Chapter 271: Back to Number One

Again—it was that same “Lin Shao.”

Watching the stream flood with lines of Supreme Salute X10 alerts, Wang Haoran’s fingers paused mid-tap. That ID, “Lin Shao,” the same name that had gifted a million book coins to Yang Jingwan, was now dominating Xu Muyan’s livestream.

No doubt about it—this was the same person.

Yang Jingwan was a female lead. Xu Muyan was a female lead, too.

So that meant this Lin Shao wasn’t just a random rich viewer. He was connected to both of them. He was clearly one of the main protagonists.

And judging by his wild gifting habits, this Lin Shao had to be part of the God of Wealth genre—one of those protagonists whose golden fingers were powered by outrageous spending.

There were countless subtypes in the God-Tier Tycoon category—system-assisted, investment types, crypto-maniacs, overpowered inheritors, secret heirs, and more. But right now, Wang Haoran couldn’t yet tell which specific flavor this Lin Shao was.

He did know one thing, though.

This guy had just knocked him out of the top spot on the gifting leaderboard.

As the one who had deliberately named himself “Number One Boss,” being dethroned by a protagonist was like getting slapped across the face—twice. One, because of the ranking. Two, because he was the villain, and Lin Shao was a protagonist.

That just wouldn’t do.

Without hesitation, Wang Haoran opened the recharge page and casually slammed ten million into his account.

“Holy crap, now that’s a real Number One Boss!”

“Ten Supreme Salutes in one go… That’s ¥66,666 gone in seconds. This is what the world of the rich looks like?”

“@Lin Shao, you’ve got a rival now! This Big Bro’s coming in hot!”

“I take it back. The

real

daddy’s here.”

The chat exploded in waves. Just moments ago, everyone had been bowing down to “Number One Boss.” But after Lin Shao’s barrage, the fans had switched sides instantly, abandoning Wang Haoran without hesitation. Now all eyes were on Lin Shao.

On this streaming platform, Supreme Cannon X10s came with full-platform effects. Spectators from all over got sucked into Xu Muyan’s stream like moths to a flame.

Within seconds, her viewership soared from ten thousand to thirty thousand. And that number was still rising, fast.

And Lin Shao wasn’t stopping.

“Lin Shao sent 10 Supreme Salutes!”

Then suddenly—another pop-up. This one had jaws dropping.

Number One Boss One sent 100 Supreme Salutes

Right in the middle of Lin Shao’s flood, Wang Haoran struck back with an explosive return, like a dormant volcano choosing just the right moment to erupt.

A single click. ¥666,600.

Comments flew like bullets.

“No wonder Number One Boss was silent—he was busy reloading!”

“Now that’s what I call a comeback!”

The audience was fickle, like reeds bending to the wind. Instantly, the wind changed direction.

By the time the gift alerts finally slowed down, “Number One Boss” had reclaimed the top spot.

And Lin Shao? He’d been shoved into second place.

On the leaderboard, it was clear:

Number One Boss: ¥11 million gifted

Lin Shao: ¥10 million gifted

Wang Haoran had outspent him by exactly one million. And after that, Lin Shao went silent—completely. Clearly, he’d run out of ammo.

Wang Haoran smiled and quietly closed the recharge page, which he’d been hovering over, ready to load in another hundred million just in case.

So Lin Shao was still in his development stage. Only ten million? That was his current limit? Then he was just a baby tycoon—hardly a real opponent.

Meanwhile, Xu Muyan’s stream was now approaching 200,000 viewers. That kind of traffic made her the number one streamer across the entire platform during this time slot.

And Xu Muyan herself? Completely dazed.

Between “Number One Boss” and “Lin Shao,” a total of ¥21 million had been thrown down.

With the platform splitting revenue 50-50 with streamers, that meant ¥10.5 million pre-tax earnings were hers.

Just like that, she’d raked in a fortune.

For someone like Xu Muyan, who wasn’t born with a silver spoon like Qin Yunhan, this was more money than her parents had made in their entire lives combined.

Understandably, her mental focus shattered. Her once-perfect gameplay—10 kills, 0 deaths—quickly spiraled. Now it was 10 kills, 5 deaths, and 0 assists. A massive snowball advantage had crumbled into a precarious position.

Her teammates, never reliable to begin with, started collapsing too.

But Xu Muyan didn’t care anymore. She minimized the game and sneakily sent Wang Haoran a message.

“

Which one were you just now?”

She remembered his promise—he said he’d boost her popularity. It had to be either “Lin Shao” or “Number One Boss.”

Wang Haoran replied coolly, “Obviously, I was Number One. I said I’d support you—how could I settle for second place?”

Xu Muyan’s heart warmed, but instead of feeling happy, she began to worry about how much money he’d just burned through.

“You can’t just throw money around like that just to support me… That was ¥11 million! Even if you’re rich, there’s better ways to spend it.”

Wang Haoran: “Doesn’t matter. I was spending it on you.”

Xu Muyan: “But the platform takes half, and then I have to pay taxes. In the end, that ¥11 million becomes less than five million. Doesn’t that hurt?”

Wang Haoran: “Not even a little.”

To him, it was just money. A quick flip in the stock market could earn it back before lunch.

This time, Xu Muyan sent a voice message, her tone urgent and frustrated: “You don’t feel bad, but I do!”

Wang Haoran laughed quietly at the emotion in her voice. It was the kind of tone a wife might use when her husband spent a fortune on a fancy gift she didn’t need—more worried about his wallet than the present itself.

He could practically see her pouting on the other end.

Sensing her emotions, Wang Haoran teased her with a voice message of his own.

“So thoughtful already? Haven’t even married me yet and you’re already managing my spending?”

“No I’m not!” she fired back in another voice note, clearly flustered. But after a pause, she added shyly, “But if we’re talking about who’s better at managing money… I think I’m doing better than Qin Yunhan, that rich spoiled princess, right?”

Qin Yunhan had grown up spoiled—daughter of a real estate tycoon, throwing money around like confetti. She’d never had to care about budgeting or practicality.

Xu Muyan, by contrast, had a grounded mindset. She thought things through.

But Wang Haoran couldn’t say that out loud. What if she bragged later and it got back to Qin Yunhan? He wasn’t trying to get himself killed.

So he dodged.

“Your viewer count’s skyrocketing. Don’t keep chatting—get back to the stream! The enemy’s already pushed into your base!”

He was using his own phone to chat with her and Yang Jingwan’s phone to watch the stream. Perfect multitasking.

Hearing that, Xu Muyan snapped back to her senses.

The all-site Supreme Salute alerts had pulled in a mountain of traffic. Her moment was now.

And she wasn’t dumb. She knew—this was her chance to blow up.