Volume One, Chapter 16: Treating Athlete’s Foot for the Eyes

As soon as Ai Weiqi finished speaking, Xiao Ke hurriedly interjected, "Uh, well... I have something else to attend to, so I’ll be heading off. You guys have fun! Bye, bye, see you next time..."

Xiao Ke exited the livestream.

How was he supposed to play? He couldn't win the battle, and if he didn't run, was he supposed to wait around to do eye exercises with his feet?

Ai Weiqi had lost his right-hand men—one a traitor, the other a deserter. To leave him to fight alone was simply abominable!

And they had agreed just last night to become sworn brothers!

This brotherhood couldn't even last twenty-four hours!

It was so superficial!

Ai Weiqi didn't have the kind of big-spending, wealthy benefactors that Lin Beibei had in her stream.

He certainly didn't want to endure any more perverted punishments!

"I just remembered I have something to do as well, so let's play next time." Ai Weiqi added, fearing that Lin Beibei might think he was running away out of fear, "I will definitely be back!"

The three men had arrived full of confidence to crush Lin Beibei, only to leave having suffered heavy losses.

The sight was nothing short of hilarious.

Seeing them leave, Lin Beibei smiled at the netizens in her livestream, "I should clock off too. See you all tomorrow! Bye-bye! Goodnight!"

Social Female Bandit: [? You’re only streaming for this long?]

Love Wine the Most: [It’s all your fault for gifting her! Now look what happened! She’s off the clock again! Wuwuwuwu, I won’t get to see my internet substitute for today anymore...]

Social Female Bandit: [What does this have to do with gifting? Usually, the more gifts you send, the longer they stream, right?]

Enjoying a Worthless Life: [She’s different. As long as she’s made enough money and is happy, she clocks off. So, next time, absolutely no gifting!]

Social Female Bandit: [...] I was reckless.

Jia Fugui: [Rich Flower and Alphabet Brother were a bit worked up today.]

TTYY: [I did it for Hua Jiu Nong.]

Human Rich Flower felt the same way.

Lin Beibei was well aware that they were gifting so aggressively today because they didn't want to see anyone bully the face of Hua Jiu Nong.

She wasn't narcissistic enough to think they were doing it for her.

Except for the wealthy sister; she likely liked Lin Beibei sincerely. Otherwise, she wouldn't have migrated from the muscle man's stream to hers.

After shutting down the broadcast, Lin Beibei looked at her daily income of nearly thirty thousand yuan and rolled around on her bed in delight.

She had exceeded her goal for the next few days in one go!

But she would still operate as usual tomorrow.

After all, her popularity wasn't stable yet, and it was better to maintain a consistent schedule in the beginning.

The next day, Lin Beibei received a private message from the Bandit Sister.

Lin Beibei opened it and couldn't help but burst into a laugh.

Social Female Bandit: [I heard Ai Weiqi went to the ophthalmologist this morning for athlete's foot. His eyelids are swollen beyond recognition—he told them he caught athlete's foot in his eyes, hahahaha, I’m dying! He totally deserved it!]

Treating athlete's foot in the eyes—that was a first.

It was probably a fungal infection that caused the swelling. Right... she suddenly remembered the toe-based eye exercises from last night...

"Pfft, hahahahahaha!"

Lin Beibei sat on the sofa, the face mask she had just applied nearly falling off from her laughter.

Ai Weiqi surely wouldn't dare to come and act cocky in front of her again anytime soon.

Lin Beibei had barely finished laughing when TTYY sent a message: [Are you really not available to meet offline?]

Lin Beibei: [Nope.]

TTYY: [I can pay.]

Lin Beibei: [I’ll consider it.]

She would just stall him for now. In a couple of days, he might just forget about her, the substitute.

After all, in two days it would be the 15th, the day Hua Jiu Nong was scheduled to stream. By then, they would likely have cast her, the understudy, into the back of their minds.

That evening, word of Ai Weiqi's situation had somehow leaked, and Lin Beibei's chat was filled with jokes about his "eye-athlete's foot."

Love Wine the Most: [Hahahaha, I’ve been laughing all day, my stomach hurts! I haven't seen such entertaining drama in ages!]

Enjoying a Worthless Life: [Beibei is too good, hahahahaha!]

Jia Fugui: [I’m actually curious, did he end up registering for ophthalmology or dermatology?]

TTYY: [Didn't you say yesterday you prepared a new song? When will you start singing?]

Lin Beibei straightened the braids she had just styled. She had mimicked Hua Jiu Nong's look.

It had taken quite a bit of effort.

So, she had definitely earned her keep as a substitute.

Everyone had worked hard during the PK battles yesterday, so she said with a good-natured smile, "You want to hear it? Alright, I'll sing one for you first."

To be fair, when Brother T gave the command to "Fight him" yesterday and started dropping gifts, it had been somewhat dashing.

Even if she was just basking in Hua Jiu Nong's reflected glory.

TTYY had expected it wouldn't be so easy to get her to sing. He was just about to type "Don't get too demanding, you're just a substitute," but before he could finish, Lin Beibei had already agreed, making his drafted message look ridiculous.

TTYY deleted it and typed again: [Fine. I’ll make up for the gifts you're owed later when the time comes.]

Lin Beibei: ?

Was this Alphabet Brother trying to control her streaming hours?

"When... what time?"

TTYY: [Midnight.]

Lin Beibei touched her face and whispered, "Staying up late is bad for the skin; it causes acne. Can you bear to see this face of mine become dull, rough, sallow, and covered in pimples?"

TTYY: [Don't talk nonsense. If you get pimples, I’ll take you to get them treated.]

Lin Beibei blinked, her eyes instantly misting over, putting on a pitiful, teary-eyed expression: "You’re so fierce, Brother T~"

TTYY: [...]

Lin Beibei blinked again and continued: "I need a hot air balloon to soothe my emotional trauma."

[TTYY gifted Hot Air Balloon x1.]

TTYY: [Is that enough?]

Lin Beibei dropped the act in a second, flashing a smile: "Of course! Thank you for the hot air balloon, Brother T! I’ll start singing now."

Love Wine the Most: [Alphabet Brother, how did you fall for it again!]

Jia Fugui: [Yeah, we agreed not to gift her!]

Stars: [What's up with Alphabet Brother? He's being quite doting today, he even knows how to coax people!]

TTYY: [I don't want to see Hua Jiu Nong sad.]

Love Wine the Most: [So devoted, Alphabet Brother!]

Enjoying a Worthless Life: [I'll ask a cowardly question: Alphabet Brother, are you one of the big spenders on Hua Jiu Nong's leaderboard?]

TTYY didn't reply.

Then, TTYY exited the livestream.

Lin Beibei was just about to start singing, but TTYY had actually left.

Love Wine the Most: [Eh? Why did Alphabet Brother leave?]

With Alphabet Brother gone, Lin Beibei carried on with her performance. Regardless of him, she still had to cater to the other fish in Hua Jiu Nong's pond.

Since one big spender had left, she had to quickly find the next one.

She never intended to hang herself from a single tree.

Besides, in the industry of substitute streaming, the biggest taboo was falling for the big spenders on the leaderboard.

The music started, and Lin Beibei sang the newly learned song with all her heart, leaving the fans in the stream completely mesmerized.

[GCY entered the livestream...]

[GCY gifted Hot Air Balloon x1.]

GCY became the number one donor.

"Thank you for the ferris wheel, Brother GCY."

Love Wine the Most: [Eh? How come one Alphabet Brother leaves, and another one takes his place?]