24: Think about it - 3

Su Ning carefully recalled Jiang Ye's tone on the phone. She felt it didn't quite match the 'closet pervert' type Zhi Xia had described. She hesitated before speaking, "I feel like... it's not quite that. Is there any other possibility?"

"Well then, you might as well take a gamble and see if you can convert him into a 'Sentimental Big Brother'."

Zhi Xia continued her analysis, "That means becoming real friends without any sexual stuff involved. You wouldn't need to spend a massive amount of time with him, but he'd still send you gifts occasionally. This kind of Big Brother is the most worry-free, but also the hardest to handle."

"The key is that I don't know where to start. I clearly feel like he's a bit repulsed by me, though I don't know why..."

"Yeah, I heard that too. But then again, if he really found you that annoying, why wouldn't he just leave? Why stay in the stream room and even send you a sports car?"

"Then how should I break the ice?"

Zhi Xia pondered for a moment before offering a somewhat risky plan. "How about... you try taking the initiative? Here's what you do: transfer 500 yuan directly to him."

"Transfer money?" Su Ning was stunned.

"Right. Just say, 'Brother, it's too embarrassing to get a zero on my evaluation. I really have no other choice, so please take this 500 yuan and use it to send me some gifts just to keep up appearances.' He'll definitely ask something like, 'Doesn't that mean you're just paying for your own gifts? You'll definitely lose money.' Then you play the pity card. Say you've been in this room for so long that you need to save face; you don't want the other girls to look down on you or have the managers scold you too harshly... In short, make it sound as pitiful as possible to see if you can trigger his sympathy or his sense of machismo."

Zhi Xia paused to organize her thoughts. "If he takes the money and immediately deletes you, then consider yourself unlucky for running into a scammer and just suffer in silence. If he takes the money but truly only sends 500 worth of gifts, or even less, then this person isn't worth maintaining. He likely doesn't have much wealth and has a narrow mindset."

Su Ning subconsciously gripped her phone tighter. "And... what's the best-case scenario?"

"The best-case scenario is that he feels life hasn't been easy for you, or out of a sense of machismo, he not only takes your 500 but adds some of his own money to send even more gifts. As long as he can send you 1,000 worth, plus the guild's evaluation rewards, you won't lose money. Moreover, it proves he has some wealth and isn't completely repulsed by you, meaning there might be room for further development."

Listening to Zhi Xia's analysis, Su Ning subconsciously glanced at her credit card bills on WeChat—8,000 owed to CMB, 3,000 to SPDB, 5,000 to Ping An, plus Huabei... Baitiao... This 500 yuan was not a small sum for her.

She bit her lip and hesitated. "Sister Zhi Xia... is there a safer way? Like... one where I don't have to pay first?"

Zhi Xia sighed. "Otherwise, we wait until he comes to the room tomorrow and find an excuse to start a PK. We'll make the punishment for you really harsh to see if he'll step in out of pity. The rest of us sisters will be on the side fanning the flames to see how much we can squeeze out of him. But this method isn't very reliable; given his attitude toward you today, I think it's a long shot."

She paused, her tone suddenly becoming urgent. "Alright, a new Big Brother just joined my shift, I need to go maintain the relationship. I'll talk to you later. You decide for yourself, and just let me know once you've made up your mind."

With that, Zhi Xia hung up the phone.

Listening to the busy signal, Su Ning slowly stopped walking. Standing under the dim streetlights of the park, an internal war raged in her heart.

For some reason, her intuition told her over and over that Brother Ye was somewhat repulsed by her.

Whether it was him sending gifts to other streamers right in front of her in the room today, his lack of enthusiasm when messaging on WeChat, or that impatient tone on the phone just now.

She scratched her head and opened the chat with 'Brother Ye' again, placing a voice call.

The phone rang three or four times before being picked up. Jiang Ye's impatient voice immediately came through, with the background noise of someone slurping noodles mixed in:

"Hello? What is it now? If you have something to say, say it fast. I'm busy watching hoof trimming videos!"

Su Ning: "..."

She said nothing and silently hung up the phone.

Diagnosis confirmed.

He really was repulsed by her.

But... why exactly?

Because she had deleted his WeChat before? Or because she wouldn't do sexual content?

But as Zhi Xia said, if he hated her, why didn't he just switch to a different streamer or a different room?

And most importantly, where on earth did he get her WeChat from?

When he added her, he said he wanted to 'patronize the business'—what business was he referring to?

Question marks swirled in her mind.

Zhi Xia had given three plans:

The first: do sexual content, promise the moon to trick him into giving gifts, and then block him—she couldn't do that.

Big Brothers weren't fools; to use that trick, there was a prerequisite—she'd have to send the other party some 'benefits' first.

If she were willing to drop her bottom line, there were plenty of people inside and outside of school willing to spend money on her. She wouldn't have to use 'independent internship' as a cover to rent an apartment alone and work hard as a streamer to pay off her debts.

The third: wait for tomorrow's PK and rely on acting and cooperation with others to fleece him—judging by his impatient tone just now, she felt the hope was slim. If she pushed too hard, he might just disappear entirely.

That left only the second plan—taking a gamble.

Gambling that even though he was repulsed by her, he wasn't so malicious that he would run off with her money.

After all, he had come for the first time today and casually spent nearly 200 yuan.

Even if he didn't want to help, he probably wouldn't steal 500 yuan... right?

But 500 yuan... Su Ning hesitated, her finger sliding across the screen. She opened a credit card cash-out app on her phone, gritted her teeth, and took out another 1,000 yuan.

Transferring 500 was a bit too little. If he really only sent 500 back, not only would she fail the task, she might still end up in dead last, which would be just as humiliating.

If she transferred 1,000 and he helped send it back, even if it was only exactly 1,000, she would at least break even. Plus, she wouldn't be in last place, so she'd save some face.

If his conscience kicked in and he sent a bit more, even just a few hundred more, then the task would be complete!

No matter what, she couldn't be the tail-ender tomorrow!

That would be way too embarrassing!

With a 'do or die' mentality, Su Ning opened WeChat, found the profile with the bowl of rice avatar, and with trembling fingers, entered the amount: 1,000.

Taking a deep breath, she clicked 'Confirm Payment'.

The transfer success notification had just popped up, and before she even had time to exit the interface to edit her 'pity card' essay, her WeChat chimed with a new message!

Su Ning's heart skipped a beat!

Oh no!

He accepted it that fast?! Had she really run into a scammer?!

She hurriedly exited the transfer screen and opened the chat box, quickly sending a period first to test if he had already deleted her.

The message sent successfully! No red exclamation mark appeared!

Her heart eased slightly. She began typing in the dialogue box, preparing to start her sob story according to the strategy Zhi Xia had taught her:

"Brother, I know this is very sudden, but..."

Before she could finish typing, the chat box suddenly exploded like a volcanic eruption, instantly flooded by a string of messages from him:

[(Transfer has been received)]

[My dear Yao Yao! Yao Yao baby!]

[Stop typing for a second! Listen to your Brother!]

[Eh? Baby, where are you right now? Are you home?]

[You're a girl; it's so dangerous to be out by yourself so late at night! Go home quickly, be good!]

[Yes, yes, yes, it's so cold outside and the wind is so strong! If my baby catches a cold, Brother's heart will break!]

[Put your phone in your pocket first, focus on walking, and stay safe! If you have anything to say, wait until you're safely home to think it over and tell me slowly! Brother isn't in a rush, so make sure you think it through before you speak!!!]

[You must, must tell me once you're home! Otherwise, Brother's heart will be hanging by a thread, unable to let go of my baby!]

Su Ning stared at the screen. Looking at this overwhelming wave of enthusiasm, greasiness, and even a hint of daddy-style concern—a complete 180 from the man of a few minutes ago—her mouth hung open and her eyes went wide. she was plunged into a state of utter confusion and chaos.

What... what was going on?

Split personality?

Or did that 1,000 yuan... have some kind of magical power?