"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."
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
