Chapter 133: Why Are You Paying When Your Friend Is Eating?

Unable to hail a taxi, Jiang Yun had no choice but to take the subway home, just as he had arrived.

Seeing that Jiang Yun was heading home, Dai Xiaomei lost interest in staying at Chunxi Road and followed suit, taking the subway back as well.

The two parted ways on the subway.

Once home, Jiang Yun washed up and prepared to sleep. Before drifting off, he took a glance at Douyin. Sure enough, someone had already uploaded clips from Dai Xiaomei’s livestream earlier that day. Netizens had even started making memes of the man involved.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun could only offer a silent moment of sympathy. At the time, that guy must have known he would be embarrassed, or perhaps even photographed and posted online, but he never could have dreamed that a livestream with over two hundred thousand viewers was recording him. In a sense, this was a form of overnight viral fame, not unlike the infamous "Old Eight" from years ago. If that guy could capitalize on the traffic, register a Douyin account, post videos, and start streaming, he could probably make quite a bit of money...

...

By the time Jiang Yun woke up the next day, the incident of the man urinating on the street had already hit the Douyin trending list. Though it was near the bottom, it was indeed trending, with viewership in the tens of millions.

"This guy is truly bold—he actually dared to do that?"
"If I were him, the moment Brother Yun left, I would’ve splashed it right on him."
"Why not start a livestream and cash in? You’re already trending; what great traffic!"
"Stop rushing him! He registered an account and posted a video in the middle of the night; he’s live right now."
"What are you laughing at? This guy has over a hundred thousand concurrent viewers in his stream, and he’s already made over eighty thousand yuan."
"Damn, the joke's on us. He’s already raking it in!"

Seeing the comments, Jiang Yun followed the trend and found the man's Douyin account. Sure enough, his livestream showed over 100,000 viewers. While there was a constant churn of people coming and going, it was a solid 100k+. People kept sending gifts, too.

The content of the man’s stream wasn't complex; he was just sitting there chatting and laughing. Oh, and he had a bottle of yellow "Pulse" energy drink sitting next to him.

To this, Jiang Yun could only say... you actually managed to cash in, kid? After watching for a while and realizing there was no real content, Jiang Yun exited the stream.

...

Dressed and ready, Jiang Yun grabbed his car keys and headed to the underground garage. He planned to do an outdoor stream again today. He started the car and turned on the stream.

"Yo, you’ve really gotten addicted to outdoor streams, haven't you?"
"In the car again? Outdoor again? I want to see you do a guest call!"
"Outdoor is fine, see you at Chunxi Road!"
"Boss Jiang, going to Chunxi Road to create legends again?"

After last night’s events, Jiang Yun could basically never shake the title "God of War of Chunxi Road." People had developed an inexplicable filter regarding him and Chunxi Road. It was a filter that, despite having no evidence, felt strangely realistic.

Jiang Yun rolled his eyes at the comments and said, "It’s all just a coincidence. It’s not as mystical as you guys make it sound. Let’s go, heading to breakfast first."

With that, Jiang Yun drove to a nearby breakfast shop. He ordered some food and sat down to wait. The chat started stirring things up again.

"If you're just padding your stream time, at least drop a lucky bag!"
"Stubborn guy, give us a lucky bag."
"Padding time every day and not even giving us a lucky bag to wait for?"

Facing such small requests, how could Jiang Yun refuse... wait, he was out of diamonds. When Jiang Yun went to drop a lucky bag, he realized that last time, to get a rebate, he had spent all the diamonds in his account gifting them to Xianyu. Now, he couldn't even afford a 10,000-diamond lucky bag. And since Jiang Yun wasn't in the habit of topping up his balance...

"Why drop a lucky bag? A 10,000-diamond bag is only a thousand yuan, and with so many people grabbing it, how much would you even get? Come on, let’s do a few guest calls. You guys brag, and I’ll eat my breakfast. If you’re a good talker, make it serious—the usual rule: ten thousand yuan."

Jiang Yun spoke with a righteous expression, then opened the guest call applications for his stream. At first, the viewers didn't react. It wasn't until Jiang Yun mentioned the guest calls that they eagerly sent their applications. An outdoor stream might have some antics, but a guest call meant real money—ten thousand yuan!

To avoid picking someone like the "Title Douluo" character from before, Jiang Yun immediately accepted one of the fan applications the moment he finished speaking, giving those "Title Douluos" no time to prepare.

...

"Hello, hello? Can you hear me, Brother Yun?"

As soon as the call connected, a man’s voice came through Jiang Yun’s portable earpiece. Just as Jiang Yun’s steamed buns and soy milk arrived, he nodded and said, "I can hear you. Start your performance."

"It’s like this, Brother Yun. My friend has a work-related question he wants your opinion on."

"Go ahead," Jiang Yun said casually. After all, what kind of work problem could it be? At worst, it would be some weirdo; what kind of drama could there be? He picked up a bun, ready to take a bite.

Just then, the fan on the line said, "I'm asking for my friend. He had his female colleague use slices of bread as shoe insoles, and after she wore them for a day, she gave them to my friend. My friend ate them for breakfast the next day. The colleague initially said it was free, but now she’s charging him. She wants fifty yuan per slice. Should I pay her?"

Jiang Yun: ...

Staring at the delicious meat bun in front of him, Jiang Yun was speechless.

"Wait, are you doing this on purpose? Don't you see I'm eating breakfast? And why are you the one paying for your friend's business?"

The viewers in the chat laughed at Jiang Yun's reaction.

"Brother Yun: Oh, I see, you’re trying to gross me out while I eat, aren't you?"
"Why are you paying for your friend's business?"
"Are you stupid? Can't you bargain?"
"My advice is to get a new female colleague."

The fan on the call saw the comments and realized his mistake. "No, I misspoke. It’s the female colleague asking my friend for money; it has nothing to do with me. I’m just asking for him."

Hearing this, Jiang Yun replied, "Next time, categorize these topics as 'Food' so I can mentally prepare, okay? And isn't this easy to solve? Just find a new female colleague! Surely there’s one who won’t charge you!"

"But the other colleagues think I’m... my friend is a pervert, and they won't help him."

"Then change companies!"

"What if the female colleague at the next company thinks my friend is a pervert too?"

"Either you quit that nasty hobby of yours, or you just pay the money. It’s that simple. Next!"

Jiang Yun said, sounding quite exasperated, and hung up the call. Damn, what kind of people were these? They wouldn't even let him eat his breakfast in peace. Although Jiang Yun often called himself a lecher, he would never do something like gnawing on stinky feet, let alone eating bread slices like that. The mere thought made him feel nauseous, especially since the guy brought it up while he was eating.