Chapter 141: Runway Storm

"What? The diva Na Jie is doing a live stream on the show platform? Stop joking. A superstar of that caliber would never come to a show platform, would she?"

"In this day and age, you hear all sorts of rumors—zombie women biting people in Guangzhou, a nightlife city where women outnumber men and women keep men as pets... Only a fool would believe that. The diva is doing a live stream? Did your head get stuck in a door?"

"Burn the rumor-monger, then sell them off to Africa."

"Speechless. The diva on a show platform? Even if it were true, wouldn't they announce it days in advance? Have you lost your mind?"

"..."

Many members of the League of Heroes spread the news, but almost no one believed that Na Jie would go on a live stream with Su Tong.

"These idiots. I’m trying to give you a heads-up out of kindness; if you think you’re so great, then don't come."

"You dogs are going to regret this tomorrow. If you don't want to come, fine, but stop with the snide remarks."

"The message has been delivered; whether you come or not is none of my business."

"Let's stop spreading this around. There's an old saying: 'Without a gentleman, there is no support for artists.' It refers to street performers in ancient times whose income depended entirely on the voluntary contributions of the audience. If the audience wasn't a gentleman, they would watch for free without paying, and the artist would starve. If these people come just to watch and listen for free, it doesn't benefit Gege at all. We don't care for them."

"..."

The members of the League of Heroes were indignant. Our General is talented; these people are just jealous.

However, while there were many making snide remarks, even more people flooded into the "Nian Nu Jiao" live streaming room. Once they confirmed that the diva Na Jie had actually appeared, the viewer count in the room skyrocketed.

Damn it, in just a few minutes, the audience had increased by three hundred thousand.

The technical staff were drenched in sweat. The viewer limit for the Nian Nu Jiao room was five million, and it had already reached over three million five hundred thousand.

"Log out our operational accounts and adjust the data," said Zhang Xin. She was the manager personally overseeing Su Tong; she hadn't finished handing over her duties yet and was still on the job.

The three million viewers previously in the Nian Nu Jiao room actually included several hundred thousand virtual data points provided by the platform—they weren't real.

"We are logging them out and adjusting the data gradually," the technician said, wiping his brow. To prevent the audience from noticing anything fishy, he had to log out a portion of the platform's dead accounts every few seconds.

"I’ve modified the posting permissions. Only fans with a fan value of over ten thousand have the right to speak, and there must be a 300-second interval between each post," Zhang Xin, who was also one of the administrators for Nian Nu Jiao, said in the admin group.

There were too many people posting, which would put too much strain on the server.

"To prevent the room from lagging, all users are muted. Only fans with a fan value of over ten thousand have the right to speak, with a 300-second interval between posts. We appreciate your understanding," the administrator announced in the room's notice.

Zhang Xin's heart was pounding. My goodness, this little guy Su Tong is quite a troublemaker. The moment he joined "The Voice of Shanghai," he managed to board the diva's luxury liner.

Looking at the situation, it wasn't just a simple connection; otherwise, how could he have gotten the diva to come along as a guest for a live stream?

He should have given a heads-up before they came. If not a day early, then at least a few hours in advance. Zhang Xin felt that Su Tong really didn't know how to seize business opportunities—he was nothing but a hot-headed youth.

But it was understandable. He was still so young; it was impossible for him to be excellent in every aspect.

In reality, Su Tong had no idea that the diva would insist on joining his live stream.

He had never formally studied computers, but he knew a thing or two. The dedicated server for his Nian Nu Jiao room was one of the best on the platform; he hadn't worried about it crashing from high traffic. But that was before. With the diva as his guest, he couldn't be so sure anymore.

"Holy crap, am I seeing things? It really is the diva."

"Damn, is this a parody show?"

"God, oh no, God has brought the Madonna here."

"Everyone, come see God. God has brought the Madonna to the mortal world."

"Isn't it the Jade Emperor bringing the Queen Mother?"

"Buddha above, you’ve finally broken your vows and taken an interest in women."

"..."

Many people shouted, typing messages into the comment box.

However, these newcomers soon discovered that their messages wouldn't go through—they didn't have permission.

"What the hell, what's going on?"

They looked at the administrator's notice. *Sodesune*—so that was it.

No posting without ten thousand fan value? Isn't that just a hundred bucks?

Reward! Many viewers couldn't hold it in. In the street, using a public restroom costs fifty cents or a dollar, and now they had the same feeling—if they couldn't post while seeing the diva, they would die of frustration.

Suddenly, the subtitle bar was filled with notifications of gifts being sent.

"Oh?" Na Jie’s small mouth formed an 'O' shape, like a young girl. "Xiao Tong, Xiao Tong, look at all those numbers. Let me see, are those prop rewards? There are so many, and they’re all in the tens of thousands. Oh, is that Great Qin currency? Everyone is so enthusiastic..."

Su Tong had to explain. How could it be Great Qin currency? No matter how many wealthy patrons there were, it couldn't be this much. Ten thousand at a time, with hundreds of people lining up to tip—that would be hundreds of millions in just a few minutes.

"You scared me. I thought it was a one-to-one ratio. No, this is for me, right? Haha, Xiao Tong, you have to hand it over," Na Jie said, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

The live stream had been going for nearly half an hour. Su Tong had just been chatting with Na Jie, but the audience was still watching with great interest.

As expected, when it comes to an idol, even their farts smell like perfume; no one was clamoring for Su Tong to sing or tell stories.

After half an hour, the number of people in the Nian Nu Jiao room was nearing the four-million mark.

The technician was frantic. He had almost logged out all the platform's dummy accounts, with less than one hundred thousand left.

As it stood, the number of real viewers in the Nian Nu Jiao room was over three million.

"Start the backup server and switch the Nian Nu Jiao room connection over. It can handle up to ten million viewers; no need to worry about a crash." The technical manager, who was at home, abandoned his wife and children and rushed to the company, giving orders to the duty technician on the way.

The Great Qin Empire had a population of less than two billion; no matter how popular a show platform was, it was basically impossible for ten million viewers to enter a single room at once.

Concurrent online users were possible, but they were usually distributed across countless rooms.

"The diva Na Jie is on a show platform? Damn, can this be real? I have to go check it out." Whether it was streamers from the show platform or other platforms, those without much popularity all wanted to run over and take a look once they got the news.

Streamers who hadn't heard the news were puzzled—why were so many viewers leaving? Something wasn't right.

"Master, the diva Na Jie has descended upon the show platform, she's over at Nian Nu Jiao's room. I'm off, sorry!" Some viewers told their favorite streamers, then took off running, rushing over in a hurry.

Many streamers were stunned. The diva Na Jie had arrived?

"Sister Na, Sister Na..."

In the platform's Nian Nu Jiao room, many fans were cheering.

"Sing one, sing one..."

Many fans were begging Na Jie to sing.

"A-ar-o, what are you doing? You’re hurting my self-esteem. I haven't passed away yet, and you’re already abandoning me," Su Tong said, feeling jealous. He figured that if he were to do a striptease right now to replace Na Jie's singing, the audience wouldn't even agree to it.

Su Tong counted the rewards from the half-hour session and was moved to tears—over a million in Great Qin currency. After the split, he would still get a million.

"Cough, alright then, I’ll sing. I’ll sing one of Xiao Tong's songs." Na Jie asked Su Tong to find an accompaniment; she had almost figured out how the live streaming worked.