In Xu Sanduo’s live stream room—
This group had just finished watching the whole spectacle, and the public chat screen was scrolling furiously.
【Brother Evan knows that streamer】
【San’er, stay strong!】
【I believe Brother Evan wouldn’t abandon us 233, 233】
【Stop making things up. Brother Evan has helped 233 so much】
【233, don’t stir up drama】
【Little San, Little San, crying sadly】
Xu Sanduo watched all the drama scrolling across the public chat screen and remained perfectly calm: “What kind of streamers Big Brother likes is his private business. It’s none of ours. Big Brother has helped 233 so much—all we need to do is be grateful. I can’t control what other people say, but 233 members shouldn’t talk nonsense, or Big Brother might get upset.”
【What an act.】
【Brother Evan is running off.】
【Gone to guard his favorite female streamer.】
【San is still the reasonable one.】
The drama in the bullet chat only grew, not dying down at all because of his admonishment. Instead, fans from various camps were muddying the waters, waiting to watch him make a fool of himself.
His expression changed, and he frowned, “Brothers in this stream room, send some 233 gifts. Moderators, ban whoever needs banning. What are you even doing, letting them stir up drama like this?”
The moderators immediately banned a row of people, and fans wearing the Xu Sanduo badge quickly restored order in the stream room. As a veteran streamer on Maoya, his crowd-control skills were strong.
But even so, even if the viewers still felt like watching, Xu Sanduo no longer felt like streaming. He hastily logged off after midnight.
Although most Maoya streamers broadcast at night, that didn’t mean there was no traffic in the morning—just less.
In the morning, only one type of streamer had the most viewers and the highest popularity.
Gossip news streamers.
These streamers typically did one broadcast at night and one during the day—at night, they live-covered the drama from various stream rooms, and during the day, they recapped the previous day’s big events.
To quickly get up to speed on the Maoya Star Show scene, at Lin Yuanyuan’s recommendation, You Yu watched a bit of Maoya news every day while eating.
Today’s breakfast was a sandwich and a glass of milk.
She picked up the glass and took a sip of milk, glancing at the time—almost nine o’clock.
She took a bite of her sandwich, opened Maoya TV, found a gossip stream room, and clicked in.
The moment she entered, she heard a burst of sobbing—and the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
She looked closely: on screen was a recording of her own live stream from the night before.
She hastily swallowed the sandwich in her throat, “Something this trivial is worth putting on the news.”
She watched the recording in silence.
You Yu lowered her eyes and quietly exited the stream room.
After playing that recording, Xinan reached a conclusion:
“Brothers, even though Brother Evan was hurt by Drunken Fish in the past, it’s obvious he hasn’t let go—he’s still in love.”
【Love my ass】
【If it were me, I’d have run long ago】
【Brother Evan has been played】
【She’s a new streamer, right? I saw she only started streaming yesterday】
Xinan stroked his chin, “That’s right, a new streamer. But I’ve been streaming on Maoya for so long and I’ve never heard of her.”
【She used to be on Voice】
【I heard from bros who used to play on Voice that she was on Voice】
【She cut off streaming for years, then suddenly switched platforms and started streaming again】
【She was in Seven Colors Guild before, and she’s still in Seven Colors Guild now that she’s back】
His face lit up with sudden realization, “No wonder—she was on Voice back then, huh.”
“I remember Yuan Bao was in Seven Colors Guild too, right?”
【Right, Yuan Bao is from Seven Colors Guild. Seven Colors only joined about a year ago.】
“Yuan Bao is a ruthless one too—less than a year of streaming and she’s already level 48. Mainly because her big spender just won’t stop gifting.”
【Isn’t Silver Heart from Hengxin Guild the same?】
【Silver Heart hasn’t been doing so well lately】
“Whoever it is, Brother Evan’s strength is beyond question. The Star Show category is about to see a changing of the heavens…”
【Stop bragging】
【Brother Evan hasn’t even said anything yet】
【Evan sent twenty Treasure Maps—that’s already making a statement】
Evan entered the live stream room.
【Brother Evan is here】
【Brother Evan】
【Speak of the devil】
【Welcome, Brother Evan】
A streamer reduced to reporting gossip is basically living off scraps—scrounging meals from other people’s tables.
If their own fans could keep them fed, they’d never resort to gossip.
Talk about this guild, talk about that guild—entertain the fans enough and they’ll toss you a bite.
And if a big spender happens to be in the room, even better. Big spenders will usually gift a little for the sake of face.
Xinan flashed a mouthful of big white teeth. “Welcome, Brother Evan! It’s been a while, Brother Evan!”
【Evan: Let this matter end here】
【Evan gifted Xinan Treasure Map ×2】(10,000,000 Meow Coins)
【Hush money?】
【The big spender sent hush money】
【Xinan, you’re not allowed to talk about it anymore】
【Thanks for the Treasure Maps, big spender】
The moment Xinan received the Treasure Maps, his face broke into folds of smiles. “Thank you, Brother Evan, for the two Treasure Maps.”
Then he waved his hand. “Alright, alright, no more talking about it. That matter’s closed. Next, let’s talk about this week’s Weekly Star and Brother Bao, the new guy in the dance category.”
Evan left right after sending the gifts. He wasn’t the least bit worried about whether these gossip streamers would keep talking. At the end of the day, gossip was just a way to scrape by a living—no one needed to offend him over it.
One streamer after another received gifts, and for a while, the whole of Maoya’s gossip stream rooms were filled with messages like “Evan sent Treasure Map ×2.”
That kind of joy filled every stream room, with sounds of thanks ringing out nonstop.
Gossip on Maoya wasn’t confined to stream rooms—it spread elsewhere too. Sending streamers hush money wasn’t really about making everyone stop talking; it was about making his stance clear.
Once his stance was clear, these gossip streamers wouldn’t talk recklessly. If the streamers didn’t talk, the fans wouldn’t spread it, and the story wouldn’t gain traction. Everyone just knew it in their hearts.
You Yu hadn’t logged into Maoya since leaving the stream room, so she missed the whole show.
You Yu’s original daily life had been spent working and working overtime. She’d never been this idle since graduating.
Dark clouds hung overhead, and a light drizzle pattered outside the window. She sat in the chair in front of her computer, hands folded over her stomach, quietly gazing out the window. Looking up, there was nothing but a gray haze; looking down, the streets bustled with endless streams of traffic.
When she’d been too busy to stop, she’d always longed for a moment of peace just like this one.
But now that she actually had the free time, she only felt lost.
She thought back on how, over the past five years, she’d studied media behind her parents’ backs—and in the end, it had all fallen apart.
But in pursuit of that goal, she’d been juggling several part-time jobs from the moment she started college, so much so that she could barely attend her classes properly.
Live streaming had originally been just one of those part-time jobs, yet she’d actually made something of it—and hadn’t cherished it. Just when she thought her life was heading down a bright, open road, she’d found the path blocked, and after all the twists and turns, she’d come right back to where she started.
She smiled wryly at herself, resting her head against the back of the chair, the tips of her toes touching the floor. With a push of effort, the chair swayed left and right.
In that mild dizziness, her face was so calm she seemed asleep, yet the swaying chair betrayed the unrest in her heart.
By the time she opened her eyes again, it was already seven in the evening.
She picked up her phone and tapped into her own Live Stream Room—the VIP Seats had 500 people.
All of them were waiting for the drama, and some were already chatting on the Public Chat Screen.
You Yu hesitated, unsure whether to start streaming, when her phone buzzed.
It was Lin Yuanyuan.
“I’ve had some things going on these past few days and haven’t been at work, so I can’t keep an eye on you.”
“Stream properly, okay?”
You Yu thought—she couldn’t let her down again.
She lowered her eyes, then after a moment got up and changed into a loose T-shirt and a black pleated skirt.
Sitting in front of the computer, facing the camera, she took a deep breath and clicked “Start Streaming.”
I Don’t Like Eating Tomatoes has entered the Live Stream Room.
Yibiao Tangtang has entered the Live Stream Room.
Evan has entered the Live Stream Room.
… …
In an instant, a flood of onlookers poured in as well.
The corners of her mouth lifted into a gentle smile. “Good evening, everyone. Welcome, Tomato. Welcome, Tangtang. Welcome, Brother Evan.”
Her voice was steady, without the slightest pause, as if nothing had happened at all—just a soft smile.
[Yibiao Tangtang: Good evening]
[I Don’t Like Eating Tomatoes: What’s going on? I was gone for one day and there are so many more people now [shocked]]
You Yu replied calmly, “Nothing much. Just a little accident happened.”
Besides the bullet chat scrolling rapidly, there were also many invitations from other streamers.
[Evan: There’s a Live Link-up invitation from a streamer named Xu Sanduo—accept it]
The Fan Badge Evan was carrying was a Level 24 Xu Sanduo. If she guessed right, it should be the streamer Evan supported on Maoya.