I let out a cold snort but didn’t move my hands.
I didn’t send any gifts and Alicia’s smile began to fade.
“Brother Steve? Are you there? Can you hear Alicia speaking?”
I tapped the screen lightly.
“Don’t call me. I’m not voting.”
The moment my message appeared, I caught a fleeting glimmer of mockery in Alicia’s eyes.
Three minutes later—without my gifts—Alicia was quickly eliminated.
Almost as soon as she was out, my private messages began to ring one after another.
[Did Alicia do something wrong? Does Brother no longer want me?]
[Brother is my benefactor. Without Brother, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Will Brother still support me in the future?]
I didn’t feel like arguing with her, so I typed one short reply.
[I don’t want to send gifts anymore. No reason.]
After that, the messages went silent for the rest of the night.
I thought the matter was over—until the next morning, when I was woken by the nonstop beeping of private messages on the live-streaming platform.
My inbox was flooded with unfamiliar accounts, the message list packed with insults.
[You old man trying to eat swan meat—what are you, fifty already? Still trying to learn other people’s dirty tricks?]
[Don’t you have a mirror at home? Go look at the crap you posted on Tiktok. I can’t even bear to look at it.]
[Does your wife and kids know you’re acting like this online? Should I send your chat logs to your family so they can see what kind of creature you are?]
Before I could figure out what was going on, one account caught my attention—Gardenia.
It didn’t send any insults. Instead, it sent a series of screenshots.
When I opened them, I saw chat logs from Alicia’s fan group.
[Did this guy take the wrong medicine today? Why didn’t he send any gifts in the stream? Because of him, our Alicia got eliminated so early.]
[Exactly. Usually he acts so generous, but today he didn’t spend a cent. If it weren’t for him, we could’ve watched Alicia longer.]
[Poor Alicia, she probably couldn’t complete today’s task.]
I was so angry I actually laughed. Where do these people get such a sense of entitlement over someone else’s money?
Alicia had invited me to join this so-called fan group before, but I’d refused.
After all, I sent gifts to satisfy my own emotions—I had no interest in being part of their little community.
And yet, here they were, talking about me behind my back.
A bunch of freeloaders who haven’t spent a single penny, daring to criticize me? Ridiculous.
I scrolled down further and saw Alicia’s own post.
[Everyone, please stop blaming Brother Steve. It’s all my fault. There’s just some money I can’t earn and it’s only natural that Brother Steve wouldn’t send me any gifts.]
The moment she dropped that suggestive comment, the group erupted.
[What’s that supposed to mean? Did he force you to do something?]
[What kind of money can’t be earned? This happens all the time—he probably wanted to meet you and take advantage for a few lousy coins. Who knows where his money came from? It’s disgusting.]
[Alicia is right! Why should someone with a few stinking coins be able to pressure others? And when you don’t give in, he stops sending gifts? I feel so sorry for Alicia—poor thing.]
Alicia responded with a pitiful emoji, then added.
[Don’t worry, everyone. I just made the choice I felt was right. Since I’ve received so much love, I will never let you all down. I chose this path because singing and dancing are my dreams. Whether for my dreams or for all of you, I will never do anything despicable for money!]
