This Star Only Wants More Money - Chapter 19
Translator: Diviner
Two days later, the much-anticipated PK match was about to begin.
However, Cheng Luan was feeling anything but calm at home.
“Two whole days, two days, and the livestream is starting today! Xu Feng, what are you doing!” she muttered. “Didn’t you promise you would make a move?”
Holding her large phone, Cheng Luan stared at Xu Feng’s silent account, and the anxiety in her heart was reaching its limit.
The highly publicized livestream PK was about to start—a showdown that had been promoted even by the streaming platform itself, with a massive banner on its homepage. The platform, seeing the potential to attract more traffic, spared no effort in advertising this match.
Even several big spenders, known for their lavish donations during streams, were drawn in by the hype surrounding this PK. They had started to make reservations for the stream and were even interacting in Xu Feng’s video comment section.
With the hottest variety show involved, two singers, and a topic trending as high as it was, the platform knew this was an opportunity to rake in some serious views!
But why did Xu Feng seem so unconcerned?
“What’s wrong with this guy?” Cheng Luan fumed, shaking out her elegant dress as she sat on the sofa. “He’s completely unfazed even when the other side is clearly flexing their muscles!”
Just a few days ago, after receiving Xu Feng’s reply, her mood had calmed down quite a bit—she believed that since Xu Feng was so confident, he must have a plan.
Perhaps he had a strategic advantage, like stipulating that the PK would only feature his original songs, which would naturally give the original artist a significant edge.
Or, he might be preparing to counter the opponent’s paid influence in the public opinion sphere.
At the very least, he should be setting the terms for the PK, including the choice of songs and the rules for determining the winner.
But after waiting for several days, Cheng Luan found that Xu Feng had made no moves at all. Other than posting a video that merely showed he was still alive, he had actually accepted all of the opponent’s challenge conditions!
From song selection to the rules for victory determination, even the timing of the PK—every condition proposed by the other side, Xu Feng had accepted without a single objection, merely replying with a casual “OK.”
Sure, it looked cool and confident. He was undeniably charming, but Xu Feng’s current level didn’t seem to be much higher than his opponent’s! Just doing whatever the other side wanted—wasn’t he afraid of walking straight into a trap?
As Cheng Luan was fretting, a naive figure walked into her view.
Just after finishing some chores, Cheng Zhao said, “Sis, are you still obsessing over Xu Feng? Since you’re so rich, why not just pay to boost his online presence?”
Cheng Zhao’s elder sister had made a fortune in the financial market, successfully cashing out a ten-figure amount and retiring early to live the good life. Everything was perfect, except for her obsession with Xu Feng… sigh.
“No, that wouldn’t be right,” Cheng Luan replied earnestly. “That’s the job of his management team. As a devoted fan, all I can do is buy his merchandise, leave comments, listen to his songs on official sites, and attend his concerts to support him.”
Wow, she really was principled—passionate but rational about her fandom, huh?
Cheng Zhao thought for a moment and pointed out a crucial issue, “But sis, it seems he hasn’t released any of those things yet, so you can’t support him at all.”
Not only that, but Xu Feng had never even done a livestream before; today’s event was essentially just an online battle. Many people who wanted to support Xu Feng had no channels through which to do so.
On the bright side, this meant Xu Feng wasn’t planning to become a streaming celebrity, which gave Cheng Luan some comfort.
Still, she was a bit stumped by her brother’s remark and was left momentarily speechless. Frustrated, she rubbed her temples and, for once, seemed to be at a loss for words. “Xu Feng, you really are… driving me crazy…”
“By the way, how did you first meet Xu Feng? Repeat it word for word,” she demanded.
She felt she needed to properly reassess her “idol” because it seemed like her understanding of him, based solely on what she saw on the screen, was quite limited.
The impression from that concert was deeply ingrained in Cheng Zhao’s mind, so he quickly recalled, “Well, at Lin Shenghuan’s concert, I bought a VIP ticket, right? She was randomly picking a lucky audience member to come on stage and sing, and I was unlucky enough to catch the ball… Sis, you know how bad I am at singing. Mom and Dad gave me a beating for that one time I tried.”
Cheng Luan crossed her legs and, recalling that childhood memory, nodded in agreement. “You deserved it.”
With a pained expression, Cheng Zhao continued, “I didn’t think much of it at the time, so I just shoved the ball to the person next to me—Xu Feng. At first, he didn’t seem very keen to get up on stage and sing.”
‘He didn’t want to go up and sing at first?’ Cheng Luan thought. There was more to this story?
She had assumed that Xu Feng had been eager to get on stage and perform from the beginning.
“Then I mentioned treating him to barbecue afterward, and his attitude changed instantly. He was suddenly very willing to go up and sing. And after he finished, he even came down to find me, just to make sure I was really going to buy him that barbecue… I felt like if I backed out, Xu Feng would have eaten me instead.”
After hearing her silly brother’s recollection, Cheng Luan fell into a brief silence. The room was awkwardly quiet for about seven or eight seconds, and then a deep sense of confusion flickered through her bright eyes. “Just for a barbecue? He doesn’t seem like he’s in dire need of money, though.”
If he really needed money urgently, wouldn’t Xu Feng have done at least something to make it?
The copyright for his songs, for one thing, should provide a decent income.
Yet, even now, the studio version of “Ugly Monster” still hasn’t been released on any music platforms.
Could it be…?
A rather absurd thought surfaced in Cheng Luan’s mind.
Does he need some sort of motivation to make him move?
No… no way, right?
“Sis, the livestream has started!”
Snapping out of her thoughts, Cheng Luan grabbed her phone and opened Bilibili. As soon as the page loaded, she saw a massive banner on the homepage promoting the livestream.
“The Battle of Honor Between Two Underdog Instrumentalists—Who Will Have the Last Laugh?”
The stream had just started, and Xu Feng hadn’t even finished his preparations yet, but the viewer count in the bottom left corner already showed nearly a million people!
Most of these viewers couldn’t tell the difference between a guitar and a bass, yet they were passionately invested in the PK.
A high-stakes battle where the winner takes all the glory and the loser gets nothing was always a crowd favorite.
Many viewers didn’t necessarily like or dislike Xu Feng; they just wanted to see someone full of confidence lose and fall flat on their face.
With both sides exuding confidence, at least one of them was bound to end up embarrassed.
Worried, Cheng Luan entered Xu Feng’s livestream room and immediately topped up her account with some money, using paid bullet comments to hang her question prominently in the most noticeable spot in the livestream.
“What are the exact rules for determining the winner in this PK?”