Chapter 945 - 964: The Qian Family Father and Son’s Continuous IQ Drops

When Qiuqiu went to the Mecha Single Soldier System for class in the morning, many people were already discussing the incident.

One student in Class A looked exceptionally grim. Because his surname was also Zhu, he was distantly related to Zhu Xing, the man currently dominating the morning’s trending searches. Being associated with that kind of person was absolutely disgusting.

"What a freak, that kind of guy..."

"He really doesn’t deserve the surname Zhu."

Everyone deeply agreed.

Seeing Qiuqiu arrive, some curious onlookers gathered around her to ask about the live-streaming industry.

"Qiuqiu, is the environment in your industry really this bad?"

"Does your company’s boss exploit the employees?"

Everyone was both curious and concerned. Qiuqiu was actually quite surprised as well, because the current business model for running a company was completely different from the 21st century she once knew. Commerce was highly diversified, and the consumer base was massive.

The government was also very open. Most of the time, as long as one followed the law, running a business and making a profit didn’t rely on having connections within government circles. Sometimes, the government even actively encouraged businesses to settle in their districts. Because of this, using contracted streamers as bargaining chips for personal favors was truly incomprehensible to her.

"The industry environment is actually relatively transparent. Right now, this kind of thing has only happened at the Federation Live Broadcast Company," Qiuqiu explained.

"As for my company, it’s just an ordinary business. Everything is done strictly according to the rules and regulations."

"Oh, right! Your roommate is also a streamer on that platform, isn’t she? Her streams always look pretty unrestricted."

Qiuqiu hummed in agreement.

The incident was discussed right up until class started, with everyone only quieting down when the instructor arrived.

After a morning of review classes, the students logged onto the Star Network again to check for updates. Relevant authorities had already intervened, launching a detailed investigation into the incident from start to finish. Federation officials had also released a statement, promising to publish any new developments on the Star Network as soon as they were available.

However, the entities at the center of the controversy—the Federation Live Broadcast Company and Zhu Xing from the tax department—were still currently roaming free. Netizens spontaneously flooded the Star Network accounts of both parties with comments, but neither side responded.

The situation seemed to be unfolding differently than expected.

***

During this review period, there were no classes in the afternoon. The instructor told the students to head to the practice rooms on their own if they needed to work on their individual weaknesses, or visit the Gravity Room if they wanted to experience extreme pressure and power.

Qiuqiu was currently in great shape. Since she happened to want a day off anyway, she didn’t go anywhere else and instead stayed in her dorm to chat with a few people from her company.

Today’s conversation was incredibly heavy.

The Federation Live Broadcast Company was in deep trouble. Their market share was on the verge of collapsing, and an entire generation’s childhood nostalgia and rose-tinted memories were likely to be shattered to dust overnight. If the allegations were proven true, the Federation Live Broadcast Company would truly become the scum of society and a cancer on the industry, despised and condemned by everyone.

The New Star app was poised to skyrocket, ready to absorb the massive exodus of users from their rival and soar to new heights. Yet, Qian Xingxing couldn’t bring himself to be happy.

"Are they actually insane?

"Every time they do something, they sink to a new low. We’re talking about human lives... Do Qian Duoduo and Qian Song really treat human lives like nothing?

"Resorting to any means necessary just to steal some web traffic? Causing all this just to get a guy to audit our taxes? Is that it?"

Wanxing sighed. "If they were truly upright, they could have just reported us under their real names. Someone would have come to audit us regardless."

"How could they dare to report us openly?" Qian Xingxing sneered. "If they reported us and we somehow passed the audit, they’d worry that we bribed our employees and that a clean audit would give us the leverage to counterattack. It wouldn’t be worth the risk for them."

"But to do something like this..."

"They have vomit for brains," Qian Xingxing spat.

Qiuqiu chimed in, "Endless greed has blinded them. Ever since your father brought his eldest son back, his intelligence has been steadily dropping. I have no idea what’s going on with him."