After playing the piano for a while to soothe his mood, Ye Shuang stood up and walked to his computer, ready to begin his daily writing session.
"Recent results have been pretty good—seems like more readers are tuning in," Ye Shuang mused after finishing his writing and skimming through the latest comments. He closed the author dashboard, though most readers just closed the page after reading. "If only they could help recommend my book when they’re looking for something to read..."
"Ah, even some free gifts to boost engagement would be nice," Ye Shuang stretched and figured it was about time to head to school.
Just then, his phone rang again.
Glancing at the screen, he saw it was another local number.
Zhao Mengyao had just been chewed out by him, and given her personality, she probably wouldn’t call back so soon. Answering the call, it turned out to be the phone shop owner, informing him that the battery for the button phone had arrived and could be replaced now.
"If that’s the case, I’ll skip school for now," Ye Shuang decided, still intrigued by what might be hidden in that phone.
Driving to the shop, the owner quickly replaced the battery.
Older phones had removable back covers, and the batteries could be swapped out in seconds.
Ye Shuang held down the power button, and soon the handshake logo appeared on the screen.
"It’s booting up—so it really was the battery," he muttered. After paying, he returned to his car.
Tapping through the phone, he searched for any valuable information. The inbox had a trash folder, and when he accidentally opened it, he found a single message lying inside:
[This isn’t your concern. Just follow the plan. The child’s family won’t notice. Remember—delete this message after reading.]
Ye Shuang: "..."
So, it wasn’t the Zhou family after all?
He sat in silence for a while, turning the small phone over in his hands before combing through its contents again—but found nothing else.
"Guess I’ll have to find a chance to question that trafficker. But they’d never admit it, and since they’re already serving time… snitching wouldn’t even get them a reduced sentence." After some thought, he tucked the phone away.
So why did Bai Yuyou disappear?
If she vanished, who stood to gain the most?
"Hmm…" Ye Shuang suddenly thought of Alice, but after a moment, he shook his head.
Headache.
Shifting gears, he drove toward Yinshan Academy.
Along the way, he spotted a familiar figure—a girl with shoulder-length hair holding a cup of milk tea, surrounded by several men who seemed to be talking to her.
The men’s outfits didn’t exactly scream "upstanding citizens," and Ye Shuang frowned before signaling and making a U-turn.
...
"You’re a student at Yinshan Academy, right? And you’ve got the latest Huawei flagship—how about lending us some cash, huh?"
"Bro, that’s the HuiFan Master Edition—over ten grand and still hard to get."
"Whoa."
Surrounded by these men, An Shiyu remained utterly unfazed. She sipped her milk tea with one hand while the other stayed tucked in her pocket.
Only when the cup made a [slurp~] sound—signaling it was empty—did she lazily speak up.
"Borrowing money? Sure."
"Hand me your phone," An Shiyu stretched out her hand.
The man blinked. I’m asking you for money, and you want my phone?
"How else am I supposed to lend you cash without your phone?" An Shiyu’s eyes, half-hidden under her straight bangs, carried a hint of disdain. "Large transfers require identity verification."
"Fine." The man handed over his phone, unconcerned about any tricks—after all, she was surrounded. It wasn’t like she could ninja-flip over a wall or swing away like Spider-Man.
After tapping on the phone for a bit, An Shiyu handed it back. "Scan your face."
"Okay."
"Done." She returned the phone. "Take a look."
The man took it back, then froze. "Fifteen thousand?!"
His throat bobbed as he stared at An Shiyu in disbelief. "This much?!"
"How much? Fifteen grand?!" The others crowded around, equally stunned.
An Shiyu gave a casual hum.
"That’s a 150,000-yuan loan I just got you from an online lending platform. Don’t mention it—spend it freely. My treat."
"Online loan?!"
The men snapped out of their daze, eyes bulging. "Holy shit, you took out a loan for me?!"
"Problem?" An Shiyu asked.
"You—do you even know how deadly those loans can be?!" The man slapped his thigh in agitation.
An Shiyu stayed calm. "Money’s money. What’s the difference between borrowing from me or a platform?"
"Borrowing from you doesn’t need to be paid back!" he yelled.
"Tch." An Shiyu clicked her tongue, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Then don’t pay back the platform’s either. Simple."
The men exchanged glances. Huh. That kinda made sense. They were lone wolves anyway—what could anyone do once the money was spent?
"I got you all that cash—how about tossing me a thousand for my trouble?" An Shiyu said.
"Sure thing!" The man, now holding 150,000 yuan, suddenly found a thousand insignificant. With a grand wave, he scanned her the money.
Beep.
"Hahaha! Dinner’s on me tonight, boys!"
"Woo!"
"Bye." An Shiyu waved lazily as the men left.
Just then, a car pulled up to the curb. An Shiyu tilted her head and spotted a familiar figure stepping out.
"Pervert Uncle? What are you doing here?" She raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting Ye Shuang to show up.
Ye Shuang walked over, glancing at the retreating group before asking, "You okay?"
"About what?"
"I drove past and thought you were being harassed by some thugs." Seeing her relaxed demeanor, he chuckled. "Friends of yours?"
An Shiyu’s eyes turned into dots. "Friends… well, they were nice. Gave me a thousand bucks."
"Why would they give you money?"
"Who knows?" She shrugged. "Maybe they struck gold somewhere?"
"That so?" Ye Shuang couldn’t shake the feeling something was off.
"Come on, I’ll drive you to school."
"Nope."
"Huh? Why not?"
"I’ll go later. Got something super important to do first," An Shiyu said.
"Super important?"
"Need any help?" Ye Shuang asked.
An Shiyu thought for a second, then nodded. "Actually, yeah. Means you can buy an extra one."
"An extra… one?" Ye Shuang blinked.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
] [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!"
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
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)
