Chapter Twenty-Two: At Long Last, After Endless Calls

Before eight o’clock in the evening, an unprecedented crowd of nearly a hundred thousand viewers had already surged into Nian Nujiao’s channel. The moderators—Winter Goes to Huangshan, the Mars Pioneer, and others—were bantering merrily, filling the chat with a lively, bustling energy.

Though their conversation was playful, the topic never strayed far from Nian Nujiao. From Su Tong to Little Qiao, they dissected her history, turning it over from every angle. The most memorable highlights, the essence of her performances, were recounted by these devoted fans, so that even before the stream began, the audience was already brimming with anticipation.

“Haha, let me give you a little spoiler about tonight’s theme,” Winter Goes to Huangshan said with a laugh in the chat.

“Wow, Winter, you actually know tonight’s theme ahead of time? Spill it—what secret do you share with our brother? Is it a forbidden romance? Our brother’s only eighteen, and you’ll be a sophomore next semester, right? You must be twenty or twenty-one. How can you even think of going after our brother?” Mars Pioneer cried out in exaggerated mock outrage.

Wafting Smoke chimed in with a quip: “Mars, you’re out of line. Brother will also be a sophomore next semester. He and Winter are the same year.”

“What? Only eighteen and already a sophomore?” some new viewers exclaimed, surprised and unfamiliar with Nian Nujiao’s story.

Dillon chuckled, “You newbies must be shocked, right? It’s true. Brother’s whole family are academic prodigies. He skipped two grades and is a college sophomore at eighteen. Da Qiao is even more impressive—she skipped three grades and will be in her last year of middle school at just ten.”

“You heartless lot, always comparing me to Brother—how am I supposed to compete? I’m a girl, after all,” Winter Goes to Huangshan pouted. “I’m not revealing tonight’s theme anymore. Let’s see how you like that.”

“No, please! Winter, you’re young and beautiful—your hair alone could drive people mad.”

“Winter is the prettiest!”

“Winter, forgive me, I just want to know about tonight’s show.”

The other moderators pleaded for mercy.

Finally appeased, Winter Goes to Huangshan revealed the secret: “Brother said that even though tonight is Little Qiao’s last stream, the theme won’t be sentimental or clichéd. On the contrary, he said tonight’s program will be inspiring. And—there will be three brand new songs. I can hardly wait! All of Brother’s new songs are classics. If you haven’t heard them, go check the Daqin Music Library while there’s still time.”

Many in the audience had listened to Nian Nujiao’s songs or heard tales of Su Tong’s stories—her fame had drawn them here tonight. Some had come out of loyalty, just to show support, but now, with Winter’s encouragement, they decided to listen for themselves.

“Sweeping across the land, conquering all—I regret not discovering Nian Nujiao’s songs sooner. One word: brilliant. Two words: absolutely brilliant.”

“The moonlight before my bed—I wish I’d known her sooner. Ah, so beautiful!”

“Wow, the more I listen, the more I feel it. I never realized there was such evocative music out there.”

“Amitabha—are we even friends? How could you not tell me about these amazing songs before? From now on, I’m a devoted fan of Nian Nujiao, for life.”

The newcomers, after listening to her three songs, were thoroughly impressed and joined in the countdown, waiting eagerly for Nian Nujiao’s entrance.

Tong Xin had arrived early and was watching the chat, listening to the moderators’ banter. It felt like she’d entered the realm of legends.

Was this really the same Nian Nujiao channel that had once been nearly deserted?

The manager of the CoolCool Division, his chest tight with anxiety, was also present. Nian Nujiao had only recently started to gain momentum, stunning everyone—including the manager himself, who had been completely unaware that such a gem was hidden on their own platform. What were the data analysts doing, especially the manager in charge? How could a contracted streamer shine so brightly while she remained oblivious?

“Is the homepage banner ready? And remember to reach out to the big streamer whose slot we’re taking—see if we can negotiate. This is all we can do to minimize the fallout,” the division manager said, still working overtime, surrounded by colleagues from other departments.

The designer, who had already gone home, was called back to work late into the night, rushing to prepare promotional images for Nian Nujiao before the stream went live.

“Did you reach him?” the division manager asked Tong Xin on the phone.

Tong Xin, nervous, whispered, “Manager, I… couldn’t get through. The number on the contract is out of service. I left a message on QQ, but there’s been no reply.”

The manager frowned in frustration. He’d already looked up Su Tong’s information and knew that the contract was signed a year ago—no wonder the contact details were outdated. Su Tong must have stopped using that number after moving to Yandu for school.

What Tong Xin hadn’t said was that Su Tong had notified her when she changed numbers for university, but back then, Tong Xin had assumed Nian Nujiao would fade from the scene after leaving for school, so she hadn’t bothered to update her records.

The division manager instructed the tech team to pull up Nian Nujiao’s private messages, reading through them one by one.

By the end, he nearly wanted to throw himself out the window. No joke—the top ten rival platforms had all tried to recruit Nian Nujiao via private message, while CoolCool had only realized her value on the last day of her contract.

All those so-called superstars with half a million followers were nothing compared to Nian Nujiao. She only lacked publicity and promotion. The manager was certain that if they just allocated her a bit more resources, CoolCool would dominate the market, and a million fans would be within reach.

The first dozen chapters of "Legend of Wukong" and "The Swordsman’s Tale" had already been compiled and circulated, stunning everyone. Nian Nujiao was a true prodigy—she could write songs, tell stories, and perhaps even pen scripts for film and drama in the future.

The division manager was on the verge of madness. CoolCool wasn’t backed by an entertainment company, but they were seeking new investors, and several entertainment companies were already eyeing the live-streaming sector. Some were interested, but none had made a serious move—if only they knew they had Nian Nujiao, that would be the reassurance they needed.

At 7:58 p.m., with a “ding dong,” Nian Nujiao finally entered the channel to thunderous anticipation.

“Roar!”

“Woohoo!”

“Greetings from the people of the Northeast!”

“Greetings from the people of Yandu!”

“Greetings from Minnan!”

“A warm welcome to Brother, Da Qiao, and Little Qiao!”

The chat exploded, messages flooding the screen like lines of code racing upward, while the audience cheered and sent wave after wave of virtual flowers.

“Annyeong haseyo!”

“Annyeong haseyo!”

It was Su Tong and Da Qiao’s voices, immediately taking control of the mic and commanding the stage.

“Hello!” piped up Little Qiao, her childish voice ringing out.

Their voices alone, unseen but unmistakable, sent the chat into a frenzy. The three siblings’ voices captured the hearts of everyone present.

The five thousand diehard fans, as always, clamored for a flying kiss from Little Qiao, but their messages vanished into the flood—there was no way to catch a glimpse of them as they were swept away in the torrent.

“Winter, this is madness—limit the rate of messages! It’s chaos; any message sent is instantly lost in the void. Limit everyone to one message every minute, or even every two minutes.”

“Yes, limit it. That way people will value each message.”

“The scrolling is so fast, I’m getting dizzy.”

The moderators shouted back and forth in their private chat, struggling to keep up.