In the month since I started watching girl group live streams, I had spent over a million on gifts for my favorite streamer.

But after being away on a business trip for just one week—without sending her a single gift—she and the other members started mocking me behind my back.

“He’s probably just some bored, lonely, middle-aged nouveau riche old man. Don’t be fooled by how much he spends—it’s probably all his retirement savings.”

“This kind of middle-aged guy might even be older than my dad. If I ever saw him in real life, I’d spit in his face! What kind of trashy person would dare to like me? Maybe all that money is his pension. I couldn’t care less about it.”

She claimed she didn’t care about my money, but the moment I stopped sending gifts altogether, she flew into a rage.

“I told you so! He’s just a poor schmuck pretending to be rich. How ridiculous.”

“Thinking about how I used to defend this guy makes me sick. This greasy, middle-aged man who can’t get what he wants should just disappear!”

So, I turned around and spent millions more—securing her a spot on the show.

She ended up kneeling before me, crying and begging for another chance.

I gave her a faint smile and asked quietly, “Now tell me—do I look like a lonely old man trying to act rich?”

——

A week after that business trip, I returned home, relaxing in the bathtub while opening my usual live-streaming platform.

When I entered the stream, Alicia Watts was holding a microphone, eagerly asking for votes.

“Are there any brothers or sisters in the live room who like Alicia? I still need five thousand more votes to pass this microphone challenge. Can anyone help?”

In the live-stream world, five thousand votes equal a five-hundred-dollars gift.

I opened the gift list and casually sent ten Lion gifts—each worth three thousand dollars.

“Thank you, Brother Steve Glover, for the Lion rain!”

“Brother Steve hasn’t been here for days. I thought he’d gone to see someone else.”

As the ten Lion effects exploded across the screen, the comment section went wild.

“Brother is finally here! These past few days without him, our Alicia was beaten pretty badly, but thankfully he’s back.”

“The real big spender is still our brother for A Lifetime of Peace”

“Brother is so cool—he’s got style!”

The sound of digital fireworks filled the stream. Alicia finally sat down on the front sofa, relieved that she didn’t have to stand and beg for votes anymore.

This was a trending live-stream format: several people dance together to attract viewers, then move into a one-on-one showdown. The person with the most gifts gets to sit and rest, while the one with the fewest must keep holding the microphone to solicit votes. Fail to meet the quota and you’re eliminated.

My media company had launched group live-streaming services three months ago.

Lately, I’d been watching these streams on our platform in my spare time.

After watching for a while, I checked the time—it was nearly time to get out of the bath. I tapped the screen lightly.

“Let’s go. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

I had just returned from a business trip today and tomorrow I needed to inspect the company’s live-streaming division. If it weren’t such an important part of our recent operations, I wouldn’t normally handle it in person—but I wanted to see things for myself.

Just as I exited the live stream, a private message from Alicia popped up.

[Brother, why did you leave so soon? I thought you wouldn’t come to see Alicia anymore since you’ve been gone for a few days]

[I’ve learned a few new dances while you were away. Add me on messanger and I’ll send them to you.]

As always, I didn’t reply. I simply logged out of the platform.

The next day at the company, while passing the dance practice room, I overheard a familiar name.

“This guy called ‘A Lifetime of Peace’ has spent over a million on me and yet he still hasn’t added me on messanger. When I send him private messages, he rarely replies. What does he even want?”

I stopped in my tracks and turned toward the voice coming from inside the dance studio.

My secretary followed my gaze.

“This is the company’s newly signed live-streaming group,” she explained. “Their performances have been doing quite well. A few of the girls are earning a decent amount.”

The one speaking was Alicia.

I raised an eyebrow. So the group I’d been watching all this time… was actually ours?

Alicia was surrounded by several others—the other female streamers in the group.

“Who cares what he wants?” one of them said. “As long as he’s spending money on you, it’s yours. Why overthink it? Maybe he’s just a sentimental older guy who doesn’t expect anything—just wants to support your career.”

Alicia put a hand to her chest and made a gagging gesture.

“Please. What kind of nickname is ‘A Lifetime of Peace’? Even my dad wouldn’t use such an outdated name. Maybe he’s even older than my dad. You think that’s my salary? No—that’s my compensation for emotional damage!”

“I’ve seen plenty of men like that,” another girl chimed in. “They’re probably lonely old men—divorced, with kids who never visit—spending their time online to kill boredom. Who knows where their money comes from? Probably all they’ve saved in their lives.”

“Just wait and see,” Alicia added. “That million is probably almost gone. He hasn’t shown up in a week—he must be out of money. He’ll disappear soon. Honestly, thinking about some old man watching me dance every day… makes me lose my appetite.”

A burst of laughter followed.

“Hahaha! Doesn’t that prove you’re charming, Alicia? He’s even spent his life savings on you.”

“Exactly. Alicia’s the top earner in our group. I’m so jealous.”

“Come on, he’s an old man, but it’s just the internet—we’re not losing anything.”

Their words dripped with mockery and they kept calling me a disgusting old man.

I arched an eyebrow.

So this is what these “sweet” female streamers are like off-camera? The same ones who call everyone Brother in their streams?

I had first stumbled upon their stream over a month ago. Alicia was the center of the group and she caught my eye right away.

At the time, she’d been in the middle of a microphone vote, looking so pitiful that she reminded me of my stuffed cat. So I clicked into the stream and helped her win that round.

Since then, Alicia had followed my account, constantly updating me on her schedule, showing me new dances and fussing over me as if she were concerned.

I rarely replied to her private messages, but whenever I came across their group’s stream, I would casually send some gifts.

As for my nickname, “A Lifetime of Peace”—I’d only downloaded the platform to study its business model. The username was just the system’s random default and I was too lazy to change it.

I never imagined it would become their excuse to speculate about my identity behind my back.

In the past month alone, I’d spent over a million on gifts for Alicia.

Now, watching her boastful expression, my eyes narrowed.

Is a million a lot? Not really. It’s not even enough to buy a decent car.

And frankly, instead of wasting a million on an ungrateful woman like her, I’d be better off buying a car—at least the maid could use it to buy groceries.

That evening, when I got home, I opened the live-streaming platform out of habit. The first stream that popped up was Alicia’s.

“Steve has entered the live stream.”

The moment she saw me enter, Alicia—still holding her microphone—brightened instantly.

“Welcome, Brother Steve! I’m just one thousand votes short of passing the microphone. Are you here to save me?”

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!]