As Ye Shuang pressed the final note, Linlin finally finished singing the song.
The group bowed slightly to the audience.
"Thank you!"
The crowd erupted into thunderous applause—
"That was amazing!!!!!"
"Whoooooo!"
"Damn, that last line gave me chills."
"666666666!"
"..."
"Thank you, everyone!" Backstage, Linlin expressed her sincere gratitude to Ye Shuang and the others. If it hadn't been for Ye Shuang and An Shiyu improvising on the spot, the performance would have been a disaster.
"At least we managed to pull it off in the end," Ye Shuang said with a smile. "Though it was a bit chaotic."
He glanced at An Shiyu. "Where did you find that sheet music?"
"Just searched for it online. Though I might have picked the more complicated version," An Shiyu replied casually, blowing a bubble with her gum. "Didn’t expect you to nail it at over 200 BPM on the first try."
Ye Shuang deadpanned, "So you were betting on me failing?"
"Who knows…" An Shiyu shoved her hands into her pockets and looked away.
Ye Shuang: "..."
Never mind. No point arguing with this fish.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuyou, who had been quietly standing beside Ye Shuang, suddenly pulled out her phone. A message flashed on the screen:
Mom: Sorry, Rou Nü, something came up last minute, so I couldn’t make it to your performance.
Mom: I’ll definitely come next time.
Mom: [Transfer: ¥100,000]
Bai Yuyou tightened her grip on the phone, her usually calm eyes dimming slightly as she stared at the screen. After a pause, she slowly typed out "It’s okay" before slipping the phone back into her skirt pocket.
Her fingertips felt oddly numb, and she unconsciously rubbed her arms for warmth.
Gazing at Ye Shuang’s back, she reached out and tugged lightly on his sleeve.
"What’s wrong?" Ye Shuang turned to find Bai Yuyou looking up at him.
Bai Yuyou shook her head. "Nothing…"
Yet she wrapped her arms around his.
Ye Shuang studied her face. Though her expression remained as blank as ever, he sensed the subtle shift in her mood.
After a moment, he smiled. "By the way, did Aunt Xian and the others see your performance?"
Bai Yuyou didn’t answer, but her grip on his arm tightened slightly.
Understanding dawned on Ye Shuang.
With a silent sigh, he turned to Zhixia and the others. "Yuyou and I are heading out for a bit. We’ll be back later."
"Sure thing!" Zhixia replied warmly.
"Keke, come with us," Ye Shuang said to Tang Keke.
"Me?" Tang Keke blinked, scratching her head. "Won’t I just be a third wheel? The electricity’s already overflowing here."
"Let’s go."
"Huh?"
Though confused, Tang Keke obediently followed.
Ye Shuang tapped on his phone before leading the two girls out of the backstage area.
"Brother, where are we going?"
"The audience seats."
"Eh?"
Bai Yuyou, too, had no idea what Ye Shuang was planning. But the warmth of his hand around hers was enough to anchor her.
After weaving through the crowd for a minute or two, Ye Shuang suddenly stopped and grinned at Bai Yuyou.
"We’re here."
"Yuyou, sweetheart, you were incredible up there!"
"Such a brilliant performance!"
"Yuyou-jiejie, you sounded so good!"
Familiar voices made Bai Yuyou peek out from behind Ye Shuang. There, in the audience, sat Aunt Li, Chen Hai, Chen Qin, Chen Qiaoqiao, and the others—all beaming at her.
An indescribable emotion surged in her chest. She ducked back behind Ye Shuang, her fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt. Her eyes glistened faintly as she buried her face deeper, her ears turning pink beneath her hair.
"She’s shy," Ye Shuang chuckled, patting her shoulder gently.
"Big-chest sister, I recorded your part too!" Chen Qiaoqiao waved her camera at Tang Keke.
Tang Keke grimaced. "It’s Keke-jiejie."
"Huh?"
The exchange drew laughter, and Chen Hai’s wife pinched Qiaoqiao’s cheek in playful reprimand.
"Everyone’s here for you, Yuyou," Ye Shuang murmured. "Even if Aunt Xian couldn’t make it, you’ve got all of us. So many people care about you."
"Come on, look up."
Bai Yuyou slowly raised her head. The faces around her were filled with warmth and pride. Her lips parted slightly.
"Was… my performance good?"
"The best!" Aunt Li and the others cheered.
"Here, darling, Auntie took tons of close-ups! Let’s see which ones you like." Aunt Li brandished her DSLR, already planning to compile the photos into an album.
"A memento of our Yuyou’s first stage performance."
"Thank you, Aunt Li…" Bai Yuyou whispered.
Ye Shuang crossed his arms, watching as Bai Yuyou and Li Fugui huddled over the camera. A smile tugged at his lips.
Well, as long as she’s happy.
It was her debut, after all.
"You handled that well back there," a voice said beside him. Chen Qin rested a hand on his shoulder, her other hand poking his cheek.
Dressed in a sleek black evening gown adorned with jewels, her striking figure turned heads wherever she went.
"We were scrambling for most of it," Ye Shuang admitted. The audience hadn’t noticed, but the girls had been on the verge of panic mid-performance.
Chen Qin glanced around. "Did Aunt Xian show up?"
"Planned to…" Ye Shuang trailed off. "But no expectations, no disappointments."
"That’s why she never hopes for much. She’s used to being let down."
"Aunt Xian really…" Chen Qin sighed, then leaned closer. "Hey, Ye Shuang, why not just keep Yuyou by your side forever?"
"Where’s this coming from?"
"Just a thought." Chen Qin changed the subject. "Anyway, about Yang Wei—I dug deeper like you said. He did leak our confidential projects to Tianwei Group. How’d you sniff that out?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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.”
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?"
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
