Shen Zhiyao glanced at the time. "I'm waiting on the winnings from the bet, so I have to keep streaming for another thirty minutes. I don't have any special talents to show, so you can all just chat among yourselves!"
With that, she stopped answering questions in the comments, turned around, and pulled out a pile of snacks to munch on.
She had been at the mall earlier that afternoon and, tempted by all the different kinds of food, couldn't resist buying a huge haul.
Streaming all evening had made her hungry, so she dug into her snacks and began to eat voraciously.
The sight nearly made the viewers in her stream cry with envy. They flooded the chat, asking what snacks she was eating and if she could recommend them.
During this time, people also began spamming gifts in the stream, ranging from the cheapest Little Hearts to the most expensive Carnivals.
But soon, a silver-white light washed over these gifts, followed by a massive, dazzling stage that rose into the air.
It was followed by a second stage, then a third, a fourth...
[Reckless Young Master Jin has gifted Diamond Carnival x20]
The Diamond Carnival was the most expensive gift on Douyin Live Stream, priced at three thousand yuan each. Twenty of them totaled sixty thousand yuan.
On top of that, it triggered a spectacular special effect in the stream, with the animation for each one lasting five seconds.
And just like that, Reckless Young Master Jin shot to the top of Shen Zhiyao's supporters list.
However, this top supporter quickly logged off right after sending the gifts.
But the viewers in the stream instantly went wild:
[Is Reckless Young Master Jin admitting defeat? He promised a Douyin Universe but sent Carnivals instead. And twenty of them at once! Rich kids really know how to spend!]
[That's not right, he still hasn't called her Great-Grandma! Reckless Young Master Jin, come back! We're waiting for you to call her Great-Grandma!]
[Stop calling for him. He only spammed those gifts to save face. He's the son of the richest man in Beijing City, you think he'd just call some random person Great-Grandma?]
[What face does Reckless Young Master Jin have left? Plenty of people screen-recorded his pathetic moment... HAHAHAHA... so unlucky, getting covered in bird shit. I'm dying laughing...]
Now that Shen Zhiyao was full and had received the gifts she was owed, she waved to her fans. "I'm ending the stream for now. See you all tomorrow!"
[Streamer, don't go! We're all waiting for an update on Susu! Please help Susu!]
Shen Zhiyao saw the comment but didn't want to answer it on stream.
She put her phone away, and a pregnant woman in white suddenly appeared before her. No, that wasn't right. The woman had been there for the entire stream...
'Of course I'm going to resolve Susu's case,' Shen Zhiyao thought. 'I can't just have her standing in my room forever.'
After one stream, Shen Zhiyao had earned a total of 82,222 yuan. After cashing out, 41,111 yuan was deposited into her account.
It was all thanks to Reckless Young Master Jin.
Her earnings from the stream had originally been far lower than the previous day's.
But after Reckless Young Master Jin's donations, her total income far surpassed yesterday's.
Her follower count had also exploded to eighty thousand and was still climbing.
Previously, some followers had suspected her fortune-telling was just an act with paid actors. But after tonight's spectacle, most of them were starting to believe her.
As both her follower count and their level of trust increased, the power of faith she could draw from became purer, which in turn accelerated her cultivation progress.
The original Shen Zhiyao had studied so hard that she'd strained her eyes and become nearsighted, forcing her to wear thick, frumpy glasses all day long.
Combined with years of overwork and neglecting her skincare, her complexion was sallow and prone to breakouts.
But after a single night of meditative cultivation, pure Spiritual Power entered her body, expelling all the turbid energies within and leaving her completely transformed.
The most obvious change was her skin. The acne had vanished, leaving her complexion fair, smooth, and delicate, just like a newborn's.
Her vision was also restored; she could now see even more clearly than the average person.
Without her glasses, she looked like a completely different person.
Now, she possessed a cool, aloof aura. With her fair skin and beautiful features, she was what anyone would consider a great beauty.
As a cultivator, Shen Zhiyao didn't place much importance on her appearance, but she still believed in being neat and clean.
In the past, to buy designer clothes for her boyfriend, Shen Zhiyao had worn cheap clothes herself—and she wouldn't even throw them away when they became misshapen and faded.
Now, Shen Zhiyao certainly wasn't going to neglect herself like that anymore.
Shen Zhiyao went to the mall and browsed for a long time but couldn't find anything she liked.
The clothes in the mall were too flashy. Skimpy little things made of hardly any fabric were selling for several thousand yuan.
After leaving the mall, she spotted a clothing boutique on a street corner with a quaint, traditional-style facade.
She went inside and found it was filled with traditional Chinese clothing: cheongsams, Xiuhe wedding gowns, and traditional robes, all in many different styles.
As soon as she entered the shop, a green cheongsam on a mannequin caught her eye.
It had three knotted buttons at the collar and was styled with a matching shawl. The side slit was cut to a modest height, but what truly captivated Shen Zhiyao was the intricate embroidery and the pearls sewn into the fabric.
The dress was perfect in every way, with only one drawback: it was very expensive.
Still, compared to the jeans, minidresses, and designer shirts in the mall that easily went for several thousand yuan, the price was acceptable to her.
Sure enough, the moment she tried it on, the effect was stunning.
She was tall and slender with striking features and a cool, aloof air. The richly colored cheongsam only served to make her look even more elegant.
The shopkeeper was stunned. "Whoa. That's such a matronly-looking cheongsam, but on you, it actually has some flair."
As she spoke, the owner pulled a hairpin from a display of accessories and held it up to Shen Zhiyao's hair. "It would look much better paired with this."
"How much is the hairpin?"
"The hairpin is 698 yuan."
Shen Zhiyao was taken aback. "It's that expensive for a single silver hairpin!"
The shop owner smiled and explained, "It's pure silver and handmade, so it's normal for the price to be a little higher. Honestly, this isn't expensive at all; we're practically losing money on this piece. You can buy with confidence. We're an honest business."
Shen Zhiyao nodded, and after paying, she left the clothing store wearing the new hairpin.
As she reached the entrance, she noticed a row of decorative bamboo planted by the door, which she thought would go exceptionally well with her outfit.
Shen Zhiyao pointed to the bamboo and asked, "May I break off a small branch?"
Naturally, the owner wouldn't refuse a customer's request.
Shen Zhiyao removed the hairpin from her head. She broke off a slender bamboo branch and used it as a hairstick to sweep her hair into a half-bun, then reinserted the silver hairpin alongside it.
The bamboo leaves fluttered in the wind, and paired with the tasseled silver hairpin, they gave her an air that was both noble and transcendentally elegant.
"Many thanks!" she said politely before turning to leave.
The owner stood stunned for a moment before it hit her. She couldn't help but sigh wistfully. 'It's true what they say. As long as you're beautiful, even the ugliest clothes just become another accessory. If only I looked like her...'
Shen Zhiyao hadn't walked far when a message popped up on her WeChat. It was from the private investigator.
After ending her stream the previous night, Shen Zhiyao had contacted a private investigator to look into Susu's background.
[Investigator: Hello. Our investigation has revealed that Susu's full name is Su Yi. She was the daughter of a wealthy family from Shanghai. Five years ago, she married Wang Jian Guo, and they had one daughter.]
[A year ago, Wang Jian Guo had an affair and fathered a son with his mistress.]
[To legitimize his illegitimate son, Wang Jian Guo asked for a divorce. Su Yi refused, fearing she would lose custody of their daughter.]
[Over the next year, Su Yi suffered horrific domestic abuse. When she was eight months pregnant, Wang Jian Guo beat her to death.]
[After Su Yi's death, Wang Jian Guo's parents, fearing their son would go to prison, helped him destroy the evidence.]
Reading the messages, Shen Zhiyao's heart ached.
Part of it was for Susu, but she also felt a chill at how much cruelty there was in modern society.
'This era...' she thought. 'It's full of living ghosts...'
'To murder the wife who loved him, all for some sordid affair... What wouldn't people like that be capable of...?'