Chapter 52: Agreeing to the Wager

Mumu never expected the situation to evolve into what it was now. Clearly, he had been the one to initiate the attack on Su Chen, yet the fire had ultimately spread to his own camp.

Yes, it was true that he wanted to gain traffic and ride the coattails of trending topics, but by no means did he want to pay for it with his entire streaming career!

Although he was quite confident in his ability to win, this was no laughing matter; it concerned his future livelihood, and thus he found himself unable to make an immediate decision, his face contorted in hesitation.

If regret could turn back time, he would now rather have never provoked the First Deep Affection Su Chen, leaving himself in such a difficult mess to clean up.

Watching the scene unfold on the livestream screen, Yu Xiaoqing asked with some confusion, "Sister Xiaowei, why are you so certain that the First Deep Affection Su Chen will win?"

Ai Wei smiled upon hearing this and said, "Look at the scene before us. Doesn't it look like a game of Texas Hold'em? Mumu wants to push in a small stack of chips, hoping to get a slice of the traffic pot. But the First Deep Affection Su Chen doesn't want to waste time with him and has played a heavy card directly, instantly shifting the difficult dilemma back to Mumu. However, this leaves Mumu with only two choices. Either he folds, and all his previous actions instantly become a joke in the eyes of the public while the persona he has carefully built suffers a certain degree of damage. Or he continues to call, but as long as the First Deep Affection Su Chen still holds trump cards in his hand, Mumu faces the prospect of losing everything."

Hearing this, Yu Xiaoqing murmured thoughtfully, "Sister Xiaowei, do you mean that the initiative is entirely in the hands of the First Deep Affection Su Chen now?"

Ai Wei smiled and replied, "Yes, so the key to this victory and defeat lies with the First Deep Affection Su Chen, not Mumu. But when all is said and done, Mumu is simply too foolish. Once you are at the gambling table, how can you expect not to use your chips! Besides, he didn't even stop to think who his opponent was—that's the First Deep Affection Su Chen we're talking about, things are never that simple!"

Yu Xiaoqing hesitated slightly for a moment before asking, "Then what if Mumu decides to accept the challenge, but the First Deep Affection Su Chen cannot produce a good song?"

Ai Wei glanced sideways at Yu Xiaoqing with a smile and said, "Even you can think of that possibility; do you really think the First Deep Affection Su Chen hasn't thought of it?"

Compared to Ai Wei's certainty, Su Chen's fans felt a bit nervous inside, especially the veteran fans who had followed him for a long time. Having supported him for so long, they had never known Su Chen to possess any particular creative talent. They figured that his song "Oh Driver, Give Me a Ride" could already be considered an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Now it was quite obvious: Su Chen was merely bluffing Mumu, hoping to make the other party back down in the face of difficulty. But what if the opponent refused to chicken out and agreed directly? How would they clean up this mess when that time came!

Harboring such thoughts, those fans of Su Chen grew rather anxious, while simultaneously hoping in their hearts that Mumu would be scared off just like that.

Mumu's fans, however, presented an entirely opposite picture; they didn't harbor any such complicated considerations. They simply and stubbornly believed that the First Deep Affection Su Chen, having written a song like "Oh Driver, Give Me a Ride," was utterly incapable of writing a truly good song.

Since he was practically rushing to his own doom, they might as well grant his wish and send him on his way. What was there to hesitate about? Wasn't the outcome already predetermined?

Consequently, Mumu's livestream chatroom was filled with extremely excited fans clamoring for Mumu to accept immediately. To a certain extent, this pushed Mumu high up onto a pedestal from which he could no longer step down.

If the actions of these netizens online stemmed merely from their affection for their favorite streamers and their love for a good spectacle, the behavior of Su Chen's neighbors and fellow villagers arose primarily from genuine personal worry and anxiety.

"It seems being an Internet celebrity isn't that easy after all... Our A-Chen was just doing his own livestreams without bothering anyone, and this person came looking for trouble out of nowhere. How could they be like this!"

"Right, what should we do next? What if this ruins things so A-Chen can't even stream anymore in the future?"

"Why is this person so awful? Can't we just call the police to arrest him and lock him up?"

"Just as he's managed to become a big Internet celebrity through sheer hard work, someone actually comes to bully our A-Chen. It's simply too infuriating!"

...

As everyone voiced their grievances and dissatisfaction, Lin Wenqing also let out a trace of worry on her face.

Throughout the entire room, only Su Wei'an maintained a calm and composed expression, remaining unperturbed. It wasn't that he didn't care about his son; rather, he understood his son far too well. In the current confrontation, his son had undoubtedly secured absolute control of the initiative. If his son didn't have a foolproof plan and absolute certainty, he would never have pushed his opponent up onto this high pedestal with no way down.

The only explanation for how the situation had developed to this point was that... his son was about to strike with full force and teach the other party an unforgettable lesson!

At this moment, in the livestream.

Seeing that the other party remained frozen without responding for a long time, Su Chen smiled indifferently and said, "Everyone here is an adult. Before making any decisions, shouldn't you use your brain to think things through first?"

His words carried a double meaning. On one level, it meant that whether or not Mumu intended to accept this bet was something he needed to ponder carefully in his heart.

Yet on another level, it meant that since Mumu had taken the initiative to provoke him earlier, he should have used his brain to consider what consequences it might bring.

Mumu had originally been hesitating, but provoked by Su Chen's words, he finally nodded and agreed, "Fine! I'll bet with you today, but how will your song be judged so that it's considered recognized by the public?"

Su Chen smiled nonchalantly and said, "There's no need for any special criteria to judge it. Everyone has their own answer in their heart as to whether a song is good or bad. We haven't signed any formal contracts, and anyway, this doesn't carry any binding legal effect. If the time comes and you shamelessly refuse to honor it, to be honest, there's really nothing I can do to you!"

Just as Su Chen said, making Mumu completely stop streaming was unrealistic. But everyone had a scale in their hearts; if Mumu lost and refused to honor his end of the agreement, his reputation would be utterly ruined before the public, exposing his poor character. For a popular internet celebrity on Douyin, this would be nothing short of a devastating blow.

When both parties agreed to commence the bet, the viewers in both livestream rooms grew excited in unison. Although their emotional leanings varied due to supporting different streamers, the common thread was that they loved a good show and began shouting with intense excitement.

Mumu's fans were jubilant, as if they could already see victory right before their eyes. If possible, they even wanted to open a bottle of champagne in advance to celebrate.

In stark contrast, while Su Chen's fans felt an involuntary wave of anxiety, they simultaneously began offering him advice of their own accord, hoping to be of some help.

[Hey streamer, streamer! Do you have any close connections in the music circle? Hurry up and go buy a good song from a professional musician right now, stop dawdling!]

[Don't worry, streamer! No matter how terribly you sing, we won't admit it; we'll just say it sounds amazing.]

[Trust us, losing is impossible. Our ability to talk nonsense with our eyes open is exceptionally strong.]

[Brother Su Chen, it's fine, it's not a big deal. Don't we still have backup accounts? If worst comes to worst and our main account gets banned from streaming, we'll just stream on the backup. It's no big deal...]

...

Looking at the defeatist comments in his chatroom that sapped his own momentum while boosting the enemy's, Su Chen felt a tightness in his chest from sheer frustration.

Especially that smart aleck who told him to switch to a backup account—I truly thank your ancestors down to the eighteenth generation.

Compared to these unhelpful fans who lost their momentum before things even began, the college students at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music took the exact opposite approach.

Inside the large lecture hall at the conservatory, the large screen on the podium was broadcasting Su Chen's current livestream feed. Sun Cheng and the others watched the scene with extreme excitement.

"Hahaha, that idiot is completely done for! Do you really doubt my Brother Chen's talent? Are you kidding me?"

"Exactly, exactly! I'm so excited for the face-slapping part to begin. The immersion level here is through the roof, hahaha!"

"Needless to say, our Brother Chen is bound to win. As long as Brother Chen's 'Someone Like Me' comes out, who else dares to say our Brother Chen isn't capable?"

"I've been longing for this moment like a starving man waiting for food! I've been looking forward to the release of 'Someone Like Me' for ages!"

...

Seeing how confident Sun Cheng and the others were, the other students who hadn't heard Su Chen's songs couldn't help but grow excited with anticipation.

They had long heard Sun Cheng and his friends talk about Su Chen's talent, and now they finally had a chance to witness it firsthand.

On the livestream screen, Su Chen smiled faintly and picked up the guitar he had placed to the side once again.

"To be honest, I personally think 'Oh Driver, Give Me a Ride' is quite a fun song. It's like how the original purpose of music is simply to bring joy to everyone and provide emotional value. But now that Mumu finds the lyrics of that song vulgar, I'll cater to his tastes and bring out something more refined.

A song called 'Someone Like Me,' dedicated to everyone here! I hope you all like it!"