Qi Si, through the rear-view mirror, cast a discreet glance at Ruan Xihe.
"Yes," he replied succinctly.
With a soft "click," Feng Yu fancied she could hear the shattering of her girlish fantasies.
The car glided smoothly into the parking lot adjacent to the teaching building. The two girls flung open the car doors and hastened towards the classroom in a flurry.
Once out of the car, Feng Yu immediately leaned in to whisper to Ruan Xihe: "Teacher Qi is truly a man of mystery, full of surprises."
Ruan Xihe offered a faint smile, choosing not to engage further.
"At just 26 years old, driving a Maybach. Such a man, ah, an absolute gem. What a pity he's already taken," Feng Yu shook her head ruefully.
"What would you have done if he didn't have a girlfriend?" Ruan Xihe queried, her tone tinged with mild curiosity.
"Why, I'd surely have given it my all to win his heart! Perhaps Teacher Qi would take a fancy to a passionate, vivacious girl like me," Feng Yu arched an eyebrow and tossed her hair playfully.
"By the way, Ruan Ruan, did you get that charming lad's contact details last night?" Feng Yu inquired, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Ruan Xihe knew she was referring to the refined and gentle young man they'd encountered, and she shook her head: "No."
"What a waste!" Feng Yu sighed, her voice laden with disappointment.
"He might be one of the exchange students this semester," Ruan Xihe added casually, as if it were a passing thought.
"How do you know?"
"I bumped into him on campus before. Given the timing, it aligns with the exchange student schedule," Ruan Xihe analyzed matter-of-factly.
"Right, right! I recall hearing rumors recently about an incredibly handsome postgraduate from Peking University among this batch of exchange students. It must be him," Feng Yu exclaimed, suddenly recollecting the gossip she'd overheard.
"You didn't ask me about that online relationship last night. What exactly happened?" Ruan Xihe probed gently.
At the mention of it, Feng Yu's spirits visibly dampened.
"Well, it was about a year ago when I stumbled upon a streamer. He was rather good-looking, not on par with the likes of Fei Ye, of course, but still quite charming. In the beginning, when he wasn't popular and hardly received any gifts, I used up all my pocket money on him, even going so far as to subsist on just a loaf of bread each day to support him," Feng Yu revealed, her demeanor unusually subdued and gentle.
"On his birthday stream, the fan group was rather quiet, so I took out over half of my lucky money and showered him with gifts throughout the night. He was deeply touched and, after the stream ended, he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I agreed."
Hearing this, Ruan Xihe could pretty much guess what had ensued. It was all too common a tale of deceit and exploitation, for relationships founded on mere material interests seldom endured.
Sure enough, Feng Yu went on to recount how she'd dedicated every evening to tuning into his streams, scrimping on her daily expenses to funnel as much as possible into gifts for him. Until two nights ago, when she noticed his increasingly frequent interactions with the new top spender in his fan list. After repeated inquiries, he'd snapped and ended things with her in exasperation.
Devastated, she'd bought a plane ticket and rushed to his city overnight, only to witness him locking lips with an older woman beneath his apartment building. The woman bore a striking resemblance to the profile picture of the new top spender.
In a daze, she'd made her way back home and drowned her sorrows in alcohol at the bar until she was completely inebriated.
Ruan Xihe had known that Feng Yu often stayed in at night, and when she did venture out, she was always plugged into her headphones. It was only today, however, that she realized Feng Yu had been spending her evenings maintaining order in his stream, acting as his virtual cheerleader.
"It's okay. It's all in the past now," Feng Yu mustered a broad smile, though her eyes brimming with tears betrayed the forced nature of her attempt at bravado.
"Don't force a smile if you don't feel like it," Ruan Xihe murmured softly.
...
Feng Yu then made her way back to the dormitory on her own.
Ruan Xihe, seated in the library with a book in hand, found her concentration unusually fragmented for once. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Feng Yu's tearful eyes.
With a slight narrowing of her enchanting peach-blossom eyes, she picked up her phone and typed in the streamer's name.
Coincidentally, he was live-streaming at that very moment. Truth be told, he wasn't particularly handsome, especially when compared to the string of remarkable young men Ruan Xihe had been associated with in the past. He was, in all honesty, rather ordinary.
Clicking on the fan ranking list, she saw that, as expected, the top spender had an avatar of an older woman. Tsk, this man truly had no scruples. She knew Feng Yu's avatar was that of an anime girl, and it ranked third on the list.
After a quick mental calculation, she estimated that Feng Yu had probably lavished around sixty to seventy thousand yuan on him, while the top spender had contributed approximately a hundred and twenty thousand.
It was a good thing he wasn't overly popular yet. If he were to gain more traction, who knew how many more innocent girls he'd ensnare and victimize.
A mischievous smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. As the saying goes, those who walk in darkness long enough will eventually encounter their ghosts.
With a delicate tap of her fair fingertip on the gift recharge page, she deposited two hundred thousand yuan into her account.
Duan Ruosui had been a streamer for over a year now, with his career hovering in mediocrity. With only around forty to fifty thousand followers, he managed to eke out a monthly income of fifty to sixty thousand yuan from his streams, which was, admittedly, better than what many white-collar workers earned. He'd been playing with the affections of his fans, who, being naive and impressionable, had showered him with unconditional love and copious amounts of money at his every whim.
The woman topping the fan list was trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband, a wealthy tycoon, had a string of mistresses on the side. In retaliation, she'd taken to keeping a young gigolo of her own. It was then that she'd stumbled upon Duan Ruosui, who'd lavished her with daily comfort and attention, gradually winning her over until she'd severed ties with all other men and focused her entire, jilted heart on him, splurging over a hundred and twenty thousand yuan in his stream in just three months.
Just as he finished singing a song, a sudden notification flashed across the screen.
[Xiaochacha sends 5 Sky Castles to Streamer Shuifeng.]
The Sky Castle was the most expensive gift on Tianya Live-streaming Platform, costing a hefty 1888 yuan each. In other words, this Xiaochacha had just dropped over ten thousand yuan in one go.
The entire Tianya Live-streaming community was abuzz with the news, pushing the notification to the forefront.
After that initial spree, Xiaochacha remained silent and refrained from sending any more gifts, yet her presence lingered in the stream, as Duan Ruosui, through his alternate account, could still track her activity.
Ruan Xihe, having sent the gifts, left the stream running in the background and returned to her book, her demeanor serene and composed.
Several hours later, when she reopened the app, the stream had ended, and there was a private message from Shuifeng in her Tianya inbox, asking to add her on WeChat.
With a cool glimmer in her eyes, she tapped on the screen, her gaze unwavering.