35: Chapter 35 Did she take things out of context? Li Li: Let her finish firing her bullets.

"Since you refuse to give me an explanation, then I will let the whole internet give me one."

The retweet count jumped to sixty-three thousand.

Li Li stared at that screenshot of the chat, his thumb slowly zooming in.

In the screenshot, the party noted as "Li" had every message dripping with cold violence—

"Don't bother me."

"Handle it yourself."

"I said I'm not going."

"Think whatever you want."

Meanwhile, on Su Wantang's end, every word was earnest, every sentence humble:

"It's your birthday today, I ordered a cake for you..."

"Li, can you reply to my message?"

"I know you're under pressure, I won't disturb you, I just wanted to say goodnight."

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong again?"

The accompanying text was written with tears and heartbreak, and the view count had already exceeded twenty million.

The comment section was uniform—

"Confirmed scumbag."

"Sister Su Wantang, you deserve better."

"No wonder he got cocky after becoming an overnight sensation, he wasn't a good person to begin with."

Li Li's thumb paused on that screenshot.

Three seconds.

Then, he laughed.

It wasn't a bitter laugh, nor a cold sneer—it was the kind of laugh a worker makes when they see their client ask for the eighteenth revision of a project.

Numb, resigned.

The ice cream spoon in Jiang Rumu's hand was still suspended in mid-air, a drop of melted liquid falling onto the table.

"What are you laughing at?"

"She deleted it."

"What?"

Li Li handed over his phone, scrolling to the chat box with Su Wantang.

"The messages she screenshotted, something is missing in the middle. Scroll up."

Jiang Rumu took the phone.

She rested the spoon on the rim of the cup, ignoring the ice cream.

She started scrolling from the earliest records.

First screen—

Su Wantang: "Li, help me top up my membership, the one for video editing, it's 280 for the annual fee."

Li Li: "Okay. Topped up."

Su Wantang: "There's also some cosmetics, the livestream room is having a sale, I'm afraid I won't be able to grab them, can you watch it for me? It's at 2 AM."

Li Li: "Sure."

Second screen—

Su Wantang: "Li, can you cover the rent for this month first? I just bought a new camera and I'm a bit tight on cash."

Li Li: "Transferred."

Su Wantang: "Love you! Oh, and next month's too—"

Li Li: "Transferred both."

Third screen—

Su Wantang: "My livestream room doesn't have many people today, help me gift some items to support me."

Li Li: "Gifted three hundred. Is that enough?"

Su Wantang: "Add two hundred more? You're the best!"

Li Li: "Okay."

Fourth screen—

Su Wantang: "Li, will you accompany me to meet a friend this weekend? He's from an MCN, maybe he can help me get signed."

Li Li: "Okay. What time?"

Su Wantang: "8 PM, that bar. Just say you're my boyfriend, it'll make it look like I have someone backing me."

Li Li: "Sure."

Fifth screen—

Li Li: "Do you want me to accompany you to the interview today?"

Su Wantang: "No need, I can go myself."

Li Li: "Be safe on the road. Good luck with the interview."

Su Wantang: "Got it, got it, stop nagging."

—The next day—

Li Li: "How did the interview go?"

Su Wantang: "Failed. So annoying. Don't ask."

Li Li: "It's okay, you'll definitely make it next time. I'm cooking tonight, what do you want to eat?"

Su Wantang: "Whatever."

Li Li: "Braised pork ribs? You said you wanted to eat them last time."

Su Wantang didn't reply.

Li Li: "Bought them, what time will you be home?"

Su Wantang: "I'm eating out, with friends. Eat by yourself."

Jiang Rumu's scrolling speed slowed down.

Sixth screen—

The "Don't bother me" line from Su Wantang's screenshot.

The original text was like this:

Su Wantang: "Li, my former colleague is chasing me, sending messages every day, so annoying."

Li Li: "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Su Wantang: "No, no, he's just joking, it's just a bit ambiguous."

Li Li: "Then tell him you have a boyfriend."

Su Wantang: "But... I haven't made you public on social media yet. You know, I'm a streamer, fans will unfollow."

Li Li: "...Alright then."

Su Wantang: "You aren't upset, are you?"

Li Li: "No. As long as you're happy."

Su Wantang: "Really? Then don't be annoyed! Be happy!"

When Su Wantang took the screenshot, she cut out all the context. Leaving only a lonely "Don't bother me."

It wasn't said by Li Li.

It was said by Su Wantang.

She moved it, changed the context, and grafted it onto Li Li.

The original text for "Handle it yourself"—

Su Wantang: "I want to change to a new phone, which one do you think I should buy?"

Li Li: "Buy whichever one you like, handle it yourself, I'll transfer the money to you."

The original text for "I said I'm not going"—

Su Wantang: "Can you not go to your colleague's wedding at the construction site? I have a brand event that day, accompany me."

Li Li: "I said I'm not going, I can't back out, I already promised them."

Su Wantang: "Oh."

Su Wantang: "Then you go yourself. I'll go to the event alone."

Su Wantang: "Forget it, you've always been like this anyway."

Jiang Rumu's fingers stopped.

She didn't look up.

She continued scrolling.

Last screen, one week before the breakup—

Li Li: "Tang Tang, your followers have passed one hundred thousand, congratulations."

Su Wantang: "Yeah."

Li Li: "Celebrate tonight? Should I come pick you up?"

Su Wantang: "No need, I'm eating with people from the MCN."

Li Li: "Okay. Be safe."

Su Wantang: "Li, I have something to tell you."

Li Li: "Hmm?"

Su Wantang: "My agent said... my livestream data has been good lately, but the dating persona doesn't add points. He suggests I take the independent woman route."

Li Li: "What does that mean?"

Su Wantang: "He thinks... I shouldn't make our relationship public."

Li Li: "You've never made it public."

Su Wantang: "Right, but he means, even in private it shouldn't be too obvious. Sometimes there are people following and taking photos."

Li Li: "So?"

Su Wantang: "So we... might need to cool off?"

Li Li: "Cool off."

Su Wantang: "Just temporarily! It'll be fine once I'm stable!"

Li Li: "Okay."

—

And then there was no then.

Three days later, Su Wantang was on a livestream, in front of eighty thousand people, connecting with a male fan who had gifted her two hundred thousand.

The content of the connection was, "Does Tang Tang have a boyfriend?"

Su Wantang's answer was—

"No, I've always been alone."

The barrage was filled with "Poor Tang Tang," "Who will protect our Tang Tang."

Li Li sat in the rental apartment, watching that livestream.

He didn't say anything.

The next day, he received a breakup text.

"Li, I don't think we're compatible. Thank you for accompanying me for four years, I wish you all the best."

—The chat record ends here.

Jiang Rumu put the phone on the table.

The movement was very light.

Four years.

Transferring money, cooking, accompanying her to meet the MCN, staying up until 2 AM to help her grab items in the livestream, it didn't matter if he didn't go to the colleague's wedding, it didn't matter if the relationship wasn't made public, it didn't matter if they had to cool off.

Every message was "Okay," "Sure," "Transferred," "As long as you're happy."

And then Su Wantang deleted all those "Okay"s and "Sure"s, only screenshotting the cold violence fragments taken out of context, and threw them to the whole internet.

Saying—"He promised me he would sing this song for me first."

Jiang Rumu's hand rested on the ice cream cup, the water droplets on the cup wall wetting her fingertips. She didn't wipe them.

"You were like this for four years?"

"The old me, yes."

"Was that old you an idiot?"

"Probably."

Jiang Rumu stared at him for three seconds.

Not looking at him as a Dating Reality Show partner.

It was heartache, mixed with anger.

"What are you planning to do now? Counterattack? Send out the full record, finish it in one blow, it's a ten-minute job."

Li Li didn't move.

"No rush."

"No rush? She has sixty thousand retweets."

"I know."

"It'll be one hundred thousand in two hours."

"I know that too."

"What are you waiting for?"

Li Li rotated his left wrist.

"Let her post a few more."

Jiang Rumu was stunned.

"One screenshot, the audience believes it. Two screenshots, the audience believes it even more. Three, four, the more Su Wantang posts, the more confident she gets, the more she thinks I won't fight back."

He put his phone back in his pocket.

"Wait until she fires all her bullets—then I'll flip the table. That's when the turnaround will look good. Plus, she'll be out of ammo."

This wasn't the reaction of a man heartbroken by his ex-girlfriend.

This was the reaction of a worker who, after being owed wages eight hundred times by a client on a construction site, finally learned how to file for labor arbitration.

"Fine." Jiang Rumu picked up the half-melted ice cream, stirred it with a spoon, "Then before you flip the table—"

"Hmm?"

"Prepare the Hotpot first."

Li Li was stunned.

"That message from Fahd." Jiang Rumu pointed at his pocket with the spoon, "The prince said he wants to eat Hotpot. You borrowed thirteen G-Wagons, an officer, and a royal pass from him. The way to return the favor is a Hotpot meal."

Li Li took out his phone and flipped to Fahd's chat box.

The last message was still hanging there:

"Li, treat me to a Chinese meal next time, I heard there is something called—Hotpot?"

"This can't be messed up." Li Li rotated his wrist.

Blue text floated up—

[System prompt: New side event detected—[Hotpot Diplomacy]]

[Note: Please treat it seriously. The prince's stomach is the shortest path to Middle East connections.]

"Does the Burj Al Arab have a Chinese restaurant?"

"There's a Pan-Asian restaurant on the 22nd floor, specializing in Cantonese and Japanese cuisine. No Hotpot."

"What about ingredients?"

"Wartime status, most of the external supply chains are cut off. The hotel's cold storage is well-stocked, but—" Jiang Rumu paused, "Are you sure you want to make an authentic Hotpot for the prince at the Burj Al Arab?"

"If it's not authentic, will he remember it?"

"Then you have to solve three problems. The pot, the soup base, and the Hotpot ingredients. This is Dubai, not Chengdu."

Li Li was already typing on his phone.

Sent to Shen Jue: "Who on your side is from Sichuan?"

Shen Jue replied in a second: "Brother Ye! Why, Brother Li?"

Li Li: "Tell him to come to the 20th floor. Bring all his knowledge about Hotpot."

Thirty seconds later.

Shen Jue: "Brother Ye said—'What do you mean? Want to make Hotpot? In Dubai? Can't even find a decent Sichuan peppercorn here, right?'"

Another three seconds.

Shen Jue: "Brother Ye said again—'I'm coming.'"

Li Li locked the screen.

The phone lit up again.

Su Wantang's Weibo refreshed—the second chat screenshot was posted.

Retweet count, eighty thousand.

Li Li glanced at it. Locked the screen.

Behind him, Jiang Rumu's voice drifted over.

"Li Li."

"Hmm."

"When she posts the third screenshot—tell me."

Her high ponytail swayed.

"I'll count the bullets for you."