Chapter 17: Live Streaming

[Live, is she serious?]

[...Wow, this girl is really bold, daring to go live? Isn't she afraid of getting drowned in criticism?]

[Is she trying to prove her cat really understands human speech? Then why did she edit the videos? Is she coming live to apologize?]

[Likely so, she apologizes, waits for the dust to settle, and then comes back to make money, a lot of tainted celebs do that]

[No doubt, probably just giving up, taking advantage of the remaining hype to make a quick buck before bailing, typical of shameless internet celebrities]

[Who are you calling shameless? Can't it just be a live clarification? Keyboard warriors just hiding in dark corners filled with envy and hatred]

[A scammer with die-hard fans, huh? Does your master share the profits with you?]

[Got it, your master paid you to bark here]

[Who are you calling a dog?]

[Whoever barks is the dog]

Faye's laptop clacked loudly under her fingers, finally being slammed shut in frustration. She was furious, utterly unable to out-argue the keyboard warriors. Arguing with these online trolls was exhausting. She had only been away briefly, and Selene had already caused such a stir, not even bothering to inform her. If it weren't for her senior mention something about trending searches, she wouldn't have known!

Faye, even more infuriated by the thought, decisively pulled out her phone and dialed Selene's number.

Selene glanced at her constantly ringing phone, put down what she was doing, and answered the call. Before she could even greet, she heard her sister's roar through the phone.

"Selene, what are you playing at? You cause such a big mess and don't tell me, not to mention deciding to do a live stream on your own? Making videos was crazy enough, now a live stream?"

Selene listened to the barrage of words coming at her like machine gun fire, at a loss for what to say. Two seconds later, Faye's tone suddenly softened, and she cautiously asked:

"Why aren't you saying anything? Don't listen to what they say online, they're all talking nonsense... You're not crying, are you?"

"Pfft."

"...Hm?"

Selene held back her laughter, purposely lowering her voice: "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Finish your business and come back. I can handle things here on my own."

"I wasn't worried about you! Alright, enough, I'm busy, as long as you're okay..."

Faye hurriedly hung up and rushed out of her hotel room to ask her mentor to leave.

By the time Faye rushed home, dusty and weary, and saw the "script" Selene had prepared for her, she realized... she'd been duped by that damn woman again. Someone who had already turned into an orange cat was innocently blinking those big round eyes at her. Faye saw this and was both angry and amused, eventually just sighing in resignation, "What if I hadn't come back?"

"I knew you'd come back."

They always showed up when needed by the others; that was the unique understanding between them.

"Manager John." Zoe approached the PR manager.

John looked impatiently at the woman before him: "What is it now?"

This intern had been quiet up until yesterday when she stole his thunder, making him lose face in front of the boss. It's true what they say, the dogs that bite don't bark.

Zoe, looking at the messages on her phone, said with a heavy heart, "That UP just announced she's going live tomorrow, I feel like something's off."

John burst out laughing mockingly, "What's off about that? Don't tell me you're stopping people from apologizing live!"

"No, I just feel like she's not the type to..."

Zoe struggled to articulate her thoughts; she had rewatched the UP's videos that morning and realized something surprising. From the content she had filmed so far, although her marketing was slick, she didn't seem like someone who would exploit pets for dirty money. This was confirmed by Sister Liu's words. The marketing team had once approached the UP to promote their cat food, offering a sum well above her channel's worth, but she had refused. If it was just about making money, why would she turn down a partnership with LovePetFortune?

Pet bloggers and pet product companies typically benefit mutually from their relationships, and Zoe couldn't believe the blogger didn't understand this, yet she still chose to do the "unprofitable" thing. For the first time, Zoe began to doubt the quality of the products her company produced.

"Manager, are our company's cat food test results genuine?"

John nearly rolled his eyes at the question: "Why are you asking all these questions? It's all over, and you're still going on about it. You just want to remind me to make you a permanent employee, right? Here, fill out this regularization form, bring it to me for a signature, and it's done."

After speaking, he picked up his thermos and left the office.

Zoe stood in the empty manager's office, looked at the regularization form in her hand for a while, and finally put it back on the desk before walking out.

Time ticked by second by second. Soon, only five minutes were left until the live stream. At that moment, Faye sat in front of the computer, her face tense, her palms sweating. According to the number of expected viewers for the live stream, this could be hundreds of thousands of people. She had only ever spoken in front of a dozen or so people at most, never having addressed such a large audience before. The mere thought was nerve-wracking.

Selene, on the other hand, seemed quite relaxed, even leisurely enough to sharpen her claws on a scratching board before sending a message to Faye.

[Don't be nervous, didn't we practice a lot yesterday?]

[Put on the headgear.]

Faye put down her phone and obediently put on the fluffy plush headgear. After a while, Selene heard a muffled voice from beneath the headgear.

"Sis, come over let me touch you."

Selene: ...

"Touching a little cat really is stress-relieving." Faye let out a comfortable sigh.

Selene looked up disapprovingly at a certain unreliable human. She was really worried this person would mess things up. Fortunately, the moment the live stream started, Faye quickly got into character. She calmly faced the camera, her voice steady: "Hello everyone, I'm Selene."

Instantly, a flurry of comments passed by, and the number in the upper left corner indicating live viewers kept rising. Faye was controlling herself not to look at the comments, but she couldn't help catching sight of some unfriendly ones.

[I really want to see how she's going to spin this]

[Why the headgear? Isn't she supposed to cry on camera? Maybe then everyone would just leave it be]

[Where's the cat? Don't tell me the cat is edited in too, editing freak]

[Can't you all be a bit nicer? What if you scare her off? How am I supposed to enjoy the show?]

Faye was so angry she almost cursed out loud, but she held back.

"Regarding the recent feedback about my video editing, I can answer that, yes, I did edit them."

The comments increased even more, causing the computer to lag momentarily. Faye paused, then remembered her next lines.

"But my editing was not to fake the video. If you carefully watch the analysis of the editing that's been circulating online, you'll see that the parts about Orange, the cat, were not edited. The edits were only related to myself."

"As for why I edited, it's because when I was initially recording, I didn't think about protecting my privacy. The video inadvertently showed a lot of my home decor and my personal appearance. But I didn't want to discard the footage I had already shot, so I re-recorded my personal segments and re-edited them in. That's the real reason behind the editing."

[...]

[Is that true? Has anyone seen that editing analysis?]

[I've seen it... I said before, let's not rush to bash the UP. The cat's part wasn't edited]

[Speechless, then why didn't you just explain this yesterday via a quick Weibo post? Why drag it out till today? Didn't spend that long coming up with an excuse, did you?]

[Exactly, that excuse is too far-fetched, I don't believe a cat can really do all that, it's definitely because those people are too incompetent to spot your edits]

[Stop bluffing here, I'm a professional editor, I didn't see any signs of manipulation, if you can do it, then go ahead]

[I can accept this excuse, but you need to explain why you waited until today to explain? It's obvious you could have cleared this up with a single post on Weibo yesterday. You're obviously just live streaming to hype it up and cash in!]

Fortunately, Selene had already anticipated these questions, so Faye had a prepared solution at hand. Faye picked up a folder from the desk, took out documents one by one, and displayed them in front of the live stream camera. She methodically recited her lines: "Why wait until today? That's because I needed these test results to come in. Here are the test results for the nine brands of cat food I reviewed that day, tested by a third-party laboratory. The electronic versions will be uploaded later to Weibo and F-site for everyone to check."

These were the test results

Selene had urgently arranged through her contacts, fortunately having previously worked in a pet supply company; she knew exactly who to call.

[Wow, testing nine samples of cat food, how much would that cost... at least twenty thousand, right?!]

[I'm sorry UP, I misunderstood you, you're here not to make money but to do charity]

[I'll punish myself with three drinks as an apology to you, UP, sending a rocket to show my sincerity]

[Speechless, I'll never blindly take a stand again, thought I was a hero, turned out to be a clown]

[Wow, the data from LovePetFortune and what's officially stated is way off! The label says crude protein above 38%, but here it shows less than 33%]

[Don't understand, do you? That 33% crude protein still includes a lot of plant protein]

[Cat food tests can't differentiate between animal and plant protein, how do you know?]

[So simple, look at the ingredient list. Wheat and corn appear in the top five ingredients, added to make the protein content look better. It's an old trick]

[Protein low, starch high, the calcium-phosphorus ratio is also off, what kind of toxic cat food is this, eating this long-term is definitely going to cause malnutrition, hard not to get sick]

[Laughing out loud, those who fiercely praised LovePetFortune must feel their faces have been smacked, who's really making dirty money, it's clear now]

[I'm speechless, how can LovePetFortune still have the face to accuse others of spreading rumors with the product data right here, how dare they sell it so expensively?]

[Relying on strong marketing, taking advantage of the niche pet food market's lax regulations, betting no one would spend money on specific tests]

[Don't be swayed by the UP! I don't care about whether the cat food is good or not. The main point is whether the cat really understands human speech!]

[Exactly, who cares about the quality of the cat food, we've been emotionally cheated, that's the real issue]

[Laughed so hard at you hard-mouthed folks, just a video and you escalate it to emotional cheating, aren't you just unwilling to admit you've been played by capitalists?]

[Those who don't believe it, go check the test reports. The cat food data matches the rankings given by Orange, doesn't that prove Orange is smart and can communicate?]

[Heh, what proof is that, definitely self-directed by the UP, probably had the test reports prepared in advance, just setting a trap for us, just to make money off a celebrity cat]

[Exactly, if it could really talk, I'd live stream washing my hair standing on my head]

[Count me in, total nonsense]

Faye was so frustrated by the comments she almost clenched her fists. Before the live stream, when Selene analyzed what might appear in the comments, Faye had confidently dismissed it as unlikely. But there really were that many bizarre comments! And Selene had even guessed correctly what they'd say; how incredible that was!

Faye suddenly felt invigorated, adopting a spectator's mentality as she continued her script: "As for whether the cat truly understands human speech, you'll find out very soon."

Faye picked up the standing camera on the table and aimed it at Orange sitting by the buttons. "Orange, say hello to everyone in the live stream."

[???]

[Has this person really gone mad, thinking a cat understands what 'saying hello' means?]

[Are you serious? This is live]

[This could totally be called a live broadcast accident]

[Done for, I'm about to die of secondhand embarrassment]

However, the disastrous scene the audience anticipated did not occur. They only saw on the screen, the adorable orange cat stand up from the floor, casually walk over to the communication buttons, and press three buttons in sequence.

"Hello." "Here." "Orange."

The audience who witnessed this scene: ...

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