Chapter 15: A Mental Breakdown After Another

The initial fifty to sixty thousand viewers mistakenly thought a massive pile of trash had been unearthed, only to realize a rocket had been found, with news of the discovery exploding. This instantly ignited the entire internet, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flood in, with the viewer count approaching the million mark.

Jiang Xiaoya's personal livestream sat firmly at the number one spot on the program's leaderboard. Simultaneously, her stream climbed to third place on the overall live rankings; the top two spots were occupied by major influencers and superstars broadcasting live concerts!

Netizens who wandered into the livestream were left utterly bewildered by the footage, which appeared almost static yet was not.

【Is this some trash mountain movie set? Are they posing for a film?】

【I don't know either. I've been here for a few minutes. Is it a movie set? Doesn't anyone think this girl has incredible balance? She's been standing there motionless for so long without sliding off.】

【Her movements have that vibe of a martial arts superstar doing parkour on a rooftop in a movie. So cool.】

【Nobody told me this is how humans are transported by rockets! /funny/funny/funny!】

【Uh... is it possible that such great balance is just her way of staying alive?】

【Uh... is it possible that the martial arts superstar is doing real parkour, and she is actually standing on a real rocket?】

【Uh, are there any other possibilities? Is this not a rocket carrying people, but a person riding a rocket? Is she doing a horse stance on a rocket? Is she stepping on a rocket to prepare to fly to the moon? In short, it's definitely not "rocket transport."】

At the same time, news that a contestant from the program had dug up a rocket while scavenging through trash spread like wildfire, quickly hitting the trending searches.

Trending Topic: #War-era Rocket Discovered in Junkyard! [Photos]#

The news station received a temporary assignment, urgently contacted the production team, and successfully patched into Jiang Xiaoya's live broadcast.

What was originally just an ordinary livelihood-themed variety show instantly became the focus of global news. The fame of both the program and Jiang Xiaoya continued to rise, with the hype spreading exponentially.

Not far away, inside the junkyard sorting station, Zhou Yuanyu was still immersed in her fantasy of becoming an overnight sensation through the show, rising to the status of a top-tier star with boundless glory.

Unexpectedly, the auntie who had been chatting while cracking melon seeds suddenly sent a frantic message. Though she didn't know what was said, the others heard it and began rushing toward the exit in a panic.

Sensing something was wrong, Zhou Yuanyu pulled off her gas mask. "Auntie, what's happening outside? Why is it so noisy?"

"Oh my goodness, you don't know yet? The girl scavenging with you in the program found a rocket in the trash mountain behind us! The station manager told us to evacuate to a safe area immediately. Let's go, quick!"

The auntie turned around upon hearing her voice, looking annoyed, having almost forgotten her.

The production team had negotiated a partnership with the junkyard, allowing the contestants to scavenge at the sorting station. When the station manager first notified them, everyone had been grumbling.

They worked at the sorting station and earned a monthly wage; the trash they found wasn't worth much, but it could cover a day's meals. If they let these people in to scavenge, what would be left for them?

Thus, the supervisor had come up with a plan: they would unite to drive these people toward the trash mountains in the back, preventing them from entering the sorting station.

The reason Zhou Yuanyu was allowed in was that a mysterious person had watched the show and liked her very much, asking them to look after her. In exchange, everyone would receive two hundred yuan.

The old man and the auntie had clapped and agreed immediately. The station manager was rarely at the junkyard; as long as they stood together, they controlled the sorting station. Even if the manager asked later, they could explain that the sorting work was too busy and they were worried the contestants would interfere with operations.

Thinking about the two hundred yuan and her promise to the mysterious person to look after Zhou Yuanyu, the auntie reached out, snatched the tools from Zhou Yuanyu's hands, and threw them on the ground.

"Let's go, let's go! What's there to scavenge? Hurry and leave with us. If that rocket explodes, you won't have a life left to spend whatever trash you find."

The auntie dragged Zhou Yuanyu away in a frantic scramble, looking as if enemy shells were being fired at them.

Zhou Yuanyu, gripped by the wrist, could not break free and nearly tripped several times. Her makeup, which was intended to look "delicately disheveled," was completely ruined, smeared into a dirty mess. The beauty fans in the livestream were horrified.

Once Zhou Yuanyu and the workers reached the safe zone, they hurriedly pulled out their phones to figure out what was happening.

Sure enough, as soon as she turned on her phone, a push notification appeared: *War-era rocket unearthed at Li Cheng Junkyard.*

"It's on the news?"

Zhou Yuanyu was dumbfounded, but in the next instant, a trace of imperceptible joy flashed across her face.

The higher the show's popularity, the easier it would be for her to be discovered and become a star.

It seemed even heaven was helping her.

Zhou Yuanyu clicked the notification and scrolled through the page. When she saw the large photo at the very top, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Who is this? Why are they posing on top of a rocket!

She clicked the image, and as she examined the details, she nearly dropped her phone in shock.

"Jiang Xiaoya?"

How could it be her!

Zhou Yuanyu looked at it several times to confirm that the person standing on the rocket was indeed Jiang Xiaoya. Her expression gradually turned ugly.

Regardless of whether Jiang Xiaoya was clout-chasing, she had successfully made herself famous this time.

Zhou Yuanyu hurriedly exited the news page and clicked on the livestream.

She first checked her own livestream. Seeing twenty to thirty thousand viewers, she breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Previously, she had been stuck at the threshold of a few thousand viewers, finding it difficult to break through.

She hadn't expected to reach over twenty thousand today.

Then she looked at the bullet comments below.

【Did someone in this show scavenge a rocket?】

【Where is the rocket? Everyone is running away—is it about to explode? Or has it already exploded?】

【It feels like the thrill of the apocalypse.】

【Isn't this a scavenging show? Why is her makeup so heavy? The powder looks so cakey and ugly.】

【Exactly, why wear makeup while scavenging? The girl I saw on the news wasn't wearing any makeup at all—just a pure, natural face. Heaven knows how much of an impact she had on me. She was like a great tree, taking root and sprouting amidst the cosmic torrent, growing a dense thicket of thorns beneath her—not to harm, but resilient and unyielding, independent and tenacious, tragic yet fearless.】

【What a talent! I strongly opposed it when the gentleman left the literary world...】

Zhou Yuanyu dug her nails deep into her palms, her face losing all composure.

Even worse were the comments in the livestream, which kept reminding everyone

【If you want to see the rocket, go to Jiang Xiaoya's livestream next door, hurry!】

【The livestream next door is the live scene at the rocket site!】

【The one standing on the rocket is Jiang Xiaoya! Next door! Number one on the leaderboard! Jiang Xiaoya is number one!】

【Hurry to Jiang Xiaoya's livestream to see the rocket, or it might explode!】

Zhou Yuanyu was so angry she wanted to block them all, but the livestream was managed by the production team, and she had no such authority.

Zhou Yuanyu switched out of her stream and entered the number one ranked livestream.

They say a sea of people can be overwhelming, but this was the first time Zhou Yuanyu realized that a sea of comments could be just as staggering.