Chapter 2

At that moment, the livestream chat erupted in excitement. Although SoftSoft was a major streamer with a million followers, she had recently been on a downward slope. In the past, she might have received several mermaid gifts each month, but now, she might not get a single one in an entire month. Today, when Xia Zui sent a single mermaid gift, the chat quickly exploded.

“Mermaid! It’s been so long since I’ve seen a mermaid!”
“Thank you, boss! You’re amazing!”
“Wishing the boss wealth and happiness every day!”
“Investing with the boss is never a loss!”
“It’s been ages since we opened a mermaid treasure box!”
“Wow, so many people are here in the livestream!”

Xia Zui stayed in the livestream, waiting to open the mermaid treasure box. Each mermaid gift, worth ten thousand yuan, would automatically enter her into a drawing just by leaving a comment in the chat. The treasure boxes contained both gifts and Cat Claw Coins. She sent a message:

“Xia Xia Xia:.”

SoftSoft stared intently at the screen, finally spotting a message from the boss. But... what did the period mean?

“Thank you for the mermaid gift, boss. Are you sure you didn’t send it by mistake?” SoftSoft asked tentatively. Though she felt it was a little inappropriate, she couldn’t help but worry—what if Xia Xia Xia was underage and her parents showed up later?

Xia Zui typed back, “No, you sing well, so this is for you.”

At that moment, her manager messaged her, “Don’t worry, I checked her account. She’s an adult.”

SoftSoft finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Thank you, boss Xia Xia Xia. Is there any song you’d like to hear?”

Xia Zui glanced at the hundred yuan recently deposited in her bank account, and upon hearing SoftSoft, she typed, “Sing ‘Old Clothes.’”

SoftSoft quickly nodded, “Old Clothes, got it.”

She searched for the music of ‘Old Clothes’ and then got into the mood to sing.

After listening to the song, Xia Zui simply left.

“It feels like a dream,” she said, lying in bed and speaking to the two systems in her mind.

When the gifts were sent, she was so excited her hands trembled. After all, she had been poor for most of her life, and this was the first time she’d ever seen such a huge sum—one million—in a livestream app.

Xia Zui finally experienced the joy of wealth.

“Host, don’t get too excited. Soon you’ll realize money is just a number,” said the Patron System.

“Exactly!” agreed System Eleven.

Xia Zui scratched her head. “So far, it really just feels like a number.”

After all, this money was virtual currency. When she sent gifts, she was excited, but there wasn’t a trace of regret. It wasn’t money she’d earned through hard work from nine to five; it was pure joy to spend.

Xia Zui yawned. “I’m going to sleep now, good night!”

She hadn’t rested well for days, nearly driven mad by the pressure of finding a job. The pain of having no income was unbearable. Fortunately, her prayers to heaven had really brought her the systems. Whether it was exhaustion or relief, Xia Zui quickly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the two systems in her mind began their own nightly antics.

“Shh! Quiet!”

Patron System said, “I know, I want to watch cartoons!”

System Eleven replied, “I want to watch dramas!”

“No, no, cartoons for me!”

“All right, you watch cartoons tonight, I get dramas tomorrow!”

“I haven’t watched TV for so long, sniff sniff.”

They could only enjoy entertainment when accompanying their host; otherwise, in the system space, they just slept.

---

Now that System Eleven had finally bound to a host, it couldn’t have been happier.

Xia Zui was its angel!

Both systems, unaware of each other, thought the other was simply wonderful.

The next day.

Xia Zui groggily opened her eyes, picked up her phone, glanced at the time, and was instantly jolted awake.

“Two in the afternoon? My interview!”

Wait a minute...

Yesterday, she had sent gifts worth ten thousand yuan to a female streamer and had bound two systems.

“Systems! Systems!”

Xia Zui hurriedly opened Cat Claw, afraid she was hallucinating and had borrowed money to spend ten thousand yuan on gifts last night.

If that were true, she’d really go crazy.

“Good morning, host…” System Eleven yawned, looking listless.

Xia Zui finally relaxed.

“Why are you so lethargic?”

System Eleven sniffled, “Because the cartoons were so good!”

It never expected cartoons to be so touching. Last night, both it and the Patron System nearly cried themselves thin.

“Where’s the Patron System?” Xia Zui got up.

System Eleven glanced at the Patron System, who was crying like a drowned pig.

“It’s... dead asleep from crying,” it hastily explained.

Xia Zui was startled.

She was relieved to see both systems were fine and went to wash up.

While washing, she ordered takeout: braised pork with preserved vegetables, an egg, a sausage, and soup.

Top-tier takeout!

After finishing, Xia Zui lay back down.

It wasn’t that she was lazy, but the place she was renting was close—only a few hundred meters from her previous company, though the rent was high and the space small.

Seven hundred yuan a month for just over twenty square meters, divided into bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

The living room only had a fridge, a square table, and a shoe rack; nothing else.

As for the kitchen, Xia Zui rarely cooked because work kept her too busy.

But now that she had systems, after this month she planned to move.

Xia Zui opened her phone, ready to spend the rest of her money.

She opened Cat Claw and soon saw Cola was livestreaming.

Xia Zui entered Cola’s stream. The game was Honor of Kings.

Xia Zui occasionally played but was terrible.

Cola was completely different—gifted and skilled.

She played jungle masterfully and could even outshine big streamers and professionals.

Yet, strangely, Cola’s follower count barely grew.

Perhaps because she had only been streaming for two months.

“Ah! Wife Xia Xia is here!” Cola had just finished a game when she saw Xia Xia Xia enter.

She remembered Xia Xia Xia had often chatted in her stream, usually at night.

Recently, she hadn’t seen her and thought she might not come back.

Seeing her today warmed her heart.

Xia Zui typed quickly, “Long time no see!”

“Cola, I’m here to support you!”

Cola smiled at the message, thinking Xia Zui was joking, and casually replied, “Great!”

---

What Cola didn’t know was that Xia Zui’s balance now stood at a full 990,000 yuan.

After saying that, Xia Zui began sending mermaid gifts—ninety-nine mermaids, one after another.

Cola was shocked by the special effects flooding the stream and quickly canceled matchmaking.

“Thank you, wife Xia Xia, for the mermaid gifts!”

“Oh my god! Xia Xia, why are you still sending?”

“Ten gifts already! Xia Xia wife, that’s enough, stop, stop!”

Her viewers were utterly baffled.

“?”

“Huh?”

“What’s going on?”

“I must be seeing things. I rubbed my eyes and there were even more mermaids.”

“New here, what’s happening?”

“Whoa, really spoiling her.”

“Cola is totally stunned.”

As mermaid after mermaid arrived, the Cat Claw platform’s public announcements never stopped.

Tens of thousands flooded the stream, and the numbers kept growing.

Xia Zui didn’t stop. The chat flooded with dense messages, and Cola barely kept up.

“Still sending! Fifty gifts now!”

“Oh my god, I’m calling my friends to watch.”

“A rich woman wants to sponsor her!”

“I’ve never seen this many mermaids in my life.”

“Damn, she’s attracting tons of streamers.”

“Guys, what kind of skill does this streamer have to get a rich woman to gift her a whole house?”

“Streamer, say something!”

“How long do I have to open all these treasure boxes?”

“Big spender!”

Cola was utterly shell-shocked by the nonstop effects.

“Wife Xia Xia, please stop! Wife Xia Xia!”

“Thank you for the mermaid gifts, wife Xia Xia! That’s enough, really!”

Xia Zui only stopped after sending all the gifts. Looking at the game screen and the still-raining effects, she suddenly heard soft sobbing.

Cola covered her face, her nose tingling, tears streaming uncontrollably.

“Enough, enough.”

“Thank you, wife Xia Xia.”

Xia Zui quickly typed, “Why are you crying?”

Cola didn’t turn on her camera, so Xia Zui couldn’t see her, but she could tell from her voice that she was crying.

The chat was filled with question marks.

After about a minute, Cola spoke, her voice muffled.

“Wife Xia Xia, thank you.”

“I just don’t know what to say. Honestly, I’m already happy you’re watching my stream.”

“I really didn’t expect you to like me this much.”

Her tears began to fall again, her throat tightening, making it hard to speak.

“Thank you, thank you.”

The ninety-nine mermaid gifts even attracted the attention of a super moderator who came to watch.

“Xia Xia Xia: Don’t cry, be happy, okay? So many people have come to the stream. Ask them to hit follow!”

Xia Zui could understand her feelings. If someone suddenly gifted you 990,000 yuan, you’d cry too—she wouldn’t just cry; she’d laugh as well.

Cola wiped her nose and then smiled.

“Thank you, wife Xia Xia, really, thank you so much.”

“I was totally stunned. I’ve never seen so many gifts before.”