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"You've already helped me a lot. How can I trouble you again? Besides, who was the fool that signed that contract?"
Just as we were talking, Sarah's phone rang. She gave me an apologetic look and then stepped aside to answer the call.
Although I couldn't hear what she was saying on the phone, Sarah's expression gradually turned grim.
After hanging up, Sarah forced a smile.
"Mrs. Wilson, thank you so much for today. If I ever get the chance, I will definitely repay you."
With that, she bowed to me.
"I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave."
Without waiting for my response, Sarah lifted her skirt and ran into the hall.
"Kathie, you really are soft-hearted!"
I didn't know when Matthew and Winter had come out from inside. They stood behind me, and I wasn't sure how much of my conversation with Sarah they had overheard.
I shook my head, feeling a bit melancholic.
"It's not about being soft-hearted; it's about empathy. I genuinely want to help this girl."
Winter sat down next to me, and Matthew followed suit, sitting beside her.
It seemed their relationship was progressing faster than I had imagined!
"This Sarah belongs to StarBoost Media, which is not a good place."
Winter pursed her lips and began to list the various terrible practices of StarBoost Media.
"They deceive young girls into signing hegemonic contracts and then force them to live stream, but it's all vulgar content."
"That's not the worst part. The revenue from the live streams is split 90-10, with the streamer getting 10% and the company taking the rest."
"After a while, the so-called agent will persuade these streamers to get plastic surgery, saying it will make them more popular."
"But these streamers don't have that kind of money, so the agent tricks them into taking out high-interest loans."
"Of course, the high-interest loans are also from their company. This way, they have complete control over the streamers."
"Streamers who become famous through vulgar content have a short shelf life. When they are no longer popular, the agent arranges for them to entertain clients, with the highest bidder winning. These streamers then transition from legitimate careers to prostitution."
I was stunned, but more than that, I was puzzled as to how Winter knew so much.
It wasn't just me; Matthew was also very surprised.
Seeing our reactions, Winter couldn't help but laugh.
"You're curious about how I know all this, aren't you?"
She sighed and seemed to drift into a memory.
"I had a very good friend who came from a rural village. She was very gentle and beautiful. Even though she didn't have the current 'plastic surgery face,' she could still hold her own against these almost identical-looking celebrities."
"Her father had a car accident and the other party demanded a large sum of compensation. Her family didn't have that kind of money."
"When they couldn't pay, the other party's family would come to their house every day to cause trouble. Once, they even pushed her mother down the stairs, turning her into a vegetable."
"To help her father pay off the debt, my friend went to such a company."
"They did give her a large sum of money, solving her immediate crisis. But the nightmare had just begun."
"To pay off the debt, she barely slept and live-streamed all day. But she was smart and knew that relying on vulgar content wasn't sustainable, so she created her own content for the live streams."