"Why aren't you leaving?"
"I just happened to come out for some quiet too, giving them some space." Ye Shuang patted his pockets and finally pulled out a candy, tossing it into his mouth.
Zhou's Mother must have wanted to share some family words with Bai Yuyou in private, so Ye Shuang stepping out to find this little girl was also a way to leave them some room.
"Mmm." Alice stared at Ye Shuang, her slightly puffed cheeks betraying some unspoken thoughts.
Ye Shuang suddenly spoke up, "Do you know what a pufferfish is?"
"What if I do?"
"You kinda look like one right now."
It took Alice a few seconds to process his words before she bared her little fangs, "Who are you calling a pufferfish?!"
"Tsk." Ye Shuang pointed, and she immediately covered her cheeks, squatting down.
When she looked up again, she found Ye Shuang holding out another candy. "Here."
Alice gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "You think I’m a kid or something?"
"Eating candy boosts dopamine, makes you feel better," Ye Shuang chuckled. "Afraid I poisoned it?"
Alice: "…"
She reached out and took the candy anyway.
"Poisoned or not, dying would be fine by me," Alice muttered dramatically, as if Ye Shuang had laced the treat with cyanide.
Crunch crunch crunch. The sound of teeth grinding candy filled the air as the girl glared at him, her eyes practically drilling holes into him.
The sweetness spread through her mouth, and Alice did seem to feel a little less miserable—though she still slumped against the car, hands behind her back, radiating dejection.
That look was familiar to Ye Shuang. It reminded him of Bai Yuyou under the streetlights—like a stray animal with nowhere to go.
As if waiting for divine intervention.
"What’s got you so upset?" Ye Shuang asked.
Alice gave him a weary glance before mumbling, "You’ll understand when you’re my age."
Ye Shuang: "…"
Just then, a phone rang.
Alice glanced at the caller ID, hung up immediately, and started walking away.
She even turned back to snap,
"You—don’t follow me!"
Ye Shuang just smiled and didn’t move. "Heard there’s been a lot of kidnappers lately. They snatch kids, ship them off to the mountains, and force them to bear children for men in their fifties or sixties before they’re even adults."
"And out there, no phones. If you resist, they beat you, chain you up in pigsties, make you sleep with the pigs until you ‘learn your lesson.’"
Alice froze mid-step, then silently trudged back to Ye Shuang’s side, leaning against the car again.
Noticing his amused expression, she averted her eyes and grumbled, "I’m not scared. I just don’t want to trouble the police."
"You think Yuyou stole Aunt Xian from you?" Ye Shuang asked.
Alice stayed silent.
"Kids always worry about losing what they love. It’s normal—"
"I’m not a kid!"
"Are you in middle school yet?"
Alice clammed up again before huffing, "Maturity isn’t measured by age, you know…"
"You’re right. Even your sister has a lot she doesn’t understand," Ye Shuang said.
"She’s not my sister."
"I wish she weren’t either." Ye Shuang sighed, thinking of Alice’s profile details.
If Alice really was Uncle Zhou’s illegitimate child—and if Aunt Xian didn’t know—what would happen when the truth came out? Would Bai Yuyou get caught in the fallout?
That’s why he’d stepped out to talk to this girl alone.
Alice gave him a strange look. Maybe it was the night air, but she suddenly felt a chill.
"Who are you to her?" she asked abruptly.
Ye Shuang shrugged. "A guardian, but not officially."
Alice: "…"
The air grew still for a moment before Alice muttered something in Russian. If it had been An Shiyu’s dialect, Ye Shuang might’ve understood, but his Russian began and ended with Ura.
"You don’t need to worry about Yuyou ‘stealing’ love that was never yours to begin with," Ye Shuang said.
Alice shot back, "Then why call me her cousin? Even if I’m adopted, is my status that shameful?"
"And she doesn’t even care about me now!"
"She didn’t even come after me when I ran out! Because I’m not really part of the Zhou family!"
"She abandoned me!"
Tears welled in her eyes as she lashed out.
"How about a bet?" Ye Shuang’s words made Alice freeze, her red-rimmed eyes widening. She sniffled (despite no snot) and rubbed her face. "Huh?"
Ye Shuang smiled. "Let’s bet on whether they’ll come looking for you."
"Bet what?"
"You name it."
"If I win, you—you have to call me big sister," Alice blurted after a pause, clearly thinking this would humiliate an adult.
"Deal. And if I win?"
"I’ll do anything!"
Before she could finish, a voice called out from the distance—
"Alice—!"
The moment she heard it, Alice stiffened, turning in disbelief. Zhou's Mother was hurrying over in heels, flanked by her two brothers and Bai Yuyou.
Just as Alice braced for scolding, Zhou's Mother knelt and pulled her into a hug.
"It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have neglected you lately, but I do love you… I’m sorry, Alice."
"I misspoke earlier."
The apology left Alice stunned. She glanced dumbly at Ye Shuang, who had already moved to Bai Yuyou’s side.
"Ye Shuang… I said those things." Bai Yuyou showed him her phone—where Ye Shuang had secretly texted her during his talk with Alice.
"Alright, let’s go back and eat."
Alice was led back to the private room, her earlier hostility gone. She seemed almost dazed as she took her seat.
When her eyes met Ye Shuang’s, she hmphed and looked away.
"Let me reintroduce her properly. This is Alice, our Zhou family’s adopted Sino-Russian child," Zhou's Mother explained.
"After Sister Rou went missing, my health deteriorated. The doctors said I’d struggle to conceive again… Uncle Zhou brought her home due to certain circumstances, so…"
"Sister Rou, she’s your younger sister."
Bai Yuyou turned to Alice and said softly, "Hello."
After a few seconds of silence, Alice squeaked back, barely audible, "…Hi."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
