Stepping out of the police station, the air carried a slight chill.
Ye Shuang passed through the gate, lost in thought about how to get home, when he noticed a car with its lights on parked not far away, a slightly chubby figure leaning against it.
"You're here?" Ye Shuang was momentarily taken aback upon seeing Chen Hai.
"Things blew up pretty big—I happened to catch wind of it," Chen Hai said, tossing him a can. Catching it, Ye Shuang realized it was a Tsingtao beer. He popped it open and took a sip.
"Pretty cold."
"Of course. Got a fridge in the car," Chen Hai replied, cracking open his own can.
"Drinking and driving right outside the police station? Got some nerve, huh?"
"It’s guava juice," Chen Hai said, shaking the green can in his hand. The printed label, previously obscured by his grip, confirmed it wasn’t beer.
Seeing Ye Shuang chuckle and drop the subject, Chen Hai turned to him. "Heard you threw hands too?"
"What’s so strange about that?"
"Haven’t seen you throw a punch in years."
"Ever seen a boss throw hands?"
"Ha, fair point… Thought you’d get locked up for sure."
"Just a minor scuffle. Worst case, a fine and a lecture. As for that guy? He’s looking at three years, easy," Ye Shuang said with a faint smile.
"Speak human to humans, speak devil to devils. Sometimes you gotta hit hard, or people’ll think you’re soft."
"With folks who throw tantrums, fists work best."
Chen Hai didn’t disagree. Watching Ye Shuang’s distant gaze, he suddenly asked, "Still thinking about her?"
Ye Shuang lit a cigarette and deflected, "Why do you ask?"
"Just… feels like you wouldn’t move on so easily. You know I get you, man."
Ye Shuang stayed silent for a while before exhaling smoke slowly. "She was never my moon—just moonlight that happened to fall on me for a moment."
"You’re okay with that?"
"It is what it is. Nothing’s perfect in this world," Ye Shuang said, though his mind inexplicably drifted to Bai Yuyou. He shook his head with a wry smile.
"I’m over it."
"Hey, why not just go for Chen Qin? She’s a total catch—rich, beautiful. Keep it in the family," Chen Hai teased, nudging closer.
"She’s like a sister to me. You know that," Ye Shuang retorted, shoving him away with an elbow.
"She doesn’t see you as a brother. More like future husband material. And she’s gorgeous, sweet—"
"Enough. I’m heading back."
"So early? Come on, let’s hit a foot spa."
"With your wife?"
"…Never mind. She’d skin me alive."
The drive back to the neighborhood was quick. After exchanging goodbyes with Chen Hai, Ye Shuang reached his apartment building.
Glancing up, he noticed a single balcony still lit.
At three or four in the morning, even the city’s brightest neon lights had dimmed, but that warm glow felt like an anchor for his weary heart.
"Maybe this kind of life isn’t so bad," Ye Shuang mused before stepping inside.
Unlocking the door, he was met with a pair of eyes the moment he entered the brightly lit apartment.
Seated on a chair facing the entrance was a girl, her cheek resting against the backrest, exhaustion plain in her eyes—until she saw Ye Shuang. Her gaze brightened as she stood.
"You… you’re back?"
"Why aren’t you asleep?" Ye Shuang hadn’t expected Bai Yuyou to still be awake. He’d assumed she’d left the lights on while sleeping.
Bai Yuyou stepped closer, tilting her head up. "You told me to wait for you."
She hesitated. "Did I… do wrong?"
"No, you didn’t. Stop thinking you’re always in the wrong," Ye Shuang said, ruffling her hair.
"Go to sleep now."
"Okay."
Bai Yuyou was out the moment her head hit the pillow, though her fingers still clung to the hem of Ye Shuang’s shirt, as if that small grip was her only tether to safety.
Tucking her in, Ye Shuang watched the faint pink flush on her pale cheeks and smiled silently.
Good night.
Early the next morning, Bai Yuyou was already up.
She rubbed her stomach, still groggy.
Hungry.
Heading to the kitchen, she instinctively reached for instant noodles, only to find someone already there—a figure bathed in sunlight, working a sizzling frying pan.
The rich aroma of cooking oil snapped her awake. The scene felt so surreal she couldn’t resist reaching out—
"Hm? You’re up?" Feeling the tug on his clothes, Ye Shuang glanced back. "Hold on, let me flip this egg."
With practiced ease, he flicked the egg over, the sound of crisp edges filling the air.
"Cool, right?"
"Mm." But Bai Yuyou’s eyes never left him. She pressed closer, burying her face against his chest.
"I’m covered in grease. Go wash up," Ye Shuang said, steering her toward the bathroom.
By the time she returned, breakfast was ready.
Simple fare—fried egg and bacon sandwiches, about seven or eight of them. The bread, toasted in butter, smelled perfect.
As for why he’d made so many—
Bai Yuyou, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk, had already polished off six in ten minutes.
A bottomless pit, truly.
"What about lunch? Do you eat at school? They have a cafeteria, right?" Ye Shuang asked.
Bai Yuyou shook her head. "No lunch…"
"Why not?"
She looked down. "The cafeteria… doesn’t take cash. So my stomach… hurts… at noon."
"No cash?" Ye Shuang frowned, then remembered his own school days—meal cards were the norm.
Had Bai Yuyou been turned away for trying to pay with cash because she didn’t know how to use a card?
"Did you not load your meal card?"
"Mm." She nodded. She’d never figured out where those cards came from. Everyone else had one, but no one told her.
Eventually, she’d stopped going altogether—sparing lunchtimes with nothing but water to dull the hunger.
"No wonder you eat like this. Starving all day, then binging on instant noodles at night—you’ll ruin your stomach," Ye Shuang sighed, eyeing her pale, almost sickly complexion.
With a smile, he added,
"Tell you what. I’ll go to school with you today."
Bai Yuyou blinked, tilting her head.
"Eh?"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u serious?" Chen Feng watched helplessly as his painstakingly trained disciple, fresh off a championship victory, publicly abandoned him. "You had your chance, but you didn’t appreciate it. Now, face the consequences of your choice!" Chen Feng possessed the "Master System," a treasure trove of supreme martial arts techniques, capable of molding ordinary individuals into peerless prodigies. "Legs like yours? A shame not to train in the Crippling Kick." "Ever heard of a palm strike that descends from the heavens?" "Auntie! I see extraordinary bone structure in you—a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand." The once-defiant senior disciple, now watching her juniors rise to fame one after another, dominating the internet, was consumed by endless regret.
