After Transmigrating As The Female Lead Of A Cruel Novel, I Raised a Big Shot Cat - Chapter 25

“Da Lao” (Big Boss) was finally a little scared, letting out a pitiful “meow.”

Seeing that she had successfully intimidated the cat, Ji Qingyue patted its small head.

“Alright, I’m just teasing you. Some dogs even serve as guide dogs, aren’t they more impressive than you? Don’t be a ‘mediocre cat’ worrying over nothing. But in the future, try not to stand out so much.”

Watching Ji Qingyue alternate between scaring and educating the cat, Sister Zhang found it quite amusing.

“Why get so worked up over a cat? Though, I really didn’t expect him to be so extraordinary. Our traffic is definitely going to explode tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow, it’s going to sweep the internet today,” Ji Qingyue said, watching the trending topic of a cat gesturing with its middle finger rise rapidly. She still felt uneasy.

“Sister Zhang, arrange for our marketing accounts to push some content on ‘how to teach a cat to give the middle finger’.”

Though puzzled, Sister Zhang complied.

“So, is the live stream collaboration still on for tomorrow?”

“Of course. But Sister Zhang, check in with those streamers again. They can pull stunts to attract viewers tomorrow, but they absolutely cannot use insults or sarcasm to grab attention.”

Ji Qingyue gave these specific instructions, fearing that some people would throw away their dignity just for a bit of heat. Sister Zhang nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, after Da Lao had cut the live connection, Xiao Luo stared at her blackened screen with a dark expression.

She didn’t believe for a second that a cat knew how to use “international friendly gestures,” let alone know how to end a stream. These things must have been taught by Ji Qingyue in advance. She even suspected her own breakdown was caused by Ji Qingyue’s “water army” (paid trolls) flooding her chat.

The more Xiao Luo thought about it, the angrier she got, yet she showed none of it on her face. With a pale complexion, she offered a “tea-flavored” (manipulative/fake) apology to her viewers before ending the stream.

The moment she went offline, Xiao Luo went to complain to her “Top 1 Fan” (Gold Donor).

The Top Fan was indeed a “good man,” constantly comforting Xiao Luo and telling her to stay calm. The more he tried to soothe her, the more disgusted Xiao Luo felt. What use were kind words if he didn’t help her get revenge?

“Brother Lu, won’t you help me get back at her?”

But these days, “Big Brothers” (rich donors) weren’t fools. “Luo Luo, don’t be angry. She’s just a streamer; we won’t play with her anymore. Be good and go to sleep early.”

By brushing her off, the Top Fan’s stance was clear: he wouldn’t help. Furious, Xiao Luo smashed her phone.

Watching Ji Qingyue’s popularity soar on Douyin, a flash of malice crossed Xiao Luo’s eyes. “If you won’t let me have a good life, I won’t let you have one either.”

On the third day of Bo Shuhan’s absence, Ji Qingyue opened her live stream promptly at 8:00 PM.

This time was different from the last. The moment she started, countless people flooded in. Within three minutes, Ji Qingyue was surprised to see over 100,000 viewers. She couldn’t help but remark that there were truly many “fun seekers” on the internet.

It was actually quite normal for the popularity to be this high today. Between “Lemon C’s” antics yesterday, the cat’s “in your face” output, the middle finger gesture, and the cat hanging up the call in a huff, every moment was gold.

A series of highlights meant that besides Ji Qingyue’s own marketing accounts, various other accounts had spontaneously started editing clips to chase the trend. The internet was covered in posts about the cat. Those who saw it yesterday wanted to join the fun again, and those who hadn’t were even more curious.

Five minutes in, the viewers surpassed 200,000.

First! Rubbing the streamer’s little head. Front row seat! Here for the international friendly gesture.

Unfortunately, all they saw this time was a small round stool.

Where’s the streamer? Where’s my giant cat streamer? Hello everyone, this is MM TV. Today we reveal the mystery of the cat who turned into a spirit yesterday and went missing today. Understood, he’s been sent to a lab for slicing. Understood +1

Just as the chat was joking around, Da Lao wearing custom mini sunglasses and a thick gold chain, leapt up… and thud, face planted right into the stool.

Ji Qingyue covered her face.

Pfft, I didn’t laugh. Hahaha, I’ve had professional training, I won’t laugh… Hahaha!

The viewers were a mess of laughter. Da Lao stood up dazed and looked at the heavy gold chain around his neck. These things ruined me!

The chain and sunglasses weren’t actually for “program effects” planned by Ji Qingyue. A colleague had brought them to liven up the atmosphere, and Da Lao had taken a liking to them, insisting on showing them off. Now he had made a fool of himself. Let’s see if he dares to do it again.

Despite Ji Qingyue’s exasperation, the internet was dying of laughter. This kind of “cat content” relied on novelty, even though this was a blunder, the screen was filled with “hahahas.”

Seeing the happy atmosphere, Ji Qingyue let him be. Da Lao sat solemnly on the stool, as long as he acted like nothing happened, it wasn’t a “social death.”

Ji Qingyue was good at crowd control. Once the cat was settled, she put a hand to her mouth, and Da Lao immediately mimicked the gesture.

“Dear ladies and gentlemen. Quiet, quiet. That was just a minor mistake. After all, when I go out, I’m usually carried by a dedicated ‘poop scooper.’ As for this chair, I’ll have the scooper skin it alive later.”

Cat is so fierce, so scared, Exactly! What a trash chair, giving Da Lao no face at all.

Clearly, the fun seekers weren’t going to let Da Lao off the hook. Looking at the comments, Da Lao decided: he would swap bodies with Bo Shuhan tomorrow. He couldn’t stand being a cat for another day!

Seeing the good vibes, Ji Qingyue began the apology collaborations. Following yesterday’s events, many influencers were desperate to connect with her stream. They pulled all sorts of stunts, gaining massive exposure. Seeing their follower counts jump, the influencers were ecstatic.

However, compared to the chaos, today’s stream was relatively “tame.” The cat didn’t lose its temper, and there were no middle fingers.

Of course, in a large crowd, there are always “bad apples.” Some streamers tried to introduce suggestive content, but Ji Qingyue gave them a warning without making it too difficult for them.

Soon, the last collaboration ended, and Ji Qingyue prepared to sign off. It had been two hours, and Da Lao was getting sleepy. Just as she was about to give her closing remarks, ten “Rockets” (expensive virtual gifts) suddenly shot across the screen, startling her.

Ji Qingyue knew she wasn’t going to be a permanent “stunt streamer,” so she hadn’t set up a “wish list” like others. Sometimes people sent small stars for fun, which she appreciated. Seeing Rockets was a surprise.

Out of politeness, she said: “Thank you to this friend for showing me the special effects. May the Cat Planet protect you and help you find a cat master you’re satisfied with.”

For a moment, I can’t tell if that’s a blessing or a curse. The brother above is sharp.

The netizens laughed, thinking nothing was wrong. Top-tier streamers get dozens of Rockets a day; ten was no big deal. No one expected these Rockets were meant to harass the streamer. After all, who would want to bully a cute cat?

As for demanding the streamer show her face? Was the owner more interesting than the cat? Beautiful streamers are everywhere, but a cat that pulls stunts is one in a million. This was exactly the narrative Ji Qingyue had her marketing team push, focus on the cat’s cuteness and interactivity so she could remain hidden behind the scenes.

Ji Qingyue thought it was just a rich fan’s donation, but the person was relentless.

“I’ve spent 10,000 yuan. It’s not asking much for you to show your face or send me a private photo, right?”

Seeing this, Ji Qingyue frowned. She had anticipated this, but since it hadn’t happened during the first half of the stream, she thought she was in the clear. Still, because he had spent money, she couldn’t lose her temper in front of the audience.

She joked: “There’s no human on this account, only a cat. If you want to see me turn into a human, you’ll have to wait a thousand years or so.”

Sitting on the table, Da Lao cooperatively struck a look of sorrow. “My cultivation is currently too shallow to take human form. Otherwise, I would have reached 100 stars in ‘Honor of Kings’ long ago.”

This cracked the audience up again.

It really goes to show, you never know if your teammate across the internet is a human or a ghost and now we have to add ‘cat’ to the list. Luckily the cat has an owner, otherwise I might have tried to have an online romance with it. The guy above wants an online romance with Da Lao? Damn, that’s a beautiful dream, let me join you.

The tension was dissolved by Ji Qingyue’s quick wit, making the stream even more lighthearted. She caught Sister Zhang’s eye, and Zhang understood. While they wouldn’t kick him out immediately, a 10-minute mute was appropriate. They were closing the stream anyway, and as for the money from the ten Rockets, she could just refund it later. Ji Qingyue didn’t care about a few bucks.

After chatting with the netizens for a bit more, Ji Qingyue prepared to go offline.

But the next second, ten “Planes” appeared with a message: “Damn it, you dare mute me?! I spent money! Is this how you treat me?!”

The viewers were stunned. Someone actually got the “Mute Package” after being the Top Donor?

Ji Qingyue didn’t respond and moved to shut down. The screen lit up with another 10 Rockets.

“Not answering me, huh? Just want to scam my money? Fine, I’ll satisfy you. I have plenty of money!”

Following those words, another 20 Rockets were dropped. The 500,000 “Sound Waves” (platform currency) left the audience absolutely speechless.

At this point, even the fun-seekers had gone quiet.

However, there are always those who consider themselves “righteous” and began to offer unsolicited advice: “Streamer, the Top Donor just dropped 500,000 Sound Waves. Just show your face or post a photo. One photo in exchange for 500,000 Sound Waves, that’s an incredible deal.”

The sentiment in the chat began to shift with that single comment.

Ji Qingyue couldn’t really blame the netizens by conventional logic, it was indeed a great deal. However, she never intended to stay in the live-streaming world for long. Her primary goal was to establish a foothold in the influencer circle and leverage that traffic to enter the fashion industry.

Looking at the strings of text floating across the screen, summarized mostly as “I’m doing this so you can make money” and “I’m doing this for your own good”. Ji Qingyue couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Still, when she spoke, her voice remained soft and polite. There was no need to start a shouting match with people like this.

“I’m very sorry, sir. Once the stream ends, we will refund your Rockets through the back end. This is a cat themed stream, there is no human here.”

With that, Ji Qingyue prepared to sign off. “Alright, friends, that’s all for today’s stream!”

However, just as she was about to hit the end button, the mysterious person who had sent the Rockets spoke up again with a snide tone: “Oh, are we playing the ‘high ground’ persona now? Or is it because you aren’t actually the person from The Silhouette, and you’re terrified to show your face?”

Ji Qingyue’s expression turned icy. Although she hadn’t stepped forward to chase the clout when The Silhouette was at its peak, the hype hadn’t fully faded yet. Moreover, after she added fuel to the fire yesterday, The Silhouette had been pushed back to the top of the trending charts.

The narrative her marketing team had pushed was that the owner of The Silhouette was streaming to apologize. If this mysterious person successfully sowed seeds of doubt and things went sideways, her live stream would collapse entirely, and Da Lao’s account would be finished.

Just as Ji Qingyue was brainstorming a solution, another account suddenly surged into prominence. It was an account with a pink lolita profile picture, named “Little Flower.”

Little Flower originally had no badges or rank, it looked like a brand-new account that hadn’t spent a single cent. But in the next second, Little Flower dropped 100 Rockets in one go.

The screen filling special effects left Ji Qingyue and all the viewers speechless. Ji Qingyue instinctively looked at Sister Zhang, while Sister Zhang looked at her.

“Is this your backup plan?”

“Of course not. I never expected this to happen.”

As the two whispered, a new twist appeared on the screen.

Little Flower, the one who just spent the fortune, left a comment: “That’s it?”

Those two words nearly choked the mysterious person on the other side with rage. Little Flower, apparently feeling the provocation wasn’t enough, added. “You have the nerve to ask the streamer to show her face for that little bit of money? If you’ve got the guts, outspend me. Heh, little loser.”

Looking at the name and the profile picture, Ji Qingyue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She finally realized, the pink lolita and the name “Little Flower” wasn’t this her good neighbor, Qiao Hua’en?

She had no idea how the policewoman had heard the news, or how she found the time in her busy schedule to watch the stream.

“Thank you, our Little Flower~” Because they were acquaintances, Ji Qingyue’s voice naturally carried a hint of intimacy.

This gave the mysterious person a target for his frustration.

“No wonder you looked down on my 500,000 Sound Waves. Turns out you’re being ‘kept’ by a sugar daddy. Figures, if you’ve latched onto a big shot who drops 100 Rockets at once, you wouldn’t care about us little people.”

Before Ji Qingyue could react, Qiao Hua’en started blasting him in the chat.

“If you don’t know how to speak, then shut your f*cking mouth. Which eye of yours saw me ‘keeping’ her?”