CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58: MURDER TO PUNISH THE HEART

Tian Gou felt a surge of uneasiness. This guy isn’t going to be relentless, is he?

Indeed, in the next second, the corner of Xia Liang’s mouth stretched wider.

"Not enough, huh? Then I’ll raise it! Ten Yuan! If you promise not to marry her and to leave her, I’ll give you ten Yuan! All you have to do is nod! Give me your bank account, and I’ll transfer the money to you right here on the stream!"

BOOM!

If the last offer was a bomb, this one was a nuke.

[Anchor! Anchor! Don’t do this! That’s ten Yuan! It’s not worth it!]

[My God! I really don’t understand the world of the rich!]

[You dumbass, what are you hesitating for? Agree already! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!]

[Ten Yuan! A whole ten Yuan! Forget a girlfriend! With ten Yuan, you can forget all your troubles!]

[Idiot, just agree! With ten Yuan, you’ll have no trouble finding another goddess!]

...

The live comments were overwhelmingly urging Tian Gou to agree, though of course, some were green with envy.

[Brother, don’t agree! What you have is true love!]

[Exactly! You can’t agree! You’re the kind of man who would do anything for his goddess!]

[Do you want the last five years of your life to be meaningless? If not, then refuse him loud and clear!]

[Brother! Stop! Don’t let yourself be blinded by money!]

...

Ten Yuan was within reach! He could have it just by nodding! Tian Gou’s heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his own ears.

That was ten Yuan! With it, he could buy a villa in this third-tier city, get a decent car, and marry a beautiful wife.

All of this was right before him. All he had to do was nod! Tian Gou desperately wanted to nod, but doing so would mean negating everything he had done for the last five years, along with everything he had just said to over one hundred thousand viewers.

At that moment, Tian Gou could only swallow hard, feeling as if an angel and a demon were arguing endlessly on his shoulders.

"Agree to him!"

"You can’t agree to him!"

"Agree to him!"

"You can’t..."

Tian Gou felt like his head was about to explode. He wanted to stab the angel and listen to the demon. Just one nod, and the ten Yuan would be his.

But just as he was about to nod, another comment appeared on the screen.

[Brother! Hold on! They say you have no dignity, that you aren’t a man! Show them! Show them that you, Tian Gou, are a real man! You can resist the temptation of ten Yuan! Imagine how touched she’ll be when she finds out!]

This instantly snapped Tian Gou out of his greed-fueled haze. That’s right! If I resist this temptation, I’ll prove that I’m a real man! A man who would give up anything for love!

It must be said that some men are like this. A moment of impulse and hot-blooded passion clouds their judgment. While regret might follow, that’s a problem for the future!

But even with this boost of hot-blooded conviction, Tian Gou’s refusal wasn’t very decisive.

"I... re... fuse!"

Those three words took Tian Gou a full ten seconds to say. As he said them, the entire livestream fell silent before erupting once more.

[Are you f*cking stupid?! That was ten Yuan! Gone, just because of three words!]

[Whatever, let’s respect his choice.]

[Now that’s a real man! Rejecting ten Yuan for a woman!]

[Brother! I’ve got nothing else to say! When it comes to love, you’ve got me beat!]

...

Reading the praise in the comments, Tian Gou felt the ache in his heart from refusing the ten Yuan lessen by a tiny fraction.

However, when he turned his gaze back to Xia Liang, he saw that the playful smile was still on his face.

No way!

Everyone felt as if a hammer had just struck their hearts.

He’s not going to raise the bid again, is he? If he does, it’ll be a hundred Yuan! Will he? Will he?

Everyone’s breathing grew ragged. Even Tian Gou licked his lips, looking at Xia Liang with a hint of anticipation.

Under the watchful eyes of the audience, Xia Liang did not raise the bid this time. Instead, he spoke in a teasing tone.

"Do you think you’ve won? Do you think you’ve resisted temptation? No, no, no..."

Xia Liang wagged his finger.

"Actually, from the moment you failed to refuse immediately, you had already lost. If your love for her was truly steadfast, you would have rejected me outright from the very beginning. But you didn’t. That proves..."

Xia Liang stared at Tian Gou on the screen and enunciated each word.

"You... don’t... love... her... that much! Your love isn’t absolute!"

...

After those words, Tian Gou’s face turned pale again. Livestream audiences are fickle and sway with the wind. Immediately, people started talking smack.

[Yeah! The Anchor’s right! If you really loved her that much, why didn’t you refuse from the start?!]

[Not refusing outright proves you were hesitant! You actually thought about taking the money!]

[Hmph! What a hypocrite! You must really be regretting it now!]

[It’s too late for regret! You already refused.]

...

The inflammatory comments plunged Tian Gou into a deep spiral of doubt. He wondered if he truly didn’t love her that much. He replayed Xia Liang’s words in his head, questioning if what he felt for her was nothing more than obsession and a stubborn refusal to let go.

However, before Tian Gou could recover from his doubt, Xia Liang spoke again.

"Since we didn’t conclude the last bet, let’s start a new one."

"Bet on what?" Tian Gou was still in a daze, staring blankly at Xia Liang.

"Let’s bet on whether your goddess is marrying you because she was genuinely moved!"

Seeing Xia Liang’s gaze sharpen, Tian Gou inexplicably found it hard to meet his eyes.

"You? What do you mean?"

"Give me her phone number. You said your goddess was testing you, right? That the test is over, she was moved, and that’s why she’s willing to marry you?

"So let’s bet on this. With just one phone call and the little time I have left, I can win your goddess over. I will then take her away from your wedding, and she won’t hesitate for a single second. If she hesitates for even one moment, I lose. If I lose, I’ll apologize to you and give you one Yuan as a wedding gift. If you lose, all you have to do is not marry her."

When Xia Liang laid out the terms of this bet, the viewers in the livestream couldn’t help but gasp.

[This isn’t just a challenge, it’s an attack on his very soul!]

[The Anchor isn’t just betting on winning over Tian Gou’s goddess. He’s betting he can take her away from the wedding itself, and that she won’t hesitate for even a second!]

[Anchor, aren’t you being a little arrogant? What if she really has changed for the better?]

[Yeah! Maybe she really does want to get married and settle down for a quiet life!]