Chapter 25
"I knew you were a busy man, Brother Tianshen, but you can't just ignore me! I thought you had forgotten little Miaodou!" Miaodou replied to the message.
"How could I? You're so beautiful, cute, and sexy, Miaodou. I'm actually afraid that a big streamer like you is too busy to even spare me a thought!"
"Brother Tianshen, how could you say that? No matter how busy I am, I'd never ignore you!" Miaodou replied instantly, sending a shy emoji.
"Haha, am I really that important?"
"To me, Brother Tianshen's status will always be number one!"
This reverse-flattery made Lin Fei feel extremely comfortable. The thought of a top streamer with millions of fans humbling herself to please him made Lin Fei feel that life was so vibrant and colorful!
The goddess in the hearts of countless otakus was now my simp. This feeling was not just any ordinary kind of awesome!
"You're really too sweet, Miaodou. You've made me so eager to see you, and tonight feels like it's going to last forever!" Lin Fei shamelessly replied.
"I want to see the mysterious Brother Tianshen soon too, I'm so curious!"
"Are you sure you won't send me a photo?"
"It's okay if you're not that handsome. What's most important in a man isn't his looks, but his character!"
Miaodou sent three messages in a row, seemingly very eager to know what Lin Fei looked like. The less he let her know, the more she wanted to know. However, she guessed that Brother Tianshen probably looked very ordinary, maybe even a bit older, and was most likely a pot-bellied middle-aged man.
After all, if he were handsome, how could his social media not have a single selfie?
"I don't really like taking selfies, but you'll see me tomorrow!"
Lin Fei chatted with Xiao Miadou for two whole hours, covering everything from hobbies and interests to their favorite foods, games, movies, and celebrities.
Which TV series are you currently following? What type of girl do you like. Cute, lively, innocent, or quiet?
What type of guy do I like? Mature and stable, sunny and athletic, or refined and knowledgeable? And so on and so forth...
After two hours of chatting, Lin Fei felt they had quite a lot in common. Of course, it was possible she was just intentionally playing along. With that, Lin Fei drifted off to sleep, looking forward to their date the next day!
Unbeknownst to him, it started to rain heavily outside, as if foreshadowing that the next day would not have good weather.
The next morning, the sky was still a sheet of gray. The dark clouds had not dispersed, and although the rain had lessened considerably, going out would still be a bit inconvenient!
Lin Fei woke up very early today. After washing his face, brushing his teeth, washing his hair, and changing his clothes and shoes, he headed out. He ate two bowls of hot dry noodles and drank two cups of soy milk at a roadside stall, then took a taxi to the mall. Lin Fei bought a handsome set of clothes and shoes and even went to a barbershop for a new hairstyle. Deep down, he still had a bit of a "loser" mentality. It was his first time meeting a beautiful streamer, and a popular one at that, so he was inevitably a little nervous. He subconsciously wanted to make himself look more handsome, to spruce himself up properly to avoid leaving a bad first impression. This kind of psychological suggestion was uncontrollable.
It was just like how girls always like to put on makeup before a date. The less familiar they were with the person, the more they wanted to make their image perfect. Men were the same. After the hairstyling by "Teacher Tony," Lin Fei looked at the elegant and handsome man in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. Recently, his physique had become taller and more robust.
He looked more masculine. He wasn't bad-looking to begin with, just a bit on the skinny side before, like a gaming addict.
Now he had a model's physique, an eight-pack, and even Adonis belts. His messy bird's nest hairstyle was now professionally designed. His shorts and slippers were replaced by a full set of trendy designer brands. He felt like he barely recognized himself.
By the time he was done with his new look, it was already ten in the morning. The airport was quite far from the city center, and the taxi ride would take about an hour. The timing was just right, as she would probably walk out of the airport around 11:20. Lin Fei had no intention of arriving early to pick her up; arriving just on time was perfect. Even if he was ten or twenty minutes late, it didn't matter. He'd rather let the goddess wait for him than ever wait for the goddess. This was one of the ten commandments of a scumbag's playbook, much like Cao Cao's famous saying: "I would rather betray the whole world than let the world betray me." It was the same principle.
Of course, you could act that way, but you couldn't say it.
Just as he got into the taxi, Lin Fei sent a message to Miaodou, "I'm already at the airport."
Miaodou didn't reply. She was probably on the plane with no signal or her phone was off. But it didn't matter. When she received the message, it would show it was sent at ten o'clock. After sending the message, Lin Fei started replying to messages from Zhou Xinyi, Liu Yinyin, Zhang Yuning, Zhao Xiaoxuan, and others one by one. Maintaining the habit of daily contact was the only way to prevent their favorability from decreasing and to slowly build their relationship.
An hour later, he finally arrived at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport. Just then, a message from Miaodou came in!
"Sorry, Brother Tianshen, I just got off the plane. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not long, only an hour!"
Lin Fei replied. In reality, he had just gotten out of the taxi. It was all part of the game. Make her feel a little guilty from the start to win more favorability points.
Lin Fei arrived at the entrance and waited for about five minutes.
Finally...
A woman wearing large sunglasses and a mask walked out slowly. She was followed by a female assistant. The assistant was average-looking with a slightly plump figure, so she wasn't worth mentioning.
The woman with the sunglasses had a perfect figure. Around 1.7 meters tall, wearing a pleated skirt, her legs were slender, flawless, and graceful. Her curves were exquisite. As expected of a dancing streamer, her figure was truly impeccable. Among all the girls Lin Fei knew, including female celebrities, her figure ranked in the top tier. Based on her figure alone, Lin Fei recognized her as Miaodou almost instantly.
"Miaodou, over here!" Lin Fei waved to get her attention.
Miaodou froze in her tracks. She stopped, took off her sunglasses, and revealed a pure face with a hint of confusion.
"You're... Brother Tianshen?"
"Oh my god, Brother Tianshen, you're so young and handsome?" Miaodou covered her mouth in surprise, a clear look of pleasant surprise in her eyes.
For the tycoon "Brother Tianshen," she had never expected him to be particularly handsome or good-looking. After all, a man's wealth and looks were often inversely proportional. You couldn't have both. But she never imagined that upon meeting him, Lin Fei's appearance would far exceed her expectations. He was not only rich but also handsome, with a tall and well-built physique. He was the very definition of a prince charming from a fairy tale.
What a pleasant surprise!
Compared to Miaodou's pleasantly surprised reaction, Lin Fei was slightly disappointed. In her livestream, she had a near-perfect 9-out-of-10 face, but in reality, she was probably around an 8.3.
Even a notch below Zhang Yuning. Although she was still very eye-catching in a crowd, she was far from the "nation-toppling beauty" she appeared to be in her stream. Who said female streamers looked better in person than on stream? What utter nonsense!
Without the magical enhancement of beauty filters and special effects, she was at the level of a campus beauty, hardly a national goddess. But thankfully, she was still acceptable. The difference wasn't too big, and she was far better than those streamers who were a total "shock upon meeting."
"Miaodou, I finally get to meet you in person. I didn't expect you to be even more beautiful in real life than in your stream!" Lin Fei put on a surprised expression, a gesture of respect. But this was just standard flattery. Most guys would say this the first time they meet a girl. Even if they think she's uglier than her photos, they'll say she's more beautiful in person. And some girls actually believe it.
"Brother Tianshen, you're much better-looking than I imagined too. I thought you were a middle-aged man in his forties. Who knew you were so young." What Miaodou said was the truth.
She looked shy, as if she really had a very good first impression of Lin Fei.
[Name: Xu Xinyu; Age: 23; Height: 169cm, Weight: 45kg; Appearance: 8.5; Favorability towards Host: 80 points.]
"System Alert: Due to the target's excessively high initial favorability towards the Host, the 'Simp Initiative' has failed to activate. When the target's favorability towards the Host drops below 50 points, the 'Sycophant Initiative' can be reactivated!"
"Fuck!" Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Lin Fei felt his whole world spin. A hundred thousand "horses" galloped through his heart...
If he had known, he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble with his appearance. He never imagined that Miaodou's initial favorability towards him would be as high as 80 points. This was already at the level of love at first sight. Of course, the reason for her excellent first impression wasn't just because he looked so handsome today. That was only part of it. The key was that the identity of the tycoon "Brother Tianshen" was already deeply ingrained in her mind. He had also given her massive gifts before, and she had come this time with the goal of becoming his girlfriend. So, seeing that he was young and handsome, her favorability instantly exploded.
"No, the money's already been spent. I have to make her favorability drop!" Lin Fei steeled his heart. He decided to start being disgusting.
"Brother Tianshen, where did you park your car?" Miaodou asked casually.
"I didn't drive. I don't even have a car. I took a taxi here!" Lin Fei spread his hands, telling the truth.
"Brother Tianshen, don't joke around. You're so rich, how could you not have a car?" Miaodou looked incredulous.
Lin Fei looked her in the eye and said with a very serious tone, "I'm not kidding. The gifts I sent in your stream were all my dad's money. Now my dad's company is almost bankrupt because of me, and we owe the bank tens of millions. The reason I asked you to come here was to discuss... if you could possibly... return some of the money I gifted you." As soon as he said this, Miaodou was stunned.
She looked at Lin Fei with an expression of disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that this properly dressed man could say something so shameless. He actually had the nerve to ask for the gifts he gave back?
She thought he was a tycoon, but it turned out he was just a good-for-nothing rich second-generation heir.
[Name: Xu Xinyu Favorability -10, total 70]
"Brother Tianshen, are you serious?" Miaodou's expression stiffened. Even her assistant, who had been looking at Lin Fei with admiration, now had a face full of contempt.
"Serious, of course I'm serious. Look, I probably gifted you over ten million. I know your platform takes half, so let's make it five million. Give me back five million, and I'll forget about the rest. How about that?"
Lin Fei said righteously, putting on the air of a penniless rascal demanding his debt on the spot. Miaodou was on the verge of a mental breakdown. She had come to Hangzhou to get closer to the tycoon Brother Tianshen, to become his girlfriend or mistress, or at the very least, to gain more support to help her become one of the top ten streamers on Douyu. But she never imagined that this tycoon was nothing like she had imagined. He had actually bankrupted his own family with his spending and now wanted to ask her for money back?
"Sir, weren't you the one who voluntarily gifted Miaodou? No one forced you, right? Now that you're out of money, you want it back? You're an adult, aren't you? You have to take responsibility for your own actions."
The plump assistant walked over coldly, blocking Miaodou, and said without emotion.
[Name: Xu Xinyu Favorability -10, total 60]
"I did gift them voluntarily, but why can't I get a refund? I'm telling you right now, you will give me this money back, whether you like it or not. Otherwise, I'll sue you in court!"
Lin Fei shouted loudly. His penniless rascal act completely destroyed any remaining goodwill Miaodou had for him.
[Name: Xu Xinyu Favorability -60, total 0. Simp Initiative' successfully activated.]
It was finally bound. But it seemed he had overdone the disgusting part. Miaodou's favorability towards him had actually dropped to 0.
From a starting favorability of 80, indicating love at first sight, to a favorability of 0, making them complete strangers, this was a complete reversal.
When you want to win a girl's favor, you often have to give a lot to slowly raise her favorability by even a little. But making a girl despise you is incredibly easy. Just say a few disgusting things, ruin her image of you, make your persona collapse.
Her favorability will vanish in an instant.
Miaodou looked at Lin Fei with immense disappointment, not even interested in speaking to him anymore.
"Sir, if you insist on suing, you can do so through proper legal channels. Now, please step aside." The assistant didn't get angry, just took a step forward with utter contempt, trying to push Lin Fei away so she could leave with Miaodou, because Lin Fei's shouting had already drawn a crowd of onlookers.
"So that's why her figure is so good, she's a streamer!"
"Did I just hear what I think I heard? This kid bankrupted his family gifting a female streamer and now he wants the money back? Damn, are there really such idiots?"
"Aren't there a lot of people like that these days? Wasn't it in the news the other day, a delivery guy earning 3,000 a month gifted 5,000 to a streamer, borrowing 2,000 just to hear a 'Brother, 666'?"
"Haha! That's the loser mentality. No skills in real life, so they try to act tough online to find a sense of existence."
A group of onlookers pointed and whispered. The way they looked at Lin Fei was like he was an idiot. Whether it was men or women, their gazes were filled with deep contempt. If you were rich and capable, gifting a female streamer was one thing. People would just call you a tycoon, rich and willful. But you had no skills, didn't earn your own money, and actually stole your dad's credit card to gift a streamer?
Are you brain-dead?
Just then, a Bentley pulled up to the curb in front of the airport hall. A man in his thirties or forties got out of the luxury car. The man was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a formal suit, had a slightly plump build, and looked every bit the part of a successful man.
"Dou'er, I heard you were coming to Hangzhou today, so I came specially to pick you up."
The middle-aged man's eyes roamed over Miaodou's body without restraint.
"Ah! You're... Shui Huang, are you? I just posted a casual update on my social media, I never thought you'd actually come to pick me up!" Miaodou looked at her phone, seemingly recognizing the man before her from a WeChat photo, and said with a pleasant surprise.
Lin Fei almost wanted to laugh. He didn't expect this woman to have not only arranged to meet him but also other tycoons. It was true that with enough fans, you had backup suitors all over the country.
This Shui Huang, Lin Fei had some impression of him. His ID was: Shui Sheng.
Therefore, he was nicknamed "Shui Huang" by the stream's viewers. Shui Huang was also one of the top ten tycoons in Xiao Mi'er's stream, having gifted over two million in total, ranking eighth. It seemed Miaodou's trip to Hangzhou wasn't just for Lin Fei. She wanted to get in good with several tycoons at once, which would give her a better shot at the Douyu Carnival!
"Huh... and who is this?"
Shui Huang finally seemed to notice Lin Fei's existence and asked.
"Oh, that's 'God Descends." Miaodou introduced him dismissively. After speaking, she remembered Lin Fei's behavior from earlier, still feeling a bit annoyed, and couldn't help but shoot him a glare.
"Ah, so you're Brother Tianshen! My apologies, my apologies, I didn't recognize you, sir. If I'd known you were coming to pick her up personally, I wouldn't have come to make a fool of myself."
Although Lin Fei looked very young, the moment he learned that this was the legendary tycoon "God Descends" from the internet, Shui Huang immediately lowered his posture.
He was joking. The man had spent a hundred million across various streaming platforms in just a few days. He, Shui Huang, had been watching streams for two or three years and had only spent a little over two million. His total assets did not even exceed a hundred million. Now, meeting this legendary tycoon in person, how could he not lower his posture? For a businessman, sizing people up and adjusting his attitude accordingly was a basic skill.
"Shui Huang, you don't have to be like that. He's just a good-for-nothing heir. Do you know where his money came from? He stole it from his dad, bankrupted his dad's company with his spending, and owes the bank tens of millions. Now he actually wants me to give the money back. It's making me so mad." The more Miaodou spoke, the angrier she became, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
[Name: Xu Xinyu Favorability -10, total -10]
Miaodou originally thought Lin Fei was good-looking, but now the more she looked at him, the more displeased she became.
"How could that be? The online tycoon, Brother Tianshen, is actually this kind of person?"
Shui Huang was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that the big shot who had crazily spent a hundred million across various streaming platforms was actually a good-for-nothing who stole his family's money to gift female streamers.
But it seemed Miaodou had no reason to lie to him. Besides, Lin Fei was too young. He was probably still in college. A university student like that, even if his family was rich, wouldn't be given a hundred million to gift streamers, nor would he be allowed to control such a huge sum of money. So, stealing the money was probably true, and bankrupting his family was also probably true. This guy was a certified idiot!
After figuring it out, the way Shui Huang looked at Lin Fei no longer held a trace of respect. He was thinking that if this story got out, it would probably shake the tycoon circles.
It would be on the internet news tomorrow. He even had a sensational headline ready: "Recently, a netizen exposed that the newly-risen number one online tycoon, 'God Descends,' is actually a super prodigal son. To gift a female streamer, he spent a hundred million in three days, bankrupting his entire family!" Shui Huang had started out in online media, and he felt this news story could be sold for a lot of money.
Lin Fei's gaze was cold. Facing all the ridicule, he seemed detached from the world. Initially, he had a pretty good impression of Miaodou. After all, they had a very pleasant chat last night. But he never imagined that just to activate the "Simp Initiative," he had intentionally said a few disgusting things to make her dislike him, and she would reveal her true face. Lin Fei had met many gold-digging women, but he felt that Miaodou changed her face far too quickly. This made Lin Fei very disappointed in her, even a little angry.
"Miaodou, no matter what, I'm still your number one gifter. You don't have to put it so harshly, do you?" Lin Fei took a deep breath, calming himself down before he spoke.
*****
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