Chapter 14
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Ameng, whose real name was Zhang Mimeng, spoke up partly for the company’s sake and partly hoping her father wouldn’t rashly decide to ban the livestream room. While Xiāxiāxiā was gifting, she did some calculations: if the total gifts reached ten million yuan, the livestream platform would take a 50% cut. That meant only five million would go to the streamer, and from that, taxes still had to be paid. After taxes, the streamer would be left with just over three and a half million yuan. Clearly, it was a poor deal. But why did Xiāxiāxiā choose such an unusual way to donate?
Ameng couldn’t quite figure it out. She kept watching the livestream, where gifts of all sizes flew across the screen. The mermaid gifts sent by Xiāxiāxiā had already surpassed three thousand. Ameng was curious about who Xiāxiāxiā really was—she couldn’t even find her registration details in the backend. Still, Ameng thought it best to be friends rather than enemies, hoping her father’s colleagues at the company would come to understand.
In a rented room not far away, Xia Zui shifted her finger and continued clicking, grumbling, “I think I should get an auto-clicker.” She muttered, “Why can’t the platform’s ‘Cat Claw’ feature allow sending a set number of mermaid gifts at once?” Her finger was stiff from so much clicking. The wealthy patron system crawled through her mind, “Xiāxiā, want me to help you?” Xia Zui tilted her head, surprised. “You can do that? Why didn’t you say so earlier!”
The wealthy patron system remained silent.
“Xiāxiā, release your finger.” Following the system’s instruction, Xia Zui loosened her grip, yet the combo on the screen kept going. She rubbed her sore finger, thinking that her upcoming billion-yuan donation would attract even more attention. Surely, more people would wonder why she chose this method.
“Xiāxiā, maybe you don’t have to worry about it,” Eleven suddenly said. “After all, no one knows it’s you sending these gifts. Once the ten billion is spent, Haohao will leave, and after some time, people will naturally forget about this. The goal will be achieved, no need to explain to anyone!”
Xia Zui sipped her cola through a straw. “You’re right. I never intended to explain. Gifts are gifts—I’ll donate however I want, as long as I have a clear conscience. Let others think what they want.”
The three thousand-plus mermaid gifts dominated the screen, drawing over a hundred million views. The chat messages flew so fast that Xia Zui struggled to read them. Among the viewers was someone of a special profession.
Qian Xiao, a journalist, was on her way home from work. Being a reporter meant staying informed, and while scrolling through her social feed, she noticed a video posted by a middle school classmate. In it, a doctor in a white coat was bowing, surrounded by heaps of gifts in the livestream. The classmate’s caption read, “Come see the tycoon—thirty million already gifted.”
Qian Xiao frowned, sensing something unusual.
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She immediately contacted the classmate for the livestream software’s name and the streamer’s room, then stealthily entered. After watching for a while, she learned from the chat that the doctor wasn’t putting on a show but was actually receiving a donation. Though the donation method was strange, Qian Xiao felt it important to gather information and investigate. Besides, the hospital was in her city.
She called her superior and explained the situation. With approval, she brought a cameraman to the xx Hospital. By the time she arrived, the gifting had just ended. She patiently waited until the livestream ended, then went to the director’s office.
“Hello,” Qian Xiao nodded politely. “I’m Qian Xiao, a reporter from Chengfeng City. I saw this donation online and would like to interview you.”
The director paused briefly. “Of course.”
“Please, sit.”
Once seated, Qian Xiao asked, “How much was the total donation?”
The director answered candidly, “In theory, Ms. Xia donated 87 million yuan. But after taxes and platform fees, the actual amount we received was 29,587,000 yuan.”
“As for other donors, I need more time to confirm the amounts. There were just too many gift senders, and we haven’t fully tallied that yet.”
Qian Xiao nodded slightly. “You mentioned Ms. Xia. Could you tell me more about her? How did she learn about this hospital and decide to donate?”
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone donate such a large sum to our hospital,” the director said, sipping his tea. “I don’t know much about Ms. Xia personally, but since she’s willing to help these patients’ families, she must be a kind-hearted person.”
“As for how she found out about xx Hospital, it started a few days ago with a patient...” He recounted the whole story to the reporter.
After hearing it, Qian Xiao nodded thoughtfully. So that was how the donation began: the patient’s family, moved by a beloved author’s illness, contacted the author and eventually decided to donate to other patients’ families. The attending physician then discussed it with the director, leading to this large-scale donation that attracted so much attention online.
“Thank you for the interview. We plan to continue reporting on this donation, if that’s alright?”
The director readily agreed.
Qian Xiao added, “We’d also like to interview the patient Kang Xin you mentioned. Could you tell us where her ward is? And may we have Ms. Xia’s phone number? I’d like to contact her for an interview.”
The director frowned slightly. After giving her the ward number, he said, “Kang Xin will be admitted to the ICU in a couple of days. If you want to interview her, please get their consent first.”
“As for Ms. Xia’s number, I need to ask her permission.”
Qian Xiao nodded. “Don’t worry, we always get consent before interviews.”
The director nodded and stepped aside to call Xia Zui. After a moment, he returned, pushing up his glasses. “Ms. Xia declined. She said she doesn’t accept any interviews.”
Qian Xiao nodded gently. “Understood. We won’t trouble you further.”
Leaving the director’s office, Qian Xiao and the cameraman went to Kang Xin’s ward. With their permission, they conducted the interview. By the time they finished, night had fallen.
But Qian Xiao wasn’t done. Through these interviews, she learned that most families couldn’t afford medical expenses. Their hardships needed to be seen firsthand.
She then took the cameraman to another hospital, documenting everything they encountered along the way.
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The next day, after the director withdrew all the gift funds, treatment for the patients began. Every expense was carefully recorded, ready to be published on the hospital’s website.
On that day, dozens of families received good news—their loved ones’ treatments were funded. This meant no more agonizing over exorbitant medical bills or watching relatives suffer in silence.
Early that morning, Qian Xiao arrived with the cameraman to document and interview. She wanted to create a thorough news story about these donor families.
Meanwhile, Xia Zui called the director to announce her intention to continue donating. This time, the amount was one billion yuan, so she also contacted several hospital directors.
Next came signing donation agreements, collecting patient lists, and determining treatment costs. Though one billion sounded huge, only about 340 million yuan would actually reach the patients after fees and taxes.
Dividing the funds among several hospitals meant fewer families would benefit.
Once everything was arranged, Xia Zui had the directors start their livestreams one by one, and she began gifting again.
Viewership grew steadily. The chat was filled with empathy as well as skepticism. Xia Zui ignored it all—once the money was gone, she’d be broke. She could only help as many families as possible.
When all the money was spent, Xia Zui quietly changed her profile signature to, “That’s all I can do.”
It was Monday. She had streamed from morning till afternoon. Upon finishing, she logged off and lay on her bed, laughing softly, “All done.”
Looking at her bank balance—it showed five million yuan left. Originally, there should have been over ten million, but she had decided to donate half of what she received. Though small compared to the billion, it was her heartfelt contribution.
After all, she expected more systems to appear in the future—she wouldn’t starve. Plus, with five million yuan in Jiangchao City, she no longer needed to live in a rented room or worry about making ends meet.
The wealthy patron system, sensing her thoughts, whimpered, “Xiāxiā, I’m still here, and you’re already thinking about other systems! Boohoo.”
“I knew it—I’m not your favorite system!”
Xia Zui: “!!!”
“I’m not! I’m not! Don’t say that!”
Eleven laughed, “I’m the forever rightful system!”
Xia Zui: ...
What have these two systems been watching lately—a palace intrigue drama?
After their bickering, Xia Zui drank her cola, sprawled on the bed, feeling unusually happy. “I never want to live in a rented room again!”
The rented room had been unbearable: peeling, mottled walls; a hard bed that creaked incessantly; waking every day to a dark, damp room with no sunlight, so humid it felt like a sauna.