Chapter 16: Asking for a Rocket

At this moment, the bullet chat was filled with "Jiang Xiaoya" and various affectionate nicknames from her fans. They seemed to enjoy calling her "Stupid Sister" or "Sloppy Sister." This time, she even saw new titles: "Rocket Girl" and "Primordial Girl."

Zhou Yuyu felt a stinging sensation in her eyes as tears fell uncontrollably. When she saw the number of live viewers at the top of the screen, her composure completely shattered once again.

It wasn't tens of thousands, nor hundreds of thousands, let alone millions. It was 999,999+. What did this number represent?

The viewership in Jiang Xiaoya's livestream had broken one million!

She was indisputably number one on the program's leaderboard and second across the entire platform. The first place was the live broadcast of the News Broadcast, and the third place was a megastar singer currently holding an online concert hosted by the platform.

Zhou Yuyu had seen promotional videos for this megastar's online concert a week ago.

The platform had invested massive amounts of money into promotion and inviting the singer, offering the concert for free without charging a single cent. It was all for a massive, high-traffic carnival designed to completely boost the platform's fame.

Yet, such a high-budget megastar online concert was actually ranked behind Jiang Xiaoya's livestream.

This was something Zhou Yuyu wouldn't even dare to dream of, yet Jiang Xiaoya had achieved it effortlessly.

Zhou Yuyu closed her eyes expressionlessly.

The stronger the hatred, the more it resembled an undercurrent in the deep sea; the calmer and more silent the surface appeared, the more turbulent the currents beneath.

When she opened her eyes again, staring at the girl perched atop the rocket in the livestream, she suddenly burst into laughter.

So what if she became famous? So what if her reputation soared? Once the rocket detonates, she likely won't have the fate to endure it.

.

Jiang Xiaoya maintained her half-squatting posture. After an unknown amount of time, just as her legs began to tremble, she heard the wail of sirens.

Jiang Xiaoya quickly raised her gaze and indeed saw a crowd of onlookers in the distance, followed by the approaching flashing lights of... an ambulance!

Wait, did she see that correctly?

Wasn't it supposed to be a police car? An ambulance?

Uh... it wasn't that she thought an ambulance shouldn't come, but rather that the fact that a police car wasn't arriving while an ambulance was, was truly baffling to her.

Could it be that the police department found the situation too difficult and helpless, so they just sent an ambulance to issue her a death certificate?

A look of bewilderment and confusion flashed across Jiang Xiaoya's face.

The onlookers in the distance seemed to read her confused expression and shouted toward her.

"We called the ambulance for you! Jiang Xiaoya, don't be afraid! Even if there is only a sliver of hope, you must hold on!"

Jiang Xiaoya: "..."

Thank you so much! Why didn't you notify the funeral home to come collect the body at the same time?!

Jiang Xiaoya closed her eyes in despair once again.

The system was unreliable, the police were unreliable; whether she could survive depended entirely on whether her horoscope was strong enough.

The livestream's bullet chat was filled with encouraging cheers, with occasional malicious mockery, but it didn't affect the tragic and heroic atmosphere in the slightest.

At this moment, even some viewers were losing their composure.

[This is the first time I've seen such a vivid expression on a single face.]

[You can tell she wants to curse, and curse very filthily, but she somehow retracted it.]

[Hahaha, suddenly I find her so interesting. Ordinary people would be crying right now, but she's just like a stone statue, silently making peace with life.]

[We called the police and the ambulance immediately, but the hospital is close, which is why they arrived faster.]

[Jiang Xiaoya: When a person is speechless, they truly do laugh.]

[...]

By the time the police and the bomb disposal expert team arrived at the scene, twenty minutes had passed since the initial report.

A cordon was set up around the area. Neither the police nor the bomb disposal experts dared to approach easily. They used binoculars to confirm the rocket model and, after communication, dispatched two bomb disposal experts in explosion-proof suits to approach cautiously.

Everyone's breathing became shallow as they stared unblinkingly at the livestream footage.

After an unknown amount of time, once the bomb disposal experts had inspected and dismantled the various systems and routes of the rocket, they cautiously reached out toward Jiang Xiaoya, signaling that she could come down.

Jiang Xiaoya stood still.

"It's okay, come down!"

The bomb disposal expert in the bulletproof suit nodded and signaled to her.

Jiang Xiaoya opened her mouth, making several attempts at vocalizing before she finally managed to produce a sound.

"I... I can't move my legs."

It wasn't that she was being dramatic; her thighs simply wouldn't obey her.

The bomb disposal expert knew she was under psychological stress and had maintained one position for a long time, so such a phenomenon was normal.

The two experts worked together, reaching out to her to carefully lead her down. They carried her on their backs and moved her away from the rocket's range.

When the onlookers outside the cordon saw them emerge, an immediate roar of applause erupted.

In the crowd, Zhou Yuyu stared fixedly at Jiang Xiaoya being carried out, her expression stiff as her hands clapped along with the crowd.

The medical personnel on site finally proved useful. They conducted an examination on Jiang Xiaoya at the scene and determined that her thighs were merely experiencing poor circulation from maintaining one position for too long, with no other issues, and then escorted her away.

After thanking the bomb disposal experts, Jiang Xiaoya followed the police car back to the station.

Qing Tianfeng personally issued the order for her to cooperate and return to give a statement.

Jiang Xiaoya, of course, cooperated. Once inside the interrogation room, she recounted the entire sequence of events.

Qing Tianfeng simply stared at her, remaining silent.

Jiang Xiaoya knew his occupational habit was acting up again, but she had no time to play along with him here.

She had more important matters.

"Captain, I've said everything I know. Now, can I ask you one thing?"

"Speak!"

Qing Tianfeng raised his hand politely, granting permission expressionlessly.

"Ahem, regarding what I just told you... you know my current profession is scavenging."

"I make a living this way... Um, that rocket I dug up, does it belong to me?"

Qing Tianfeng: "..."

Demanding the rocket?

Why doesn't she just go to heaven?!

They shouldn't have gone to the explosives disposal unit for help; they should have just let her take the rocket to the sky.

Seeing him remain silent, Jiang Xiaoya grew anxious: "Captain, you know I'm a scavenger who lives off picking up scraps. I spent the whole afternoon digging it up. If you don't give it to me, haven't I worked in vain?"

"If I gave you the rocket, which scrap yard would dare to accept it?" Qing Tianfeng gave a deadpan laugh.

"Hehe, sure, the thing is scary, but now that the detonator is removed, if I dismantle it into scrap metal, I can still make some money."

There was no fear of the rocket in Jiang Xiaoya's eyes, only a firm determination to turn it into scrap metal for cash.

She didn't look at all like someone who was terrified of death—the same person who had maintained a half-squatting position on a rocket for nearly half an hour just to stay alive.

Qing Tianfeng had originally intended to extract information, but his train of thought was disrupted. Once he regained his senses, he felt his suspicion was utterly absurd.

How could he possibly suspect that Jiang Xiaoya was playing the Licheng Police?

(End of Chapter)