Chapter 3

Jade was a big-shot business owner, and a very successful one.

She'd stumbled into my livestream one day, purely by chance.

My performance caught her attention.

Bit by bit, she became one of my most devoted fans.

She said she loved my dancing, how upbeat it was, full of youth and energy.

That fan club of mine, tens of thousands strong, was one she'd started herself.

And clearly, she was watching Blanche's stream right now.

She couldn't hold back and had called to ask me about it.

Her tone wasn't exactly harsh.

But underneath it, there was a faint edge of accusation and disappointment.

I didn't explain much. I just sent her the video.

A little while later, Jade called again.

"My God, how could they be so shameless?"

"Delilah, don't be upset. I'm going up there right now to expose them."

"That cousin of yours is a real drama queen. I could reach right through the phone and tear her apart!"

I stopped her right away.

"Jade, don't rush. Let it ride a little longer first."

I told her not to blow it open in the stream yet, because the channel hadn't peaked in traffic.

Even if we exposed everything now, the impact would only go so far.

I asked her to quietly tell the group leaders and key members of the fan club first, and to get everyone ready, level by level.

As the sky darkened, more and more customers filed into Butler's Grill House across the street.

Even more than usual, by a good margin.

Plenty of people really had been taken in by Blanche's stream.

They'd come out just to support the grill house.

The viewer count in Blanche's channel kept climbing too.

The buzz grew hotter by the minute.

A lot of the early viewers took it on themselves to fill in the newcomers.

"That Delilah tried to grab something for nothing, wanted to swallow her cousin's whole grill house!"

"This place is everything her cousin's poured his heart into, of course he wouldn't agree."

"So she quit, ran off to some other grill house, and even threatened to put this one out of business!"

"We should all keep supporting her cousin's grill house!"

"Support Blanche! From now on I'm a devoted fan of Blanche and her family's grill house!"

The mood in the stream ran hotter and hotter.

Blanche got more and more worked up.

Her whole face lit up, high on herself.

"To thank all my dear brothers and sisters for your support, let me sing you a song."

The energy in the channel shot up another notch.

"Yes, yes, yes, we're behind you!"

"Can't wait!"

"Blanche, we're rooting for you!"

Quite a few people started sending gifts.

Blanche was so thrilled her eyes narrowed to slits. She cleared her throat and started to sing.

She barely got two lines out before she went off-key.

And she couldn't reach the high notes either.

After a fit of dry coughing, she had to stop.

The mood in the stream turned instantly, painfully awkward.

Blanche's face went bright red.

She scrambled to explain.

"I'm sorry, everyone, my throat's a little sore today, so I didn't sing well……"

As she said it, she forced out a few more tears.

The very picture of pitiful.

"It's fine, it's fine, Blanche."

"If your throat hurts, don't sing."

"We support you no matter what!"

A lot of people were moved all over again by her "performance."

That was when someone spoke up, at exactly the wrong moment.

"Don't believe this Blanche, everyone. She's flipping black and white!"

"His family promised Delilah a hundred grand as a bonus, and now they're going back on it!"

"They forced Delilah out and dragged this Blanche in to replace her!"

The moment he said it, the mood in the stream went cold.

Because he was the channel's top supporter, its number-three donor, Eric Dunn.

He carried a lot of weight in that room.

"Eric, are you serious?"

"I did think it was strange. Delilah never seemed like the greedy type."

A lot of people couldn't help chiming in with questions.

"Of course I'm serious. You all don't trust old Eric?"

Eric said.

Once he said it, the stream fell into a brief silence.

Clearly a fair number of people believed what Eric had said, and were still chewing it over.

Blanche's panic became visible in an instant.