CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28 LESSONS

"Hello, Anchor. My name is Zhao Bailian, and I’m twenty-four years old."

Hearing the young woman’s frail voice, the entire live stream erupted into a frenzy.

[A girl! A girl! There’s a girl in the stream!]

[A girl! What’s wrong? Did your boyfriend cheat on you?]

[Yeah, girl, you can tell us anything. If it’s that bad, you can always get a new boyfriend. What do you think of me?]

[Get the hell out, guy above! It’s not right to try and steal someone’s girl.]

[Who says? Which couple *hasn’t* broken up after the Anchor’s mediation? I bet this one’s next.]

[He’s got a point. Let me throw my hat in the ring. Hey girl, what about me? I have a car, a house, and my parents are deceased!]

The bullet comments flew by in a frenzy, but Xia Liang paid them no mind. At that moment, his entire focus was on whether he could activate a task. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Miss, has your boyfriend done something completely outrageous? Feel free to tell everyone about it, and we can see if he deserves to be forgiven."

Hearing Xia Liang’s words, Zhao Bailian nodded and began her story.

"Here’s what happened. My boyfriend is a senior medical student, and lately, he’s been working overtime on his thesis and has been neglecting me. Yesterday, I finally lost my temper and deleted his entire thesis. Afterward, we had a huge fight, and he even yelled at me. I know I did something wrong and was a bit willful, but he shouldn’t have yelled at me. Not only that, every time I got angry in the past, he would always coax me, but this time he didn’t. I want to break up with him, but he’s been so good to me, and I can’t bear to leave him."

As Zhao Bailian finished speaking, the live stream instantly exploded.

[Damn! I really admire this guy’s restraint!]

[Yeah! You deleted a thesis that took him months of medical study to write? I’m honestly afraid he’s going to stab you 37 times and get away with it by calling it a ’minor injury’!]

[Heh? So this is what women are like? Calling this ’willful’?]

[You go, girl! You did the right thing! Willful women are the cutest! What’s the point of a boyfriend who won’t tolerate you? Dump him, quick! You deserve better!]

[I’m with the sister above! But before you break up with him, give me his contact info. I’ll help you ’teach him a lesson’!]

...

Looking at the lines of bullet comments flying past, Zhao Bailian began to panic. In her eyes, deleting the thesis was a minor issue. Sure, she had made a mistake, but the real problem was her boyfriend ignoring her in the first place. It was just one thesis, yet he still yelled at her. She could only hope Xia Liang would say something in her defense.

At the same time, she sent a Rocket, hoping Xia Liang would advise her on what to do.

After hearing the whole story and seeing the Rocket launch, Xia Liang unsurprisingly activated a task. It was not, however, one that involved comforting her.

[Ding—Congratulations, Host, for activating the hidden task: Scold the Capricious Girl Awake.

Task Description: The girl, living in a world of toxic advice, feels no remorse. Scold her until she snaps out of it.

Task Reward: 30 Work Points, 100% ownership of Qingyun Grand Hotel, one C-level Luck Card.]

He glanced at the bullet comments in the live stream and nodded with satisfaction. It seemed the audience’s moral compass was mostly pointing true. After pondering for a moment, Xia Liang finally spoke.

"Girl, listen to me. Be a decent human being. Break up with him and let him go."

...

The moment Xia Liang spoke, the entire live stream erupted again.

[Holy shit? Xia Demolition Demon is being this direct?]

[He just jumps straight to telling them to break up?]

[He really is the Xia Demolition Demon. He’ll break up a couple whenever he can. Always pushing for a split, never reconciliation.]

[I agree with the Anchor! Sister, please, let that one-in-a-million guy go.]

...

Clearly, Xia Liang was not on her side. Zhao Bailian became restless and quickly blurted out.

"What do you all know? This is something I saw online. You can only tell if your boyfriend loves you by being capricious. If he loves you, he’ll tolerate it. If he doesn’t tolerate it, it means he doesn’t love you anymore. He always used to forgive me and coax me before. This time, he didn’t. That just proves he doesn’t love me anymore."

Lines of comments schooling Zhao Bailian scrolled by, and her face grew paler with each one she read. Xia Liang almost felt like he didn’t need to say anything; plenty of people in the chat already understood the situation. Still, after a moment’s thought, he decided he had to add his two cents.

"Girl, you’re an adult. The first thing you need to do is establish a proper set of values for yourself. You should have your own judgment, not just believe everything you hear."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bailian furrowed her brows, apparently contemplating his words. Seeing that she was listening, Xia Liang nodded in satisfaction. It’s a good sign that she’s listening. At least she hasn’t been completely corrupted by that toxic advice.

"Perhaps in your eyes, deleting his thesis was just an impulsive, willful act. But have you ever considered the consequences for your boyfriend? If he doesn’t submit his thesis on time, he won’t get his diploma. How is he supposed to find a good job then?"

In the video, Zhao Bailian’s bowed head made it clear she had never considered any of these consequences. Xia Liang could only sigh.

"A lot of people are like you these days; they can’t establish proper values for themselves. One day, you’ll be scrolling through videos, and some ’inspirational’ post will tell you that as a woman, you should work hard, not rely on men, and prove you’re just as capable.

"After watching it, you’ll feel all fired up, planning to work hard tomorrow. But before the next day even arrives, you’ll scroll to another video telling you that as a woman, you should cherish yourself, enjoy life while you’re young, and be kind to yourself. And you’ll think that makes perfect sense, too. You’ll convince yourself that you should treat yourself well and live in the moment.

"I’m just curious, do you people not have your own values? Are you really swayed by every single video you see?"

Listening to Xia Liang’s stern voice, Zhao Bailian lowered her head even further. Her face flushed red, though it was impossible to tell if it was from anger or shame.

Having said this much, Xia Liang felt there was nothing more to say. As for the task, this is probably as good as it’s going to get. After all, as the saying goes, you can’t wake someone who’s only pretending to be asleep.

"Let me say one last thing. If you still refuse to change, and if you have even a shred of affection for this man, I’m begging you, let him go. You don’t deserve his love."

*You don’t deserve him! You don’t deserve him!*

Zhao Bailian felt those words—"You don’t deserve him"—slamming into her heart. She began to recall their time together, all her various selfish whims. She bit her lip so hard it started to bleed, which stirred a sense of pity in many viewers.

[Man, wasn’t the anchor a bit too harsh?]

[Yeah, she’s a girl, after all. Couldn’t he have been a bit more gentle? Look what he did to the poor girl; she’s even bleeding.]

[...The comment above sounds a little sus. I think you’re making a dirty joke, and I have proof!]

[Damn, what an expert! You can turn anything into a dirty joke!]