Chapter 18: Six Hundred Thousand People Watch Her Have Afternoon Tea

“This is roughly what a castle looks like. This building isn’t even the largest; we have another one with a much greater area. The castle’s layout is much more expansive.”

“Thank you, Lai, for introducing us to the villa. Today, both I and everyone watching the livestream have truly broadened our horizons and gained a lot.”

“You’re welcome. It’s my honor to introduce our castle to you and everyone watching. If you have time, feel free to come over and visit. I’ll be here waiting for all of you.”

[Is it free? If it’s free, I’m definitely coming!]

[Lai must think highly of us viewers. I’d probably never get to enter this estate even if I worked my whole life!]

[Who says we can’t get in? Why not work here ourselves? {Sly emoji}]

[I’m afraid they require a high level of education for work. I only graduated from a junior college; I probably don’t qualify!]

“All right, then we’ll be heading off now!”

“I’ll see you both out.”

The moment Nono stepped out of the castle, she felt as if she had instantly left the world of wealth behind and returned to the everyday world.

Glancing back, the castle gates had already closed. If the estate and the outside world were two separate realms, then this castle was a world within a world.

After a long moment, Nono regained her composure and faced the camera. “Everyone, didn’t it feel like that tour was a luxurious dream? If I were the owner of this castle, I’m not sure how much more grounded I’d remain.”

“Isn’t tonight’s dream material all set then? Nono is thinking that our female guest, Jiang Xian, must be lying on the soft bed inside this very castle, surely having a beautiful dream right now.”

“We’ve finished touring the guests’ accommodations, and it’s almost time for their afternoon naps. Next, we’ll open seven livestream rooms. Everyone can click on the corresponding guest’s livestream. Just check the top eight on the leaderboard to see which livestream each guest is in.”

In the guesthouse, Jiang Ke hadn’t heard any noise, but based on her calculations, the crew should have come up and finished filming by now.

Just in case, she pretended to have just woken up, turning over in bed deliberately before sitting up, her head bowed, hair cascading over her chest.

Peeking through the strands of hair, she glanced stealthily toward the door—there was no one there. She quickly swept her hair aside; it appeared the crew had already finished filming.

She reached for her phone, secretly pleased. She must have played the role of sleeping too well; the crew kept their presence so quiet they didn’t even notice she hadn’t sensed anyone entering.

Grabbing her phone, Jiang Ke eagerly opened the livestream room, already imagining the barrage of comments praising her sleeping face.

She wondered how long the crew had been gone and whether they had reached the next guest, if the chat was still discussing her sleeping beauty.

Upon opening the livestream, she saw that Nono had already finished touring Jiang Ke’s castle.

“How could it be so fast?” Jiang Ke found it hard to believe; normally, it shouldn’t be this quick.

She exited the livestream and checked the trending topics to see if any posts about her sleeping face had gone viral.

No matter how much she refreshed, there was nothing.

“That’s odd. It’s probably because the photos and captions haven’t been organized yet. They’ll surely be released later.”

Jiang Ke reassured herself. Glancing at the time, it was already 2:50 p.m., just ten minutes before their scheduled meeting. She could start preparing.

When the alarm rang, Jiang Xian woke up groggily, instinctively feeling like she was still a mere laborer, and a wave of resentment swept over her. But when she opened her eyes and saw the exquisite ceiling, she was momentarily stunned and confused.

After a long moment, she suddenly realized she was no longer a lowly worker.

Fully awake, she rolled around a few times on the soft bed. Just as she sat up, a knock came at the door, followed by Lai’s respectful voice: “Miss Jiang, are you awake?”

“Just a moment.”

After tidying herself a little, Jiang Xian opened the door to see Lai smiling warmly at her.

“Miss Jiang, we have prepared bird’s nest soup for you. Would you like it brought up or would you prefer to come down to eat?”

“I’ll come down!” After eating, it will be almost time for the recording, so there’s no need to go back upstairs.

“All right. The crew is already waiting downstairs for the recording,” Lai reminded her.

Checking the time, it was nearly 3 p.m., but wasn’t the crew supposed to wait by the door?

Though puzzled, Jiang Xian thanked Lai for the reminder. “Okay, thanks.”

Upon arriving at the first-floor dining room, she saw a delicate little bowl on the table filled with bird’s nest soup, along with some small snacks.

From the moment Jiang Xian stepped downstairs, the crew opened her exclusive livestream room. After waiting a few seconds, surprisingly, no one had entered the room.

The crew was somewhat puzzled. Was Jiang Xian really so unpopular, or was there a technical glitch?

They pulled out their phones to check other guests’ livestream rooms. Other rooms had viewers gradually entering, but Jiang Xian’s remained empty.

“Number seven livestream, close and reopen the stream. It might be stuck,” Liu Shenghai advised, speaking into the microphone to Jiang Xian’s streamer.

The main livestream had drawn seven hundred thousand viewers during the earlier tours of the guests’ residences. Now, there were only a few people left in the main stream; the rest must have gone to the individual guest livestreams.

“Okay.”

The streamer preparing to close the stream casually glanced up and suddenly widened their eyes. Where moments ago there had been zero viewers, Jiang Xian’s livestream now had six hundred thousand watching.

The comment section finally ignited, one message after another flooding in so fast they were gone before they could be read, replaced instantly by new ones.

“I’m coming to the castle!”

“Wow, she’s eating bird’s nest soup. I’ve never tried bird’s nest in my life!”

“I eat a lot of white fungus. By the way, don’t bird’s nest and white fungus look quite similar when cooked?”

“Living in a castle really is different! Jiang Xian looks like a wealthy woman now!”

The surge of viewers was all because, after seeing the castle during the interview and Nono’s mention, they followed Jiang Xian. Once they saw her live, they rushed into her livestream room.

This sudden influx caused the earlier technical glitch, making it appear as if no one was watching.

“Director Liu, the livestream is back to normal. It was just overloaded with too many people entering at once,” the streamer reported to Liu Shenghai.

“Got it,” Liu Shenghai replied, having also seen the livestream status.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried that people might have turned away out of resentment toward the wealthy after seeing the castle.

Unbeknownst to him, Jiang Xian was quietly enjoying her afternoon tea, being watched by more than six hundred thousand viewers.