The scene erupted in uproar. Shark’s eyes were practically sparkling, Wu Tao clasped his hands together and gasped, and Zhu Wenwen even covered her mouth.
There was hope?!
Seeing his words, An Mengyue’s mouth immediately turned down. She shook her head relentlessly, tears betraying her as they were flung away, her hands gripping the microphone tightly as she trembled.
“I don’t want to!”
“Coming this far today, I feel like I’ve crossed a very, very deep chasm. I feel so lucky, but it also feels so unreal. This sense of unreality makes me uneasy and a little… scared.”
She let out a soft laugh, a tear sliding down and hanging precariously from her chin.
“I think I still need to move forward step by step. I’m not good enough yet, and I need to work even harder to improve myself, so I can be worthy of your affection. I’m already very satisfied. I don’t want to keep fighting.”
Tears fell as An Mengyue firmly set down the microphone, completely ignoring the operator’s warnings.
[Coolest Villain: With me here, what are you afraid of?] (Screen-Floating Message)
[Coolest Villain: I want you to win] (Screen-Floating Message)
Before anyone could react, the Carnival scrolled across the screen.
[User “Coolest Villain” sent Carnival*1] 100x200x300x400x500…..(30,000 diamonds)
An Mengyue’s emotions broke through the dam.
She covered her mouth and sobbed out loud, completely abandoning any attempt at composure. She was sure she must look terrible crying, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
Even with her vision blurred, she tried desperately to remember everything clearly before her eyes.
The Carnival counter on screen didn’t stop until it reached 520. Looking at Coolest Villain’s level, it had shot straight up to 60.
Shark and the other two hosts’ voices were nearly hoarse from shouting, “Emperor Ku! Emperor Ku! Thank you, Emperor Ku, for the 520 Huazi! Thank—holy crap! There’s more!!”
Less than three seconds after the 520 Carnivals finished.
[User “Coolest Villain” sent Carnival*1] 500x600x700x800x900x1000…..(30,000 diamonds)
The Carnival continued to rain down, this time even faster, with no sign of stopping.
Watching the hosts huddle together, Shark was jumping up and down below, shouting something…
Tutu clutched her phone tightly, looking over with eyes full of envy…
Lizi kept exclaiming “Wow” from the side…
Streamers slowly drifted down before her eyes…
The words that repeated most on screen were Coolest Villain and Carnival…
“1314! Thank you, Emperor Ku!”
“Oh my god, what a romantic number! 520 Carnivals in one go, then doubling down with 1314 more! Holy crap! Let the backstage tally the score—thank you, President Ku, for supporting Cat Cat!”
[Coolest Villain: My little cat, number one] (Screen-Floating Message)
That was how arrogant he was—he had the confidence to back it up. The tickets he had prepared in his pocket were far more than just this.
By now, the livestream had reached 230,000 viewers online.
An Mengyue sniffled, raised the microphone, then lowered her head again, her shoulders still trembling. She opened her mouth to take deep breaths, then lifted her head once more, her voice choked with emotion.
“Thank you” feels a bit too simple for everything you’ve done. I never expected such an amazing surprise waiting for me at the end. I’ve said thank you so many times tonight that I don’t even know what else to say…”
She lowered her head and began to sob, tears streaming down her face one after another.
【Coolest Villain: Don’t cry, little cat】(Screen-Floating Message)
The director cleverly cut to a half-body close-up shot.
In the frame, her hands were tightly gripping the microphone, knuckles turning white, eyes completely red and glistening with tears, two streaks of tears still running down her face, and her lips trembling as she forced out a smile.
It was an indescribable sense of fragility—she was the perfect embodiment of beautiful, strong, and tragic.
“The scores are in. Lizi is currently 48.85 million points behind Catcat. Please pass the microphone to Lizi. Good luck.”
Lizi smiled and picked up the microphone, expressing gratitude for every gift sent by fans, never giving up for even a single second.
But in the end, she couldn’t catch up, finishing in second place with 22.19 million points.
Dongdongmao was the champion with a total score of 60.45 million.
An Mengyue suddenly remembered what he had said during his first competition.
“As long as I’m here, she won’t lose.”
An Mengyue raised the microphone again, tears still streaming from the corners of her eyes, her voice slightly hoarse, “Thank you for supporting me like this, for giving me your greatest favor. I will continue to work hard to improve myself in the future…”
【Coolest Villain: Be yourself】(Screen-Floating Message)
An Mengyue looked up and smiled gently at the camera, her expression incredibly resolute at this moment, “Thank you all for staying with us so late. And finally, thank you to Boss Cool. Meeting you is the greatest fortune of my life. I hope everything goes well for you.”
With that, she bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.
【Coolest Villain: Meeting you is my greatest fortune too】(Screen-Floating Message)
In the car, An Mengyue called him again via voice call. He picked up almost instantly.
“I’m on my way home.”
“Mm, go home and rest well. I’m exhausted, so you must be even more so. You must have cried who knows how many times tonight.”
“Mm, I’ll be there soon.”
Neither of them spoke again. The road was empty, the night had quietly faded, and a faint pink glow was spreading across the distant sky. An Mengyue rested her head against the car window, staring blankly outside.
“Boss Cool, I want to say this to you alone—thank you. I will never forget everything that happened today.”
Even though it was a voice call, she could tell he was smiling. And it was a very gentle smile.
“Mm, once you’re home, I’ll sleep too.”
After hanging up, Jiang Mingzhou collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately. After all the chaos of the night, it was the first time he’d stared at his phone for so long—it felt more exhausting than work.
After washing up, An Mengyue opened her phone and posted an update, with a photo of the championship group picture attached.
【I will always remember this day. Thank you to everyone who loves me. I hope you’re all doing well.】
When she opened her eyes, it was almost noon. The notification pop-ups were so numerous she couldn’t scroll to the bottom. When she opened them, both her WeChat and Dongdongmao accounts showed 999+ unread messages.
Coolest Villain’s message had come at 9 AM. The two of them had hung up at almost 5 AM last night. That man really was made of steel.
【A Yue: Boss, you need to rest properly! Why are you up so early?】
【mz: Gotta send Huazi to the little cat】
That man had spent over 6 million on the Guild Tournament. To most people, that was an astronomical figure, and her curiosity about Boss Cool grew stronger and stronger.
She also felt like he was talking more now—and becoming more humorous.
【A Yue: The little cat is already well fed! Boss works too hard, please take care of yourself!】
【mz: ..】
【A Yue: There’s a special appreciation event for me this afternoon. Do you have time to come and check it out?】
【mz: If you invite me, I’ll make time.】
【A Yue: Dear Cool Boss, Ms. Dongdongmao invites you to attend the appreciation event around 3 PM this afternoon. Would you be available to attend?】
【mz: It would be my honor.】
Messages in the fan group were flooding by faster than anyone could keep up with, mostly various amazing fan art and shameless flattery.
Fillet Nori, being an art student, had already whipped up a few posters. Dongdongmao stood in the center, with a handsome anime male character standing protectively beside her, and four big characters behind them: Coolest Villain!
After washing up, An Mengyue walked to the dining area, brewed a cup of coffee, and while eating a sandwich, scribbled and sketched in her notebook. Bobby looked up anxiously at his mom, just wanting to know when they could go out and play!