Chapter 10: Broadcaster, Do You Really Know How to Do This?

He Dankang and Xiao Xu were already consumed by the prospect of sudden wealth, and they were no longer listening to a word Jiang Muyu said.

"We've made up our minds. We're scratching them now, right here in front of all the brothers in the livestream!"

Jiang Muyu sighed. She had already said her piece; the rest was their own choice.

-[Boss Egg, wait a second. Why do I feel like something isn't right?]
-[Little Feather, are you serious? I’m starting to get a bit scared.]
-[I agree. Maybe you shouldn't scratch them after all...]
-[Fortune favors the bold! Scratch them!]

The encouragement from the crowd in the livestream gave He Dankang and Xiao Xu even more confidence.

"Where are the scrapers? Give them to me! We’ll scratch them together!"
"These ones are mine, and those are yours! Whoever scratches it gets the prize!"
"No way, why do you get to pick first? I want those ones..."

The two of them began arguing before they had even started. Jiang Muyu watched their squabbling quietly, saying nothing. However, because of their live-streamed scratching session, the channel attracted quite a few passersby.

-[What kind of livestream is this? Why are there so many people?]
-[Two thousand people! Little Feather, we're finally hitting the big time!]
-[It’s just a scratch-off ticket, why is there such a crowd?]
-[What are they fighting over? It’ll be hilarious if they only win five bucks.]
-[Anyone here like seafood?]
-[Advertisers, get out! For those just joining, let me explain: our host, Little Feather, is a metaphysical streamer who walks the line! These two connected to the stream saying they wanted to scratch lottery tickets, and the tickets in their hands were chosen by her!]
-[Getting a metaphysical master to pick your lottery numbers? Why didn't I think of that!]
-[Is that for real? Are there really masters like that?]

Jiang Muyu raised her hands and blew a kiss. "Welcome to the stream, my dears! If you like Little Feather, hit that follow button! If you're interested in metaphysics, give me a follow too. Just one Carnival gift, and I’ll do a reading for you~"

On the other side of the screen, the two men shuffled their tickets and finally began to scratch. He Dankang’s face was bright red as he held up a ticket. "Brothers, this is my first one. Let’s see how much is in here!"

"Mine is the first one too. We’ll scratch together and see who wins the most!"

The owner of the lottery shop and several others gathered around, looking for a bit of entertainment and hoping for a stroke of luck themselves. But they had never seen anyone like these two, who acted as if winning was a foregone conclusion before they had even begun.

The rules for these tickets were similar: find matching symbols or reveal a specific cash amount. Xiao Xu gripped his scraper, took a deep breath, and counted down. They began simultaneously.

"50... 100... There’s five hundred on this one!" Xiao Xu held up his ticket and shouted excitedly, "A twenty-dollar ticket just won five hundred!"

"What are you shouting about?" He Dankang held up his own, looking smug. "I’ve got a thousand here. That’s double yours."

-[Wait, for real?]
-[This isn't just an ad for the lottery shop, is it?]
-[I don't believe it unless every ticket after this has a prize.]
-[It's only five hundred or a thousand. It’s not like it's tens or hundreds of thousands; what's there to be smug about?]

The shop owner took the tickets, verified them, and found that they were indeed winners. Although he knew the odds, he hadn't expected these two to be so accurate. Forget five hundred or a thousand—most people would consider themselves lucky to get fifty.

After the owner transferred the five hundred to Xiao Xu, he felt a bit resentful. "Don't get cocky. There are five more, keep scratching!"

"Scratch away! You think I'm afraid of you?" He Dankang, emboldened by his thousand-dollar win, didn't bother hiding his arrogance. He quickly scratched the next one and shrieked when he saw the number. "Ten thousand! Hahahaha! I knew I was born to be rich!"

"I’ve got fifty thousand here!"
"A hundred thousand!"
"Two hundred thousand!"

...

As the final ticket was scratched, cheers of "five hundred thousand" echoed through the stream. The popularity of the channel reached its peak, with twenty thousand concurrent viewers.

"Welcome to the stream, my dears! Don't forget to follow the host! Thank you all!"

Jiang Muyu was cheering along as well. With over twenty thousand people in the room, surely a few would be interested in metaphysics, right?

-[The host is truly a god...]
-[Little Feather, if you have this kind of ability, why are you still streaming? Wouldn't it be better to just go scratch tickets yourself?]
-[If I had known, I would have connected with the host too!]
-[Five hundred thousand... that’s a lifetime of earnings for some people...]
-[To the person above, it’s more than five hundred thousand. I did the math: the guy in the yellow shirt has about eight hundred thousand, and the one in black has about six hundred thousand.]
-[Give us a shot of the shop owner. Is the owner okay?]
-[Host, I want a reading too!]
-[Host, I’m queuing up for a connection!]
-[What is this host's background? Is this really not just for the show?]
-[Are you kidding? One and a half million dollars for a show?]

The shop owner checked the tickets repeatedly before finally accepting it was real. Several major prizes from his shop had been claimed by these two kids. The others in the shop couldn't help but be suspicious. "Boss, don't tell me all your tickets are winners?"

"Why don't you scratch one and find out?" the owner retorted sharply.

The man fell silent, his eyes filled with envy as he looked at He Dankang and Xiao Xu.

After his screaming fit, He Dankang finally remembered the livestream and hurriedly grabbed his phone. "Thank you, Master! Thank you! Once I cash this out, I’ll definitely send you the biggest gifts! I’ll send you gifts every single day!"

Jiang Muyu smiled. "No need. Keep it; you’ll have use for it. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up. There are other bosses waiting in line."

"Don't do that!" He Dankang sent two more Carnivals. "Little Feather, my brother and I both love you. We watch your stream almost every day. Now that I’ve got nearly a million in my hand, how about you come be with me?"

Having become rich in just over ten minutes, he was feeling quite lightheaded. He walked out of the shop, phone in hand, looking utterly self-satisfied. "Little Feather, you don't make much money, do you? Come with me, I’ll give you fifty thousand a month. How about that?"

Jiang Muyu laughed—a laugh born of pure annoyance.

"Fifty thousand? Someone who just made you a fortune is only worth fifty thousand to you?"

Fifty thousand wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth. Don't come around here being disgusting.

Rejected, He Dankang’s face darkened. "A streamer like you, just posing and preening online every day—you should be grateful I offered you fifty thousand. Don't look at yourself and wonder if you're worthy... ah!"