Chen Jincheng hadn’t expected to run into Zhu Ling in this residential complex.

The girl was walking out of the complex, holding a gimbal for her phone. She was livestreaming.

After some time, she had clearly learned how to dress up and present herself better.

Sister Hong had reported on the girl’s livestreaming situation. Compared to the girls from the nightlife scene, she might have fewer tricks up her sleeve. However, thanks to her "Street Vendor Girl saving up a bride price for her future boyfriend" persona and that "unforgettable first love" vibe she gave off—her Bai Yueguang quality—her audience engagement was much better than that of quantity-over-quality streamers, even if her follower count wasn’t huge yet.

Zhu Ling was livestreaming when she was suddenly stunned for a moment as a golden sports car backed up beside her.

’Am I about to get hit on?’

When she saw the license plate "a6666," she was astonished.

Because that was her boss’s car.

Although her boss hadn’t planned any videos for her recently, she still kept up with him. Her younger sister, Jingjing, was especially interested, envying the "Miss Cheng" girls her boss had chosen and fantasizing about becoming a huge hit herself.

Zhu Ling’s strange reaction was noticed by her viewers, and they were all very surprised.

"What did Zhu Ling see?"

"What’s going on?"

"..."

Aside from the viewers who had first noticed her on Chen Jincheng’s channel, her audience consisted mostly of young people who were hooked on her "Street Vendor Girl, saving up a bride price for her future boyfriend" persona.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the girl was pretty. That Bai Yueguang feeling was what really got people hooked.

Especially when she smiled, it was particularly enchanting.

If a 220-pound girl tried to pull off the "Street Vendor Girl, saving up a bride price for her future boyfriend" thing, no one would be hooked. People would probably just roast her, telling her to take a good look in the mirror.

Seeing her fans’ curiosity, Zhu Ling turned the camera toward the Lamborghini Aventador in front of her.

Seeing the luxury car, the fans in her stream knew what was up:

"Our girl’s getting hit on by another rich guy in a fancy car."

"Who cares if it’s a fancy car? Our girl isn’t someone you can just hit on whenever you want."

"That’s right! Our girl has her head on straight. That last guy in the Ferrari thought he was so great!"

"..."

But just then, the fans watched in disbelief as Zhu Ling actually walked toward the sports car.

This made everyone feel that something was wrong!

And when the driver inside the car appeared on camera, the chat absolutely exploded.

Because many people recognized him.

Wasn’t that Chen Jincheng, the internet’s number one scumbag?

You have to understand, some of the girl’s viewers were old fans of Chen Jincheng; they had only gotten to know Zhu Ling through him.

It had just been so long that they’d almost forgotten she was also signed with Second-Life Star, especially since Cheng had never interacted with her.

Then, one by one, they all started crying out:

"Girl, stay away from him! He’s not a good person!"

"He’s a scumbag, don’t go near him!"

"Zhu Ling, get away from him! That guy is rotten to the core."

"Fuck, Cheng, Zhu Ling’s stream is the one place I don’t want to see you."

"Cheng, I’m begging you, leave!"

"..."

Amid the uproar from her viewers, Zhu Ling respectfully greeted the man in the car, "Boss!"

"Where are you headed?" Chen Jincheng asked with a smile.

Zhu Ling replied, "Back to Feifuxing Road. I rented a small storefront near the bar. I make grass jelly there during the day and run my street stall at night."

"It’s on my way. I’ll give you a ride," Chen Jincheng said.

"Thank you, Boss!" Zhu Ling nodded, opened the car door, and got into the passenger seat.

Because Chen Jincheng had appeared on camera, the system obviously detected it and started promoting the stream, causing the number of viewers in the girl’s livestream to spike.

This was a type of mechanism.

Facial recognition.

That’s why, a lot of the time, a permanent account ban isn’t the biggest punishment. A platform-wide "face ban" is the real worst-case scenario.

It means that person’s face can’t appear in any stream. If it does, the stream gets shut down.

But watching Zhu Ling get into Chen Jincheng’s car, her fans all sighed in dismay:

"The little white rabbit has fallen into the wolf’s den."

"Such a silly little rabbit. Doesn’t she know to run when she sees a wolf?"

"Chen Jincheng, I’m warning you, be a decent human being!"

"..."

Chen Jincheng, however, asked curiously, "Zhu Ling, do you live in this complex?"

Zhu Ling shook her head. "No, I was making a delivery. I still run my stall at night, but during the day, if regular customers nearby place an order, I’ll still deliver. If there’s a delivery service available, I’ll use it. If not, and it’s not too far, I’ll just grab a shared bike and deliver it myself."

"That’s really tough," Chen Jincheng remarked with a sigh.

Seriously, these days, you probably couldn’t even get pretty young women to run a street stall, let alone run one at night and then continue selling grass jelly and making their own deliveries during the day.

Girls with the "assets"—meaning good looks—are more willing to use their appearance to get what they want.

As for those who claim they don’t rely on men, they either lack the looks to do so or are simply in denial. While some women are open about finding a boyfriend to depend on, the majority of these "independent" types are likely involved in shady arrangements they can’t bring into the light, all while deceiving themselves and others by claiming they don’t rely on men.

This isn’t just malicious speculation. There’s a reason why marriage rates are declining and most men only want girlfriends, not wives.

Just think about it: even older women on the verge of menopause go on dates demanding a luxury car, a big house, plus a 500,000 yuan bride price. They’re all benchmarking themselves against domineering CEOs from romance novels.

In another world, a drama titled *The Domineering CEO Fell in Love With Menopausal Me and Bought My Son a House, a Car, and the Family Fortune* would become a smash hit. What kind of audience would be watching that?

Honestly, girls like Zhu Ling, who are clearly beautiful but still self-reliant, are truly a rare breed.