The road to victory in this year’s annual Food section competition was far more treacherous than ever before.
The surefire favorite to win the championship suddenly fainted mid-stream. While her face reveal had drawn in a massive wave of viewers, there had been no news from her for several days since she collapsed.
While the editorial and operations departnts were thodically answering fan questions, the fact remained: if she couldn’t stream, she couldn’t stream. If Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t go live again soon, it ant her competitors might be able to surpass her.
Wang Henli, for one, saw this as the perfect opportunity to reclaim his throne as number one.
For the past two days, he had been streaming relentlessly. He pulled out one trump-card recipe after another, working around the clock and constantly begging for donations. As a result, Wang Henli’s popularity surged, and he had already climbed to second place.
He was just a stone’s throw away from Jiang Qiuqiu.
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「The Wang residence.」
In a break between streams, Wang Henli was practically glowing.
His eyes were slightly bloodshot from working nonstop, but he was still buzzing with excitent.
’Because he was about to be number one again.’
All this hard work streaming was finally paying off. People were willing to donate, send gifts, and praise him for having genuine skill. He was already savoring the sweet taste of a world without Jiang Qiuqiu in it.
’The feeling of being back on top... He wanted this feeling to last forever.’
Wang Tuantuan, treated as nothing more than a prop for his streams, huddled quietly beside him.
Wang Henli used his terminal to log into the Federation’s dark web.
He had wanted to arrange for soone to "take care of" Jiang Qiuqiu before, but the asking price had been too high, and he’d never reached an agreent with the rcenary.
Wang Henli had only been willing to offer one million to have soone ruin Jiang Qiuqiu’s hands.
But the rcenary had absolutely refused, insisting on three million.
They had haggled back and forth over the price for her hands for a few days. Wang Henli couldn’t bring himself to commit before, but now that he’d had a taste of success, his mind was made up!
***: Fine, three million it is.
CleverMonkey: So you’re finally willing to fork over the cash?
***: I’ll pay half up front. Once the job is done, you’ll get the rest.
CleverMonkey: Deal. That’s standard procedure.
The two once again confird Jiang Qiuqiu’s na, the details of the job, and the paynt amount. Gritting his teeth, Wang Henli transferred 1.5 million Star Coins. After receiving the paynt, the other party sent back a simple "Okay."
CleverMonkey: You’ll get the hands. Guaranteed.
A look of intense glee spread across Wang Henli’s face.
At his side, Wang Tuantuan secretly read the words on the screen, his hands clenching into fists involuntarily.
’Murder?’
’This is... illegal.’
’He’s breaking the law.’
Wang Henli was still feeling the sting of spending 1.5 million Star Coins from his personal account when a call from Qian Song ca through.
"Why haven’t you started your stream yet?"
"The first round of the competition ends in one week," Qian Song said, his voice laced with fury. "If you don’t secure first place when you advance, how am I supposed to show my face?"
His tone was awful, as if he were speaking to a piece of trash.
Wang Henli’s expression darkened instantly. His eyes turned grim, but his tone remained utterly sycophantic. "Mr. Qian, I’ll start right away. Please, don’t be angry."
"I’ll definitely get first place."
"You’d better."
Then, he hung up.
Monts later, Wang Henli’s stream was live again.
With a seemingly endless supply of ingredients, an ever-changing nu, a solid fanbase built over ti, and a decent amount of actual skill, Wang Henli’s stream was surprisingly popular.
anwhile, the atmosphere in Jiang Jiujiu’s community was completely different.
What in the world is happening? I’m going crazy... What happened to Juju?!
Yeah, seriously. It’s been two days, but it feels like two years have passed. Is there really no news at all?
The custor service responses are so formal and canned. It’s making panic.
So of us grouped up and went to the company to ask, but they just said everything is confidential... Juju hasn’t made any statent either. What the heck is going on?
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