Chapter 68: Winning Over Countless Fans

Working in perfect tandem was their specialty.

The "1733" livestream was structured into three phases. The first phase kicked off with mobile streaming, hosted by Shen Mingyue. She focused on her urgent desire to uncover the truth behind the news of a mermaid’s discovery, using her camera to lead her followers on a quest for dreams. Thanks to Shen Mingyue’s silver tongue and otherworldly beauty, her follower count quickly surged from zero into the thousands. Striking while the iron was hot, she posted a sensational, heart-stopping duet video of a mermaid on a popular short-video platform, set to the trendiest tunes.

*Whoosh.* Her follower base suddenly jumped from the thousands to nearly 100,000, and the numbers kept climbing. The platform’s user traffic was truly staggering.

It had taken less than three days, yet this was still far below Shen Mingyue’s expectations; her goal was ten million, so she had a long way to go.

In the second phase, she meticulously crafted a "Mermaid Investigation" short-video series, posting two clips daily to build momentum. She intentionally circled the ancient town to whet people’s appetites, while casually showcasing local delicacies and tourist spots. As her popularity soared, she unexpectedly received numerous promotional offers from restaurants, shops, and attractions. Shen Mingyue accepted them gladly—why not kill two birds with one stone?

At the very least, she had earned back the cost of her equipment several times over; Beiting’s recent budget had been stretched remarkably thin.

By the time she, in a desperate "dead horse as a living horse" attempt, took a gamble and "accidentally" ventured into Black Dragon Pool Park, her follower count had already surpassed the million mark.

However, growth hit a bottleneck, which Shen Mingyue had anticipated. She began resorting to clickbait titles: "A Once-in-Five-Thousand-Years Event, or a Dream Back to the Qin Dynasty?" "Friends Are Stunned: Mermaid Appears Again at Black Dragon Pool!" "Major Events Shaking Modern Society—The Mermaid Incident," "Environmental Pollution Sounds the Alarm—Fish Have Begun to Mutate!"...

Every time she posted a dazzling headline, Liu Zichen would chuckle. "Do you really think anyone believes this stuff?" she would ask.

As it turned out, not only did people believe it, but they also followed the story closely. A significant number of curiosity-seekers even traveled to Black Dragon Pool to investigate for themselves. Once there, although they saw no "mermaid," they were remarkably cooperative; people from all walks of life added their own embellishments to the story. A wave of mermaid news erupted, even catching the attention of internet monitoring authorities. Fortunately, Beiting intervened just in time, or the rumor risked being completely suppressed.

The mermaid incident naturally climbed to the top of the trending lists and headlines!

According to Shen Mingyue’s plan, after all this buildup, the third phase would be an "accidental" encounter with Liu Zichen.

The method of the encounter didn’t matter; the only goal was to have Liu Zichen make a dazzling appearance in the 1733 livestream room. Once she was there, the sheer topic-driven buzz would make it so Liu Zichen wouldn't even need to do anything.

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Everything was ready; all they needed was the east wind.

Millions of fans were egging Shen Mingyue on to explore Black Dragon Pool at night, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the mermaid in their lifetime.

Shen Mingyue often giggled to herself, but seeing that the time was ripe, she went with the flow, notifying everyone to join the livestream at 9:00 PM for the night exploration of Black Dragon Pool. Suddenly, hearts and gifts flooded the screen, and even several expensive "Cadillac" virtual gifts appeared. Shen Mingyue’s heart raced; at this rate, she might actually "get rich" from livestreaming.

Regretting the money spent on equipment earlier? Thinking about it now, she realized that poverty had truly limited her imagination.

Before she could finish celebrating, however, an unexpected situation arose.

Many fans insisted on accompanying her, arguing that a delicate girl like Shen Mingyue shouldn't be wandering into Black Dragon Pool in the middle of the night looking for a "monster"—it could be life-threatening. They had already organized groups to come and act as her "knights in shining armor."

There wasn't just one group, but several. Shen Mingyue was stunned. What was she supposed to do? She had played this a bit too far. Was she supposed to appear alongside the "mermaid"? That would be an absolute farce! Once this charade was exposed, all her efforts would be in vain.

Shen Mingyue frantically tried to calm everyone down, begging them not to interfere. She improvised excuses on the spot: first, that she was afraid they would scare the mermaid away; second, that she wasn't actually delicate but a "martial arts expert"; and third, that tonight was just a scouting trip with little hope of success.

No one believed her. Despite her throat becoming parched from explaining, she couldn't dampen the fans' unprecedented enthusiasm. They left the livestream with a single parting threat: "See you at Black Dragon Pool!"

The livestream room, which had been buzzing just a moment ago, suddenly fell silent. Shen Mingyue sat there, frozen, feeling her first pang of genuine worry.

When she walked out of the room, looking distraught, Liu Zichen noticed the anomaly immediately.

"What's wrong, Mingyue?" Liu Zichen asked with concern.

Shen Mingyue pouted in frustration. "It's over. A bunch of people are going to follow me to Black Dragon Pool to look for the mermaid. What am I supposed to do? My cover is definitely going to be blown. There’s no such thing as a mermaid in this world; these people just love a spectacle!"

Liu Zichen wasn't overly surprised. She smiled and said, "Isn't this the crazy idea you came up with? What’s wrong, can't handle the finale?"

"Yeah." Shen Mingyue wasn't one to act tough, so she nodded helplessly.

Watching her, Liu Zichen felt a pang of sympathy and quickly comforted her. "Don't worry. When soldiers come, we use generals; when water comes, we use earth to block it. There must be a solution. If all else fails, we can ask the police for help and stop them at the park entrance."

Shen Mingyue’s eyes lit up, but they quickly dimmed again. "That's fine, but wouldn't our plan be ruined? ...Are we really just going to give up?"

She seemed to mutter to herself, "What if I go every day and see how long they can keep this up..."

Liu Zichen said calmly, "It's not a question of how long they can keep it up, but that we can't afford to wait. The longer the murder case drags on, the more remote the hope of solving it becomes. Livestreaming isn't our goal; drawing out the big players in the entertainment industry is the key... Mingyue, don't rush. Let me think of a solution."

Shen Mingyue nodded, asking helplessly, "Should we ask Fourth Brother and the others for help?"

Liu Zichen shook her head gently. "Tianyu and the others are already overwhelmed, and we have limited manpower. We shouldn't easily involve the core team from Beiting. Besides, this livestreaming business involves a fair amount of luck; it can't be our primary investigative strategy."

She fell into deep thought. After a while, she asked, "Mingyue, do you think two or three million followers is enough to catch the attention of industry heavyweights?"

Shen Mingyue shook her head decisively. "Impossible. This follower base looks like child's play to them, and once these people lose interest, we could lose followers just as quickly. The popularity of the livestream won't stabilize in just a few days..."

"Yes, the time is too short," Liu Zichen sighed softly. "Chasing trends for visibility might bring short-term popularity, but it’s never sustainable."

Shen Mingyue remained silent; she realized she had been too eager for quick success.

Liu Zichen seemed to make a silent decision. She said with composure, "Mingyue, since things have reached this point, backing down is definitely not an option. So—"

"I will give them exactly what they want—a massive surprise!" Her eyes glowed with a fierce light.

Shen Mingyue was startled; it had been a long time since she had seen Zichen in such a determined state.

"Sister Zichen, don't scare me. What are you going to do?"

"Shh!" Liu Zichen made a gesture for silence.

"You continue with the plan. Don't worry about how many people show up at Black Dragon Pool. Our goal is to hit ten million followers!"

"Whether I become an overnight sensation depends on my performance," Liu Zichen joked.