"Beep beep beep—"
The alarm clock the next morning shattered Ye Shuang's dream. He slowly opened his eyes only to find a rear end facing him.
"..."
"..."
"Huh?"
Ye Shuang slowly sat up and pushed the fat cat off his chest. "No wonder I was dreaming about having a boulder smashed on my chest. You little rascal..."
"That's strange, I definitely closed the door before sleeping." Ye Shuang looked towards the bedroom door and saw it was slightly ajar.
Clearly, it was Yī Wàn who opened it. After all, Ye Shuang had seen videos online of cats who could open doors.
Jump up, give the handle a pull, and it just opens.
"Alright, Yī Wàn, you go out first."
"Meow."
After Yī Wàn left the room with its tail held high, Ye Shuang looked at the blanket covered in cat hair. He skillfully rummaged in the drawer for a lint roller and meticulously cleaned the bedding.
"Not sure if An Shiyu is up yet. I'll make breakfast first." After washing up, Ye Shuang went downstairs and found An Shiyu was already awake. She was lying upside down on the chaise lounge section of the sofa, playing a handheld game console, her legs even propped high against the wall.
"Yo." Noticing the sound of someone coming downstairs, the girl glanced at Ye Shuang before returning to her game.
"Why are you up so early?"
"Well, unlike some people, I don't sleep in."
"It's only seven o'clock. Saying I sleep in is a bit much." Ye Shuang said helplessly, then asked, "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Tuna sashimi."
"For breakfast."
"A Krabby Patty."
"Don't have that."
"Spicy skewers."
"Where am I supposed to get that for you?"
"Tch. You're no good, uncle. This you can't do, that you can't do." An Shiyu made a deadpan expression with dot eyes.
"How about a sandwich?"
"Fine."
That was a quick agreement.
Ye Shuang took ingredients from the fridge and was surprised to find several extra fish inside, though he didn't pay it much mind.
While heating the milk and simply frying the bread with butter, he assembled the ingredients inside, sliced it up—the benefit of this kind of breakfast is that it's quick to make and nutritious enough. A breakfast like this takes less than ten minutes.
Of course, if we're really talking speed, eating breakfast outside is even faster.
"What's wrong? What are you looking at?"
During breakfast, Ye Shuang noticed An Shiyu's gaze, as if she was sizing something up.
"Nothing." The girl averted her eyes.
Ye Shuang: ?
"Going to the company again today?" Ye Shuang asked, "Isn't it boring? If you find it dull, you really don't have to tag along. Stay home and play games."
"Uncle, you don't understand the joy of slacking off." An Shiyu said.
"..."
Is it really that joyful?
Ye Shuang couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
"Going to the restroom." After finishing the sandwich, perhaps because of last night's juice-based hotpot broth, Ye Shuang felt a slight pain in his abdomen and got up to use the restroom.
When he returned, Ye Shuang noticed An Shiyu had already washed both the bowls and the frying pan.
"Huh?" Ye Shuang seemed a bit surprised, then smiled, "I could have washed them."
"Has nothing to do with me. It was Yī Wàn who climbed up and washed them." An Shiyu made her dot-eyed expression.
Hearing this, Ye Shuang just chuckled and didn't say anything more.
This girl is as unstraightforward as ever.
Since An Shiyu said she wanted to go to the company, Ye Shuang took the girl along to the group's office.
Fortunately, An Shiyu wasn't wearing a maid outfit, so when they took the elevator up, the employees' stares weren't as piercing as yesterday.
"President Ye, these are the documents for the recent projects. Please review them."
Not long after sitting down in his office, Kou Kou presented the documents.
"Hmm..."
Ye Shuang flipped through the documents, then suddenly noticed a goldfish had appeared on his desk.
It swam gently in a small square tank, blowing bubbles.
"Where did this come from?" he asked.
"This... I don't know." Kou Kou was also puzzled about why there was a goldfish on the desk. She had noticed it when she arrived today, but thinking it might be Ye Shuang's, she hadn't paid it much mind.
So when Ye Shuang asked, Kou Kou was momentarily confused.
"I put it there." An Shiyu said from the side.
"When did you buy a goldfish?" Ye Shuang was taken aback, seemingly surprised. After all, this goldfish wasn't there when they left work last night.
She couldn't have possibly run back to the company in the middle of the night just to put a tank of goldfish here, right?
"Well, that's a secret." An Shiyu said with a hint of a smirk.
Ye Shuang then didn't dwell on it and continued reviewing the documents in his hand.
"For this project, what's the situation with the competitors? Do you have their information?"
"Yes, President Ye." Kou Kou tapped on her tablet, then showed Ye Shuang the prepared information.
"Hmm."
Ye Shuang read for a while longer. As he put the tablet down, Kou Kou suddenly spoke up, "President Ye, there's something... I'm not sure if I should mention it."
"What is it?" Ye Shuang instinctively thought it might be another problem with Chen Hai.
"It's like this. Regarding that project, several competing companies had strange incidents happen last night, and it's already spreading around our side."
"Tell me about it." Ye Shuang became rather interested. What kind of strange incidents could have happened last night?
Kou Kou hesitated, then said, "Last night, the door locks to the CEO offices of several companies were mysteriously broken. Not only that, the money trees inside seemed to have been watered with boiling water and died."
"It's also said that all the koi fish in the fountain ponds in front of a few other companies disappeared. The surveillance only caught a shadowy figure, but they couldn't catch the person."
"Such strange things happened?" Ye Shuang was stunned.
Maybe... this is just corporate warfare.
Simple and unadorned—watering someone else's money tree.
"..."
Ye Shuang suddenly sensed something amiss and instinctively glanced at An Shiyu beside him. "You... stayed in your room properly last night, right?"
"Breakfast was pretty good today." An Shiyu answered a different question.
Ye Shuang: "..."
"Kou Kou, could you step out for a moment?"
"Of course, President Ye." Although a bit confused, Kou Kou left the office.
"Those strange incidents... were they your doing last night?" Ye Shuang asked.
"Well, maybe." Ye Shuang knew An Shiyu too well; this phrase was practically an admission.
"You..." For a moment, Ye Shuang didn't even know where to begin.
"The fish in the fridge, they weren't..."
An Shiyu said expressionlessly, "They crawled into the fridge by themselves."
"Aren't you afraid of getting caught?" Ye Shuang was rendered speechless. Just what did An Shiyu do last night?
"A top-tier maid goes on assassination missions against rivals at night." An Shiyu said, pulling out a maid outfit.
"What kind of proper maid goes assassinating money trees?!"
"Tch. It's called sabotaging their fortune."
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
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!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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."
