Man spends P32 million on streamer to hear her call him 'brother'
A man in China took being a fanboy to the next level.
According to the South China Morning Post, the man, who is only identified as Hong, spent about $550,000 (P32 million) to tip a live-streaming anchor and hear her call him "brother."
Hong, who lives in Ningbo in Zhejiang province, developed a fixation with the female anchor earlier in the year. The identity of the streamer remains under wraps.
After his family had cut him off from funneling money to support the anchor, Hong resorted to other means like stealing copper from his family business in May. Working in the hardware industry, he sold the materials to a recycling station, earning about $316,000 (P18.5 million).
In October, the factory reported missing copper to the police, prompting an investigation. Hong turned himself in, confessing to two thefts.
Later on, he admitted to committing over 40 thefts and using the money to tip the streamer.
When asked about his motives, Hong said: "I didn't want to meet her; I just wanted to hear her call me 'brother.'"
His obsession with the personality had caused Hong to resort to eating only plain steamed buns.
About 1 million yuan (P8 million) has been recovered by authorities and returned to the factory. Hong has been arrested on suspicion of theft.
In 2019, iResearch reported that the market size for virtual gift donations during streams in China reached about $19 billion (P1.1 trillion).
