Chapter 165: The Story

After listening to the whole story, Jiang Zheng remarked, "Some people are just like that. The better you treat them, the more they take it for granted. If you treat them poorly even once, they won't try to understand or sympathize with you; instead, they will end up hating you."

Jiang Xianyue understood the old saying about how favoring a person with a small favor breeds gratitude, while a large favor breeds resentment.

Yet, understanding was one thing, and she still couldn't comprehend how someone she shared years of friendship with could be so ruthlessly malicious.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick," Jiang Xianyue said.

Jiang Zheng said with fierce indignation, "What is your best friend's handle? I want to see who this ungrateful person is, and I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

Hearing this, Jiang Xianyue felt a bit better and couldn't help smiling as she said, "Forget it, there's no need."

"Don't cover for a person like this. After the way she treated you, you shouldn't protect her," Jiang Zheng insisted.

"I'm not protecting... Fine, I'll give you her account handle," Jiang Xianyue said with a helpless sigh.

She then gave her account name to Jiang Zheng, who searched for it and looked through a few of her videos.

"She looks so meek and gentle on the outside. Who would have thought she'd be such a person on the inside?" Jiang Zheng commented.

For the next dozen minutes, Jiang Zheng launched a comprehensive critique of her.

Listening to Jiang Zheng's condemnation, Jiang Xianyue remained silent, but her mood improved significantly.

Once the critique was over, Jiang Zheng dropped the subject and didn't mention it further.

After the two finished their meal, Jiang Xianyue said, "Thank you for today. I feel a lot better."

"As long as you're feeling better. I've got some things to take care of, so I'll head out first," Jiang Zheng said.

Jiang Xianyue nodded in acknowledgment.

They waved goodbye, and Jiang Zheng headed back to his hotel to prepare for his live broadcast.

***

"How are the black materials coming along for today?"

A middle-aged man asked.

Facing the inquiry, Zhang Nian looked rather troubled.

"I've already thought of everything I possibly could. I honestly can't think of anything else she's done that can be used against her," Zhang Nian replied.

"I don't believe that. Weren't you friends with her for so many years? Can't you come up with more dirt?" the middle-aged man pressed.

"I really can't," Zhang Nian said.

"I don't care. Things have reached this point. Either you completely destroy her, or you destroy yourself. Choose the outcome you want," the middle-aged man said coldly.

Zhang Nian's expression shifted, and her voice sharpened. "You were the one who made me do this in the first place!"

"I made you do it, yes, but would you have done it if you weren't willing?" The middle-aged man sneered.

Zhang Nian's pupils contracted sharply, and her heart churned with turmoil.

"I'll try harder to think of something," Zhang Nian said.

"Good. You need to understand that if you want to ruin the other person, you can only rely on us," the middle-aged man said.

Zhang Nian kept her head lowered in silence.

The middle-aged man looked at her with a sneer. He knew that Zhang Nian could no longer escape their grasp and would have to obediently make money for them.

Being able to acquire a cash cow while simultaneously taking down a rival was killing two birds with one stone.

***

Sitting in his hotel room, Jiang Zheng started his live broadcast. The challenge banner was still hanging there, but no one dared to step up.

Even though there was a one-million-dollar prize and a chance to gain both fame and fortune, people weren't foolish enough to challenge someone who was guaranteed to win.

The lack of challengers suited Jiang Zheng just fine; if someone actually showed up to challenge him, he would have been in real trouble.

"Let's just chat with everyone today," Jiang Zheng said.

Instead of playing games or pushing products, he simply hung out in the live stream, chatting with his audience like old friends.

They talked about everything under the sun, spanning a wide variety of topics.

The atmosphere in the live stream was cozy. There were no eardrum-shattering screams from merchandise hucksters, nor any noisy PK battles.

Watching his stream felt like sipping a cup of tea while conversing with a longtime friend.

Most people tuning into the broadcast were simply looking to unwind. After a grueling day at work, they spent their evenings relaxing by watching a stream.

The peaceful vibe of Jiang Zheng's channel quickly attracted many viewers, offering a sanctuary of calm for their weary minds.

Lots of viewers sent virtual gifts. From time to time, Jiang Zheng would pause to urge everyone to stop sending gifts and just focus on chatting for the day.

Yet, the more Jiang Zheng tried to dissuade them, the more diligently they kept sending gifts.

Unable to do anything about it, and finding his appeals completely ineffective, Jiang Zheng simply let it be and stopped caring.

He had considered turning off the gift-tipping feature, but the platform certainly wouldn't agree to that since that was how they made their money.

Amidst such casual conversations, time slowly slipped away.

Jiang Zheng talked until his throat was parched, having already finished several bottles of water.

With the final half-hour remaining, Jiang Zheng fell silent for a moment and said, "Next, let me tell you all a story."

He then began to narrate at a steady pace. The skill of crafting stories had been thoroughly honed back when Jiang Zheng used to write novels.

Even though his temporary system skills had faded, certain abilities never truly disappear.

Jiang Zheng began to recount the events that had transpired between Jiang Xianyue and Zhang Nian, framing them in the form of a story.

He started from the very beginning when Jiang Xianyue first ventured into short videos.

Through his words, a talented musical girl stepped into the short-video trend, gradually transforming into a mainstream content creator.

Her image was quickly established, and the musical girl in his tale came vividly to life.

Because he had real-life references, it was easy for Jiang Zheng to shape the narrative; he simply built upon reality.

Jiang Xianyue hadn't provided many details about her journey to becoming a top-tier creator.

Much of the elaboration was actually imagined by Jiang Zheng himself.

Yet, there was no denying that the story Jiang Zheng wove was full of twists and turns, tightly linked, and exceptionally captivating.

Jiang Zheng hadn't spent those recent days reading books for nothing.

In that half-hour, Jiang Zheng didn't actually cover a lot of ground—he only reached the point where Jiang Xianyue became a short-video creator and achieved overnight virality, gaining a million followers in a single night.

This wasn't a fabrication, but something that had genuinely happened.

Back when Jiang Xianyue first started filming guzheng videos, her viewership had been low, and her subscriber count grew slowly.

Later, she adapted a piece of modern music and played it on the guzheng, and just like that, she took off.

The world of short videos was unpredictable; sometimes a video could inexplicably explode in popularity.

Many major content creators had risen the exact same way.

Reaching this juncture, Jiang Zheng deliberately left a cliffhanger and said, "If you want to know what happens next, please tune in next time."

With that, without waiting for the viewers to react, he directly ended the broadcast.

Instantly, the bullet-screen comments erupted in chaos.

"Damn! It's over just like that? I was enjoying it so much, hurry up and resume!"

"Streamer, you should write a book. I'll buy every chapter."

"This cliffhanger... feels strangely familiar."

"Shameless! How could you cut it off right at this spot? Update already!"

Regardless of how frantically they complained, Jiang Zheng ignored them completely.

He had cut it off at that exact moment on purpose. This art of the cliffhanger was something he had picked up from reading on the web novel platforms.

Though it drove people wild with suspense, the effect was undeniably phenomenal.