Getting married but feeling unhappy—this unusual event immediately piqued the viewers' interest. Before Xia Liang even spoke, the bullet comments started flying.
[Holy shit! Some big shot is splurging on rockets in the anchor's livestream!]
[Anchor, hurry up and suck up to the big shot! A rocket is worth 20 credits! Even if you split it, you'd still get 10 credits!]
[Bro, what's wrong? Are you busy with wedding preparations? It's tough, but it'll all be over once you're married.]
[Yeah, you're a man, being exhausted is nothing. Shouldn't you be happy about starting a family soon?]
[Look on the bright side. Whatever's on your mind, when it comes to relationships, the anchor might be young, but as a "Sea King," he'll have no problem guiding you.]
[That's right! If worst comes to worst, just break up and let this damn anchor find you a new one.]
...
The bullet comments scrolled by, line after line, capturing Xia Liang's interest—but not because of the gifts.
He immediately sent a video call request to the viewer.
A moment later, the call connected, revealing a man sitting on the floor. He looked to be about twenty-six, an age that should be full of vigor and ambition.
But the fatigue on his face was impossible to conceal.
Seeing the dark circles under the man's eyes, which not even a beauty filter could hide, Xia Liang felt a little concerned.
"Bro, it looks like you've been burning the midnight oil for a while. Why don't you get some proper sleep? We can talk about this tomorrow. If you keep this up, I'm honestly worried you'll just drop dead."
The man in the video smiled weakly and shook his head, his voice filled with weariness.
"It's fine, I'm used to it. The physical exhaustion doesn't bother me. It's the mental and spiritual fatigue that makes me feel like I'm suffocating."
Just as the man finished speaking, the voice of the System suddenly rang in Xia Liang's mind.
[Ding—Congratulations to the Host for triggering the hidden Work Task: Persuasion
Task Description: Anchor, please persuade the consumer on the screen to escape an unhappy marriage.
Task Reward: 1 Qingjiu Central Villa, 50 Work Points, 1 Gene Potion.]
A hidden task! It's actually a hidden task!
Xia Liang was overjoyed, but the generous reward made him realize this wouldn't be simple. He collected himself and asked eagerly.
"If I'm not mistaken, something must have happened recently to make you feel this exhausted, right?"
The man nodded and, without beating around the bush, began to explain what had left him so drained.
"My name is Liu Ruo, and I'm 28 years old. To cover our wedding expenses, I worked for 36 hours straight over two days. In that time, I only ate two simple boxed meals and never left my chair except to use the restroom. It wasn't until evening, when the sky was growing dark, that I finally produced a plan the client was satisfied with. The long hours left me utterly exhausted. As soon as I got home, I collapsed into a deep sleep. But it wasn't long before I was woken by a phone call..."
As Liu Ruo told his story, the viewers in the livestream became very sympathetic.
[Dude! You can't trade your life for money like that!]
[Yeah, if you push yourself too hard and something happens, it'll all be for nothing.]
[Wait a minute, bro. You were working for that long? Where was your girlfriend? Didn't she try to get you to take a break?]
[Maybe his girlfriend was also busy with wedding preparations.]
...
When Liu Ruo saw this comment, he didn't say much and simply continued his story.
"I woke up in a daze and looked at my phone. The call had ended, but there were over twenty missed calls. Twenty of them were from her—my fiancée—and the rest were from my future mother-in-law."
Before Liu Ruo could finish, the livestream chat erupted again.
[See! What did I tell you? If the groom is that busy, the bride's side won't be idle either.]
[Look, even his mother-in-law is calling to check in. All that hard work is paying off.]
[Congrats on finding true love, bro!]
[Congratulations, bro!]
Watching the slew of congratulatory messages scroll by, Xia Liang remained silent. He knew it couldn't be that simple. Sure enough, Liu Ruo shook his head with a self-mocking smile.
"I was about to call her back when she called again. Before I could even ask what was wrong, she was angrily demanding to know why I hadn't answered my phone. I could only explain that I was exhausted after working for over thirty hours straight. I told her I fell asleep the moment I got home and didn't hear the phone."
[Well... that should be forgivable, right?]
[After all, she didn't know he was that tired.]
[Bro probably didn't tell her because he didn't want her to worry.]
[If that's the case, you should forgive her, bro. It's a small thing; she just didn't know.]
[Men should be more magnanimous...]
[Right, don't be so petty.]
Seeing these comments float past, Xia Liang frowned and spoke in a serious tone.
"Don't tell someone to forgive so easily when you haven't experienced their pain. That's a simple truth even a high school student understands. The man hasn't even finished his story, and you're all telling him to forgive her? Forgive what? Ignore them, big bro, you can continue."
Seeing the comments, Liu Ruo had been unsure how to go on, but Xia Liang's words steadied him.
"Thanks, Anchor. After I explained, I honestly expected my girlfriend to show some concern, to ask if I was tired or if I needed more sleep. But she didn't. She just replied with a simple, 'Oh, okay.' At first, I thought I must have misheard her. But before I could even process it, she told me she was out shopping for appliances. The 85-inch TV she liked was back in stock, and she told me to cancel the 75-inch one we'd ordered and hurry over to pay for the new one."
At this point, Liu Ruo's voice couldn't help but rise.
"You have to understand, our home isn't a mansion. The living room isn't that big. A 75-inch TV is plenty, and buying an 85-inch one is completely unnecessary. I patiently tried to explain this to her, but she refused to listen."
"She just told me to hurry up and come pay. I had no choice but to agree, but I looked at the time. It was already late, and it would take me an hour to get there by bus. By the time I arrived, the mall would be closed. I had to try and negotiate with her, asking if we could go buy it together tomorrow instead. Tomorrow's the weekend, and I have the day off. Besides, I was really too tired that day."
He sounds utterly exhausted. Xia Liang's heart grew heavy. Even through the screen, he could feel the crushing fatigue coming off of Liu Ruo.
A man barely older than him was being crushed by work and wedding preparations, so much so that he could barely breathe. Xia Liang wanted to say something, but he held his tongue when he saw Liu Ruo was about to speak again.
"I really thought she would understand. I thought she would say gently, 'Honey, you've worked so hard. Go to sleep. We can buy it whenever you have time.' But she didn't. She just asked angrily, 'Are you coming now or not?' Before I could even answer, she hung up the phone."