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Chapter 83




Edited by: kapekopicoffee
On the night of January 5th in Guangzhou, an ordinary stall table was filled with empty beer and naked sticks. Two men were sitting opposite each other, stomachs filled with wine and food.
The one on the left had a baby face, with a longevity tag on his chest and a string of Bodhi beads around his hand. Red-faced, he said, “Silent Stream, what have you been doing lately? You’re not adding extra updates and you’re not asking for votes. The monthly votes have been suppressed for five days and it’s still not suppressed enough. Do you really want to give up?”
Silent Stream was a fat man.
He was white, tall, wide, had a big belly, and looked elastic with a softness that made people want to fall in.
His temper was just like his appearance, unhurried and gentle. “Old Mine, adding extra updates isn’t a problem, but the latest trend makes me nervous. I really don’t want to wear women’s clothing.”
The baby face with the web ID “Mine at Home <sup>1</sup> ćź¶é‡Œæœ‰çŸż [jiā li yǒu kuĂ ng] refers to people who are rich and spend a lot of money. ” was Silent Stream’s General Gold Alliance. He had been tracking the monthly vote battle between Li Shuoxing and Silent Stream, seeing it in his eyes and worrying about it in his heart. He had knocked Silent Stream online several times without a response, so today he simply flew over to find the person.
Mine at Home slapped the table and opened his mouth, reeking of alcohol. “What’s wrong with women’s clothing? It’s just women’s clothing! If you don’t wear women’s clothing, you lose. What you lose is dignity! A man’s dignity! An author’s dignity!”
Silent Stream was silent, his heart clear.
If I don’t wear women’s clothing, I’ll lose the monthly votes and my dignity for a month.
If I wear women’s clothing, I’ll win the monthly votes, but lose my dignity for ten years.
Not getting a response, Mine at Home was anxious. “I’ll arrange a Gold Alliance for you, so you quickly get the women’s clothing arranged!”
Silent Stream: “No way.”
Mine at Home: “Ten!”
Silent Stream was helpless. “Let’s be practical. Look at my body. Do I look like I can wear women’s clothing?”
With a violent wave of Mine at Home’s hand, the bottles flew off the table. He gritted his teeth. “Okay then, if you’re not wearing women’s clothing, then I will. If you don’t want to show yourself in it, then I will. Isn’t it just women’s clothing? Who’s afraid of who! We’re going to fight the other side till the end. We’re men who’ll never give in!” He hollered, “You remember to add extra updates, ten updates, twenty updates, thirty updates, and I’ll give you a big gift bag!—”
This guy’s drunk

Silent Stream looked at Mine at Home and thought.
But adding extra updates didn’t matter, it was a familiar rhythm to him. As long as he didn’t wear women’s clothing, everything would be fine.
Silent Stream readily agreed. “No problem.”
He had already started plotting how he should maximise the benefits of his burst updates, sending this guy out while removing himself from the vortex of women’s clothing

Silent Stream smiled at Mine at Home, frequently pouring wine and eagerly persuading him to drink.
***
January 7th, 8pm, the last day of Terminal’s January double monthly votes.
A banner advertisement from Terminal suddenly popped up for all users. The content of the advertisement was:
“Mine at Home rewards Master of Myriad 100000000 Terminal coins: Silent Stream is Not Silent, brothers are on your side!”
The moment the advertisement popped up, all the users who saw it were attracted by the long 0’s in the notice, and involuntarily started counting the 0’s.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Maybe their eyes counted too many, count them again.
1, 2, 3

There was no mistake. It was a 1 followed by eight 0’s. Mine at Home had rewarded Silent Stream with 100 million terminal coins, which was one million RMB.
People were silent, and then people exploded.
They were completely shocked by that one million. Completely unable to control their hands, they clicked the app, robbed the supreme treasure chest, then entered Master of Myriad , just in time to see the local tyrant <sup>2</sup> 期è±Ș [tǔ hĂĄo] refers to people who are rich, consume irrationally, and like to show off. , Mine at Home, who had just advertised, directly spraying at others in the discussion forum. Besides having money, the local tyrant’s mouth cannon ability was also superior to the crowd:
“Isn’t it just women’s clothing? Acting as if nobody can wear women’s clothing.”
“I, Mine at Home, will broadcast live in women’s clothing!”
“Everyone’s wearing women’s clothing. What’re you guys so proud of? There’s no Gold Alliance yet, is there? Heh, as long as you guys can raise money for a Gold Alliance, I’ll write a ‘suit’ and eat it again!”
The users in Terminal had been shaken by Mine at Home’s large reward, but it didn’t stop there.
Ten minutes later, fifty chapters were updated on Master of Myriad .
Silent Stream burst more than one hundred thousand words in return for Mine at Home’s huge reward!
The atmosphere was completely fired up, and every inch of the air was filled with bright sparks. Everyone was going crazy, and even the monthly votes were crazy.
The one million RMB gift of ten thousand monthly votes, combined with the effect of double monthly votes in early January, had made the monthly votes for Master of Myriad to soar by twenty thousand. With the loose votes enthusiastically cast by many readers at the moment, it surged by thirty thousand votes, surpassing Nine Crossings at rocket speed and ascending to number one on the monthly vote list!
***
At this time, Li Shuoxing was watching a video.
The women’s clothing promised by the Silver Alliance had been fulfilled one after another, and even the video was being recorded. Only the latter was still in the internal error correction process and hadn’t been put on the internet yet.
Li Shuoxing had rubbed the cub’s account to watch all kinds of versions all night, and had almost died from laughter.
And then he was @ by Calm Egg.
Calm Egg: “Eunuch, the other side has a million RMB tyrant. I feel like I’m getting cold.”
Li Shuoxing was a little surprised.
Calm Egg: “Then Silent Stream, this guy, he burst out 50 chapters. I feel even colder.”
Li Shuoxing was greatly surprised.
Calm Egg imagined, “I know it’s unlikely. But Eunuch, if you also got a million reward for your article, ah, how wonderful that picture would be
”
Li Shuoxing’s heart thudded, suddenly afraid.
What Calm Egg said was indeed very unlikely.
But it was better to be prepared, just in case.
Li Shuoxing, just in case, quickly opened his own article. Without having time to look at the discussion forum, he edited a single chapter and sent it out. In the single chapter, he clearly said, “Everyone must not be impulsive! I won’t do 50 updates, not at all! Even if I have to wear women’s clothing, there won’t be 50 updates!”
Just as he sent out the chapter.
Another banner advertisement popped up from Terminal.
“Bill Jobs rewards Nine Crossings 100000000 Terminal coins: Who’s Mine at Home? Eunuch, go for the 50 updates! I’ll take care of the women’s clothing.”
Terminal’s user base felt another earthquake.
Both fans and passersby suffered a second shock, all burning up.
Li Shuoxing’s discussion forum, just like Silent Stream’s, was about to explode with readers.
When he first saw the banner, Li Shuoxing went numb.
He braced himself and went into the most discussed post, leaving a message: “There really is no 50 updates, can you return your reward
”
Shortly after he left the message, Bill Jobs came in.
Bill Jobs replied to him: “:)”
The book friends were laughing like crazy.
The book friends at this time were particularly gentle. One by one, without a teacher’s guidance, they activated their coaxing skills:
“Eunuch, don’t be afraid. Come down from the tree. You really don’t need to wear women’s clothing.”
“Who said women’s clothing? Come out and I’ll kill you!”
“Eunuch, you’re an author. We’re all joking. We’ve never wanted to see you in women’s clothing. We just want to see you update.”
“You said it yourself. You just need to bear the weight and move forward. We’re all behind you to support you~”
Do you think I’m going to be cheated by you?
Heh.
When I finish the 50 updates, you guys will wipe your mouths after the meal and will definitely bring up women’s clothing again, so I can go out again.
Li Shuoxing looked at these messages, thinking.
He continued to refuse, firmly refused, repeatedly refused.
However, no matter what he sent, Bill Jobs always showed up in time and replied: “:)”
After a long standoff, Li Shuoxing received a phone call.
The call was from Calamus, and she had become a screaming chicken. “Ahhhhhh a million ahhhhhhh, Eunuch you have to update, fifty updates and not one less, this is a million ahhhhhhhhh!”
Li Shuoxing hung up.
The camel was crushed by the last straw <sup>3</sup> This refers to the proverb “it is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back”, which describes a seemingly minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, because of the cumulative effect of small actions. .
His eyes were red and he came to the computer to ask the cub for comfort. He said pitifully, “Cub—”
It had gotten so big, Su Mingqian understood the situation immediately.
As soon as he saw Ximu’s red eyes coming over, he got nervous and quickly patted him across the screen. “Ximu, it’s okay, there’ll still be more. After you update one hundred thousand words, you’ll still have eighty thousand words left..”
Li Shuoxing’s heart was broken into pieces. “There won’t be any more, my one hundred thousand words
”
Su Mingqian: “Yes, there will. I’ll supervise your writing more seriously!”
Li Shuoxing’s heart shattered into bits. “Cub, you have to comfort me, you have to kiss me. I can’t live any longer. Silent Stream, you really are the enemy of my life!!!”
Su Mingqian had no time for hesitation. He actually wanted to go out and hug Ximu, but unfortunately couldn’t, so he had to lean into the screen, preparing to kiss Li Shuoxing’s cheek.
Li Shuoxing leaned forward, and halfway through, he paused and lifted his finger to press it to his lips. “Not my cheek, here.”
Su Mingqian froze.
He looked at Li Shuoxing and saw that his eyes were mixed with a smile and seemed a little serious. “Kiss the mouth
?”
Li Shuoxing: “Cub, if you don’t want to, you can just kiss my cheek.”
Su Mingqian unconsciously said, “No.”
He only realised what he had just said when the words left his mouth.
His face a little hot, he looked at Ximu and slowly leaned in.
Li Shuoxing was already waiting on the screen.
His forehead was against the screen and his eyes were half-closed. This position didn’t really allow him to see what Su Mingqian was doing on the screen, but at a certain moment, a strong feeling suddenly flashed in his heart—
Su Mingqian kissed me.
I feel

Like I got a little dizzy after drinking.
Li Shuoxing held his forehead, feeling the heat on his skin.
He was silent for a moment, raised his eyes and teased Su Mingqian on the screen, “Cub, you’re responsible for taking my first kiss.”
Su Mingqian nodded haphazardly and flew away on the blanket with a turn of his head, dropping only a vague, “Already responsible.”
At the top of the screen, there were a few lines of narration that slowly slid through:
[Su Mingqian is extremely shy.]
[Su Mingqian is very happy.]
[Su Mingqian runs away.]
***
At the end of the day, Li Shuoxing still updated 50 updates, and after that, he was paralysed.
And things were still fermenting.
The backyard of internet authors, Paper View of the World, would also be affected by this incident. The forum had been completely spammed by this matter. every section, every post, and every person, talking about it.
There was one post that was most representative.
OP:
“New Year’s monthly votes exploding and a one hundred thousand burst update isn’t surprising. We’re not gonna stop smashing millions on each other, and all women’s clothing are angry for C—How should I evaluate the monthly vote battle between Caramel Ximu and Silent Stream?
Replies from the crowd:
“Two god books, two gods, we mortals can’t hope to reach them.”
“Women’s clothing is justice, women’s clothing is the best!”
“The bosses are a bit weird these days. Don’t guess what’s on their minds.”
“Eunuch’s road to godhood.”
“Terminal’s height this year, as of this moment.”
The next day, the matter was still fermenting. First, it was spread and talked about by various book friends, directly triggering many hot discussions in Weibo. Then, it was summarised and commented by various network media. And then, the #Terminal tyrant fan readers smashing millions of RMB# tag got on one of the last few spots on the hot search.
The Terminal official, who had been following this matter, struck while the iron was hot, and quietly bought it to the top of the hot search without batting an eye.
The moment it topped the hot search, the matter completely exploded out of the circle!
People all over Weibo knew about this. They first succumbed to the magic of money, then were blinded by the spicy pictures of women’s clothing in the marketing accounts. With the positive and negative stimulation, they flocked to Terminal and gathered to watch the two god books.
Caramel Ximu, Silent Stream, Jobs million, and Mine million, instantly filled the pages of Weibo, WeChat, and even print media.
This strong and incomparable heat also brought strong and incomparable effects to Li Shuoxing.
The original 350K favourites increased by 200K in a day to 550K, and the 45K subscriptions also doubled to nearly 100K, setting the highest average subscription record on Terminal’s main site.
As for the wireless terminals outside the main site, their performance was equally strong. With a very small word count, it had rushed to the top three bestsellers, and it could be said to be extremely hot.
The twists and turns of the monthly vote battle had basically come to an end ahead of schedule.
No one was the loser. The heat of the joint operation had benefited both sides of the competition.
The two sides who benefited, Li Shuoxing and Silent Stream, were both in front of their computers, decadent and exhausted, staying up all night to type.
Tired.
Sleepy.
Want to sleep—
1
ćź¶é‡Œæœ‰çŸż [jiā li yǒu kuĂ ng] refers to people who are rich and spend a lot of money. 2
期è±Ș [tǔ hĂĄo] refers to people who are rich, consume irrationally, and like to show off. 3
This refers to the proverb “it is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back”, which describes a seemingly minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, because of the cumulative effect of small actions.