“What are you trying to say?” Xu Qian asked.
“I remember you telling me that your livestream viewers have been on a steady decline.”
“What about it?”
“It was at that time when you suddenly met your prince charming, one that’s perfect from every aspect. Not only that, he could give you what you have been longing for, which is to move to the fourth level. If I’m right, once you agree to his proposal and announce it in your final stream, you will no longer appear in front of the public. And this is exactly what they want. No matter what happens to you next, no one will know.”
“How is that possible? Even though my viewers have been declining, more than 400,000 people still watch my stream at any given time,” Xu Qian said.
“But once you retire, all those viewers will go and watch other streamers. You should know this better than anyone else. During the first few weeks, the netizens would talk about you, and there will be news in the newspapers reporting that you married into a wealthy family. Once the heat goes down, most of them will forget your name, save for diehard fans like E-Goat.”
Xu Qian was taken aback. As a newcomer who worked hard to become a famous streamer, she certainly knew how cruel this line was. The most abundant thing this job had to offer were the throngs of new streamers waiting to become famous. Let alone her. Even though Tang was once a star and had unbeatable achievements, nobody really talked about her anymore.
However, Xu Qian still found it difficult to accept Zhang Heng’s deduction, especially when she realized that on her right hand was the life he had been longing for and on her left was the abyss of horror. Nevertheless, it was not difficult for her to make a decision.
Xu Qian took two steps back and said to Zhang Heng, “I have already seen what you want me to see. it’s time to go back.”
“But there’s still something I want you to see,” Zhang Heng said, “You think Fu Ji’s boss, Jiang Hong, and the landlord were working together to mess with you? Why not go and talk to your distant cousin? You said she used to work with you at Fu Ji, and you cut all connections with her because of the streamer incident. No matter what, she is still related to you. Why don’t we go to her for confirmation next?”
“I won’t go looking for her. You are right. We have cut off all the ties, and we will never see each other again in this life,” Xu Qian grunted while throwing the spent cigarette before stepping on it, “Okay. I don’t care who you are going to find next. Anyway, I don’t want to stay in this hell hole for another second. The buildings and air here are terrible. I’m going back to the third level.”
After that, Xu Qian waved a taxi down. She seated herself at the front seat and said to the driver, “Go to the shuttle station as soon as possible. I can pay you double the fare if you can get me there within ten minutes.”
On the other hand, Zhang Heng did not try to stop Xu Qian. He just stood there and watched the taxi move away from him.
Less than two minutes later, a black SUV stopped in front of Zhang Heng.
The front passenger window wound down, revealing Miss F, who went straight to the point.
“Get in the car. Mr. G wants to see you.”
An hour later, the black SUV arrived at the edge of the first level, finally stopping in front of a huge glasshouse. Zhang Heng and Miss F got out of the car and started to look around. The place looked like a private garden that occupied an area not too big nor small.
Such gardens were not uncommon on the third and fourth levels. It was, however, a rare occurrence on the first level. Here, the people were more concerned about bread and milk. When Zhang Heng walked into the garden, he saw all kinds of flora and fauna. The person that owned this place even kept some rare bees. And there were swarms of them.
As soon as the door was opened, Zhang Heng could hear the loud droning sounds. Thousands of bees buzzed around the flowers, collecting the day’s nectar. They would return to their hives once their maximum load was reached. The bees were more than happy to repeat this process. In front of the hives stood a man with a straw hat, busy taking out a nesting frame from the colony. He began to scrape off the honeycombs with a knife before carefully placing them one by one into a wooden barrel on the side.
When he was done with everything, he inserted the frame back into the hive. He then stood up straight and walked towards Zhang Heng.
“Welcome, we meet again.” Mr. G took off the straw hat with a veil on his head, and handed it and his knife to his bodyguard, and shook hands with Zhang Heng.
He seemed to be in a good mood today. Seeing that Zhang Heng was still looking at the beehives behind him, he smiled.
“A temporary hobby of mine,” he said.
“Do you produce your own honey?” Zhang Heng asked.
“No, no, no, honey is just a by-product. What I like is the beekeeping itself, especially observing these little fluffy things with wings. Have you ever learned about bees? Their habits, social structure, and population characteristics?”
“Appreciate further details.”
“Bees and humans have a lot in common. We both need to produce and reproduce. In order to make these two things more efficient, we have come up with a social division of labor. You must have heard of a bee colony—the responsibilities of different bees.”
“Well. I know a thing or two.”
Mr. G took the water bottle handed by the bodyguard, took a few sips, and then happily said, “The queen bee—the one and only in each colony. Their main responsibility is to reproduce, and the queen does not need to be engaged in labor work. All she needs to do is to lie comfortably in the hive and wait for the worker bees to feed her every day. That’s what it’s like to stay on top of the pyramid. Under the queen are the drones. Life is good for her. She doesn’t need to do any heavy labor. After all, it is impossible that one person does all the reproduction work. Even the queen needs someone to help her.”
“But the problem is that only one male bee is allowed to mate with the queen. Before that, they need to fight with each other to determine a winner. However, the winner dies immediately after the mating process is over. It doesn’t sound too good. Every bee has its specific role in the hive. Finally, let’s look at the worker bees.”
Mr. G stretched out his hand and stopped a flying bee. ”
These are located at the bottom of the pyramid. The worker bees have the most numbers in the hive. These ones have the heaviest responsibilities. From collecting honey to incubating the eggs, cleaning the incubation room, feeding the queen, her larvae, the drones, and the guards… They work almost all the time. Their fate has been sealed since they were born. So they firmly believe that what they are doing is extremely important. But the truth is they are also the most expandable bees in the entire hive.”
Mr. G suddenly squeezed the bee on his fingertips without warning.
“Look, nothing happened. It’s business as usual for the bee colony.”
