Li, 31, lives in Nanjing, China. He’s divorced and raising a young child. Though money is tight, his obsession with female streamers has landed him a debt of 500,000 yuan (about 1.7 billion VND).
Li’s tough situation has sparked nonstop chatter online in China. Here’s the story: Since August last year, Li started watching live streams for fun. There, he met a girl with the nickname “First Love.” She sweet-talked him into constantly topping up his account to buy gifts for her. The gift values climbed from a few thousand yuan to hundreds of thousands. On some days, Li donated as much as 200,000 yuan (over 700 million VND).
Li said the girl reached out first, adding him as a friend and messaging him. She introduced herself as an art student in Nanjing studying vocal music and hoped Li would become her fan and support her: “She asked me to help boost her popularity to earn rewards, promising to pay me back,” Li shared.
It didn’t stop there. She flirted, courted him, and even asked him to be her boyfriend. Thinking a pretty, gentle streamer agreed to be his girlfriend, Li spent even more, climbing to the “top big spender” spot multiple times.
In just six months, he borrowed over 500,000 yuan (about 1.7 billion VND), including some quick loans. Some nights he spent more than 200,000 yuan (over 700 million VND) gifting his virtual lover.
Recently, as his debt piled up, Li asked her to pay him back but she vanished. To repay his loans, he quit his job paying 2,000 to 3,000 yuan (about 7-10 million VND) and became a delivery driver. Even working from dawn till late, he still can’t cover the interest.
Li has now reported the case to the police, who have officially recorded his complaint.
