I'm A Baller

Emperor’s Hall.

The participants didn’t go offline right after the results were announced. Instead, they continued interacting with their viewers and supporters, as instructed by Liu Yuanfang.

So, they thanked who they had to thank, did what they had to do, and built some bridges in the process.

While they were chatting, someone with an intriguing ID, Principal Wang, suddenly turned up.

In the midst of a barrage of comments stating “The principal is here,” Principal Wang sent out 200 rockets, much to everyone’s astonishment.

“What are you doing, man?” they thought.

The competition had already ended. He was late to the party.

Being the man of a few words that he was, Principal Wang typed a colored comment with only a few words: “This is for Mizi, the champion. Congratulations on winning.”

Damn!

The veterans had a sudden suspicion that Principal Wang must have been monitoring the live stream through a secondary account.

While everyone was still in shock, Principal Wang sent another 200 rockets.

“This is for Da Gang. Your performance was commendable.”

Two hundred rockets for Ling Ya.

Another 200 rockets for Ah Dai.

The four of them were stupefied. Even Liu Yuanfang was bewildered.

What kind of trick was this, Mr. Wang?

Although they couldn’t quite figure out what Mr. Wang was up to, everyone continued to greet and thank their supporters, and in response, their supporters used colored comments, which cost 14 cents per line, to continue chatting with them.

Wow. The entire screen was filled with so many colored comments that they were barely readable.

Principal Wang hogged the limelight, of course. Even when the high-level veterans were busy locking horns, they had spent hundreds of thousands, at the very most.

After Principal Wang appeared, he alone had spent four hundred thousand. It was little wonder, then, that he instantly topped the list.

Not long after, Liu Yuanfang discovered a private message from Principal Wang. After he finished reading it, he immediately provided his cell phone number.

Principal Wang then disappeared without another word.

After Principal Wang left, the live chat remained busy as the regulars continued chatting excitedly about what had transpired that day.

There was, however, no more rivalry among the users. They were all being friendly to each other and chatting animatedly.

One of them suddenly mentioned Wang Yan. “Eh? Boss Wang didn’t come back? Did he vanish without a trace?”

“Dang! If you hadn’t mentioned him, I would have forgotten. Did Boss Wang even take a look at the 170,000 dollars’ worth of virtual gifts collected?”

“What a man! He’s even more arrogant than the Principal!”

“No, but seriously, what do you think Wang is really after?”

Previously, to liven up the atmosphere and gain some momentum, Liu Yuanfang had explained how the competition came about. He told everyone some half-truths that were bolstered by bragging and boasting.

Therefore, after the competition, when they were thanking their main supporters, Mizi and the rest were able to answer some of their questions about Wang Yan.

No, they did not know Boss Wang personally.

They met him for the first time during the competition.

He had organized the competition so as to improve his appetite.

The food, accommodations, and transport expenses were all provided for, and the winner would receive a cash prize of twenty thousand.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Also, since Wang Yan really hadn’t held back on the spending, everyone had heartfelt admiration and respect for him. Even the viewers of the live stream were surprised by how Wang Yan had conducted himself.

Previously, they had been too focused on the competition to wonder about Wang Yan. Now that it was over and everyone was free, every single one of them had questions about him.

User “Brother Zao” said in speculation: “Does the hotel belong to Boss Wang’s family? Perhaps it was an advertisement for the hotel?”

User “90” immediately retorted: “Spending hundreds of thousands on promoting a hotel in the middle of nowhere? Flying people out from different parts of the country just for a crab feast?”

User “Xiaowen is now Xiaoliu” mocked: “What? Do their crabs know Kungfu or something?”

An argument broke out between these users, but the rest of them were still curious about Wang Yan. This curiosity didn’t diminish. It was only becoming more intense.

“Boss Wang would be considered a pioneer in introducing eating broadcasts in such a format, yeah?”

“Of course! That’s how livestream hosts become hot commodities! They usually have a rich backer or two.”

“Haha… He’s the godfather of mukbang…”

“Mizi, you guys didn’t sign a contract with Boss Wang?”

Ling Ya’s heart twitched, and she pursed her lips as she turned to look at Liu Yuanfang.

As for Mizi, she answered in mild confusion, “No…? We’ve met just once, and he barely said anything…”

“Damn! He’s so cold… I guess that’s what it’s like in the world of the rich!”

The rest apparently had lots to say about that. Some of them had nothing better to do, so they started taunting the veterans again, who were prickly and easily irritable.

“You’re lousy, Brother Zao!”

“You’re lousy, Brother Zao!”

“You’re lousy, Brother Zao!”

The comments quickly filled the screen. They were probably from Ling Ya’s supporters.

“Perfect Timing” didn’t bother responding.

“90, I am” dropped a color comment right away, saying, “Boss Wang really

knows how to play. I concede defeat!”

Immediately, others chimed in, saying, “We were just here to have fun and waste time, whereas he basically bought a bunch of people a meal and made headlines while doing so. We really have to hand it to him, man.”

This comment sparked even more discussion.

It would be naive to assume that the nouveau riche did things like this only for the attention or for their personal satisfaction. One would need to have the brains for it, as well.

Anyone with a keen eye would be able to see the potential in these contestants. If they were to set up their own livestreams, they would already be at least second-tier.

And Boss Wang was the one who made all this possible.

Despite being the person who made it possible, he was seemingly indifferent to how the event had turned out. One could even say he was nonchalant about it.

For some reason, that made him all the more respectable. Surely, there was no harm in admiring or respecting someone like him.

Just as everyone was chatting, there was a sudden exclamation. “Well, I’ll be damned! We made it to the Tencent headlines! That was quick!”

“Where? Where?”

Everyone quickly went to the news site. Ling Ya and Mizi were both curious, so they borrowed the computer to check it out.

After looking at the news, most of the local tycoons started complaining.

“What the f*ck! We spent a fair amount of money as well. Don’t our names deserve to be up there, too?”

The news article only mentioned four names: Principal Wang, Boss Wang, Mizi, and Ling Ya.

As for the rest of the high-level users, they were lumped together and collectively referred to as “the many local tycoons.”

If one were to think about it carefully, it actually made sense.

The news article had four focal points.

Firstly, the amalgamation of eating competitions, eating broadcasts, and live streams, pioneered by the mysterious Boss Wang.

Secondly, Principal Wang and the massive traffic that he brought along with him.

Thirdly, Mizi’s amazing appetite and Ling Ya’s beautiful appearance.

And fourthly, the 170,000 collected in the form of virtual gifts.

Those who had contributed were all lumped together, which was why they weren’t individually named.

It hadn’t been easy for them to make it to the news, yet their contributions were being underrated like this. Feeling perturbed, one by one, they gradually lost interest in chatting and went offline.

Right after, Mizi and the rest also went offline to get some rest, so only a few visitors remained there to continue their idle chatting.

Everything that had happened that day would no doubt leave an indelible mark in the history of live streaming.

“Boss Wang” was being lauded as the godfather of eating broadcasts. There were discussions regarding the extent of his wealth, and he was even being compared to well-known ballers, such as Yuanyang, Boss Yan, and Boss Niu.

Boss Wang’s indifference and the enigma surrounding him were cause for much speculation. One could say that he was practically being deified.

While that might have sounded like an exaggeration, when the contestants gradually made a foray into live streaming and eventually became big hits, Wang Yan would become legendary in the history of live streaming.

In the present, though, where people were just starting to warm up to Mizi, Ling Ya, Ah Dai, and Da Gang, there was no way to tell just how successful they would be in the future.

The godfather of eating broadcasts, who had simply left casually after the competition ended, was bound to become a formidable legend in the field of live streaming.

Ah…

The top guys on the platform had spent millions in order to amass the tens of thousands of followers that they currently had.

Wang Yan hadn’t spent any money on the platform per se, yet he was being lauded. Could anything be more ridiculous than this?

Well, actually, yes.

This was merely the beginning.