Chapter 181: I Only Have Livestream Experience

Chapter 181: I Only Have Experience With Livestreams

While others remained unaware that Meng Fan’s soulful gaze was fixed entirely on Wu Tong, the three women sitting beside her—Qin Jiao, Wei Zhixue, and the others—knew it all too well.

Qin Jiao nudged Wu Tong’s shoulder gently and laughed, “Who would have thought? This kid actually dared to confess like that? Heart racing yet?” She then added with a touch of teasing, “Ah, youth is wonderful. The scent of romance.”

Wu Tong didn’t respond, her expression remaining calm, but sitting so close, how could Qin Jiao miss that she was merely feigning composure? Besides, the faint glimmer of tears in her eyes could not be faked.

That kid really had some nerve; no wonder he had held his tongue despite knowing how much Wu Tong admired his mother—he had real backbone. Still, one wondered what expression Wu Tong would wear once she discovered that Meng Fan’s mother was Liang Qing.

Qin Jiao couldn’t help but conjure an image in her mind: a future moment where, after Meng Fan and Wu Tong were together, he brought her to meet his mother, and then... Wu Tong’s expression would surely be magnificent!

Thinking of this, Qin Jiao felt a flicker of anticipation, determined to keep a close watch and ensure she was present for that scene.

Naturally, Qin Jiao was still unaware of the current relationship between Wu Tong and Liang Qing. If she had known... the scene would instead be Qin Jiao watching in shock as Wu Tong called Liang Qing "Mom" the moment they met, leaving her to wonder what her own expression would be then.

Qin Jiao might not have known of their connection, but Wu Tong was well aware that Qin Jiao was Liang Qing’s student. Thus, she wasn’t surprised that Meng Fan had invited Qin Jiao to the concert, nor was she surprised by Qin Jiao’s teasing.

Wu Tong had kept tabs on most of the students Liang Qing took on. Though Liang Qing was a master of traditional Chinese painting, her students were not all painters—in fact, nearly half were not. This was something the industry found hard to fathom, though given Liang Qing’s famously eccentric temperament, it was hardly a scandal.

Wei Zhixue and Xing Tage’s girlfriend both looked at Wu Tong with envy and heartfelt blessings.

Wei Zhixue had known from the first time she met Meng Fan that he was someone special—remarkable, witty, and warm. Later, she followed the series of events surrounding him. In the beginning, when many felt Meng Fan’s pursuit of Wu Tong was like a toad lusting after a swan, Wei Zhixue had firmly believed he would succeed.

Though Xing Tage’s girlfriend hadn’t officially met Meng Fan, she knew the reputation of the "Iron Tower" man. Now, she was witnessing just how formidable he was: a concert, a livestreamed concert, confessing in front of so many people—my god!

Wang Yanan also looked at Wu Tong, smiling, though in her heart... she let out a long sigh.

Little Dian, if you had confessed sooner, you might have had a chance. The longer you drag it out, the slimmer the odds become. It wasn’t just that Wu Tong was becoming more receptive to Meng Fan; it was that Meng Fan was becoming increasingly extraordinary!

This fat guy was no longer just a fat guy; he was picking up speed. If you don’t chase him now, you’ll never catch up.

“Is Boss Meng handsome?”

Bai Zhi walked onto the stage, glanced in the direction Meng Fan had exited, and asked the audience with a smile. The crowd answered in unison that he was, and she asked again, “Is your heart racing? Do you feel the urge to fall in love?”

The audience: “Yes!”

Though the question seemed directed at the crowd, Wu Tong knew Bai Zhi was smiling at her, and her ears burned once more.

Bai Zhi withdrew her gaze from Wu Tong and said to the audience with a grin, “But that doesn’t erase the fact that his smile is toxic!”

The audience and the viewers in the livestream held their breath. Sister, let’s not bring that up again.

...

“Sister Bai really loves you, doesn’t she?”

Su Qingcen glanced at Bai Zhi, who was hosting with such awkwardness on stage, and felt a twinge of jealousy. The previous guest, Tao Tao, hadn’t received such treatment, and she likely wouldn’t either—at most, a standard word of thanks. She turned to Meng Fan and said with a laugh, “You’d better promise me that once I’m on stage, you won’t appear anywhere I can see you and smile.”

Meng Fan looked innocent: “Am I really such a troublemaker?”

Su Qingcen was certain: “You are.”

Meng Fan knew there was no explaining his way out of this, especially not with Su Qingcen, whose memory of the last concert was still fresh.

Farewell.

Meng Fan retreated obediently to the lounge.

Tao Tao had already removed her makeup and changed out of her performance attire. Seeing Meng Fan, she smiled and said, “Congratulations, your performance was a huge success!”

Meng Fan gave a wry smile: “I nearly ruined the concert, Sister Tao, don’t tease me.”

Tao Tao was quite serious: “I don’t think so.” She waved her hand, “I’m heading out now; I have a flight to catch.”

“Alright, goodbye.”

Meng Fan saw her off and returned to the lounge, pulling out his phone to check the viewer count of Bai Zhi’s concert livestream.

Although he could see the data through his virtual projection at any time, he had been completely focused during his performance. After chatting with Su Qingcen and Tao Tao, he could finally check.

Over 6.7 million—that was the current number of online viewers.

Meng Fan estimated that the count during his time on stage must have been at least 6.5 million, but... checking the data for the [Livestream Expert] task in his system, he had only gained a little over 5 million views!

That was a discrepancy of over 1.5 million from the online viewer count!

Logically, the total number of views should be higher than the concurrent viewer count!

Taking everything into account, it was off by at least 2 million!

What was going on?

Did many people close their eyes while he was singing?

Impossible!

Was the system glitching?

Or was it... padding?

This had to be inflated viewer numbers in the livestream. That 6.7 million wasn’t the real number of people watching!

Meng Fan didn’t know much, but if the viewer count was padded, the system would definitely be able to tell!

He had heard rumors about inflated numbers in livestreams, but he hadn’t expected it to be this extreme... though, upon reflection, compared to those rumors, maybe it wasn’t that extreme after all.

It was often said that some large livestreams claimed millions of viewers when the real number was only in the hundreds of thousands.

Before the final guest, Su Qingcen, took the stage, the viewer count surged wildly again, reaching over 9 million!

How much of that was padding, Meng Fan truly didn’t know.

As Su Qingcen finished her performance and stepped off stage, Meng Fan could hear the screams from the lounge.

“You really stayed here the whole time?” Su Qingcen saw Meng Fan and looked slightly apologetic, “Actually, I’m not that prone to breaking character.”

Meng Fan felt wronged: “Let’s just pretend I’m the one who breaks character easily.”

Su Qingcen covered her mouth and laughed, then went to change her outfit and makeup. Returning to the lounge, she said to Meng Fan, “I’ve thought about it carefully, and I’d like to invite you to be a guest at my concert.”

“Ah?”

Meng Fan was genuinely surprised.

Su Qingcen confirmed her decision earnestly.

Meng Fan asked: “Is your concert being livestreamed?”

Su Qingcen shook her head.

Meng Fan also shook his head: “Then I can’t go. I only have experience with livestreams; if it’s not being broadcast, I can’t sing.”

Friends have come from afar, so the rest will be a bit late.

(End of chapter)