I Rule Fortune-Telling Livestreams

Chapter 209: Read My Past

[I’ve always been a fan of Sun Yingbin, but I unfollowed him after finding out he had a kid. Seeing him this miserable, though, I followed him again.]

[I’m a die-hard fan of Sun Yingbin too. If the actor’s son is found, I’ll watch the host’s stream every day from now on. She’s the real deal!]

[Host, please give us some spoilers!]

Shen Zhiyao said, "Everyone, please be patient. There will be news in a few days. For all of you who want to know what happens next, go give Sun Yingbin a follow. Keep an eye on his Weibo for updates."

[Damn, I already unfollowed Sun Yingbin. But after hearing what the host said, I think I’ll go follow him again.]

[Ugh... so conflicted... Oh, whatever, I’ll follow him again. It’s not like the kid had anything to do with it!]

And so, Sun Yingbin, who had lost three million followers that day, saw his follower count surge back up by over ten million.

His management agency had been preparing to sue him for breach of contract for revealing his child and marriage.

But then they turned around and discovered that the actor’s reputation had recovered, and his follower count was now more than ten million higher than before.

This meant he still had a great deal of untapped commercial value.

The long, tragic story the actor told on the stream successfully moved a multitude of netizens, with female fans clamoring to be the child’s stepmother.

This whole rollercoaster of an experience even left the production team stunned.

Just as Shen Zhiyao was about to connect with a second netizen, "Chen Sheng" sent a video call request.

Shen Zhiyao accepted the call.

The moment the connection was established, a Diamond Dragon Ranger began to flash across the stream.

Not just once, but continuously.

The one sending the gifts was none other than "Chen Sheng".

As soon as Chen Sheng appeared, the netizens in the stream recognized him. They greeted him enthusiastically and asked if he had found his daughter.

Chen Sheng didn’t have time to reply to them. He said to Shen Zhiyao, "Thank you, Host! I found my daughter! Thank you! I did a paternity test, and she really is my daughter. The heavens are just! I, Chen Sheng, have someone to carry on my name!"

From his words, you could tell just how incredibly emotional Chen Sheng was.

Chen Sheng said, "Host, can we meet in person? I want to thank you properly!"

"As long as you’ve found her, that’s all that matters. There’s no need to meet. Just live a good life from now on!" Shen Zhiyao replied politely, then asked, "By the way, how are you doing now?"

Chen Sheng said nonchalantly, "When we rushed into the village to get her, a group of people came out and roughed us up a bit. You could say my face is ruined, but it’s not a big deal!"

"Go on, then. Spend more time with your daughter from now on!"

’Chen Sheng is a decent guy,’ Shen Zhiyao thought, quite gratified.

After a few more pleasantries, Chen Sheng left the stream.

Next, Shen Zhiyao started the second video call of the stream.

The second netizen to connect had delicate features and a cute face. She looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six and went by the name "Spirit Jade".

Spirit Jade greeted Shen Zhiyao cautiously. "Hello, Host. I’ve watched a lot of clips from your streams, and I’ve also seen your variety show. I’m looking for you this time because I want you to help me."

"I want you to show me a clear path forward. Can you tell me, where is my way out?"

As she said this, Spirit Jade’s eyes instantly reddened.

Shen Zhiyao said, "Bring your face closer."

Spirit Jade obediently leaned closer.

Shen Zhiyao took one look, and her brow furrowed slightly. The color began to drain from her face.

[Whoa, look at the host’s expression. This can’t be simple!]

[I saw her expression too! My god, what on earth did this Spirit Jade do to make the host look like that?]

[Spirit Jade is so cute. Whatever she did, it can’t be that bad, right?]

A moment later, Shen Zhiyao pulled her gaze back and said, "Child, you’re beyond saving. You should just find something you enjoy doing. Not even God himself could save you now."

Spirit Jade’s heart sank, and a look of panic slowly crept onto her face. "That can’t be right, Host! Look at my face again, there must be some hope! Please, look again!"

Shen Zhiyao sighed helplessly. "There really is no hope. You already know the answer in your heart, don’t you?"

’A chill crept through Shen Zhiyao’s heart. Spirit Jade was a lost cause; there was no more merit to be earned from her. Because... she had long since fallen into the abyss...’

Spirit Jade let out a soft sigh. "Host, before I die, I want you to read my past... It’s the last thing I want to do..."

Shen Zhiyao glanced at Spirit Jade, understood her meaning, and began to speak:

"Spirit Jade, you were born in the city. Though your family wasn’t exactly well-off, you were much better off than others from your village. You had your own home, but you preferred living with your grandmother in the countryside because you had a mother who was almost pathologically controlling..."

"She always enslaved and controlled you under the banner of ’it’s for your own good.’ You wanted to escape her, but she was like a ghost you could never shake off."

At those few words, Spirit Jade’s expression froze completely. The corners of her mouth slowly turned down.

Shen Zhiyao continued, "Your parents were divorced for as long as you can remember."

"Your mother raised you. She felt her own life was a failure and forced all her hopes onto you. She demanded that your grades be among the top in your class and hoped you would get into Qingbei University."

"Whenever your grades fluctuated or you were caught playing around, she would beat you and curse you. Then she would unload her grievances on you, telling you how hard her job was and calling you ungrateful."

"In elementary school, she let you see your father and grandmother, but once you reached middle school, she forbade it completely. She even investigated every classmate you interacted with, causing you to be isolated at school."

"She even scratched a female classmate you were close to, nearly disfiguring the girl."

Hearing this, Spirit Jade’s smile vanished completely. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes as she sank into painful memories.

Just then, sharp-eyed netizens noticed that as Spirit Jade cried, her gaze turned somewhat fierce, and the vibrant light in her eyes was steadily fading.

If that look was an act, then Spirit Jade had to be a professionally trained actress.

"To make you focus completely on your studies, she constantly monitored your phone. All of your time outside of school was strictly controlled by her. She even dictated how long you could shower and sometimes insisted on bathing with you."

"You originally thought that if you just got into Qingbei, everything would be fine and you could finally leave your mother. So you studied like crazy. But you still failed to get into Qingbei. You didn’t even finish high school—not because you weren’t capable, but because the long-term, high-pressure environment caused you to break down."

"In the first semester of your senior year of high school, you developed severe depression and made multiple suicide attempts. But your mother never even considered taking you to a doctor. Instead, she found all sorts of spiritual healers for you and tried many different rural folk remedies."

"One time, your mother took you to your maternal grandmother’s house in the countryside. In front of two of these ’masters,’ she stripped you naked, put you inside a large wok, and they lit a fire underneath it. They claimed they were going to burn the ’filth’ out of your body. You pounded on the sides and wailed, begging your mother to save you, but she remained unmoved, continuing to add firewood to the flames..."

"If a neighbor hadn’t been drawn over by your blood-curdling screams and called the police in time, you would have been cooked alive..."

Before Shen Zhiyao could continue, Spirit Jade cut in, "I will never forget that day. After I got out of that wok, not only did she not comfort me, she demanded to know why I had screamed. Why couldn’t I just bear it? She even made me kneel in the snow all night. That entire night, she droned on and on in my ear, complaining about how much she had truly suffered... to raise me..."