Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 374: Big Brother
"Feng Yi, go check the surveillance footage from the past three days. I saw cameras at the main gate and in the parking lot. You can't possibly only keep three days' worth of footage, can you? Please cooperate, and don't tell me the videos are missing. Otherwise, I'll organize a joint enforcement action with the Industry and Commerce Bureau, Fire Department, Urban Construction Bureau, and the Municipal Comprehensive Management Office!"

The last sentence was spoken by Nie Guoqiang to the building manager who was standing awkwardly beside him.

His expression turned very unpleasant the moment he arrived at the Fengkai Building.

He was disgusted by the women outside, who seemed no different from the prostitutes he had arrested during his crackdowns on prostitution. Moreover, their blatant skirting of the law was, in a way, a provocation to the police. Yes, you are indeed skirting the edge of the law, making it difficult for the police to catch you. But on the other side of the legal line lies a criminal abyss, where a single misstep could lead to a moment of lapse in judgment or self-deception.

Thinking the police can't touch them, thinking a crime won't be discovered, they end up in jail. Based on Nie Guoqiang's many years of experience, few people like this can endure it indefinitely; sooner or later, they'll all turn to crime. Moreover, this behavior simply creates trouble for the police. In short, they must be closely monitored and strictly followed; if they cause harm to society, they should be arrested immediately.

Nie Guoqiang's eyes looked as if everyone in the building was a criminal suspect.

Seeing his expression, and hearing Nie Guoqiang's threatening words, how could the person in charge of the building dare to argue? Without saying a word or wasting any time, he hurriedly led Feng Yi to the monitoring room.

As for what these police officers were there for, he didn't dare to ask any further. He was just an employee; what did other people's crimes have to do with him? Besides, it would be fine if they arrested his own boss—that bastard who dared to bet three and then withhold one!

The person in charge was so angry that he forgot to warn the merchants and residents in the building.

"Room 1, 25th floor, Building B, right?"

Nie Guoqiang led the others to the elevator, signaling Xie Hua to block the door on the first floor and keep watch to prevent any accidents. Then, he led Zhao Zhigang, Zhang Ke, and Lin Ge into the elevator and pressed the button for the 25th floor.

The elevator ascended silently, stopping twice along the way. But the people waiting outside, upon seeing the police officers inside, immediately chickened out and dared not enter. Some even awkwardly turned away, muttering as they returned to their workstations.

"These guys are all incredibly guilty!"

Zhao Zhigang looked somewhat helpless. What was going on with this scene where people acted as if they were mice before a cat? Even when enforcing the law, he would encounter people who were afraid to approach the police, but this scene of not having one of them was unique to this building.

"Hmph! They all know perfectly well that it's all about chasing traffic and grabbing attention; it's never going to be considered highbrow. Even without selling sex appeal, isn't the livestreaming industry already flooded with counterfeit goods?"

Zhang Ke sneered.

Seeing Nie Guoqiang looking at him with surprise, Zhang Ke explained, "Director Nie, you don't watch live streams much, so you don't know just how chaotic the current live-streaming e-commerce scene is. To be honest, live-streaming e-commerce is essentially an intermediary, a bridge between buyers and sellers, right? But real estate agents, whether selling houses or goods, at least have a fixed business location and a legal business license. But live-streaming? It turns business into a referral system based on acquaintances, which means it lacks regulation and a fair attitude towards both buyers and sellers. Many live-streamers know the goods are counterfeit, but they still openly sell them. Then, when consumers complain, they switch from being acquaintances or relatives to acting as intermediaries, refusing to take responsibility for the sold items. Just as infamous was the intermediary business in the past, the quality of live-streaming e-commerce is just as uneven now."

"When you're selling something, you call everyone 'family' and 'relatives' so affectionately, but when it comes to after-sales service, you just show them what the seller is selling and whether it's genuine or fake, and that's none of my business, right?"

Zhao Zhigang understood what Zhang Ke meant.

"Isn't this just a profiteer?"

Nie Guoqiang frowned.

Zhang Ke nodded and said, "It's a contactless business model that operates solely on the personal qualities of the livestreamers and the ethical standards of the companies, lacking regulation. It's very similar to the micro-businesses of a few years ago; both are emerging business methods that severely lack after-sales service and government oversight. Of course, it's not to say that everyone involved in livestream e-commerce is a black market intermediary, but this industry has a serious negative problem of 'bad money driving out good.' No matter how good someone's products are, they can't compare to those with a large following who have more traffic. Those merchants who genuinely want to expand their market through this route will eventually resort to borderline or attention-grabbing tactics in pursuit of traffic..."

When Zhang Ke sighed as he spoke, Nie Guoqiang was taken aback.

It took him a while to understand Zhang Ke's meaning. He stared wide-eyed in surprise and said, "So, going for the sake of traffic and pushing the boundaries has become something we have no choice but to do? Just because the audience for this kind of behavior is larger, we have no choice but to do it?"

Zhao Zhigang understood and nodded, saying, "Obviously, having a fifty-year-old woman dryly recite lines about how good your products are is definitely not as pleasant as having a pretty young woman coaxing you with a sweet voice. Haha... what you say makes sense! Sometimes when I'm bored and watching live streams, I'll just skip over those that don't seem like anything special at first glance. Zhang Ke, so all this is our fault as viewers?"

Nie Guoqiang frowned again.

"It should be said that there is a lack of guidance and regulation, and a lack of effective restrictive measures. Of course, that's a long story! We're just police officers, not market economy regulators. Oh! We've reached the 25th floor."

The elevator doors opened with a 'ding', and Zhang Ke was the first to step out.

"How does this guy know so much?"

Zhao Zhigang muttered something and followed Zhang Ke to the 25th floor. Even though he had been a regular police officer for quite some time, he still looked like Zhang Ke's lackey, which made Nie Guoqiang, who was walking at the back, frown.

The three people and the cat arrived at Room 1 at the end of the elevator, which turned out to be an online studio. Unlike professional companies that combine live streaming with creating short videos to attract fans, this studio was solely dedicated to live streaming. The studio was divided into more than ten cubicles, each with a pretty young woman diligently live streaming in front of the camera. Those with more viewers were selling products or playing games, while those with fewer viewers simply chatted with their audience.

On the wall of the lobby, there was something that could be called a threatening notice, which clearly stated the bottom-ranking elimination system and that individual salaries would be 100% determined by the number of fans and the amount of money spent by fans, etc.

To some extent, this also forces female livestreamers to find ways to retain viewers. And undoubtedly, for the vast majority of female livestreamers, selling sex appeal is their fastest, and perhaps only, option.

"Showing off thighs, half-covering her chest, making pinching sounds... Hehe! Oh, there's even someone changing clothes right in front of you, they really know how to have fun!"

As Zhao Zhigang walked along, he felt his eyes were being opened. He had to admit that this studio was indeed shrewd, finding these girls—some pretty, some incredibly pretty with filters—at almost zero cost, and then treating them like livestock to make money for the studio. There wasn't even a basic salary; frankly, these girls were making themselves earn money to pay their own wages, while the workers reaped the benefits. Logically, such blatant behavior shouldn't fool anyone, but a sign on the wall read, "We will absolutely not prevent our anchors from developing their own careers after becoming famous," which lured many girls who considered themselves beautiful or chosen ones to join in.

Every streamer firmly believes they can become a top influencer, and every streamer feels that the current difficulties are only temporary. So they persevere, working tirelessly in front of the camera until their throats are dry, even without pay.

“Who is in charge?”

The arrival of the police did not interrupt any of the live broadcasts. Nie Guoqiang had no choice but to cough and then loudly question them in a stern tone.

However, his words only made a few girls in the pigeon coop look up once, before they hurriedly lowered their heads again to continue flirting with the audience.

"sneeze!"

The strong smell of cosmetics and the stale air made Lin Ge sneeze, even spitting out some snot. He quickly stepped forward and wiped his face on Zhao Zhigang's pants, only to find that the guy didn't react at all, staring blankly at one of the female anchors.

"Don't embarrass me!"

Seeing his embarrassing state, Nie Guoqiang couldn't help but kick him.

"No! I saw this female streamer on social media before. I didn't expect she was from Zhangzhou. Speaking of which, wasn't she involved in some dispute over a top male fan a while ago? Why is she back streaming now?"

Zhao Zhigang took off his hat, puzzled, and scratched his head.

To Nie Guoqiang and his companions' surprise, even after they revealed their identities, no one in charge appeared. It seemed this studio really didn't manage these female anchors much, but perhaps it really didn't need to…

"The female streamers definitely can't see or take the money from the live streams. They can leave on their own, and the studio doesn't seem to have to pay any costs. Tsk tsk... What a win-win strategy! They don't focus on top streamers or aim to make a lot of money. As long as there's a steady stream of girls who seem destined for fame, their income will never stop. As for regulation, they leave it all to the platform. I have to say, this studio is quite clever."

Zhang Ke, being from a business family, quickly understood the studio's approach.

With numerous overhead surveillance cameras and monitoring every pigeon coop, these female streamers were indeed unlikely to cause any damage to the studio. As a result, they barely needed support staff, who would slack off and disappear during the day.

"Thank you so much for the ten rockets! Love you!"

Suddenly a voice rang out, filled with intense emotion, almost screaming. At the same time, Lin Ge vaguely heard a muffled groan, followed by the sound of teeth grinding together.

The muffled groan sounded somewhat familiar.

Lin Ge felt like he'd heard that voice before, especially that suppressed, almost tangible exhalation that sounded like blood vessels about to burst—any further and he'd be unconscious and dead. "It's that guy Wang Jun!"

Lin Ge's eyes lit up; he finally remembered where he had heard that muffled groan. Wasn't it the same muffled groan Wang Jun had let out that day when he was extremely angry and suppressed, and then stopped moving?

This guy was right here!

Lin Ge looked in the direction of the sound and found it at the deepest part of a dozen pigeon coops. The innermost pigeon coop was flashing lights, and looking through the transparent glass door, he could see that its interior was more luxurious than the other pigeon coops.

"He's probably going to be the studio's star streamer, right?"

Lin Ge walked over curiously.

"Ah! Thank you so much for the twenty rockets from the top-ranked fan! It's such a pity, he only held the top spot for a minute before being overtaken again. My friends, our top-ranked fan is so generous and amazing, isn't he? Twenty rockets in one go! Ahh, I love him to death!"

The woman's frantic voice came from inside again.

This guy was shouting so loudly that it disturbed several pigeon coops next door, and the female anchor inside looked over there with a gloomy face.

Then, Lin Ge heard Wang Jun's smug, cold laugh.

"..."

Could this be the guy who sent twenty rockets as a reward?

The woman he's fallen for is actually a female live streamer? And judging from the current situation, he's actually spending money to compete with another person online for the top spot on the leaderboard for this woman?
"Mimi?"

Seeing Lin Ge suddenly move, Nie Guoqiang and the other two quickly followed.

The three people and the cat arrived at the door of the deepest room and immediately saw Wang Jun sitting on a round sofa in the corner.

Compared to when he was seen a few days ago, Wang Jun now looked sallow and disheveled, his hair a mess, like a bird's nest. He was clutching a cell phone tightly in his hand, as if he wanted to crush it.

In front of Wang Jun was a live-streaming setup that was more complex than those in the other rooms. Behind the setup was a girl with a good figure, dressed somewhat maturely, but with a very youthful face, smiling sweetly at the camera.

"A baby face with huge breasts!"

Zhao Zhigang muttered to himself again, seemingly understanding why Wang Jun was so infatuated with this woman.

Neither of the two people inside noticed the police outside; one was staring at the live stream screen, and the other was holding a mobile phone, both intently watching the situation inside.

When the guy the girl called "Second Brother" gifted her ten rockets again, she exclaimed with delight and even shamelessly blew a kiss to the camera, making Wang Jun's face on the other side even uglier.

Wang Jun immediately looked down and operated his phone, pressing the buttons so hard it seemed he wanted to pierce the phone.

"Wow! Thank you so much, top donor, for sending twenty rockets! Love you!"

The girl blew another kiss, and this time, whether intentionally or not, the kiss was aimed directly at Wang Jun, causing Wang Jun, who had just put down his phone, to reveal an excited and arrogant smile.

It's obvious that the rocket was sent by him. Or rather, the top spender in the girl's live stream is Wang Jun himself, sitting across from her.

How much does a rocket cost?

Nie Guoqiang turned to Zhao Zhigang and asked.

"Hiss... a thousand dollars?"

Zhao Zhigang had never given such a thing as a gift, and after thinking for a moment, he gave an unsure answer.

"Twenty rockets, that's 20,000! In the blink of an eye, 20,000 yuan is gone with a few taps on a phone? What was this guy thinking! There are so many good things to do with 20,000 yuan, why would he use it to exchange for a woman's insincere thanks?"

Zhang Ke frowned in displeasure.

Although he was a rich second-generation, he wouldn't even look at a mere 20,000 yuan. But rich second-generation people aren't stupid; he would never do something like throwing money away out of thin air.

Moreover, is a woman who fawns over others really worth Wang Jun's brainless embarrassment?

Does this idiot have a cuckold fetish? He can watch the woman he likes flirting with another man up close and he's completely unmoved? Or does he think that by taking the top spot on the leaderboard, this woman will belong to him?
Zhang Ke simply couldn't understand this situation, nor could he comprehend how Wang Jun had been bewitched by this woman, unable to see her shameless nature even now.

"jingle!"

Nie Guoqiang's phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Li Yiduo's number.

"Chief, there's been a change in Wang Jun's bank account. Just ten minutes ago, 100,000 yuan was transferred to a company called Xigua Network Entertainment Co., Ltd. I checked, and it's a platform that specializes in live streaming. This money was converted into Xigua coins, which are used for live streaming rewards. Hmm... Should we lock Wang Jun's account now? I'm worried that the card has fallen into someone else's hands, and they're using the live streaming platform to launder it..."

"..."

Nie Guoqiang was silent for a while before finally saying, "No need! We've already found Wang Jun. He spent the money himself. The woman he likes is a female streamer, and he's spending money to compete with her for the top spot on the leaderboard."

"what?"

Li Yiduo on the other end of the phone was stunned. Weren't they boyfriend and girlfriend? How did it turn into a relationship between a female anchor and her top male fan? And what does "competing" mean? Does whoever pays more become that woman's boyfriend?

Nie Guoqiang had no interest in explaining to Li Yiduo, and simply ordered Li Yiduo to contact Wang Dali and have him return to the police station.

After hanging up the phone, Nie Guoqiang pushed open the door to the live broadcast room without hesitation.

"Family members...who is it?! Huh?"

The girl's interaction with the audience was interrupted, and she looked up in dissatisfaction. But when she saw that it was the police who had arrived, she was stunned.

"Hey?"

Wang Jun, looking up, was also stunned. He recognized both the policeman and the cat perfectly. But he never expected to see them here. What... what happened?
Wang Jun still doesn't know how much trouble his unexplained disappearance caused for the police and his father.

"What a naive and foolish young man, never having left his ivory tower!"

Lin Ge shook his head helplessly.

(End of this chapter)