Chapter 13

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After signing the donation agreement and sending it to the hospital director, Xia Zui finally breathed a sigh of relief. “At last, we can transfer the money.”

It was already Friday. In two days, this week would be over, and the next would begin.

Eleven nodded as well. “The patients will be able to receive treatment! Xia Xia, you’ve done such a wonderful thing!”

A faint smile touched Xia Zui’s face. “Next, we need the director to start a livestream.”

She called him. Only after he sent her the livestream account did she log in to Cat Paw.

She had not visited Cat Paw for several days. On the one hand, she felt awkward about disappearing so suddenly. She did not know whether her wives—her devoted female fans—would ask about her, and if they did, she had no idea what she would say.

On the other hand, she genuinely had not been in the mood to watch livestreams lately.

It was six in the evening when Xia Zui found the hospital director’s livestream and clicked into it. A balding, middle-aged-to-elderly man was facing the camera. He wore a white coat, and the background was an office.

[User Xia Xia Xia: I’m starting.]

The director, wearing glasses, looked at the comments. “Miss Xia, you’re here. On behalf of all our medical staff, I sincerely thank you for helping these families with critically ill patients.”

“Thank you!”

As he spoke, he rose to his feet and bowed deeply.

Xia Zui began sending Mermaids. Eighty-seven million meant she had to click eighty-seven hundred times.

Her fingers might hurt, but whenever she thought of the fact that the families would be able to withdraw this money tomorrow and use it for medical treatment, she felt it was nothing to complain about.

At first, Xia Zui was the only person in the director’s livestream. That was perfectly normal. After all, the director was not really a streamer, and new streamers were usually ignored.

But as Xia Zui sent Mermaid after Mermaid, viewers gradually began flooding into the room.

It was just after work, when most people had time to watch livestreams.

Wu Ran was no exception. Holding a roasted chicken wing, she was browsing around Cat Paw when she suddenly saw the wealthy woman who had been absent from the public chat for several days appear again.

[User Xia Xia Xia sent XX Hospital one Mermaid.]

[User Xia Xia Xia sent XX Hospital one Mermaid x2.]

[User Xia Xia Xia sent XX Hospital one Mermaid…]

Curious, Wu Ran clicked into this strange livestream. Inside, an old man in a white coat was still bent over in a bow.

The background was a wooden cabinet filled with books and blue folders.

[What’s going on here?]

[Why hasn’t Sister Xia Xia watched Ruan Ruan these past few days?]

[Trying a new flavor?]

[Doctors are livestreaming to collect gifts now? Reporting this.]

[A few days ago, Sister Xia Xia sent gifts to a patient, and today she’s switched to a doctor. Is this some kind of large-scale cosplay?]

[There are so many Mermaids! I’m just waiting to grab the treasure chests!]

[Strange. This hospital… this doctor… why does he look so much like the director of the hospital in our area?]

[66666! The tycoon is so impressive!]

Gnawing on her chicken wing, Wu Ran stared blankly at the screen. She quickly exited the livestream and shouted in Ruan Ruan’s fan group, “Sister Xia Xia is here! She’s in this livestream! [Link]”

The group immediately sprang into action, rushing over to Ruan Ruan’s livestream and flooding the chat with messages.

Ruan Ruan was livestreaming at that moment, so she naturally saw that Xia Xia was sending gifts to someone else.

Curious, she clicked into the livestream to take a look. At the same time, she tagged the other three female streamers in their small group and told them what was happening.

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Then she said to her viewers, “Family, shall we go check out whose livestream Sister Xia Xia is sending gifts to?”

Ruan Ruan directly livestreamed her visit to the XX Hospital channel, but after entering, she found only a man on the screen.

After bowing for a long time, the man finally straightened up. Looking at the comments, he replied, “Thank you for your help, Miss Xia. Thank you, Miss Xia.”

“This is not me accepting bribes by livestreaming during work hours,” the director said, pressing his lips together. “Miss Xia is making a donation to the patients in our hospital.”

[A donation?]

[?????? Why can I understand every individual word, but not the sentence when they’re put together?]

“A donation to the patients in the hospital…”

[Why not just transfer the money directly?]

[This is so strange. I’m going to keep watching.]

Ruan Ruan was just as confused. She was about to type a question when the director continued, “Here’s what happened. A few days ago, Miss Xia conveyed a message to us through the family of one of our patients: she hoped to donate money to help more families pay for surgery and treatment.”

“After two days of discussion, we finally signed a donation agreement. Miss Xia is now making the donation.”

“As for why she chose to donate through a livestreaming platform, that was Miss Xia’s request. I’m not at liberty to explain further.”

The director clearly had not expected that simply carrying out a donation would attract so many onlookers.

Seeing the speculation in the chat, he could not help saying, “Miss Xia is a good person. I hope everyone will refrain from making groundless guesses. I will not be lining my own pockets with this money.”

“We have already sent Miss Xia a detailed list of the patients and the treatment costs they require. There are seventy-three patients in total, and their expenses vary. The most expensive treatment costs more than one million yuan.”

“The least expensive costs twenty thousand yuan.”

As soon as he said this, the comments surged even more violently.

[Seventy-three patients…]

[Do people really need donations for a mere twenty thousand yuan?]

“That sounds a little like saying, ‘Why don’t they eat cake?’ How many families are already struggling because of medical bills of just ten thousand yuan? And that’s after reimbursement.”

[Sigh.]

[Sister Xia Xia has already sent a thousand Mermaids. What kind of hand speed is that?]

[I suddenly remembered when I was ill. Whenever I went to the hospital, I often saw patients’ family members crying, or borrowing money everywhere.]

[But if you send gifts on Cat Paw, the platform takes half.]

[Isn’t that a huge loss?]

[I agree. I also think she should donate the money directly.]

[Could this be publicity stunt?]

“If you can spend this much money on a publicity stunt, then I’ll admit it was one.”

Ruan Ruan fell silent when she saw that. No wonder Sister Xia Xia had not visited her livestream or watched anyone else’s lately.

She could not resist typing, “Can I donate too?”

There were too many comments, and the director clearly did not see hers.

Ruan Ruan simply sent one hundred thousand yuan, all at once, to the livestream.

She trusted Xia Xia’s judgment of people. Since Xia Xia had already signed a donation agreement with the director, Ruan Ruan wanted to do her part as well.

The director noticed her gift and hurriedly said, “Miss Ruan, what are you doing?”

A flood of comments from Ruan Ruan’s fans appeared.

[Ruan Ruan said she wants to donate too.]

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[Donate.]

[Donate!]

The director bowed deeply. “Thank you for your donation, Miss Ruan. On behalf of the patients, I thank you. Please rest assured that every penny will be used for their treatment. I will publish a detailed record of every expenditure on our hospital’s official website. Thank you.”

[Published on the official website?]

“Then I’ll donate a little too. It isn’t much, but it’s the thought that counts.”

[Me too!]

Wu Ran watched the livestream from the other side. She silently set down her roasted chicken wing. She had never imagined that the wealthy woman had been busy saving lives all this time.

She also did not understand why Sister Xia Xia had chosen to donate by sending livestream gifts.

Still…

Wu Ran glanced at her bank balance. It contained only the three thousand yuan she had just received as her salary.

She took a deep breath, recharged one hundred yuan, and sent it all to the director.

“Please don’t blame me. I really don’t have much money. Consider it my small contribution.”

She still had rent and utility bills to pay. A salary of three thousand yuan disappeared far too quickly.

After Ruan Ruan took the lead, Cola, who had only just started her livestream, quietly recharged three hundred thousand yuan and sent it all to the director.

Celine followed by sending one hundred thousand.

All of this money had previously been given to them by Xia Zui. But now that there were people who needed help more urgently, they naturally wanted to contribute as well.

The money might not be much, but at least they could help Sister Xia Xia in some small way.

When Xia Zui had sent more than fifteen hundred Mermaids, she paused and typed:

“Thank you, everyone, for donating to these families. But please only give what you can afford. I am not donating in order to morally pressure anyone. As for why I chose to donate through a livestreaming platform, I have no comment.”

After typing that, she continued sending gifts.

At that moment, A Meng was watching the livestream with a slight frown.

Sitting on the sofa, she took out her phone and called her father.

“Hello, Dad.”

Mr. Zhang was in his office. The moment he received his daughter’s call, he smiled. “What made you think of calling me? Is livestreaming no fun?”

A Meng was the daughter of the owner of Cat Paw. She had come to livestream on her family’s platform on a whim, hoping to gain a better understanding of the experiences and inner thoughts of small streamers.

Looking at the XX Hospital livestream, she asked, “Do you remember me telling you about a user named Xia Xia Xia?”

Mr. Zhang frowned and thought for a moment. “The one who sent you gifts? What about her?”

“She’s currently making donations to the patients of a hospital through Cat Paw,” A Meng said. “I don’t know why she chose to donate this way, but I thought I should tell you. If this continues, it could be very bad for Cat Paw.”

After all, livestreaming platforms were primarily for entertainment. On one side, a wealthy patron was spending lavishly on a streamer; on the other, Xia Xia Xia was donating money to hospital patients. The contrast was far too stark.

Mr. Zhang’s brow furrowed deeply. “I understand. I’ll have them deal with it.”

A Meng clicked her tongue. “I don’t even need to hear the plan to know what you’re going to do. You’ll ban the hospital’s livestream and then ban Xia Xia Xia too, right?”

“Don’t forget that we still haven’t been able to uncover any information about Xia Xia Xia. That means her background is definitely more complicated than we imagined.”

“Dad, listen to me. Donate Cat Paw’s share of Xia Xia Xia’s gifts to the patients’ families. That will stop the situation from worsening and earn the platform a good reputation.”

“After all, that money was sent by her in the first place, wasn’t it?”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

“I understand. I’ll discuss it with the company. But don’t get your hopes too high. I’m not the only one who makes decisions here.”

Only after the call ended did A Meng let out a breath of relief.

Watching the livestream, she thought that this was probably the only way she could help Sister Xia Xia.