The chat exploded.
[NO WAY]
[WHAT]
[it can't be right???]
[A ROYAL CRUISE ON A NEW STREAMER???]
[who IS this guy]
[poorbusinessman??? more like richbusinessman]
The viewer count was climbing steeply.
[78 viewers]
[89 viewers]
[103 viewers]
Su Yue sat frozen, mouth hanging open.
[lmaooo even the streamer is shocked]
[streamer.exe has stopped working]
[who is this poorbusinessman anyway]
[I'm starting to think he isn't a poor businessman at all]
[secret whale confirmed]
Su Yue finally regained her composure.
"I… thank you! Thank you so much, poorbusinessman, for the Royal Cruise!"
She placed a hand over her chest, still looking stunned.
"That was... wow. I don't even know what to say."
She looked at the attached message.
"Let's see..."
She squinted at the screen.
"A cosplay request?"
She read the rest of the message and her cheeks flushed pink.
"Bunny... outfit..."
She took a breath.
"Okay! I'll do the cosplay dance. But this will be the last one - I'm running out of time today."
She stood up and moved off-screen.
[SHE'S ACTUALLY DOING IT]
[poorbusinessman you absolute legend]
[the people's champion]
[is he, the chosen one?]
About a minute passed.
Then Su Yue stepped back into frame.
She was wearing the bunny costume - black leotard, fishnet stockings, rabbit ears, and a fluffy tail.
Her face was bright red.
She glanced at the viewer count.
[187 viewers]
"I was just gone for a second and you guys have almost doubled!"
She covered her cheeks with her hands.
"Now I feel embarrassed doing this..."
The chat went wild.
[LETS GOOOOO]
[poorbusinessman is a man of culture]
[I will light incense for this great man]
[offering prayers for poorbusinessman]
[he sacrificed his wallet so we could eat]
[brother I will burn paper money for you]
Lin Feng read some of the messages and couldn't help but chuckle.
He also noticed some not so nice messages and quickly took care of them.
Su Yue took a deep breath.
"Okay. Here goes."
She began to dance.
The chat filled with emotes and gifts - small ones, but steady. Flowers, candies, hearts. The viewer count continued to climb.
[243 viewers]
[267 viewers]
[289 viewers]
When the dance ended, Su Yue was slightly out of breath.
She faced the camera and bowed.
"Thank you all so much for watching my first stream! I really have to go now, but I hope to see you again soon."
She waved.
"Goodbye everyone! Thank you again!"
Lin Feng ended the stream.
...
The room fell quiet.
Su Yue exhaled heavily and slumped where she stood.
Lin Feng smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"For a first stream, that wasn't bad at all."
"Is it off?" she asked.
He nodded. "It's off."
She let out another long breath.
Then she turned to him, eyes narrowing.
"Why did you make me wear this?"
Lin Feng blinked. "Huh?"
"Don't play dumb with me."
She walked toward him, still in the bunny outfit.
"I know it was you. poorbusinessman."
Lin Feng scratched his cheek.
She's sharper than I expected.
"Why waste all that money?" she demanded. "The platform takes half, doesn't it? Wouldn't it have been better to spend it on something else?"
Lin Feng smiled.
"It's not a waste at all."
He stood and approached her, holding up his phone screen.
"Look at the analytics."
She leaned in to look.
He scrolled through the data.
"Total stream duration: 47 minutes. Peak concurrent viewers: 312. Average viewers: 98. Total gifts received: 7,847 yuan. Chat messages: 3,340."
He looked at her.
"Do you think a rookie could get these numbers on their first stream?"
She frowned, still studying the screen.
"This is the heat system," he explained. "Donations and engagement generate heat. Heat causes the platform's algorithm to push the stream to more users. More users means more engagement, which generates more heat. It's a cycle."
He pointed at a section of the analytics.
"And see this? My donations were about 5,000 yuan. But the donations from regular viewers came to almost 2,500 yuan."
He lowered the phone.
"By spending money, I signaled to other viewers that this stream was worth investing in. They followed my lead."
Su Yue absorbed this.
Then she looked at him.
"I understand that. But..."
She gestured at her outfit.
"What's with the bunny costume? Are you into this kind of thing?"
Lin Feng's expression remained calm.
"Viewers attracted by the heat system aren't as sticky as organic viewers," he explained. "They came because the algorithm pushed the stream to them, not because they were specifically interested in your content."
He shrugged.
"So I used the bunny outfit to trap them. To give them a reason to stay and remember you."
He met her gaze.
"A huge percentage of the viewers are men and most of them like this kind of thing. It's an easy hook."
Su Yue looked at him.
"Most of them," she repeated.
She tilted her head.
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah."
She stepped closer, looking into his eyes.
"Do you like this kind of thing too?"
Lin Feng held her gaze.
Then he nodded.
"Yes. Me too."
A brief silence hung between them.
"Anyway," he said, breaking the moment. "You should get changed. You don't want to sleep in that, right?"
Su Yue blinked.
"Sleep? We're sleeping here?"
"Of course." He glanced at the window. "The campus gates closed long ago."
"Oh."
She nodded slowly, then retreated to the bathroom with her clothes.
...
A few minutes later, she emerged in a simple t-shirt and shorts.
She glanced at Lin Feng, who was still engrossed in his phone.
Then her gaze drifted to the bed itself.
Heart-shaped.
Red sheets.
And now that she thought about it... it seemed a little small.
If they slept together, they would have to...
"Ah, you're back."
She jumped at his voice.
He noticed her staring at the bed and smiled.
"You can take the whole bed," he said. "I'm not sleepy. I'll work on some things to pass the time."
He stood up.
"Sunrise isn't that far off anyway."
He walked past her toward the bathroom.
"Get some rest."
The bathroom door clicked shut.
Su Yue slowly made her way to the bed and sat down.
She lay on her side, pulling the covers up.
Through the bathroom door, she could hear the sound of the shower running.
She stared at the ceiling.
The shower stopped.
Her breath quickened.
He said he wasn't sleepy. But what if...
She heard the bathroom door open and close.
She clenched her eyes shut.
A few seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Lin Feng was sitting in the chair across the room, phone in hand, completely absorbed in whatever he was doing.
He hadn't even glanced at the bed.
Su Yue let out a quiet sigh.
What did I expect?