Chapter 626: Chapter 645: Above the Tumult, a Storm Brews
While Jiang Qiuqiu was studying hard at the university, her lawyer was busy fighting a lawsuit against the Federation Live Broadcast Company.
After she filed the lawsuit to terminate her contract, Qian Song’s first thought wasn’t how to get it dismissed. Instead, he calculated how much money Jiang Qiuqiu had earned from the company.
He knew Jiang Qiuqiu was on a premium contract. She had only been with the company for one year, leaving four years on her term. That meant she would have to pay a penalty of four times her earnings, plus repay the principal, to successfully terminate the agreement.
’She actually earned that much money!’
An amount that large would be a major blow, even for someone like Qian Xingxing.
He demanded that she pay up, but to his surprise, Jiang Qiuqiu’s lawyer stated that the contract specified no compensation was required.
"???"
’How is that possible?’ Qian Song panicked. Remembering that Qian Xingxing was the one who had signed Jiang Qiuqiu, he went to take a look at the contract.
He had no idea what he was in for. One look, and he felt like he was going to pass out.
’Is that Qian Xingxing a fucking idiot?’
’Holy shit, after all that—signing her, giving her such good promotion, so many featured spots, a person with so much potential... and he put her on an *activity contract*?’
*Should the terms prove inconvenient, this contract may be terminated upon request, with no compensation required.*
His face went pale in an instant. The only reason he’d dared to say all those things and cause so much trouble was that he’d been certain Jiang Qiuqiu couldn’t just breach her contract.
She had to stay with the Federation Live Broadcast Company. The platform still had one last trump card to control her: a blacklist.
But now, she was terminating the contract.
’If Dad finds out that I drove away our new cash cow...’
Qian Song shuddered.
He immediately changed his tune and tried to arrange a talk with Jiang Qiuqiu.
But her lawyer refused to negotiate, and Qian Song started to get frustrated.
Qian Duoduo would be back in two days. ’What am I going to do?’
What he didn’t know, however, was that this frustration was only the beginning.
-
A strange rumor suddenly blew up in Jiang Qiuqiu’s foodie community.
"Don’t you guys think the lag during the last stream was weird?"
"It only happened in our Juju’s stream! Nowhere else at the same time!"
"Has Federation Live ever lagged before? I’ve been using this app for ten years and it’s never once lagged on me."
"OP, why do you keep bringing this up? Your tone makes it sound like you have some inside info."
"Yeah, just spit it out. If you keep being all mysterious, I hope you miss out on Juju’s food next time."
"I hope you miss out +1"
"Okay, okay, I’ll just say it. I have a friend on the tech team inside the Federation Live Broadcast Company, and she told me the problem with our stream wasn’t a system error. It was deliberate."
"???"
That statement was a bombshell.
Deliberate? Why would anyone cause that kind of problem? Are they an idiot?
"Is it because we don’t pay? Damn, for every five Star Coins, the company must take at least three, right? With tens of billions of downloads, that’s easily thirty billion Star Coins. And they’re gonna mess with their own platform? Do they have shit for brains?"
"That’s too ridiculous. I’d rather believe it was just a glitch."
"No, this is legit, direct info! If I’m lying, I hope I never get to eat Juju’s food again!! I heard through the grapevine that there’s a new boss, and he’s not happy that Juju only streams once a week. He wants her to stream daily."
"??? Doesn’t he know Juju is at the university? Is the new boss an idiot?"
The first piece of information Wanxing leaked was a very plausible explanation.
This explanation immediately enraged the Ju people in Juju’s fan community.
"What an idiot. She should stream as often as she wants."
"Doesn’t he know she’s a student? ’Stream every day, stream every day’... I support Juju staying in school."
"This is basically telling our Juju to drop out of school? Pfft! Our Juju will never drop out!"
"School is way more important than streaming! I mean, I’d love to eat her food every day, too, but getting into Federation University is every student’s dream! I support Juju staying in school!"
"Support her dream! Life is long, and school is a really meaningful experience. If Juju gives up her education for money, she’ll definitely regret it in the future!!"
Heartwarming comments flooded the entire comment section.
Of course, that warmth was directed at Jiang Qiuqiu alone.
On all of Federation Live’s public forums, however—
"You’re breaking the law, you know that? How can you force a student to drop out?"
"Idiot platform, manipulating things behind the scenes. Now you’re trying to control whether your streamers get an education?"
"..."
A firestorm of outrage swept across the Federation Live platform, showing no signs of stopping.
Qian Song, caught in the downpour, quickly grew panicked and furious. ’What is this bullshit? It’s obviously fake news! When did I ever say I wanted Jiang Qiuqiu to stream every day?’
’How could I possibly ask Jiang Qiuqiu to stream every day!’
’Scarcity creates value. What’s the point of her streaming for a bunch of broke losers?’
’That wasn’t his plan at all!’
To make matters worse, he then received a call from a furious Qian Duoduo.
"Where is your brain?" Qian Duoduo, who was on a neighboring star, had suddenly received a call from Mei Lin demanding to know why he was trying to make Jiang Qiuqiu drop out of school.
Though the young noblewoman’s voice was soft, it was laced with accusation. "Uncle Qian, your company’s conduct is appalling."
"Why would you force a promising Mecha Soldier to drop out of the university for the sake of live streaming?"
"Mei Lin, what are you talking about? I’m not on Federation Star. My son has been managing the company lately."
"Your son? Is it Qian Xingxing? No, it couldn’t be. Is it that other one you brought back from somewhere?" Mei Lin’s expression filled with disdain. "Uncle Qian, you have terrible taste in heirs."
"If you insist on making Jiang Qiuqiu drop out, I will handle her breach of contract lawsuit personally." Mei Lin’s tone was haughty. "And you know I don’t lose."
Qian Duoduo was already furious, but he could only offer a placating laugh. "Her education is very important. Why would we ever make such a promising student drop out?"
Mei Lin didn’t say anything more. "I hope you can resolve this issue to my satisfaction, Uncle Qian. Quickly."
Then she hung up.
Qian Duoduo quickly looked into the matter. The moment he understood what was happening, he felt his eyes roll back in his head.
Suppressing the urge to start screaming, he dialed Qian Song’s number.
The moment he heard Qian Song’s voice on the line, the last thread of his composure snapped. "Where is your brain?" he roared.
