Ming Mei opened her private messages and took a look. Most of them were messages like, “Rich lady, please keep me!” She immediately blocked the few people who were obviously joking around, then exited her inbox and continued browsing other livestreams.
However, after scrolling for quite a while, she still couldn’t find many that interested her. They were either singing or dancing, and the songs were all those popular internet tunes she’d heard countless times before. She had no idea how other people could keep listening to them.
Just then, Ming Mei received a private message from Dolphin Trainer Mu Mu.
“Hello, Sunshine Sister! Could I add you on WeChat?”
Ming Mei thought about it for a moment before sending him her WeChat ID.
She had just put down her phone and gone to take a shower. By the time she came out, the other party had already added her.
“Hello, Sunshine Sister! I’m the streamer ‘Dolphin Trainer Mu Mu.’ It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
Judging by the timing, he must have added her while she was still showering.
About a minute or two later, he sent another message.
“Sunshine Sister, would you like me to refund your money?”
Ming Mei’s eyebrows curved into a smile as she replied, “No need. Just consider it a donation to the dolphins.”
Hancheng Aquarium
Xu Mu had just finished his livestream when he saw the message. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After adding Sunshine Mingmei on WeChat, he had immediately felt that something was a little strange.
Judging from her username and profile picture, this Sunshine Sister seemed like someone from his mother’s generation. Yet her WeChat name was quite distinctive, and her profile picture was equally unconventional.
She seemed more like a youthful, beautiful college student—not someone who would use a name like Sunshine Mingmei.
Then again, he couldn’t determine someone’s age based on those details alone, so he stopped thinking about it.
Her Moments were only visible for the past three days, and Sunshine Mingmei hadn’t posted anything during that time. Xu Mu had no way of figuring out what kind of person she was.
Just then, the aquarium’s deputy director hurried over.
“Xiao Xu, did you manage to add her on WeChat?”
Director Liu Tao was a middle-aged man with a large belly. When he heard that a student of his senior fellow had received several million yuan in livestream tips, he had been so startled that he rushed over from home immediately.
After finally waiting for Xu Mu to finish streaming, the deputy director had promptly arranged for him to add the donor on WeChat.
He was worried that the person might simply be using her parents’ bank card to tip streamers for fun—or that she might be using their livestream room to launder money.
Don’t be surprised. People really did things like that.
“Don’t worry, Director. I’ve already added her and asked her about it. She just hasn’t replied yet.”
After hearing this, Liu Tao let out a relieved breath.
“As long as you’ve added her, that’s good. As long as you’ve added her!”
Just then, Xu Mu’s phone chimed.
He opened it and, sure enough, the message was from Sunshine Mingmei. After reading her reply, the tension in his expression finally eased.
Liu Tao hurriedly squeezed his large head over to look at the screen. When he saw Ming Mei’s response, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good. That’s good! Xiao Xu, take a screenshot of this conversation later and keep it as evidence. How much did she tip you?”
“Five million yuan,” Xu Mu answered.
Liu Tao sucked in a breath and muttered something about rich people before asking, “Can we withdraw all five million?”
Xu Mu shook his head. “The platform takes a cut, and we still have to pay taxes. We should be able to withdraw a little over three million.”
Liu Tao clicked his tongue.
“Listen to yourself! Our entire aquarium only gets a little over six million yuan in funding a year. Your earnings from a single day are equivalent to half a year’s budget!”
The aquarium relied on ticket sales for income. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people visited aquariums, so annual ticket revenue amounted to only a few million yuan at most. They had to organize various events or collaborate with schools and other organizations to attract visitors. In the end, they could only rely on government subsidies.
The government provided around five or six million yuan in funding each year. Even then, maintaining the equipment and taking care of all the marine animals already consumed nearly all of it.
Xu Mu asked, “Director, what should we do with this money?”
Although he was the one who had livestreamed, the account belonged to the aquarium, and the bank card linked to it was the aquarium’s funding account. Legally speaking, the tips weren’t entirely his money.
Liu Tao thought for a moment before answering, “First, check how much we can withdraw.”
Xu Mu clicked on the backend to settle the day’s earnings.
The final amount was a full 3.2 million yuan.
Liu Tao stared at the sum, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. He swallowed hard as he thought about the equipment he’d wanted for ages, the other fish species he’d hoped to introduce, the outdated warm lights in the coral section, and the water pumps in the marine fish section that were far from state-of-the-art.
But then he looked at Xu Mu. He knew perfectly well that this money wouldn’t have come in without him.
After thinking it over, he said, “Here’s what we’ll do. Withdraw the money. Ten percent will be your bonus, and transfer the rest to the purchasing department. Tell them to buy everything on the list I made last time!”
Heaven knew how badly he’d wanted to bring home the equipment from other aquariums whenever he visited them. Unfortunately, the budget had always been too tight. Now, they finally had some spare money.
Xu Mu was delighted to receive a bonus worth several hundred thousand yuan. Even so, he still felt a peculiar curiosity about that Sunshine Mingmei.
He touched his face, then ran a hand over his abdominal muscles.
I really want to meet this Sunshine Mingmei and see what kind of person she is…
She seems rather aloof.
Meanwhile, Ming Mei exited WeChat, played a game, and browsed the internet for a while. Before long, she discovered that the incident had already become a trending topic.
#Newly Emerged Rich Lady Sunshine Mingmei
#Hello, Rich Lady! Rich Lady, I’m Hungry!
#Shocking! A Mysterious Rich Lady Tips a Streamer Millions—What Secrets Lie Behind This? Let’s Investigate!
All three hashtags had made the trending list.
The top spots were still occupied by scandals involving celebrities cheating and celebrities acting like divas. Nevertheless, all three of these topics had also been marked as hot trends.
Ming Mei took a look at the comments.
“This handsome guy is pretty good-looking! What does he do? Is he a swimmer?”
“He’s wearing a diving suit, not a swimsuit, okay?”
“This handsome guy is a dolphin trainer! I’ve been following him for ages! He’s an alumnus from a few years above me at my university!”
“Wow, wow, wow! That face could beat so many celebrities, couldn’t it?”
“Otherwise, why would a rich lady take an interest in him?”
“Speaking of which, with that username and profile picture, I almost thought she was my mom!”
“Same here! It’s so familiar!”
“An old woman over forty, I bet. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
“Watch your mouth, person above! She’s a rich lady sister, not some old woman!”
“…”
Ming Mei exited the comment section.
Looking at the sky, she realized it was already noon.
After eating the dishes prepared by the cook, she took a stroll around the courtyard before calling the housekeeper over.
“Miss, did you need something?” the housekeeper asked as he approached.
“Are there any shopping malls nearby? I want to buy some clothes.”
The housekeeper thought for a moment.
“Miss, there’s a Yida Commercial Plaza nearby with plenty of brand-name stores.”
Ming Mei nodded, slipped her phone into her pocket, and left.
Watching her retreating figure, the housekeeper smiled before turning back into the house.
“Hey, housekeeper!” A maid was tidying up the entrance when she called out. “Can you figure out what kind of person our young lady is?”
The housekeeper chuckled. “You’re giving me too much credit.”
The maid said curiously, “When I was helping the young lady tidy her room earlier, I discovered that she’d brought practically nothing with her except her phone and a bank card! Do you think she might be the heiress of some reclusive wealthy family who ran away from home and came here?”
The housekeeper laughed at the maid’s imagination.
“Who runs away from home and spends that much money? Aren’t they afraid their family will find them? Didn’t you see that she was carrying a bag?”
At that moment, another maid who was mopping the floor raised her head.
“That’s right! I also saw an admission letter from Shanghai University inside the young lady’s bag!”
The maid tidying the entrance suddenly understood.
“So she’s here to attend university!”
The housekeeper said, “The young lady just asked me where the nearest shopping mall was. She’s probably going shopping. Make sure the house is clean so we’ll have somewhere to put all her purchases!”
Ming Mei took a taxi straight to Yida Plaza.
Why didn’t she buy a car?
Because she didn’t have a driver’s license.
When she’d first realized this problem, Ming Mei had looked up the procedure for obtaining a driver’s license in this world. Since it was almost identical to the process in her previous world, she decided to get one after starting university.
For now, she would buy some things over the next couple of days and fill up her new home.
After entering the shopping mall, Ming Mei headed straight for the cosmetics counters.
She found the Lancôme counter and walked over to inspect the testers displayed in front.
“Hello, miss!” A sales assistant approached with a sweet smile. “Feel free to try the testers here. All our latest Lancôme products are on display!”
Ming Mei nodded and tried a slightly tipsy rose-red lipstick, followed by a matte shade with a velvety finish.
Neither color really suited her, but she still liked them very much.
The Lancôme L’Absolu Rouge Slim lipstick collection came in nine shades, with a full set costing over 3,000 yuan.
Without even glancing at the price, Ming Mei told the sales assistant, “Pack up one complete gift set of the entire Slim lipstick collection for me.”
The sales assistant’s smile immediately became much sweeter.
“Of course! I’ll pack it up for you right away!”
Ming Mei nodded and moved on to the toners and moisturizers.
The sets suitable for someone her age included the Rénergie range, a soothing toner-and-moisturizer set, and the Absolue? No—the Radiance range. Whatever their actual effects, their packaging was gorgeous.
Ming Mei glanced at the prices and said, “I’ll take two sets of each of these three toner-and-moisturizer collections.”
The sales assistant’s expression became even more ingratiating.
“Certainly, certainly! I’ll get them ready for you right away.”
The assistant gave a meaningful glance to her colleague. Another sales assistant immediately hurried over with a smile.
“Hello, miss! Would you like to look at our makeup products as well? We’ve just launched new eyeshadow palettes, including a nine-color earth-tone palette, a twelve-color pearlescent palette, and a seven-color matte palette. We have testers available for you to try!”
Ming Mei nodded.
“Take one of each out for me to look at.”
She tried them and found them quite nice, so she had one of each packed as well.
At this point, the two remaining sales assistants behind the counter also crowded over.
Ming Mei continued browsing the serums, face creams, eye serums, and other products. She didn’t bother considering their specific benefits. As long as the packaging looked good enough, she bought them.
Looking at the huge pile of products in front of her, Ming Mei simply took her bank card out of her pocket.
“Ring them up!”
The sales assistant accepted her bank card with both hands, her face beaming with an ingratiating smile.
Ming Mei spent over a hundred thousand yuan on this shopping spree and earned one point.
Yes, that was right. She rounded down to one point rather than rounding up.
Ming Mei looked at the enormous pile of purchases in front of her and felt a little troubled.
How am I supposed to get all this stuff home?
Just then, the sales assistant bent slightly at the waist, smiling brightly.
“Miss, would you like us to arrange delivery to your home?”
Ming Mei’s eyes lit up.
So this is how the rich are treated!
She nodded and wrote down her address and surname on the card the sales assistant respectfully presented with both hands.
After buying her skincare and makeup products, Ming Mei headed toward the clothing and handbag stores.
Back at the Lancôme counter, as soon as Ming Mei left, several sales assistants let out quiet squeals of excitement.
It was no wonder they were excited. Each of them would receive a commission of nearly ten thousand yuan that day.
“Sister Wang, Sister Wang!” one of the sales assistants asked the woman who had first served Ming Mei. “Which wealthy family does that young lady belong to?”
Sister Wang looked at the name on the card and frowned.
“Her surname is Ming. That’s strange. I’ve never heard of a wealthy family with that surname in Shanghai.”
Another sales assistant remarked sarcastically, “Maybe she’s just newly rich.”
Sister Wang shot her a glance.
“Would a newly rich person be able to buy a house worth over two hundred million yuan?”
She picked up the card and waved it at them.
“Huacheng Mingdi. It’s a villa development by Huacheng Real Estate. Everyone in the circle has been talking about Villa C1 today. Apparently, some young heiress from an unknown family paid over two hundred million yuan for it on the spot!”
After saying this, she lowered her voice and nodded in the direction Ming Mei had gone.
“Looking at this address, it might just be her!”
Another sales assistant exclaimed, “Really? But the girl was wearing casual clothes. She didn’t look particularly rich! She wasn’t even wearing a watch or a necklace.”
Sister Wang glanced happily at the day’s sales figures.
“Why do you care? Even if she showed up wearing a ragged sack, she’d still have more financial confidence than some people who dress in designer brands and carry luxury goods.”
The other sales assistant nodded.
“That’s true.”
As Ming Mei passed a Patek Philippe boutique, she glanced at the sign and turned around to walk inside.
Li Ting was the deputy manager of the Patek Philippe store at Shanghai’s Wanda Plaza.
She had only recently been promoted to the position.
She prided herself on having spent more than a decade navigating the workplace and believed she could identify all kinds of people at a glance.
When she saw Ming Mei enter, Li Ting looked her up and down.
The hair tie securing her hair was an ordinary elastic, the kind that cost one yuan each online.
She wore no makeup, looked about eighteen or nineteen, and was dressed in casual clothes that didn’t appear to belong to any particular brand. Her shoes weren’t branded either.
There were no accessories on her exposed neck or hands. She didn’t look like a wealthy person.
Li Ting thought about the watches in her store. They all started at prices of at least a hundred thousand yuan. This was probably just a young girl who had come in out of curiosity.
Li Ting didn’t feel like getting up to serve her, but she didn’t look down on her either. She was a deputy manager in name, but in less flattering terms, she was simply a salesperson. Who knew? The young woman might surpass her one day. In a city like Shanghai, no one could confidently declare that another person would never rise again.
Besides, the girl was clearly still in school. She was probably just curious about luxury goods. Even if Li Ting didn’t feel like getting up to greet her, she wasn’t going to behave like those brainless villains in silly novels who inexplicably insulted and belittled people.
What was there to look down on? Just because the girl couldn’t afford something didn’t mean Li Ting could afford it herself.
Thinking about how much of her monthly salary remained after paying her mortgage and sending money to her family, Li Ting lost any desire to judge the girl.
She gestured to a newly hired sales assistant, signaling her to handle the customer.
If the girl could afford something, the purchase would give the newcomer a good sale. If she couldn’t, it would be a useful trial of the newcomer’s skills.
Even so, Li Ting straightened her posture and smiled at Ming Mei.
Whatever she thought internally, she still needed to maintain a proper attitude.
What if the girl really could afford it?
The young sales assistant walked over to Ming Mei with a smile.
“Hello, miss. Is there anything you’d like to look at?”
Ming Mei scanned the store and asked, “Do you have the new Patek Philippe Twenty~4 Moonlight series for women?”
The young sales assistant was surprised. It looks like this customer knows her watches!
“Miss, we only have two display models left from the Moonlight series. One has a silver dial with a white strap, and the other has a silver dial with a pink strap. The actual products need to be transferred from our main store, which will take about half an hour. Would you like to try them on?”
Ming Mei nodded and was about to say something when the sound of high heels at the entrance interrupted her.
Ming Mei and the young sales assistant turned to look.
A beautiful, tall woman walked into the store, her heels clicking against the floor.
“Manager Li, have the watches from the Moonlight series arrived yet?” the beautiful woman asked.
Li Ting smiled.
“Miss Hu, you’re here. We only have two display models in different colors at the moment. The actual products still need to be transferred from our main store, which will take about half an hour. Would you like to try them on?”
Miss Hu raised her chin haughtily.
“Which two colors do you have left?”
“Miss Hu, we have the white-strap and pink-strap versions.”
Miss Hu smiled.
“Then please take both of them out for me to try on!”
Li Ting was just about to turn around and retrieve the watches when the young sales assistant suddenly stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, Miss Hu, but this young lady has already decided to try on both colors. You’ll have to wait until she’s finished before it’s your turn.”