The car moved forward.
Driving along the highway, the scenery on both sides rapidly receded into the distance—
"Yu You, what are you thinking about?" Ye Shuang gripped the steering wheel, his peripheral gaze catching the girl fiddling with the hem of her clothes, her head lowered as if lost in thought. He couldn't help but ask,
"Are you thinking about Aunt Xian and the others?"
She shook her head lightly.
"Is that so?" Seeing Bai Yuyou didn’t answer, Ye Shuang mused that the girl was starting to have her own secrets. But then again, it wasn’t surprising—she was an adult now, after all. Everyone had things they didn’t want to share. He considered this a sign of growth.
The car’s air conditioning was set a little too low, making his skin prickle with cold. As he reached to adjust the temperature, a small, icy hand suddenly slipped over his own, resting on the back of his hand.
Ye Shuang froze for a moment before realizing Bai Yuyou had shifted slightly closer, wrapping herself around his arm.
The warmth of her body contrasted sharply with the chill of her fingers. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed her eyes beneath her bangs—fixed on the distance, unmoving, lost in some unknown thought.
He chose not to say anything, instead slowing the car down and letting her cling to his arm.
"If something’s bothering you, you can tell me," Ye Shuang said gently.
Bai Yuyou nuzzled her cheek against his arm before murmuring softly, "Don’t like… monogamy…"
Ye Shuang: "…"
A bewildered expression crossed his face.
Huh?
What the—?
Are you still thinking about what happened at the museum this morning?
He couldn’t quite follow the girl’s train of thought—it was always so unpredictable. Still, he chuckled. "Why don’t you like it?"
"Just don’t…"
"Is that so?" Keeping his eyes on the road, he added, "Well, like I said earlier… even now, wealthy people might have mistresses. It all comes down to status in the end."
"Status?"
"Yeah. A woman can’t just marry into a family without any standing. Back in ancient times, concubines didn’t have that, but things are different now. Women care about status."
Ye Shuang patiently explained, though he wasn’t sure if Bai Yuyou truly grasped the significance of status for a woman. Given how her mind worked, understanding such concepts wasn’t exactly easy.
Whether his words had resolved some confusion or not, Bai Yuyou suddenly seemed more spirited. "Ye Shuang…"
"Yeah?"
"I only need Ye Shuang… the rest… doesn’t matter…"
"What kind of nonsense is that?" He wasn’t sure how their conversation had veered from societal norms to this, but something about it felt… off.
When they returned to the apartment, Ye Shuang had barely opened the door before Yi Wan came darting over. "Meow!"
The cat rolled onto its back at their feet, belly exposed, demanding attention.
"Did you miss us after just one night away?" Ye Shuang laughed, nudging Yi Wan’s belly with his socked foot—only to earn a retaliatory nip.
"Stingy."
Exposing belly ≠ permission to touch.
After setting down his things, Ye Shuang walked straight to the floor-to-ceiling window, studying the space as he considered where to place the piano.
"Meow!" Yi Wan trotted over again, about to rub against his leg—when suddenly, Ye Shuang’s foot shot out, sending the cat’s bed skidding across the floor. The corrugated cardboard circle, flat as a pancake, spun wildly before crashing into the wall and flipping upside down with a clatter.
Yi Wan stared blankly at its displaced bed: …So?
"Ye Shuang… what are you doing?" Bai Yuyou stood nearby, clearly puzzled.
"Yu You, pass me the digital measuring tape. I need to check the dimensions here." He pointed to a nearby cabinet, and the girl obediently retrieved the tool.
She had seen him use it during their move, so she knew what it was for.
"Hmm, a grand piano should fit just fine," Ye Shuang nodded.
Then he turned to Yi Wan. "You good with that, Yi Wan?"
Yi Wan: "…Meow."
"Great. Silence means consent."
Noticing Bai Yuyou’s confusion, he explained, "With pianos, it’s best to go all-in from the start and stick with it. A grand piano has a larger soundboard, longer strings, better key action, and richer tone compared to an upright—just takes up more space. But if you’re serious about learning, a grand piano is the way to go."
He didn’t want to half-heartedly teach her. If she had an interest, he’d give it his all—then hire a proper instructor once she got the basics down.
"Oh." Bai Yuyou didn’t fully understand, but she nodded obediently anyway.
Once the measurements were done, it was time to go piano shopping. For something like this, testing it in person was a must—pianos ranged from a few hundred bucks for an electric keyboard online to millions for high-end models. Ye Shuang wanted an acoustic one; the pure sound would be better for her learning.
Driving Bai Yuyou to a nearby music store district—a hub for instrument shops, including high-end boutiques—Ye Shuang led the way.
"No rush, let’s browse first."
But Bai Yuyou immediately latched onto his arm. Though she no longer felt uncomfortable in crowds, she still preferred sticking close to him while out.
"That’s a guitar shop," Ye Shuang remarked, spotting a specialty store. "Guitars are easier to pick up than pianos, but they’re still a popular choice."
"Like Chen Qin-jie’s…"
"Chen Qin plays the violin. They might look similar, but they’re completely different instruments."
Bai Yuyou whispered, "Want to try…"
Seeing her curiosity piqued, Ye Shuang smiled and guided her inside.
"Hello, how can I help you?" A saleswoman approached them with a friendly smile.
"Could we try one of the guitars?"
"Of course."
Handed a guitar, Ye Shuang took a seat and began explaining the basics to Bai Yuyou.
She watched him hold the instrument, intrigued. "Ye Shuang… can play?"
"A little." He ran his fingers over the strings, a touch nostalgic. He’d dabbled in guitar years ago—partly to impress someone. Compared to piano, it was much easier to pick up, so even without extensive practice, he could still play a few tunes.
"Want to hear…"
"You do?" Clearing his throat, he grinned. "I’m a bit rusty, but I’ll play you something."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
