Estimating that everyone was mentally prepared, Lu Mingming pressed the lucky draw button and reminded, "Then it's starting now—"
—Mòlì gifted you two hot air balloons.
—Yín Jiàncéng Zuì Kě'ài gifted you one hundred fireworks displays.
—Yáng Bù Ài Chī Cǎo gifted you ten interstellar sports cars.
...
As soon as Lu Mingming finished speaking, countless dazzling gift special effects exploded on the screen, almost drowning the entire live broadcast room. The bullet comments at the top continuously popped up, making people dizzy. Strings of IDs of various colors indicated the popularity and liveliness of the broadcast room. This crazy gifting spree made viewers from other, unfamiliar broadcast rooms curious and come to investigate.
In fact, it wasn't entirely the fans' fault for going crazy. It was because Tianhe Live's lucky draw system was linked to gift donations, meaning: the more gifts someone donated, the higher their probability of being selected by the lucky draw system. In most broadcast rooms, the top three in the lucky draw were often the top three gift donors, which was considered the greatest reward for fans who spent money.
The lucky draw alone wasn't enough to drive everyone mad, but the prizes were three dishes and one soup personally made by Lu Mingming. This time, whether it was old fans who hadn't tasted it at all or new fans who were intrigued and wanted to compete, they all gritted their teeth and gambled on this opportunity, leading to the increasingly terrifying gifting situation.
Shāshā, as an onlooker, was even more stunned. The last time she saw such an uncontrolled situation was when she was interning on another planet. A prince of the elves, who hadn't shown his face in a long time, was doing his first public live stream, and whoever was drawn would receive a blessing from the Mother Tree personally gifted by the elf prince. That day remained unforgettable for her.
—143 gifted you a spaceship.
"You don't need to rush, everyone. I'll hold more events like this in the future. You can save the money you spend on gifts to treat yourselves to a good meal."
The situation had also exceeded Lu Mingming's expectations. Spotting a familiar prominent name, she let out a helpless sigh. Fortunately, she had set the lucky draw time to one minute. It seemed she needed to shorten it next time.
Just as Lu Mingming was about to announce that the lucky draw had ten seconds left, the barrage of gift effects and bullet comments froze for a second. The next moment, an unfamiliar name that had never appeared before, along with gifts, instantly topped Lu Mingming's gift leaderboard.
—svipalnr gifted you five spaceships.
—System broadcast: Your live broadcast room has entered the Xingfu Star real-time daily leaderboard, currently ranked twenty-fourth.
【Mòlì: Holy crap! That's four more spaceships than 143!】
【Yín Jiàncéng Zuì Kě'ài: Holy crap?! Who is that rich guy?!】
【143: ?】
【Shàngshàn Ruòshuǐ: Wow, welcome, great tycoon!!】
Subsequently, 143, unwilling to be outdone, gifted another five spaceships, successfully reclaiming the first place on the gift leaderboard.
In the blind spot of Lu Mingming's interview camera, the little white tiger curled up on the sofa darkened its expression. Its icy gaze shot towards the three annoying numbers like sharp blades, and its soft paw pads pressed onto the smart screen of the optical computer again.
The real-time display on the light blue live broadcast screen showed that alnr, closely following, had once again gifted five spaceships. At this moment, the viewers in the live broadcast room had tacitly decided not to compete with the two tycoons, quietly observing on the screen to see how long this exciting and bizarre drama would unfold.
However, the lucky draw system didn't give 143 any more time. Three seconds after alnr finished gifting, the lucky draw officially ended. alnr successfully pushed 143 out of the position, becoming the final victor.
Who is this person? I'll have someone investigate later.
The little white tiger, staring at the optical computer screen and in a good mood due to victory, and Morian, who was "borrowing" his nephew's account in his villa with a gloomy expression, simultaneously questioned the mysterious competitor on the screen.
—System broadcast: Your live broadcast room has entered the Xingfu Star real-time daily leaderboard, currently ranked eighteenth.
Seeing the battle of spaceships end, Shāshā wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with a tissue and silently stepped forward, ready to liven up the atmosphere. What was originally a news interview live stream with tens of thousands of viewers had now reached the Xingfu Star daily leaderboard. Apart from the daily news, the news section had only reached the daily leaderboard once before!
What did it mean to reach the daily leaderboard? Lu Mingming's live broadcast room had only touched the tenth position of the newcomer event. The Xingfu Star daily leaderboard included all streamers broadcasting on Xingfu Star—this meant not only famous local streamers from Xingfu Star but also talented individuals from other planets who might be visiting.
Shāshā could already imagine this scene becoming a significant highlight on her resume. Every company recruiter she interviewed with in the future would eagerly await her to reveal the exclusive big news she had uncovered. In reality, she hadn't done anything; she had merely observed two gift-donating "fighters" and landed on the daily leaderboard...
...
In a dark, quiet room, a giant grey rabbit stood on an esports chair, munching on a carrot with a crunching sound. Its scarlet eyes seemed to notice something, and it stared intently at the screen.
In a flash, the carrot, half-eaten, was thrown to the ground. A cute boy with freckles sat cross-legged on the esports chair. He pointed to the freckles on his face and gave a sly smile.
"Xingfu Star is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Let me scout the 'enemy situation'!"
...
In a private office of a listed company, a curvaceous and beautiful mature white-collar worker leisurely groomed the sharp spikes that had inadvertently emerged on the back of her hand. Her narrow phoenix eyes gazed into the distance at the verdant mountains opposite. Behind her, someone was continuously reading out recent live stream data.
When she heard the name "Lu Mingming," the white-collar worker nodded thoughtfully and casually instructed, "She's that rising newcomer on the leaderboard, right? We can focus on observing her from now on. If she becomes famous, it's a good thing for Xingfu Star."
...
In a small apartment, a tall and strong dark-skinned man finished his live stream. The baby bear cub in the cradle struggled to climb out, only to be effortlessly pushed back into the cradle by the man.
The man browsed the live stream headlines as usual. The top trending topic on the entertainment forum was "News Section Reaches Daily Leaderboard." A line of unusual red text indicated the significance of the event. The man frowned, clicked to see, and muttered in fluent northeastern accent, "Oh my goodness, sixteen spaceships, what's going on? It's even harder to get on the list this year. Lu Mingming..."
Such situations were occurring everywhere on Xingfu Star, while Lu Mingming in the live broadcast room was temporarily unaware.
She earnestly read out the names published on the lucky draw system one by one: "Congratulations to users 143, Mòlì, Yín Jiàncéng Zuì Kě'ài... Yáng Bù Ài Chī Cǎo, Pàng Hǔ Jiāngjūn. These ten viewers have won the lucky draw prizes."
Little white tiger: ??? Targeting me.
The little fellow suppressed its anger and didn't leave the live broadcast room. Today is a black day, absolutely!!
【Mòlì: Yay yay! I got drawn!】
【Pàng Hǔ Jiāngjūn: I can eat the streamer's delicious food again, hehehe.】
【Shuài De Bèi Rén Kǎn: You lucky winners, beware of assassination. Sob sob, I've never been drawn once.】
【Rén Jiàn Rén Ài Xiǎo Tùzi: Upstairs, we'll definitely be drawn next time!】
Lu Mingming gently applauded in congratulations, her smiling eyes involuntarily inspiring goodwill: "Next, I will send out the packages as soon as possible today. Thank you everyone for your support today!"
Shāshā nodded repeatedly, raising a smile and saying, "Congratulations, congratulations. Then our interview live stream ends today. See you next time, bye-bye~"
The screen went black, and Shāshā finally breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her chest to calm her nerves. After this scare, her heart's resilience had become even stronger.
Shāshā subtly glanced at Lu Mingming, who was starting to help the photography team pack up the equipment, and nodded inwardly. To be in her profession, one needed extremely sharp perceptive abilities. Shāshā had reached her current status as a renowned host precisely because of this. And now, she felt that Lu Mingming's future was limitless.
"Mingming, I see that the top donor on the leaderboard wasn't drawn. You can message them later to express your apologies. Tycoons don't care about that money, but we should still do what's proper."
Shāshā intended to do them a favor, thus building a connection.
"Mm, I understand. Thank you, Sister Shāshā."
Lu Mingming nodded obediently. After they chatted for a while, Shāshā handed Lu Mingming her business card before leaving and asked for her contact information. Lu Mingming naturally wouldn't refuse.
After Shāshā left, the bustling living room returned to its usual quietness.
A pile of unwashed empty bowls and basins remained on the table. Lu Mingming didn't clean them up. Instead, she walked towards the little white tiger, which was resting with its eyes half-closed on the sofa. Seeing Lu Mingming approach, the little tiger didn't greet her as enthusiastically as before, merely twitching the tip of its tail lazily as a greeting.
Lu Mingming pursed her lips and didn't get angry.
She squatted down and gently massaged from the back of the little white tiger's neck to its tailbone, pressing slowly, inch by inch. The little white tiger gradually relaxed its stiff, defensive body, stretched its four limbs languidly, and lay down in a long strip, exposing its soft belly to Lu Mingming.
"Tangyuan is angry today? You're not even looking at me."
Lu Mingming rested her ear on the little one's belly. After a few seconds, she still received no attention. She closed her eyes and leaned closer, touching the little white tiger's wet nose with her own, as a gesture of friendship and intimacy.
The little one, which had been lying comfortably with its eyes squinted, slowly opened its eyes upon feeling something touch its nose. At that moment, facing Lu Mingming's extremely close face, an inexplicably rising emotion made its heart skip a beat.
What, what is she trying to do now!
In the time Lu Mingming couldn't see, the little white tiger's pupils contracted sharply for an instant, then widened slightly due to excitement. Its ear tips twitched, and its gaze towards Lu Mingming was unfathomable. Finally, it chose to continue feigning a state of ignorant rest.
Its long tail, however, betrayed the little white tiger's state of mind, involuntarily wrapping around Lu Mingming's slender wrist, as if firmly restraining something.
Feeling the movement on her wrist, Lu Mingming opened her eyes and smiled, her expression as gentle as water, yet playfully alluring: "Then, are we making up?"
The little white tiger's tail wound even tighter, and it muttered in its heart: Making up for what? We weren't fighting.
Despite thinking this way, refusing to admit it, a surge of lighthearted joy filled its entire heart.