On the weekend break, Ye Shuang drove the two girls around to see the sights.
Speaking of which, Haizhu City is a tourist destination known for its ecological civilization, but Ye Shuang didn't really know where the fun places were. Like most people, his usual routine only took him to a handful of familiar spots.
The sea near the shore only looked blue on clear days; to see the truly azure ocean, you had to take a boat out to the other islands.
As Ye Shuang stared blankly at the traffic light, he noticed the girl beside him seemed to be playing a mobile game.
"What game are you playing?" Ye Shuang asked.
"A tower defense game," Bai Yuyou said, showing him her phone. "Keke asked me to play with her."
"Brother, do you want to play? It's a casual game," Tang Keke said with a grin. "And it's their fifth anniversary right now, they're giving out a monthly card. You can get like a hundred pulls in one go."
"What's a monthly card?"
"It's thirty yuan, and you get daily gacha resources from it," Tang Keke explained.
Hearing this, Ye Shuang had a moment of realization. It seemed many products from his group's companies had similar paid items, though their pricing was much higher.
Thirty yuan...
Wouldn't it be better to just buy the resources directly?
"You can just buy them directly, right?"
"Brother, you don't get it," Tang Keke said with a profound look, making a 'tsk tsk tsk' sound and wagging her finger. "Even though you can buy them, the free ones are the sweetest. Some games only give out a few pulls for their anniversaries, and if you complain, you get called an ungrateful wolf."
Ye Shuang really didn't understand, as he didn't play mobile games much. The mobile game he played the longest during his student days was on a keypad phone. He had a lot of fun back then with that turn-based game where you could freely PK and farm monsters. It was pixel art, but he found it utterly engrossing.
But thinking about it now, he couldn't even remember the game's name anymore.
"Is it fun?" Ye Shuang asked Bai Yuyou beside him.
"Mhm, the little characters are cute," Bai Yuyou said.
"Is that so." Ye Shuang continued driving, but then a thought occurred to him—
Maybe he should download it and play too, so he wouldn't run out of things to talk about with the girls.
But on second thought, he probably didn't have time for games.
It was true; once you started working, you got busy and couldn't settle your mind enough to play games properly. That was why many big bosses loved those browser games where you could just pay to get stronger. For them, there was simply no time to slowly grind for equipment and build up characters. The most satisfying thing was to just top up and dominate the entire server.
After all, time was more valuable.
Arriving at a nearby commercial plaza, Ye Shuang parked the car.
"Alright, let's go. We'll have lunch here today," Ye Shuang said with a smile.
"Okay."
Bai Yuyou hooked her arm around Ye Shuang's, while Tang Keke hooked hers around Bai Yuyou's. The sight of the three of them walking side by side immediately attracted quite a few glances.
Especially Bai Yuyou, with her adorable looks bundled up in a down jacket, she looked just like a little penguin.
As for Tang Keke, her natural assets were suppressed by the puffy down jacket, so she was far less eye-catching than Bai Yuyou.
"Should I buy you guys bags or something as gifts?" Ye Shuang asked, noticing a luxury brand boutique not far away.
He didn't know why, but he always felt girls really liked bags.
"Bags? Not interested," Tang Keke said, clearly having no enthusiasm for the idea.
She'd rather buy some figurines or merch.
Bai Yuyou tilted her head. "I already have a schoolbag."
"Is that so? Then we won't go." Ye Shuang couldn't help but chuckle. Both girls were still at an age where they were studying. Combined with their well-off backgrounds and small social circles, they genuinely didn't have any desire to keep up with the Joneses.
Even though Ye Shuang had a bit of money now, he still couldn't understand people who would take out loans to buy luxury goods for the sake of comparison, completely trapped by consumerism.
It was a common sight: assembly-line products being imbued with so-called meaning and then used to harvest customers. Even things like trash bags or tape with a logo printed on them had people lining up overnight to buy.
"Ye Shuang, a really big duck."
"Duck?"
Ye Shuang looked in the direction Bai Yuyou was pointing and indeed noticed a store decorated with a yellow duck logo, filled with products featuring various duck elements.
"Seems like a general store selling all sorts of daily necessities?" Ye Shuang led the two girls over. The store was a bit like a Miniso or similar variety shop, selling everything, all unified with the duck icon.
"I want this," Bai Yuyou pointed at a plush toy on the shelf—a large yellow duck.
And it was huge, a good meter or so wide.
"Sorry, everyone, that's a non-sale display item for our store," a sales clerk said with a smile, noticing Ye Shuang and the girls examining the duck.
"Non-sale item." Bai Yuyou seemed a bit disappointed. It looked like she really liked it.
"Can we discuss it? Price is negotiable," Ye Shuang asked the clerk, noticing the girl's dejected expression.
"Um, in that case, I'd have to ask our store manager," the clerk said, looking a bit troubled.
After all, this thing was basically a store mascot. Most people wouldn't think to buy it, and as a mere sales clerk, she couldn't make that decision.
"Alright." Ye Shuang nodded, and the clerk left.
"That duck is indeed pretty big."
If the price was reasonable, he was willing to buy it for Bai Yuyou. It would look nice in her room too.
After a while, the clerk returned with a man who appeared to be the store manager.
"Sorry, this isn't for sale," the manager said, refusing outright.
"Well, that's that then." Ye Shuang could only comfort the girl beside him. "It's okay, I'll find a factory to custom-make a new one for you."
Bai Yuyou nodded.
"Really not for sale?" Ye Shuang tried asking the manager one more time.
The manager hadn't expected Ye Shuang to be so persistent. He thought for a moment and finally said, "If you really want it, sir, the price for this item might be a bit steep."
"Our cost for this duck is five thousand one hundred."
"That is quite expensive," Ye Shuang admitted, surprised such a plush toy cost five thousand one hundred. But since Yuyou liked it, buying one wouldn't hurt.
He had a bit of spare cash now.
"Daddy, I want that duck too!" A voice came from behind them.
It looked like a family of three—a man, a woman, and a little boy.
Huh?
Ye Shuang was slightly taken aback because the man looked very familiar. Not only did Ye Shuang have this reaction, but the man opposite him also froze for a second.
"President Xu, what a coincidence," Ye Shuang said with a faint smile, not expecting to run into Xu Yitian here.
A flicker of discomfort passed over Xu Yitian's face.
"Honey, a friend of yours?" the woman beside Xu Yitian asked.
"Oh, your wife," Ye Shuang raised an eyebrow.
So Xu Yitian was already married?
[Character: Zou Xue
Xu Yitian's mistress from his university days, with whom he has a son.]
Well, well...
And this guy had the nerve to criticize me?
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
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!
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.”
