The second day of the school sports meet.
A light sun shower fell from the sky, and the scorching track seemed to emit steam, its surface faintly white as if dusted with powder.
Since Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke were participating in the three-legged race, Ye Shuang had arrived early to secure a good spot in the stands. But as he settled in, he noticed a familiar figure moving up and down the steps, carrying a bag.
[Sunflower seeds: 8 yuan, soda: 4 yuan, peanuts: 5 yuan…]
Ye Shuang was surprised—it was Taozi, small and timid, selling snacks with a hint of shyness.
Her business seemed decent, having already sold a few bags of sunflower seeds in a short time, her movements quick and efficient.
The prices were only about a yuan higher than usual, so many students were willing to pay.
The atmosphere was reminiscent of vendors selling snacks in the front rows, all for the sake of fun—some students even bought peanuts and soda and immediately started playing mobile games with their friends.
"..." Ye Shuang paused for a moment. "Such a hardworking kid. Is the money from the library not enough?"
Though the system hadn’t mentioned it, he could guess why Taozi needed money so badly. After a brief thought, he waved her over.
"C-coming!" Taozi hurried over, freezing slightly when she saw it was Ye Shuang.
Then she smiled awkwardly.
"The sunflower seeds look pretty good," Ye Shuang said, scanning the snacks. "Where do you get your stock?"
Taozi hadn’t expected the question. "The wholesale market. It’s quite far from Yinshan Academy."
"Does the profit cover the transportation costs?" Ye Shuang smiled.
"Haizhu City buses only cost one yuan per trip. I transferred three times, so it’s still worth it," Taozi replied promptly.
Ye Shuang nodded in understanding before pointing at her remaining stock. "I’ll take it all."
"Huh?" Taozi blinked in surprise.
"Y-you really need that much?"
"The kids at home have big appetites, and it’s nice to have snacks in the school clinic when counseling students," Ye Shuang explained.
It made perfect sense.
"But..." Taozi hesitated before murmuring, "You’re too kind to me."
"It’s just some snacks." Ye Shuang chuckled and gestured for her to sit beside him. "Take a seat. Let’s chat."
"O-okay!"
Taozi sat down next to him. For some reason, this man had a calming presence that eased her nerves.
"Show me your QR code. I’ll transfer the money," Ye Shuang said.
Taozi immediately lifted the green QR code badge hanging around her neck—
Ye Shuang scanned it but frowned slightly.
"Is this number yours?" he asked.
"My mother’s," Taozi explained.
Ye Shuang thought for a moment before completing the transfer. "Done. Sent."
"Thank you!"
"Why not use your own QR code?" he continued.
"..." Taozi flushed, fidgeting before pulling out an old, battered flip phone from her pocket.
"I... can’t afford that kind of phone."
Her face burned with embarrassment.
Ye Shuang: "..."
"Do you give all the money you earn to your parents?" he asked.
"Yes! That way, my younger sisters can go to school!" Taozi’s face brightened at the mention of her sisters, a rare, sweet smile appearing. "They’re all very well-behaved."
"What about your brother?"
"His schooling isn’t a problem. My parents pay for it," Taozi said. "He’s also very good."
Ye Shuang fell silent for a beat before turning his gaze to the field. "Taozi, you’re always thinking about your siblings..."
"But what about you?"
Taozi’s smile froze. His words seemed to dig up something she had buried deep inside. The girl fidgeted helplessly before finally lowering her head.
"It’s fine... I’m fine..."
"You’re a good kid," Ye Shuang said after a pause.
"But parents don’t need a license to raise children..."
"Are you sure the money you earn is really being used for your sisters?"
Taozi stiffened. She wasn’t foolish—his words struck a chord. Yet, after a moment of hesitation, she chose to trust her parents.
"They wouldn’t do that."
Seeing her stance, Ye Shuang didn’t press further.
Watching the girl, he shifted to lighter topics. "How’s the dorm at Yinshan Academy?"
"It’s wonderful! The rooms are so nice!" Taozi’s eyes sparkled as she spoke. The academy’s dorms were shared between two students, each with private bathrooms—far better than anything she’d ever lived in before.
And since she had been admitted as a first-choice student, her accommodation fees were fully waived.
"What about your roommate?" Ye Shuang asked.
"She’s a pretty girl. Her personality... is nice too. She talks to me." Taozi paused before giving a simple, earnest smile.
Ye Shuang found himself growing fonder of Taozi—not in a romantic sense, but with the warmth of an elder appreciating a younger’s spirit.
"Taozi."
"Yes?"
"After you graduate in a few years, I can arrange a good job for you. Interested?"
"Really?!"
"Yes. So your task now is to study hard," Ye Shuang said. "If you can’t wait, I can arrange an internship for you in your seventh year."
"I can wait!" Taozi stood up and bowed deeply. "You’re my benefactor!"
Her sudden gesture drew stares from those nearby.
"Ahem, sit down," Ye Shuang said, waving her back.
Taozi’s face flushed as she obediently sat.
Ye Shuang couldn’t help but laugh. "I said I’d arrange a job, but aren’t you afraid I might trick you into some shady work?"
"Not at all!" Taozi said firmly.
She didn’t know why, but she trusted him completely.
"Next up is the three-legged race from the School of Business. All participants, please prepare." The announcer’s voice echoed over the speakers.
Ye Shuang and Taozi turned their attention to the track, quickly spotting Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke.
The two girls stood side by side, one leg each tied together.
"Hmm..." Ye Shuang watched them, but as his gaze drifted lower, he caught sight of a vaguely familiar figure in the stands.
A middle-aged woman in sunglasses, holding a handbag.
For some reason, she looked strikingly familiar.
[Character: Xu Huixian
Struggling with how to mend her relationship with her daughter.]
"Aunt Huixian..." Ye Shuang excused himself from Taozi and headed toward the lower stands.
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?"
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.”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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.
