After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 23, First Unused Item
Li Yubai suddenly remembered the day they first met half a year ago.

At that moment, the little girl, covered in blood, burst into his office. Her bright eyes fell silently on him, clear and sparkling, making his heart pound.

Then, she pulled back her hood, her dirty little face close to his, her breath brushing against his ear, making his whole body stiffen, a faint tingling sensation running through his chest:

"I've heard that none of the heads of your Li family live past fifty? I have a way to help you break that curse, and all you need to do is pay ten thousand yuan a day..."

He heard his own dry voice: "Okay."

"The specific operating method will be a bit absurd..."

"Okay." He spoke softly, as if afraid of scaring her away. "I'm willing to do anything."

The girl's whole demeanor brightened; even her dirty face couldn't conceal her breathtakingly beautiful complexion. She looked at Li Yubai with curiosity:
“Many people outside say that besides your good looks, you are full of bad ideas and especially bad to girls. But these days I have talked to more than a dozen rich and powerful guys to do business. They either called me crazy or sent people to beat me up. Only you are willing to cooperate with me and even smiled so nicely at me.”

……

Li Yubai emerged from his reverie. Before him, Jiang Shu had somehow donned the puppet mask and handed him the glasses.
"Keep this safe, I'll be wearing it after the live stream."

Li Yubai nodded seriously, then asked casually, "It would be more appropriate to wear it—why didn't you wear it when you came to see me?"

Jiang Shu picked up a mirror to admire her puppet mask, replying casually:

"Before I met you, I was being chased by one or two thugs who hadn't been able to close a deal with me. I broke my glasses while running away. But strangely enough, after meeting you, my luck suddenly improved. I randomly picked four other people and we had very pleasant conversations with each of them, as if it were some kind of destiny."

“It’s not a sense of destiny.” Li Yubai adjusted her mask, his eyes serious. “It’s because the sugar daddy is too beautiful and accidentally seduced someone else without realizing it.”

Jiang Shu was delighted by the compliments: "You guys who often talk business, you're really good at talking."

Li Yubai smiled and didn't argue with her about the topic.

While Jiang Shu went to her room to change, he examined the glasses in his hand. They weren't made of any material or style available on the market; they seemed custom-made, their design subtly obscuring nine-tenths of her otherwise beautiful face. It was something no ordinary person could make.

Jiang Shu came out after changing her clothes and reminded her, "These are the new glasses that Li Erniang made for me. Be careful."

“Li Erniang…”

"She's from my village. She has a pair of glasses like these herself, but she doesn't wear them often—she says these glasses can ward off evil spirits, and it really does! When I was little, I often encountered all sorts of weirdos when I went out. After I started junior high, Li Erniang got me glasses, and eight or nine out of ten of the strange and monstrous people who approached me disappeared instantly..."

Li Yubai gave an ambiguous "hmm".

He sized up the girl. She had changed out of her school uniform into a simple, light-colored long-sleeved shirt, finely made of high-quality fabric. She still wore a dark cloak, a hood, and a puppet mask, which didn't make her look ferocious, but rather rather cute.

He coughed lightly, playing along with her question: "What's your name?"

Jiang Shu used a voice changer to reply in a mechanical voice: "Please call me Puppet."

……

At 8 PM, the homepage of Chaomu Live, which is watched by millions of people, featured the live stream of a newly signed streamer named 'Puppet Man'.

A livestreamer wearing a puppet mask and completely shrouded in a black cloak, her gender indistinguishable, faces the camera directly. Keen-eyed viewers noticed a book titled "Livestream Sales Techniques" on her desk.

She sat upright, with a row of shelves crammed full of all kinds of opaque gift boxes behind her.

"Welcome to my live stream! I'm Puppet Man, a kind-hearted streamer who helps find homes for unwanted items. If you like me, please follow and like."

The live stream chat is going crazy with all the comments!
[Is this what they call conforming to the aesthetics of the day and night? It looks so weird and grotesque?]

[Buying cheap secondhand goods? So what exactly did Chaomu sign?] [I'll see how Chaomu, which shut me out, is heading towards its demise...]

[Trying to hide and bluff? Go ahead and take off your mask! If you do, I'll come and kill you right now!]

[Secondhand items? How shameful! Who likes secondhand goods these days?!]

[Trash streamer! Go back to eating shit, stop embarrassing yourself here!]

……

The topic gradually became increasingly vulgar.

The barrage of comments almost flooded the live stream, and Jiang Shu immediately banned a large number of people without hesitation.

At this point, the backend administrators also joined in, setting up various keyword blocking options, and the live stream chat instantly became half-clean!
"My secondhand items are one-of-a-kind, limited to one order per customer, first come, first served! Anyone who dares to cyberbully me, please have the back-end management team compile a list, and these people will be directly blacklisted and disqualified from purchasing!"

[Unique? Even big stars wouldn't dare claim their stuff is unique!]

[You're even canceling my purchase eligibility? Do you think you're selling limited-edition luxury goods or specially made items?]

[No comments allowed, huh? I'll check out your secondhand stuff later; if it's truly an eyesore, I'll make you go viral tomorrow...]

……

Jiang Shu was very patient during her first live stream: "Whether the goods are good or not, you'll know after you see them! This is my first live stream, so without further ado, let's get straight to the products and show you the charm of my used items! -- Assistant, get the products ready!"

Assistant Yang appeared on the live broadcast screen.

Then, she greeted everyone very kindly and went to the shelf to 'randomly' select a large blue gift box.

“Now, let’s take a look at what’s inside…” Jiang Shu glanced at Assistant Yang, who responded with a subtle look.

Before Jiang Shu opened the package, her gaze fell on Li Yubai, who was brewing tea outside the live broadcast room. Li Yubai gave her a puzzled smile, as if asking, "Why are you looking at me?"

Jiang Shu adjusted the puppet mask: "Okay, now I'll take it open myself and see what's inside..."

As the gift box was opened, a men's bathrobe was revealed...

Jiang Shu: "..."

At this moment, should she be shocked or bewildered? But, Li Yubai's robe... is the neckline really that low?
Li Yubai, who was leisurely brewing tea, froze instantly!

Then, his eyes were almost filled with embarrassment, and his earlobes flushed red as he made a gesture to stop him.

Jiang Shu feigned surprise: "Yours?"

Li Yubai coughed lightly twice, his usually composed gaze showing a hint of embarrassment.

Assistant Yang lowered his voice and reached out somewhat frantically to grab it: "It must have been the staff who took the wrong thing when they were sorting through the BOSS's unused items yesterday. Can we take it back?"

Jiang Shu pressed down on Assistant Yang's hand, which was trying to snatch back the bathrobe: "It's bad luck for the first order to fail on the first day of the broadcast."

Then, she slammed her bathrobe down on the table!
"Babies, anyone want my national heartthrob's underwear, which still has his strong body odor?"

Not far away, Li Yubai's hand trembled, and he knocked over a cup of tea!

(End of this chapter)