Chapter 132: The Shift of Initiative

Jiang Zheng’s move was a direct checkmate.

Lin Yu and his supervisor were both stunned; the initiative had shifted entirely. What followed was anger. They had not expected Jiang Zheng to be so resolute; such behavior was tantamount to burning bridges with them. At this moment, they were not concerned with who had crossed the line first.

Anger aside, they did not dare to blacklist Jiang Zheng outright. They had invested too much in him—pouring in all sorts of resources—to achieve the current streaming performance. Now that Jiang Zheng’s reputation was beginning to solidify, if they let him go, other platforms would surely snap him up. That would mean all their previous efforts were merely making wedding clothes for their rivals. Moreover, having invested so many resources, it would be a massive loss if they didn't recoup anything.

Therefore, no matter how uncomfortable, angry, or furious they felt, they had to act as if nothing had happened. For now, they had to maintain their previous facade of a friendly relationship. As for the future, that was a matter for another day.

Typically, popular streamers like Jiang Zheng would have signed contracts that kept the platform in the position of power, even in the event of a conflict. If a streamer wanted to leave, they would have to pay exorbitant breach-of-contract fees; otherwise, they would have to grit their teeth and keep streaming. But Jiang Zheng was different. He hadn't signed those types of contracts. The agreements he had with the platform were strictly limited to this tournament. This meant that if he wanted to leave now, he could do so at any time without paying a heavy price. The platform’s original cost-cutting measures had, ironically, become the weapon that constrained them.

"Supervisor... what do we do now?" Lin Yu asked.

The supervisor’s face was as cold as water. "Act as if nothing happened. Proceed as usual," he said. After a moment of silence, he added, "By the way, doesn't he need opponents? Then let's arrange them for him. Give him eight or ten opponents every day."

Lin Yu felt a jolt of alarm upon hearing this, but he quickly nodded in agreement. He understood that the supervisor wasn't backing down; he was furious. Seemingly satisfying Jiang Zheng’s request was actually a ploy to accelerate the tournament. The day the tournament ended would be the day they blacklisted him. In the supervisor’s eyes, Jiang Zheng was the disobedient type. A platform would rather sacrifice a portion of its profits than keep such a streamer. Although Jiang Zheng was currently hot, his influence had not yet reached the level where the platform would endure him at any cost.

***

Jiang Zheng lay on his bed. He had finished his stream early today. Although the tournament had dragged on, he had only played two matches in total. He stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

After today’s stream, his relationship with the platform had undoubtedly fractured. Jiang Zheng didn't particularly care about that. What he cared about was whether he could continue competing against professional players. The streaming platform was a convenient stage; otherwise, how could he get professional players to set aside their valuable time to compete against him? He didn't intend to be a full-time streamer, so he was indifferent to what the platform did after the tournament. His only concern was whether the platform would ignore its own interests and try to obstruct his matches.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Zheng let it go. If the platform chose to act that way, there was nothing he could do other than switch platforms. With his current fame, changing platforms shouldn't be too difficult.

***

The next day was a weekend. Jiang Zheng rose from his hotel bed, took his time washing up, and then headed toward the university. He had no classes today and was in no rush. He could have stayed in the hotel all day, but he still went to the school, aiming for the library.

Studying had become an important part of Jiang Zheng’s life. He tried to set aside time for it every day, just as he did for physical training. Finding joy in learning was something Jiang Zheng was genuinely experiencing.

Upon arriving at the library, Jiang Zheng walked to a familiar spot where Jiang Xianyue was waiting. Sensing someone approaching, she didn't look up and said, "This seat is taken, sorry."

"I see. Then I'll find another spot," Jiang Zheng said.

At that moment, Jiang Xianyue looked up, a smile blooming on her face. "You're here. Sit down."

"Alright," Jiang Zheng replied, taking a seat.

The two sat opposite each other, reading their respective books. In the silence, the only sound was the turning of pages. After reading through the morning, they went to have lunch together.

"I'll see you later, then. I'm going back to the library to keep reading," Jiang Zheng said.

"You're going now?" Jiang Xianyue asked.

"Yes, I need to make the most of my time for studying, or I won't have the chance later," Jiang Zheng said with a smile.

Jiang Zheng turned and headed toward the library, while Jiang Xianyue walked in another direction.

***

"Xiao Nian, why don't you ask your best friend to make a guest appearance again to help boost your followers?" Zhang Nian’s assistant suggested.

The growth of Zhang Nian’s follower count had hit a bottleneck; she currently had only a little over a million. That might sound like a lot, but Zhang Nian was unsatisfied—her goal was ten million. Even if she couldn't reach that, she would only be content with five or six million. Having just over a million felt far too little.

Her team’s strategy was to leverage collaborations with other internet celebrities to increase her following. Collaborations between influencers were not uncommon, but they usually occurred between influencers from the same company or those with similar follower counts. For instance, if Zhang Nian had over a million followers, collaborating with an influencer who had two million would be mutually beneficial. Of course, there was a strategy to it; it was best to collaborate with creators of a different genre. If Zhang Nian was a narrative video blogger, she shouldn't collaborate with another narrative video blogger, as their fan bases would overlap too much, making the effect on follower growth negligible.

Zhang Nian seeking a collaboration with Jiang Xianyue was essentially her taking advantage of the situation, as Jiang Xianyue gained very little. The gap in their follower counts was too large, and the few followers Jiang Xianyue might gain from Zhang Nian were negligible.

The assistant’s words put Zhang Nian in a difficult position. "I've already troubled her twice; it wouldn't be right to bother her again," Zhang Nian said.

The assistant argued, "Think about it, Xiao Nian. She’s your best friend—if she doesn't help you, who will? Besides, it’s just a collaboration; it’s not strenuous. She needs to post content anyway; helping you creates new material for her, so it’s good for her, too."

Hearing the assistant’s persuasion, Zhang Nian began to waver.

"Xiao Nian, don't hesitate. Don't you want to gain more followers?" the assistant urged.

"Then... I'll give it a try," Zhang Nian said.

"That’s the spirit! Since she’s your best friend, she’ll definitely agree."

"Mm."