5: Chapter 5 Su Yun's Rules! Pay first, then have your fortune told!

As Shen Qingzhu finished speaking, her massive army of fans flooded into Su Yun's livestream.

The bullet chat was instantly overwhelmed.

It was filled with nothing but insults.

"Scammer, get out of the streaming world!"

"A master in this kind of environment? More like a master chef, right?"

"Sister Zhuzi is mighty! Crush this charlatan!"

"One thousand yuan? Why don't you just go rob a bank?"

"Reported, reported. Suspected fraud."

Facing the overwhelming wave of abuse, the expression on Su Yun's face didn't change in the slightest.

He set down his water glass, looked at Shen Qingzhu on the screen, and finally spoke.

"Fellow colleague."

Su Yun's voice was flat and calm, betraying no emotion.

"If you're here to chat, take a left out the door to the relationship section."

"If you're here for a reading, get in line."

Shen Qingzhu froze for a moment.

This reaction wasn't right.

When a typical small-time streamer met a big influencer like her, they either tried to suck up to her or explained themselves in a panic.

How was this guy so calm?

And he even called her a "colleague"?

Who's your colleague!

I'm a beauty and talent streamer, and you're a charlatan scammer. How can we be the same?

Shen Qingzhu's competitive streak was instantly ignited.

"Fine, a reading, is it?"

Shen Qingzhu sat up straight, putting away her previous lazy demeanor.

"Since you say you're accurate, then give me a reading."

"As long as you can get my situation right, forget one thousand—I'll gift you three or five thousand, no problem! I'll even have my fans give you some follows."

"But if you're wrong..."

Shen Qingzhu snorted, her gaze becoming sharp.

"Then you'll admit right here that you're a scammer, shut down your stream, and quit the internet. How about it?"

Her words were loud and clear.

The spectators in the livestream immediately erupted.

"Sister Zhuzi is so dominant!"

"Take the challenge, scammer! Do you dare to bet?"

"Now the show's getting good. Waiting for the streamer to quit the internet."

"I bet this streamer definitely won't dare to take it; he'll definitely find an excuse to slip away."

Everyone was staring at Su Yun.

They were waiting to see him make a fool of himself or find an excuse to back out.

Su Yun looked at the aggressive Shen Qingzhu on the screen and shook his head slightly.

"I won't."

Two words.

Short and sweet.

Shen Qingzhu was delighted when she heard this.

A "just as I thought" expression appeared on her face.

"What? Chickened out?"

Shen Qingzhu mocked, "Weren't you acting all capable just now? How come you can't handle it the moment things get real?"

"I knew you scammers were all talk. As soon as you meet someone who knows the trade, you're exposed immediately."

"Alright, stop embarrassing yourself. Hurry up and shut down the stream before you get reported and banned."

Just as Shen Qingzhu was about to hang up the connection and declare her fraud-busting success...

Su Yun spoke again.

"I didn't say I wouldn't give you a reading."

Su Yun pointed above his head.

There was a payment QR code pasted there, which he had put up earlier on a whim.

"My rules are written very clearly."

"Pay first, fortune-telling second."

"If you want a reading, you can. First, gift a Douyin No. 1, or scan the code to transfer one thousand."

"Once the money is in place, everything is negotiable."

Silence.

A brief moment of silence fell over the livestream.

Following that, the bullet chat exploded even more violently.

"Holy crap! Is this guy insane?"

"He's about to be exposed as a fraud and he still dares to ask for money?"

"Exactly! The first person didn't have to pay, but now that it's Sister Zhuzi, he wants money?"

"This is way too shameless. Is he crazy for money?"

"A Douyin No. 1? That's a thousand RMB! Who do you think you are?"

"He just wants to scam some money and run, right?"

Shen Qingzhu was also moved to angry laughter.

In all her time streaming, she had seen thick-skinned people, but never anyone this thick-skinned.

He'd been pushed to this point and still had the nerve to ask for money?

And he asked for a thousand right off the bat!

"Huh? You want money?"

Shen Qingzhu's eyes widened as if she had heard the world's biggest joke.

"Big brother, do you understand the situation?"

"I'm exposing you right now! You're supposed to be proving yourself!"

"You actually have the face to ask me for money?"

"Besides, I'm not someone who's short on a thousand yuan, but my money doesn't just blow in with the wind either."

"What if I send the gift and you just make up some nonsense to fool me, or just end the stream and run? Who would I go to for justice?"

Shen Qingzhu crossed her arms, her face full of disdain.

"Want to get something for nothing? Not a chance!"

"You do the reading first. If it's accurate, I'll definitely pay. In front of millions of fans, it's not like I can default on my debt to you, can I?"

This made sense, and most netizens stood on Shen Qingzhu's side.

After all, one was a big influencer with millions of fans, and her credibility was right there.

The other was a little charlatan living in a basement using a crappy computer; who knew if he'd just run after scamming her?

Su Yun sighed.

Nowadays, no one believed the truth, and it was so hard even to get a bit of compensation for one's hard work.

He leaned forward slightly, getting closer to the camera with its pathetic resolution.

Those clear, dark eyes stared straight at Shen Qingzhu through the screen.

There was no greed in his gaze, nor any guilt.

Only an unfathomable depth.

"Miss Shen."

Su Yun changed his form of address.

"You think I'm greedy for your money?"

Shen Qingzhu snorted: "Isn't that the case?"

"Wrong."

Su Yun held up a finger and shook it gently.

"Heavenly secrets must not be revealed lightly."

"Fortune-telling is the act of peering into the trajectory of fate; it involves being tainted by karma."

"If I don't take your money, I have to bear that karma myself."

"My life is fragile; I can't bear that much karma."

Su Yun spoke with complete earnestness.

Combined with his serious expression, he really did have a bit of the air of an otherworldly master.

But Shen Qingzhu clearly wasn't buying it.

"Keep making things up, go ahead."

Shen Qingzhu rolled her eyes. "Karma this, karma that—isn't it just that you want to scam people out of money? Why make it sound so high and mighty?"

"This kind of rhetoric might work on old men and women, but on me? Save it."

Su Yun wasn't angry either.

He seemed to have expected Shen Qingzhu to react this way.

"It seems you still don't believe me."

Su Yun leaned back in his chair, his expression still calm.

"How about this: I'll only take ten percent of the gifted money as my fee for the hard work."

"The remaining ninety percent, I will donate in your name to a Hope Primary School in a poverty-stricken mountain area."

"If you're worried, I can process it right here and send you the donation certificate."

As soon as he said this...

The bullet chat in the livestream thinned out a bit.

If he was trying to scam money, there'd be no need to donate it, right?

And to donate it in the other person's name, at that.

This move was a bit hard to understand.

...

"Donation?"

Shen Qingzhu looked like she'd heard some fantasy story. Her large eyes with false lashes blinked twice, and the mocking curve of her lips deepened.

"I say, Master, who wrote this script for you? Isn't it a bit too cliché?"

She waved her hand at the camera, looking completely disdainful.

"Scam the money first, then talk about donating—I saw this kind of routine three years ago."

"Do you really think netizens are fools? When the time comes, you'll just Photoshop a picture, and the money will still end up in your own pocket, won't it?"

The bullet chat in the livestream was also a chorus of agreement.

"Exactly! Who would believe this nowadays!"

"I bet fifty cents that this streamer just wants to scam the money and run."

"Sister Zhuzi, don't believe him. Whatever you do, don't gift! This is all a routine!"

"Donating to a Hope Primary School? Why don't you donate to the United Nations while you're at it?"