Chapter 144: Tracing the Signal Back to the Source

After her initial surprise, Mi Xue’s face flushed. Why had Qin Tian chosen a name like that? They were all adults—did he really think she wouldn’t understand?

Mi Xue had simply let her imagination run wild. Qin Tian had chosen the name on a whim and never intended any deeper meaning.

“What’s your bank account number?” Mi Xue suddenly asked.

“What for?” Qin Tian was taken aback.

“To send you the money. That was five hundred thousand yuan!” Mi Xue replied.

She could earn several million from a single role, and her personal fortune had probably long since surpassed one hundred million. Five hundred thousand meant practically nothing to her.

But Mi Xue knew that to other people, five hundred thousand could be an astronomical sum.

“No need. Just consider it a favor for a friend.”

“You may not know this, but Yang Kaile was trying to get back at you. He deliberately sent Imperial Edicts to compete with you for popularity!” Qin Tian said.

“How could that be?” Mi Xue’s eyes widened.

“You might not have noticed, but that guy came into your livestream and cursed you anonymously. The strange thing is, I could actually see through his anonymity. Could it have been a system error?” Qin Tian said, looking puzzled.

“What?” Mi Xue was clearly shocked. She had never expected anyone to deliberately target her.

“When a tree grows tall, it attracts the wind. Once you become famous, people are bound to envy you. There’s no need to take such petty people seriously,” Qin Tian consoled her.

“I know.” Mi Xue nodded. She had indeed been deliberately smeared by quite a few people in the same industry, all of them trying to ride on her popularity and publicity—or simply unable to stand how smoothly her career had progressed.

“Oh, right. I canceled the order I placed.” Qin Tian suddenly remembered. He quickly logged into the app and canceled everything he had ordered while watching Yang Kaile’s livestream.

He had only bought those things on an impulse. They were dispensable to him, and after learning what Yang Kaile was really like, Qin Tian found him even more disgusting. Naturally, he no longer wanted anything the man recommended.

“I’ve set aside three tickets for you. Give me an address and I’ll mail them to you. Whether you come or not, I’ll send them over first,” Mi Xue said.

“Can you get five instead? Two more?” Qin Tian asked.

Tang Bo was with them now. They couldn’t possibly leave the guy behind, could they? And then there was Jiang Qiaoyan, the daughter of the late Jiang Nianrui. The little girl adored Mi Xue, too. If Qin Tian went, he planned to take her along.

“Sure. What’s the address?” Mi Xue nodded.

“Number XX, XX Street, University Town, Tongyang City,” Qin Tian replied.

“You’re in Tongyang City?” Mi Xue asked, somewhat surprised.

“Yes. I’m attending university.” Qin Tian smiled.

“I envy you.” Mi Xue sighed.

Although she was also enrolled in university, her various performances and filming schedules left her little time to attend classes. Her college years were almost a luxury she could no longer afford.

Mi Xue could have stopped performing and filming and returned to school, but she could not bring herself to abandon the fans who supported her.

Sometimes, once a person reached a certain position, it truly became difficult to do as they pleased. There were simply too many ties and responsibilities.

Qin Tian and Mi Xue chatted for a while longer before ending the call.

The following morning, Qin Tian woke up and reached for the phone beside his bed. Out of habit, he opened the various notifications and took a look.

He was instantly wide awake.

The internet was flooded with news about Yang Kaile.

The gist of it was that Yang Kaile had exposed the snobbery of the XX platform. In its pursuit of profit, the platform had opened a livestream room exclusively for a certain superstar while suppressing other streamers and shutting down their rooms.

Yang Kaile claimed to be furious over such behavior and announced that he intended to terminate his contract and move to the UU platform.

The “certain superstar” was clearly an indirect reference, and it was soon revealed to be Mi Xue.

The internet then erupted in condemnation of the XX platform and Mi Xue, accusing them of colluding to fleece viewers.

Qin Tian wore an amused expression. Did anyone still believe in such crude paid trending topics?

Mi Xue and the platform were colluding to extort money? Whose money were they supposedly taking? Had they held knives to viewers’ throats and forced them to send gifts?

Anyone with half a brain could see what was really happening. Even so, Yang Kaile was an especially irritating clown.

Ring, ring, ring—

At that moment, Qin Tian’s phone began to ring.

He was a little puzzled. It was an unfamiliar number, yet there was no note indicating a sales call, food delivery, or courier service. Could it be a wrong number?

“Hello?” Qin Tian answered.

“I hear you were the one who sent ten Interstellar Battleships in Mi Xue’s livestream. You’d better watch yourself!” a threatening voice said from the other end.

“Yang Kaile?” Qin Tian froze for a moment.

Yang Kaile had a distinctive, somewhat effeminate voice, and Qin Tian recognized it immediately.

“What the hell? I used a voice changer, and you still recognized me?” Yang Kaile said, startled.

“A voice changer?” Qin Tian was puzzled again. He had not heard any trace of one. It seemed oddly similar to that earlier incident when everyone else had seen Yang Kaile as anonymous, while only Qin Tian had been able to see his real name.

“Since you recognized me, there’s no point hiding it. That’s right—I’m Yang Kaile!”

“Watch yourself, kid. There are all kinds of accidents every day now. Getting hit by a car while you’re out is perfectly normal.” Yang Kaile’s voice was flat.

He had been brooding over the previous night’s livestream incident. He had always been narrow-minded.

In front of outsiders, he appeared flawless and endlessly devoted to his fans, as though he cherished them above all else. In private, however, he complained about those brainless fans every day, treating them as nothing more than his personal ATMs.

That was why Yang Kaile had hired someone to hack into the back end of the XX livestream platform and retrieve Qin Tian’s information.

“I know where you are. I know who you are, and I know the names of everyone in your family!” Yang Kaile continued threatening him.

“What? Are you planning to crawl through the internet and beat me up?” Qin Tian chuckled. He had nothing but contempt for Yang Kaile’s childish behavior.

“Hmph! That’s exactly what I’m going to do, you bastard. Just wait! The people around you will have accidents, and you’ll have one too!” Yang Kaile sneered.

“You seem to have successfully angered me. Though ‘angered’ may be putting it too strongly. I merely find you somewhat troublesome. To keep you from buzzing around me like a fly forever, I’ve decided to follow the internet connection and come beat you up myself.” Qin Tian scratched his head.

“Beat your sister! I’m going to start my livestream. I’m not wasting any more time arguing with a moron like you! Watch your back!” Yang Kaile hung up at once.

Qin Tian sighed. Idiots were always coming to provoke him. As far as he could remember, he had never done anything so outrageous that it would earn him universal hatred.

After hanging up, Yang Kaile went straight to his livestream, snorting to himself all the while. Follow the internet connection and come beat him up? What a damn joke! If Qin Tian could actually find him, Yang Kaile would consider it his own loss.

That evening, Yang Kaile ended his livestream and prepared to go home, a satisfied smile on his face.

After moving to a new platform and receiving its full support, he had sold a mountain of goods that night and earned another substantial share of the profits.

“Hey!”

Yang Kaile had just stepped out of the building when someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around and saw a young man. Confused, he asked, “Who are you?”

“My name is Qin Tian. I followed the internet connection here.” Qin Tian grinned.