However, the awkward atmosphere didn’t last long before Chen Qin broke it with a smile. "Yuyou, do you know how babies are made?"
"I know… a little," Bai Yuyou replied after a moment of thought.
Though she had some understanding, detailed information seemed impossible to find online for some reason.
She had once asked Tang Keke about it, but Tang Keke had only stammered before finally admitting she wasn’t entirely sure either.
"You’ll understand when you’re older," Chen Qin said, gently pinching the girl’s soft cheek before dropping the subject.
To both Ye Shuang and Chen Qin, Bai Yuyou was still just a child.
Or perhaps, Chen Qin didn’t truly see her as a rival or love interest—treating her more like a younger sister to be cared for.
Before long, Ye Shuang returned with a silver medal.
His sluggish steps made it clear he was exhausted, looking completely drained, as if half his energy had been squeezed out of him.
"Hmm?" Spotting Chen Qin, Ye Shuang seemed surprised. "Chen Qin, what are you doing here?"
"Can’t I come?"
"Of course you can." Ye Shuang smiled. Even though Chen Qin insisted she wasn’t his girlfriend, he was always happy to see her.
"Don’t you have work to handle at your company?"
"I’m the boss—I can take a break if I want," Chen Qin said sweetly, acting as if work didn’t matter. In truth, she had been quite busy lately. She wasn’t sure if it was due to her old knife wound, but her abdomen still ached from time to time.
"A break is fine, but resting in bed would be better," Ye Shuang said before pausing and adding with a wry smile,
"That drone, though…"
"Don’t do that again," he sighed. He had nearly died of embarrassment on the spot.
Chen Qin giggled. "But it was custom-made, just for you."
"That’s not the issue…"
Ye Shuang didn’t even want to imagine the humiliation if people had realized the drone was named after him. Running under so many eyes would’ve felt like streaking.
He then turned to Bai Yuyou and ruffled her hair. "Did you cheer for me earlier?"
Bai Yuyou nodded obediently. "Mhm."
"Super loud!" Tang Keke chimed in before curiously asking, "But even though Yuyou was shouting so loudly, are you sure you actually heard her?"
It had been pretty noisy at the time.
"Well… I think I heard it, but maybe not?" Ye Shuang mused. "Maybe… it’s just the power of bonds."
"What kind of chuuni line is that?"
"Uh…"
……
Meanwhile.
"Oi~ old man, I watched the whole thing. Now give me my allowance." Over at the announcer’s podium, the short-haired girl, An Shiyu, held out her hand to Anshi Yilang.
Anshi Yilang eyed her palm and said,
"Didn’t you go to the bathroom halfway through? That doesn’t count as watching the whole thing."
An Shiyu immediately gave him a look of disgust. "What kind of grandfather forces his granddaughter to hold it in? You’re the worst…"
"Tch. Fine, I won’t talk to you anymore." She clicked her tongue and turned away.
"W-Wait, I never said I wouldn’t give it to you!"
"Too late. I’m unhappy now, so my allowance gets a critical hit bonus—double or nothing," An Shiyu declared.
"Cough… Fine, double it is." The doting grandfather handed over his bank card but couldn’t resist asking, "So, how was your grandpa’s performance today?"
An Shiyu took the card and gave him a deadpan stare. "You nearly lost. Do you really want me to expose you?"
Anshi Yilang bristled.
"Nonsense! I won the gold medal, didn’t I?!"
"Only because that uncle went easy on you to save face for the chairman of Yinshan Academy," An Shiyu drawled.
"Bull!" Anshi Yilang slammed the table like a petulant child. "That kid came charging in yelling about bonds and dreams and youth—I just got startled, that’s all!"
An Shiyu raised an eyebrow but just waved the card. "Whatever you say. Later."
"Where are you going, my dear little fish?"
"Hungry. Taking someone out for a feast."
"yOyOyOyOyOyOyO Take grandpa with you—"
Time flew, and the first day of the sports festival came to an end. As the students dispersed, the grounds were left littered with trash.
Under the glow of the setting sun, a figure finally arrived in a hurry.
"Huff…" It was a middle-aged woman, her hair slightly disheveled as if she had rushed over, her breathing uneven.
Aunt Xian looked around, confirming she was in the right place, before pulling out her phone to call Bai Yuyou.
"……"
"……"
The call didn’t go through. Staring at her phone, Aunt Xian fell silent.
Her finger hovered over the dial button again, but she quickly canceled it.
"Sigh…"
Just then, a petite girl walked past, carrying a large bag filled with bottles and cans.
"Ah! Excuse me, miss." Aunt Xian called out.
"Huh? Oh, hello." Tao Xiaotao hadn’t expected to be stopped. Seeing the well-dressed woman, she asked shyly, "C-Can I help you?"
"Was there a sports festival held here today?"
"Yes, but it’s already over," Tao Xiaotao said. "Though this is just one of the venues. The academy is huge, so the festival is split across multiple locations."
"This one was for grades four through seven."
She added, "I’m new here myself, so I’m not sure about the other venues."
"I see… so it’s over." Aunt Xian’s gaze fell on the bag in the girl’s hands.
"Are you in charge of cleaning here?"
"Ah?" Tao Xiaotao tightened her grip on the bag, embarrassed. "I-I just pick up cans here."
"I get it—you’re handling the cleanup, right?" Aunt Xian smiled faintly, though her expression dimmed.
"Too late…"
Tao Xiaotao studied her, unsure why she looked so upset.
"Are… you feeling unwell?" she asked.
"No, it’s just… I promised my daughter I’d come watch her compete, but something came up, and I got delayed until now." Aunt Xian gave a bitter smile. "Since it’s not the first time, I don’t even have the nerve to call her anymore."
Watching her, Tao Xiaotao couldn’t help but think…
So this is what it looks like when a mother feels guilty for breaking a promise…
Her own mother would just glare, demand money, and if she didn’t have any, beat and curse her, saying she shouldn’t have been born in the first place…
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
] 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.
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!
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.
