"I am so bored."
Having just survived an eight-hundred-meter physical education test, she was sprawled limply across her chair, feeling too lazy to move. Qin Qing scrolled through her phone, finding everything completely uninteresting.
"Tell me about it. We just finished exams, and we still can't go out and play. So boring," chimed in her roommate, Fang Zhirou, from across the room.
"Ooh, my favorite streamer is live!"
Seeing the notification pop up on her phone, Fang Zhirou sprang to life, jolted up, and turned on her computer.
"Zhirou, you're still watching that streamer?" Qin Qing asked, turning her head.
"Yeah, of course! It's just that you don't watch livestreams; otherwise, I'd totally recommend him to you. He sings amazingly well."
While opening the livestream, Fang Zhirou continued her enthusiastic pitch.
"Really, that interesting? Share an earphone with me. Let me listen."
Figuring she had nothing better to do anyway, Qin Qing scooted over to Fang Zhirou's side to watch the stream.
Seeing that she had successfully reeled her roommate in, Fang Zhirou flashed a triumphant smile.
The two of them sat side by side in front of the computer as Fang Zhirou clicked into a voice chat room livestream.
The host was someone named H. Mingming. "Welcome to the Hanbaiyu sisters! Give us just a moment, and I'll bring our singers up to the mic right away."
Fang Zhirou explained, "Going up to the mic means the singers who've already been scheduled are applying to connect. Aside from the main anchor at the top, there are eight positions below, so every session has eight singers."
"What's the main anchor?"
"The main anchor is the account at the very top. He has to start the broadcast, and the singers apply to connect with him to form a complete room."
Qin Qing asked curiously, "Can they fill all the slots every time?"
Fang Zhirou sounded quite proud when this topic came up.
"Not necessarily. Other rooms might struggle with that, but Hanbaiyu can. These days, Hanbaiyu is really doing well."
Hanbaiyu was a voice agency that ran several different rooms.
Qin Qing nodded in understanding.
Once all the contestants were seated in the mic queue, the host announced the teachers' tasks for the session.
While the host was speaking, Fang Zhirou explained to her, "The 10.0 they mention in the livestream is the singers' target score for this session. If they don't reach this score during their shift, they have to pay a fine."
Qin Qing asked, "How much is 10.0 in money?"
"Ten thousand points, which is one thousand yuan," Fang Zhirou explained.
Qin Qing did the math in her head. Put that way, it didn't seem like all that much. The tasks for the singers on the mic were mostly hovering between 5.0 and 20.0.
"What does 'Huahuo song request' mean?"
"Romantic Huahuo—that's the gift that costs 599 diamonds up top. Sending this gift lets you designate a specific singer to perform a song."
Qin Qing nodded.
When the first singer started performing, Qin Qing was slightly taken aback.
Were the singers in voice chat rooms this high quality nowadays?
Noticing her expression, Fang Zhirou said smugly, "Are you blown away? Let me tell you, Hanbaiyu is a very strict company. Every single one of them is top-tier."
"All the streamers under Hanbaiyu go through screening, and the company handles things very fairly. If a scandal breaks, the company will give you a proper account of it; they won't play favorites just because a singer is a big streamer."
Qin Qing arched a delicate eyebrow. That sounded pretty good.
After listening to two contestants finish their performances without any particular comment, her sudden burst of anticipation began to fade.
"Which one is your favorite?"
Normally she only ever heard her shouting for "Brother Yan," but she had no idea which specific character "Yan" was.
"Mic number four, H. Zeyan. He sings really well, and his solo broadcasts are super interesting too," Fang Zhirou said with a full-faced smile whenever she talked about her favorite streamer.
Though Qin Qing couldn't quite understand what it felt like to have a deeply cherished idol, she envied such passionate emotions.
"Then I'll listen closely in a bit."
The smile on Fang Zhirou's face grew even brighter as she grabbed a snack from nearby and handed it to her.
"His turn isn't coming up that fast. Eat something and wait."
Qin Qing glanced at her, said nothing, and reached out to take the snack.
Before long, it was H. Zeyan's turn to sing. Fang Zhirou frantically grabbed a wet wipe to clean her fingers before going off to support her favorite streamer.
Seeing the cheering slogan her friend typed out, Qin Qing got goosebumps all over.
Could someone who wrote such cheesy slogans really be the Fang Zhirou she knew?
When H. Zeyan started singing, Qin Qing was somewhat impressed. He really did sing well; no wonder so many people liked him.
Still, for Qin Qing, singing well was merely a bonus point. His vocal tone and timbre were what truly attracted her.
Once Zeyan finished singing, it was the next singer's turn.
The moment he opened his mouth to speak, he captured Qin Qing's complete attention.
"The snow falls so deep, so earnestly,
Reflecting the scars of mine as I lie in the snow..."
As H. Yiran finished singing "Sincere Snow," the entire public chat was filled with words of praise.
The instant the other person's voice rang out, the hand holding Qin Qing's water cup trembled imperceptibly.
"He sings really well too, huh? But how come it feels like he doesn't have many fans?"
Suppressing the shock in her heart, Qin Qing asked with a puzzled look.
"Seems like a newcomer who just came out of the training camp. Not many fans yet."
Fang Zhirou checked the follower count—only a little over a thousand. While this follower count wasn't high, for a newcomer fresh out of a training camp, it was actually quite respectable.
"Then isn't his target score in jeopardy?"
If she remembered correctly, the host on duty earlier had said his target was 6.0.
Fang Zhirou chuckled softly. "It's normal. To put it bluntly, in the early days, many streamers in voice chat rooms basically have to pay fines out of pocket when they work shifts."
That really wasn't an exaggeration. A lot of voice room streamers kept a stash of money specifically for paying fines.
Either that or they pulled all-nighters working shifts during their early days until they accumulated enough fans, or managed to find a wealthy patroness who could guarantee they'd pass their quotas.
For those who made it, that money was just an investment; the singers who couldn't make it usually quit the circle and went off to work regular jobs.
Qin Qing's eyelashes fluttered as she blinked gently.
She lowered her head, pulled out her phone, opened Douyin, and immediately started topping up her balance. When Fang Zhirou glanced over and saw what she was doing, she was completely dumbfounded.
She hastily reached out to stop her. "Wait, why are you getting even more hooked than I am?"
Qin Qing blinked, asking with mild perplexity, "Should be fine, right? I didn't top up that much, did I?"
Fang Zhirou drew in a sharp breath. "After topping up like that, does it have any impact on your living expenses?"
Qin Qing couldn't help laughing. "None at all."
She genuinely wasn't short of this bit of money.
Fang Zhirou stared at her over and over, still finding it hard to believe, terrified that she was just acting on a momentary impulse.
"Really?"
Qin Qing nodded with certainty. "Really! Truer than gold!"
Seeing how resolute she looked, Fang Zhirou stopped trying to hold her back.
She watched quietly as Qin Qing finished her top-up, entered the livestream room, and tapped open the gift panel, seemingly browsing for a suitable gift.
The host on duty reported the progress of the members' targets. At present, only three people had yet to clear their quotas.
"Alright, right now only Wenqing, Xibei, and Yiran haven't passed yet. Any big spenders want to check in on them? You three better turn on your mics and beg for some votes right now."
Xu Yiran glanced at the two thousand diamonds sitting beneath his profile picture. To avoid getting "hung on the tree," he turned on his mic to ask for help.
*(Hung on the tree: Failing to meet the target quota in a voice room and crying out for help during the final vote-begging window.)*
"Are there any kind-hearted patrons out there who can save me~?"
Qin Qing's eyelashes fluttered rapidly. That trailing tail-end note... it really sounded just like him.