls you mentioned were also small streamers who were bullied by you, right? How many were recruited through improper means? Without you, they wouldn’t have to pay commissions, and they would be better off…”
“That’s not necessarily true. We can’t develop without resorting to third-rate methods. It’s because we ensure their income that the Glorious Family has reached where it is today… Moreover, our contract clearly states that they can leave after a few years if they stop being streamers.”
“Hmph, leaving the platform means changing careers. You think that’s enlightened?”
“Just this clause is already very enlightened. Other unions’ contracts bind the streamers tightly. As I said, the initial investment to train a streamer is far less than what she brings in. Would you watch her leave and become an enemy of the union after promotion and hype?”
Her tone annoyed me. I slammed the table and shouted at her, “No matter how difficult the industry is, that doesn’t justify threatening my friends… or those small streamers!”
“That’s just normal business tactics.”
This female drunkard still refused to admit guilt, but did Sister Yiji make the audience see the true colors of the Glorious Family?
“—Trouble, the Glorious Family has issued a public statement.”—
For the other battlefront, Cherry Sauce provided real-time updates.
“—They claim that the content of Sister Yiji’s live stream is fabricated and a false script, meant to stir up controversy and smear them. They also declare that they will pursue legal action, and many water army members flooded the直播间, aligning with their own streamers… They aim to drown out Sister Yiji’s live stream with more voices, turning the undecided public to their side.”—
The news from Cherry Sauce was not optimistic, but it was expected.
On the internet, whoever shouts the loudest wins. Those with the power of discourse can twist the truth.
“—Bad news, the backup live stream has been frozen by the platform, probably due to too many water army reports… Due to the five-minute delay in broadcasting, the key points you mentioned earlier haven’t been aired yet.”—
…Where did the live stream reach?
“—Before Linhua and she fell out.”—
Cherry Sauce relayed a series of bad news, and a commotion erupted behind us.
“Over there! Hurry up!”
A dozen menacing black-clad men surged from one side of the passage, some with bald heads. Leading them was a familiar scoundrel… Yes, it was the Scorpion Tattoo Man who had escaped earlier.
Goodness, classic betrayal. Even without thinking, one could guess what happened. This guy was determined to become a lewd picture.
“What do you want?”
We were surrounded by these people. The usually quiet passage was empty of guests at this time. Linhua frowned, and the situation suddenly worsened.
“What’s going on?”
The female drunkard, who had been restless before, calmly asked, “Did you… think you had already won?”
Linhua questioned, “Yin Tianjie, did you tell her my plan ahead of time?”
“So what if I did?”
The Scorpion Man, the man named Yin Tianjie, scowled and cursed, “Once I finish this job, I’ll leave this city. I’m not from here anyway. Your Huangfu family rules this small city with an iron fist. Everyone knows that old hag from the Huangfu family is almost dead. When she dies, the rest of you young ones will be nothing. I’ll come back then… You dare to look at me like that?”
Mentioning the old principal at this moment was like stepping on a broadsword mine. Linhua’s expression was cold and eerie, making Yin Tianjie shiver.
“…Then you’d better have the ability to leave.”
“—Do we need Xia Lu’s help?—”
There was no need to panic. The situation was still under control.
Cherry Sauce reminded again,
“—Sister Yiji is registering a new live stream. I’ll capture all these scenes… Try not to use Goddess Mode.”—
I wanted to use it, but my divine power had been drained by her.
The female drunkard also said to me, “Hand over the voice recorder.”
“Hey, hey, relying on violence will make things worse—”
Yin Tianjie grabbed my mouth with one hand and held my wrist with the other.
“Don’t worry about it. That witch isn’t here today… You’d better behave yourself.”
Witch?
Does she mean Sister Zi?
I let go of the voice recorder, allowing the female drunkard to take it. She added, “Courage to stand up for a friend is commendable, but thinking that a few people can take down an organization with just evidence… At the end of the day, you’re still just a child, and your thoughts are too naive.”
Linhua frowned and asked, “No, we did win.”
“Still stubborn, thinking that broadcasting the negotiation process is a success? Your plans may be thwarted… You can ask, I think the live stream has been frozen.”
“…How do you know?”
Linhua asked the same question that puzzled me.
Our plan to counterattack through live streaming wasn’t even told to Yin Tianjie. These people didn’t talk to the female drunkard after arriving. How did she know our plan?
Could she have predicted everything beforehand and seen through our plan?
No.
If she were that smart, she wouldn’t have shown so many weaknesses earlier.
She must have learned our plan midway. Perhaps she had another way to communicate with the Glorious Family besides her phone. Did she bring some kind of hidden earpiece?
“—No such thing. If she had, I would have noticed. I think she guessed?”—
Not very convincing. How could she guess something like this?
“—Although it doesn’t help the current situation, I have good news!”—
“—Sister Yiji’s live stream has been unfrozen!”—
