Wanxing hurried over to check the trending posts in the Federationâs foodie circle. She scanned ten lines at a glance, carefully reading everyoneâs replies.
Some were genuine onlookers, and their comments were pretty standard. They were straightforwardâthey either liked her or they didnât, and some disliked her based purely on hearsay, having never encountered her content before.
Others seemed to take a neutral stance, but their words were clearly meant to stir up trouble.
They were gradually luring everyone into a trap. The further Wanxing scrolled, the more she saw the discussion had shifted away from just the money and the one-million-credit issue.
The conversation, from fans and onlookers alike, had turned toward her stream.
Finally, someone who looked like a Jiang Qiuqiu fanâbut who Wanxing immediately pegged as a paid shillâposted a couple of comments:
"You guys are hilarious. You talk so much, but do you have any proof?"
"If youâve got the guts, come to our Jujuâs stream and see for yourselves! Our Jujuâs food is worth one million, ten million, a hundred million! Itâs a delicacy that trash like you donât deserve to eat!"
That went way too far.
And sure enough, as soon as that comment appeared, the people below exploded in fury:
What stream are we not worthy of watching? Who makes food worth one or ten million? Youâre a brain-dead shill to be hyping her up this much!
Now I have to go see for myself what kind of trashy streamer could attract such a fanbase!!!
A mob of onlookers assembled, determined to go to Jiang Qiuqiuâs stream and cause trouble.
After seeing this development, Wanxing, who had been worried, grew thoughtful and slipped back into the admin group chat.
After she finished explaining what sheâd discovered, Terry popped up. "What is all this?"
Meimei: These paid shills are getting way too audacious.
Wanxing: I was really worried at first. I thought they were going to blow this up and report it to the authorities. We definitely wouldnât be punished, but getting tangled up in this stuff is never good. But now, Iâm relieved.
...
Meimei was discussing work with Jiang Qiuqiu. Tonight was a stream night. "And now all this drama has to pop up," she said.
"Itâs just a small thing."
"Fine, if you think this is a âsmall thing,â can you guess why Wanxing is so relieved?" While updating Jiang Qiuqiu on the situation, Meimei also recounted the reactions of the two admins, Terry and Wanxing.
Jiang Qiuqiu laughed. "Probably because she didnât expect the person behind this to hire so many shills, not to completely tank my reputation, but to funnel people into my stream instead?"
"Are you and your fans on the same wavelength or what? You guessed it right on the money!"
That was it. What had set Wanxingâs mind at ease was realizing that the paid shillsâ goal wasnât to wage a war of public opinion.
They were putting in all this effort just to hype Jiang Qiuqiu up, and then lure people into her stream to watch.
It was a classic "praise and kill" tactic.
After all the arguments, peopleâs impression of the streamer would already be poor. Then, because of the huge gap between the hype and the actual food, even if it tasted decent, sheâd be flamed for "over-marketing" and being "disgusting."
Of course, thatâs what might happen to someone else.
But for Jiang Qiuqiu, none of this was a problem.
To this day, no one had ever eaten Jiang Qiuqiuâs cooking and left unimpressed.
"So, do we need to have someone respond to this in the foodie circle?"
"No need. Arenât they all coming to the stream tonight? I can clear things up live."
"Then thereâs one more very important question! What if those people canât manage to grab a spot?" Normally, with a success rate of less than fifty percent, you had to have lightning-fast reflexes to get one.
"Then Iâll just do a full house today."
"Iâll just make extra portions so everyone who wants one can get one."
"Thatâs a brilliant move!"