53: Chapter 53 It really was you.

At the library entrance.

Zhao Jian arrived early; it wasn't even noon yet.

He carried an acrylic box and found a secluded spot to wait quietly.

Before long, he saw Zhang Xinxin racing over on a shared bicycle.

Zhang Xinxin saw him too.

The bike stopped in front of him as she looked at the snake in the acrylic box with a complex expression.

"Big Brother, what's that in your hand? Let me have a look."

Look? More like snatch!

Zhao Jian wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

He hid the box behind his back and said:

"Want to see? Give me five hundred yuan and I'll let you look."

It only cost two hundred when he bought it.

At the mention of money, Zhang Xinxin's expression changed instantly.

"Stinky Old Man, talking about money hurts our feelings."

"Just give it to me, and I'll treat you to something delicious."

She still remembered Zhao Jian treating her to Burnt Dough Skins; she could take this chance to get her revenge.

But Zhao Jian had already anticipated this.

"I'm not lacking people to treat me. Hurry up and hand over the money."

The King Ratsnake in the box looked very domineering. Zhang Xinxin had liked it ever since she saw the pictures.

Now that she saw the real thing, she wanted to take it under her wing even more.

But five hundred yuan—wasn't that asking for her life?

"Make it cheaper. Is three hundred okay? This is all I have left of my allowance."

She looked pitiful.

But her eyes were darting around, seemingly plotting some mischief.

"Deal. Money first, goods later."

Given Zhang Xinxin's history of snatching things and running, Zhao Jian didn't feel safe handing the snake over first.

"You don't trust me, hmph!" She glared at him sideways.

With no other choice, she finally transferred three hundred yuan to Zhao Jian.

Upon receiving the money, Zhao Jian immediately handed over the box and said:

"Oh, what are you saying? How could I not trust you? We're the best of friends."

"Really? Then give me back the money."

"Friendship terminated."

"Go to hell!"

Zhang Xinxin got off the bike and tried to stomp on Zhao Jian's foot.

He dodged it.

She stomped on the ground instead, making her foot go numb from the impact.

Then, under her resentful gaze, Zhao Jian left.

After returning home, Zhao Jian didn't go out again.

He had picked up some takeout stir-fry and a few boxes of rice on the way.

Enough for dinner.

Meanwhile, the disgruntled Wang Peng was being lectured by his old man like a grandson.

"I heard you gave another gift to that woman named Su?"

Wang Peng's father, Wang Hao, looked indifferent.

His tone was calm.

But Wang Peng knew this was the precursor to his father's explosive rage.

"Yes, just a small gift."

Hearing this, Wang Hao looked up and laughed out of extreme anger. "A small gift? You call an eighty-thousand-yuan necklace a small gift?"

Not daring to argue back, Wang Peng quickly explained:

"Dad, she didn't accept it! The necklace is still with me, so we didn't lose anything."

Hearing his words, Wang Hao grew even angrier.

She didn't accept the gift, and he was proud of it?

He threw his cigarette butt at Wang Peng and cursed, "An eighty-thousand-yuan piece of junk necklace! If you'd given it away, at least you'd have earned a favor. What's the use of keeping it if you couldn't even give it away!"

Getting angrier as he spoke, he stood up, walked over to Wang Peng, and slapped him hard several times.

Slapping him while cursing, "I'll show you 'no loss'! 'No loss'!"

Wang Peng felt a burning pain on his face.

He didn't dare dodge.

If he dodged even once, the subsequent beating would be even more severe.

After more than a dozen slaps, Wang Hao grew tired.

His inner rage had mostly been vented.

He sat back down and said:

"Starting tomorrow, give that Eighteen Lines Financial Investment Company of yours to your older brother. From now on, your only task is to win over that Su woman, and then dump her!"

Wang Peng was filled with mixed emotions.

The company he had worked hard to build—his father wanted him to hand it over to his elder brother with just one sentence.

He was unwilling but had no choice.

After all, all the investors in the company had joined because of his father's influence.

On his own, he couldn't even get a hundred thousand in investment.

When he heard that he would get the family's support in pursuing Su Wanyin, he was overjoyed.

However, the smile that appeared on his face was instantly crushed by the final sentence.

For the first time ever, he shouted in front of Wang Hao, "On what grounds?"

Winning over Su Wanyin was his greatest dream.

But his father wanted him to shatter that dream with his own hands!

Hearing Wang Peng's roar, Wang Hao, as his father, was stunned for a moment.

In his memory, this second son had been spoiled rotten by his wife.

He bullied the weak but feared the strong, having no backbone.

He had no sense of responsibility.

Obedient on the surface, but in reality, he was just a piece of trash who was more of a hindrance than a help.

He had no intention of grooming Wang Peng as a successor.

As long as he didn't embarrass the Wang family, it was fine.

Otherwise, if their status in the Wang family dropped, it would affect his eldest son's future!

He just hadn't expected Wang Peng to dare speak loudly to him.

"You dare yell in front of your old man for the sake of a woman? Is your backbone so worthless?"

As he spoke, he was about to get up and hit Wang Peng again.

Wang Peng, who had long been psychologically scarred by the beatings, quickly knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Dad, I was wrong. I'll do whatever you say."

He cried out of fear.

Looking at this worthless child, Wang Hao grew even angrier.

But in the end, he sat back down and didn't hit him.

...

After returning home, Zhao Jian scrolled through short videos for a while.

Happy times are always brief; it was soon seven in the evening.

He logged into two accounts and found the Qingwu Feiyang livestream room.

He entered with both.

There were a total of three people in the livestream room.

Two were his accounts.

The other one, judging by the name, was the streamer herself.

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome to my livestream, baby. Tell me if there's anything you want to hear or see, baby. I sing and dance for free."

Gu Qingwu finally saw visitors and was so excited she almost jumped up.

She had been broadcasting for many days, and every session had zero viewers, as if her account's traffic was being restricted.

Today, there were people as soon as she started.

A good start!

Zhao Jian pretended not to hear.

He would leave as soon as he grabbed the red envelopes; getting too familiar with the streamer would affect his hand speed.

Besides, when facing someone he knew, if he snatched their red envelope, shouldn't he send some gifts back?

If he sent gifts, and the streamer wanted to add him on Green Bubble, should he accept?

Once added on Green Bubble, they'd have to chat.

If feelings developed, would he have to support her?

Wouldn't that make him a sucker?

It was better to just pretend to be a bot and lurk in the livestream.

Gu Qingwu felt a bit disappointed at the lack of response.

Yin Fu was like that; a large number of bots roamed various livestreams, pretending those low-quality broadcasts had traffic.

This way, they would work hard to broadcast.

With more people broadcasting, the platform would seem lively and competitive.

Only then could they drive up the stock price and scam money from the leeks.

She felt that the two lurking in the livestream were just bots.

But having bots was better than an empty room.

Once everything was ready, Gu Qingwu sent out the first large red envelope.

Ten thousand yuan.

Of course, she didn't have to pay for this herself; the Guild had already deposited money into her account in advance.

This was all part of the initial investment to make her famous.

It would take ten minutes for the draw.

Sitting there doing nothing would be too awkward, so she started singing.

Zhao Jian didn't leave after clicking to join the red envelope draw; he just lurked in the livestream and listened.

Gu Qingwu's singing naturally reached his ears.

It didn't sound good.

Her vocal skills were mediocre at best, and she had no unique style.

Even a deliberately off-key dialect version would be more attractive than her trying hard to imitate the original singer but ending up sounding completely different.

But currently, Zhao Jian's persona was a bot, so he wouldn't remind her.

Unless she were his wife.