novelraw Chapter 86: The ’Grandpas’ Who Were Used
Chapter 86: The ’Grandpas’ Who Were Used
#They all think I’m some serious old coot who would never use the Star Network or browse forums... They think I’m dull and boring.#
In reality, we’re just over a hundred years old. Using the Star Network is child’s play. We grandpas have our own social circles, you know.
And the grandmas! We have our own private groups for daily fashion, too!
The discussion went further and further off-topic until everyone forgot what the original hot topic was even about.
Then, an anonymous user made a post—
#I feel so bad for you all. We’ve all been used as tools, haven’t we?#
#There’s more to this ’follow’ business than meets the eye, you know.#
Oh, right. That’s when everyone remembered the whole ’follow’ business.
With the conversation pulled back on track, someone asked what was so complicated about it.
The person who spoke up was a widower. His son and daughter-in-law had both died in the great Mine Star disaster, leaving him with only his grandson.
He had painstakingly raised the boy all these years.
Today, his grandson, who was a student at Federation University, had suddenly shared a livestreamer with him.
The old man didn’t know how to work these things, but since his grandson sent it, he immediately followed a tutorial and tinkered with it until he figured it out.
His grandson told him that this was a food livestreamer he’d found on the Star Network whose cooking was incredible, and he hoped his grandpa could enjoy the delicious food with him.
After learning about Jiang Qiuqiu’s viewer traffic, her popularity, her viral fame, and her daily income, the old man was astonished.
’These new-era methods are really something else.’
Later, while they were chatting, his grandson casually mentioned that ’follow’ event happening in Jiang Qiuqiu’s community.
The strategy was to get family members who don’t use the Star Network—grandpas, grandmas, parents, and so on—to follow her. This would eliminate potential rivals and guarantee a chance to eat her food.
He initially thought it was just a silly joke, but when he checked in with his own circle of old friends, he discovered the whole thing had already gone viral.
He relayed the whole story just as it was, without any embellishment. His words were plain and simple, but he added one final line at the end—
#My dear grandson said this streamer’s food is truly delicious and highly praised. He wants to share it and eat with me.#
It was a subtle little brag.
If his post was a brag, then the grandpas on the other side—the ones who had been used as ’tools’—were not happy.
’What?! Other people’s kids know to share good food with their grandfathers, but our own grandkids are secretly hogging it all for themselves!’
’They didn’t say a word!’
Old Yang was furious, too.
So furious, in fact, that he went straight to his old army buddies’ group chat.
#What kind of little brat treats his old man like this?#
#I even asked him what was going on, and he wouldn’t say a single word!#
#Got some nerve now, has he? Coming here to pull a fast one on me!#
The group of grandpas was in an uproar.
But it wasn’t like they could just give the kids a beating. This was a lawful society, after all. Hitting children was completely outdated.
But if they couldn’t spank them, they still had to teach them a lesson.
They all put their heads together and finally decided on a plan—
They would pull the rug out from under them.
’Hmph! We’ll see who’s using who as a tool!’
-
Things escalated quickly on the Star Network and in the online communities.
While Jiang Qiuqiu and Meimei were looking at the community data, they noticed a flood of people who had followed on a terminal and were now ’checking in’ with comments.
The two were on a call, discussing it. "They’re always coming up with strategies I’d never think of," Jiang Qiuqiu said.
"Young people are full of ideas when they get together," Meimei replied. "This one is getting a lot of traction. It might even go viral outside our community." She was quite optimistic about the post.
Jiang Qiuqiu hummed in agreement, then suddenly asked, "Will all these new accounts affect the stream’s activity metrics?"
"Not at all. Plenty of people follow but don’t watch. Your follower-to-viewer ratio is exceptionally high already. Even if it dropped by half, it would still be incredible."
’It’s a minor issue.’