After Being Bent by Reader
Chapter 36: Pt.2

Could Xu Xiangxiang be streaming on KS? Since when? Why don't I know anything about it?!

Looking at Murong Shi in disbelief, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "How did you come across this?"

Instead of answering right away, Murong Shi picked up the mug of coffee on her desk and took a sip from it. She then pursed her lips and said, "Jiang Shaohua sent it to me yesterday. I thought he had been harassing you with impure motives that day, but it turns out he hadn't been lying to me."

Xu Chuanchuan was still confused by the situation as she rapidly blinked her eyes.

Seeing the blank look on Xu Chuanchuan's face, Murong Shi asked, "Do you not know that your little sister is live streaming?"

Shaking her head, Xu Chuanchuan said, "She never told me about it."

Pointing at the logo on the upper right corner of the screen, Murong Shi said, "Jiang Shaohua has a friend who's an investor of this platform. He knows that Jiang Shaohua is acquainted with many beautiful women, and he had initially thought to get Jiang Shaohua to invest in the platform. After Jiang Shaohua fiddled around with the platform for a few days, he came across this new live streamer."

Xu Xiangxiang had given herself quite the comical name—Carrot Loving Monster.

Xu Chuanchuan: "..."

When Murong Shi saw that Xu Chuanchuan was still in a daze, she patted the other party on the shoulder and said, "Make sure to take a closer look. What if she's only someone who looks like your sister?"

Without a second thought, Xu Chuanchuan said, "No need. I'm certain it's her."

Murong Shi paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know much about the live streaming industry. Based on what I heard from Jiang Shaohua, he initially took a liking to your little sister because she is innocent and unpretentious. She is also very talkative and amusing. It seems your little sister is quite talented in playing the role of a conversation partner. After starting only for a few days, she has already garnered over a thousand followers. She has also received plenty of donations."

Xu Xiangxiang was talented in being a conversation partner? This was something Xu Chuanchuan found incomprehensible. However, even until now, she still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Xu Xiangxiang was working as a live streamer. She then looked toward the texts captured in the lower half of the picture.

The texts should be the comments netizens made in real-time, and some of these comments were vulgar beyond belief. If only a tiny segment of the comment section already contained so many vulgarities, Xu Chuanchuan couldn't even begin to imagine what the rest of the comment section looked like.

However, despite the comments, Xu Xiangxiang appeared unfazed in the picture. She still smiled like a blooming flower, and she seemed to be enjoying live streaming.

What the hell is going on?

Xu Chuanchuan suddenly recalled the random nonsense Xu Xiangxiang had bought the last time her little sister had visited her. Out of that random assortment of items, there were three hats of three different styles, and one of them was none other than the nurse's cap she wore in the picture. Upon recalling this matter, Xu Chuanchuan finally found some hints about when Xu Xiangxiang had started plotting to become a live streamer.

So that's why she stopped bugging me to buy her a new phone recently. It's because she's already found a way to earn money.

Xu Chuanchuan had always encouraged her little sister to make money, but she never thought Xu Xiangxiang would become a live streamer out of all things.

There were all sorts of ways one could make money. So long as the job was upright and legal, Xu Chuanchuan wouldn't have cared what Xu Xiangxiang worked as. However, the crucial point here was that Xu Xiangxiang was currently a university student. With her workload at school, would she have the time and energy to work as a live streamer?

Currently, Xu Chuanchuan was still unclear regarding the specifics of the situation, so she couldn't decide whether Xu Xiangxiang's live streaming gig was a bad thing or not. After calming herself, she said to Murong Shi, "Thank you for telling me this. Otherwise, I would've still been kept in the dark."

"You're welcome," Murong Shi said in a light tone.

"Then…I'll head back to work now."

"Mhm."

With her mind filled with thoughts of the stalker incident and Xu Xiangxiang's matter, Xu Chuanchuan couldn't pay attention to work at all. When she was on her lunch break, she decided to give Xu Xiangxiang a call."

"Sis!" Xu Xiangxiang's excited voice came through the phone.

Xu Chuanchuan didn't have time to beat around the bush. Getting straight to the point, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me that you started streaming on KS?"

"Huh? You found out about it already? …Hehe, I originally planned to tell you after I earned some money. Let me tell you, I already earned enough to buy a new phone now!"

Sneering, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "How capable of you. So, does that mean you don't need to attend classes now?"

In an anxious tone, Xu Xiangxiang explained, "I never said that. I just came out of a class and was about to get lunch. I only stream at night, so it won't affect my studies at all."

"Are you sure? You failed two classes last semester. Xu Xiangxiang, if you mess around with nonsense like this and fail another class, you might as well stop going to school in the future."

Only when dealing with Xu Xiangxiang would Xu Chuanchuan behave like a stern elder sister. She knew that Xu Xiangxiang wasn't afraid of her. And while she could use pocket money as a threat before, now that Xu Xiangxiang had started making money on her own, would she still pay any heed to her warning?

Sure enough, Xu Xiangxiang wasn't afraid of her threat at all. In a delighted tone, she said, "I'm making my own money now. You can't control me."

Angrily, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Are you looking for a beating, Xu Xiangxiang?"

However, Xu Xiangxiang was still unfazed as she said, "Oh, I have to go get lunch now. I'll talk to you again when I have time."

"You ungrateful little brat, I dare you to hang up my call."

Growing annoyed, Xu Chuanchuan said, "What do you want? I'm starving. You should have your lunch as well. We'll talk again after that."

"I'm not in the mood to eat right now."

"What's wrong with… Oh, c'mon, sis, what I'm doing is just normal live streaming. I'm not doing anything dishonorable, and neither am I selling my body. Why do you have to get so mad about it?"

Breathing out a helpless sigh, Xu Chuanchuan said, "I'm not mad. I'm just a little depressed."

Sensing something amiss with her elder sister's tone, Xu Xiangxiang asked in a soft tone, "Were you scolded by your superior again?"

There wasn't anything Xu Chuanchuan needed to hide from her little sister. After pondering for a moment, she confessed, "A creep is stalking me. I ended up staying in a hotel last night to avoid him, but I don't know what I should do today."

Gasping, Xu Xiangxiang raised her voice and said, "Sis, don't be afraid! I don't have any classes tomorrow, so I'll go to you after today's classes are over! I'll make sure to beat up that creep!"

Snickering, Xu Chuanchuan said, "With just you? Forget it. You're afraid of even a mouse."

Instead of getting annoyed, Xu Xiangxiang said with conviction, "I might be afraid of rats, but I'm not afraid of people. Wait for me. I'll fly to your company once my afternoon classes are over."

Xu Chuanchuan was a little touched by her little sister's words. While rubbing her swollen temples, she bitterly smiled and said, "Fine, I'll be waiting."

In all honesty, Xu Chuanchuan wasn't willing to have Xu Xiangxiang come over. However, she also didn't have anyone else she could rely on. Most of the female colleagues she was close to were married, and the only two single female colleagues were living in a dormitory. She couldn't possibly intrude on their privacy, right? Not to mention, she wasn't particularly familiar with these colleagues.

Wait, dormitory? Why didn't I think of it! Why don't I apply for the company dorms with Linda now?

...But I don't really like dormitory environments. If I have to stay with someone else, how am I supposed to write in the future? Also, my stuff is still in the apartment. I'll still need to return to that place.

Forget it. Let's wait for Xu Xiangxiang.

…

Xu Xiangxiang arrived at the company before Xu Chuanchuan got off work, so Xu Chuanchuan had her wait in the lounge area in front of the front desk. However, when Xu Chuanchuan got off work, she failed to replace any signs of her little sister at the front desk.

Giving Xu Xiangxiang a call, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "Where did you run off to?"

Xu Xiangxiang said, "I'm in Big Sis Shishi's office."

Big Sis Shishi?

Xu Chuanchuan jolted. In an uncertain tone, she asked, "You're in Miss Murong's office?"

"That's right."

Xu Chuanchuan was both stunned and annoyed by this answer. "Why did you go there?"

As if it were a matter of course, Xu Xiangxiang replied, "I was playing with my phone by the front desk just now. When Big Sis Shishi passed by and saw me, she asked if I wanted to visit her office, so I ended up coming here."

"..."

After disconnecting the call, Xu Chuanchuan ran for Murong Shi's office. When she opened the door, she found Xu Xiangxiang and Murong Shi seated on the sofas in the lounge area, and the two of them were currently having a pleasant conversation among themselves.

Seeing that neither of them noticed her arrival, Xu Chuanchuan softly said, "Sorry for the interruption."

Upon hearing these words, Xu Xiangxiang and Murong Shi simultaneously turned toward Xu Chuanchuan.

An expression of joy springing onto her face, Xu Xiangxiang said, "Sis! Are you done with work? Want some tea?"

It was no wonder why Xu Chuanchuan smelled the fragrance of tea when she entered the room. It turned out that Xu Xiangxiang and Murong Shi were leisurely enjoying tea here.

While Xu Chuanchuan might not know the exact process, she could roughly guess what had happened. After greeting Xu Xiangxiang at the front desk, Murong Shi must've invited Xu Xiangxiang to her office out of courtesy. Meanwhile, Xu Xiangxiang must've taken those words at face value and accepted the invitation.

In Xu Chuanchuan's mind, Xu Xiangxiang was probably the only person who would be so shameless and insensible to have tea in Murong Shi's office during working hours.

Xu Chuanchuan honestly felt ashamed and helpless about her little sister sometimes. After quickly making her way to Xu Xiangxiang, she pulled her little sister out of her seat and said to Murong Shi, "I'm very sorry, Miss Murong. My little sister is still young and insensible."

Dissatisfied by her elder sister's words, Xu Xiangxiang asked, "How am I insensible?"

Glaring at her little sister, Xu Chuanchuan said, "You still have the nerve to ask that?"

After elegantly taking a sip of tea, Murong Shi smiled and said, "I think Xiangxiang is quite sensible."

Xu Chuanchuan was stunned.

Pointing her chin at the tea on the table, Murong Shi said, "Your little sister is pretty amazing. She says she knows how to make tea, so she put on a performance for me."

Xu Chuanchuan was momentarily rendered speechless when she looked at the tea on the table.

Xu Xiangxiang had learned the art of making tea from their grandfather during childhood. However, as she was very lazy at home, she never made tea for others if she could avoid doing so. Xu Chuanchuan never thought that she would become so hardworking after arriving in Murong Shi's place.

Xu Chuanchuan watched as Murong Shi savored her tea sip after sip. Paired with her lowered eyebrows and peaceful expression, Murong Shi's every action looked so beautiful that Xu Chuanchuan found herself unwilling to blink.

Thus far, Xu Chuanchuan had only ever seen Murong Shi drink coffee or water. This was the first time she had seen the other party drinking tea. If not for Murong Shi suddenly lifting her head, Xu Chuanchuan felt that she could continue watching for much longer.

"Do you want a cup?" Murong Shi asked nonchalantly.

Looking away awkwardly, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Thank you, but that won't be necessary."

At this time, Xu Xiangxiang's voice rang out as she said, "Big Sis Shishi and I had a pleasant time chatting."

No matter how many times Xu Chuanchuan heard it, she couldn't get used to hearing Xu Xiangxiang's manner of referring to Murong Shi. She felt that there was a need to educate her little sister. While having a naive and carefree personality might make her look cute, going too far with it would only earn her the disgust of others. In a suppressed voice, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Stop with the 'Big Sis.' Refer to her as Miss Murong."

Paying no heed to her elder sister's warning, Xu Xiangxiang said, "I'm not an employee of this company, so why must I be like you? Also, Big Sis Shishi is older than me, so what's wrong if I call her Big Sis? Aren't I right, Big Sis Shishi?"

Smiling, Murong Shi said, "Up to you. You can call me whatever you want."

Xu Chuanchuan was shocked once more.

What's wrong with her today? Why did she become so easygoing all of a sudden? Is it because she likes Xu Xiangxiang?

Murong Shi then looked at Xu Chuanchuan and said, "I'm older than you as well."

So?

Setting down her teacup, Murong Shi added, "But you cannot call me that."

Xu Chuanchuan: "..." I never planned to.