"Sorry, I dozed off." Ye Shuang didn't notice Bai Yuyou's earlier action. Just as he was about to apologize for oversleeping, Bai Yuyou suddenly reached out and hugged him.
Warmth and softness enveloped him. Ye Shuang froze for a moment, looking down at the girl clinging tightly to him.
Was she… back to normal?
Just this morning, she had been avoiding him.
Ye Shuang glanced at Tang Keke, who was making a strange face, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t dare.
Still, it was better that Yuyou had returned to her usual self rather than keeping her distance.
"Oh, right—the cat." Ye Shuang looked around before gently telling Bai Yuyou, "Yuyou, let go for a second. The cat’s missing."
Only then did Bai Yuyou lift her head and release him. Ye Shuang stood up and began searching the entire house.
Eventually, all three of them joined the hunt, finally hearing noises from the kitchen trash bin.
"You're really something—no, cat something." Ye Shuang pinched the scruff of the kitten’s neck and lifted it up. A piece of fruit peel was stuck to its head, making it look utterly ridiculous.
Bai Yuyou noticed the kitten too—it must have been discharged from the vet.
"Wow, it’s kinda cute," Tang Keke said, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Do you want to adopt it?" Though he already knew the answer, Ye Shuang still asked Bai Yuyou for her opinion. When she nodded, he smiled and said,
"Alright then, let’s give this little guy a name."
Bai Yuyou fell into thought.
"Ten Thousand isn’t a bad name."
"Brother, why Ten Thousand?"
"Because this little troublemaker cost ten grand in vet bills in just a week."
"That’s kinda wild."
At that moment, Bai Yuyou suddenly spoke up. "Ye Shuang."
Ye Shuang: "?"
Something felt off.
"Yuyou, why name it Ye Shuang?" Tang Keke asked curiously.
Bai Yuyou replied, "Ye Shuang… sounds nice."
"I get it! Because Yuyou likes Brother, she likes his name too!" Tang Keke declared, playing the role of royal interpreter with a smug grin.
Ye Shuang just chuckled, brushing it off.
In the end, the name was settled. From that day on, the long-haired orange kitten had its official name—
Ten Thousand.
A tribute to the ever-shrinking wallet.
---
Though Ye Shuang had insisted on going grocery shopping alone, Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke still tagged along. The three of them arrived at the market.
It was still early—plenty of time to prepare dinner.
"Want some soup?"
"Yes!" Tang Keke raised her hand enthusiastically.
"Yuyou?"
"Yes!" Tang Keke raised Bai Yuyou’s hand for her.
Ye Shuang couldn’t help but laugh. Bai Yuyou also murmured a soft "yes."
The market was crowded, and Bai Yuyou, uncomfortable in large gatherings, instinctively moved closer to Ye Shuang. Noticing this, he reached out and gently took her hand.
Feeling the warmth of his palm, Bai Yuyou visibly relaxed.
At the meat stall, Ye Shuang was about to pick out some ribs when he realized the butcher looked familiar.
Ye Shuang: "…"
"Old man, if you’re not buying, don’t block the way. Move it." An Shiyu said, gripping a cleaver.
"An Shiyu?!" Tang Keke recognized her, eyes widening in surprise.
"You know her?" Ye Shuang asked.
"She’s from Class B—always top three in grades, but skips class so much even the teachers can’t do anything about it," Tang Keke explained.
"Oh, Big-Chest Girl, you’re from Class A," An Shiyu remarked.
"B-Big-Chest Girl?!"
"Why are you selling pork again?" Ye Shuang asked, baffled.
He then noticed the actual butcher nearby and asked, "Is she your daughter?"
"Nah, she said she’s a student doing a social practice assignment. Paid me a few grand to let her run the stall for a bit," the butcher said cheerfully.
Money in hand and free labor? The butcher was more than happy. Besides ribs, most cuts didn’t even require much skill.
Pay up, play butcher for a while…
"You’re loaded?" Ye Shuang gave An Shiyu a skeptical look. They’d just shared pig trotter rice for lunch that morning.
And now she’s paying to be a sucker?
Ye Shuang was starting to understand why this girl kept popping up in random jobs.
"Money’s just numbers. Can’t take it with you when you die," An Shiyu said lazily. "Saw the pig trotter guy chopping meat at lunch and thought it looked fun."
"Wanna buy a trotter for me to hack at?"
Before Ye Shuang could respond, he noticed Bai Yuyou staring at him—along with Tang Keke’s shocked expression.
They had lunch together?
"It’s a long story. Just give me some ribs—I won’t interrupt your fun," Ye Shuang said.
"Sure." Without asking which cut, An Shiyu grabbed a slab, swung the cleaver a few times, and neatly chopped it up—no hesitation.
This girl… Would she find hacking up a person fun someday?
An Shiyu tossed the bagged ribs at him. "Here."
"How much?"
"Free. Consider it payback for the pig trotter rice."
Ye Shuang glanced at the butcher, who was still grinning.
The power of money.
After dropping a few grand, An Shiyu could hand out ribs all day without the butcher batting an eye.
"Thanks." Ye Shuang was starting to get a read on An Shiyu. He didn’t insist on paying, simply took the ribs and led Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke to the next stall.
An Shiyu watched them leave, tilting her head slightly as if lost in thought.
"Boss, give me some pork belly," a customer called out.
"Sorry, stall’s closed for today."
Customer: Huh?
Butcher: Huh?! ↗
---
On the way back, Tang Keke couldn’t hold back her curiosity. "Brother, how do you know An Shiyu? I heard she’s super hard to get along with."
"Long story. Let’s just say we keep running into each other, so we ended up acquainted." Ye Shuang didn’t elaborate. Maybe they’d known each other in a past life—why else would they cross paths everywhere?
He turned to Bai Yuyou with a smile. "Remember? We saw her last time when we bought squid."
Bai Yuyou nodded—she remembered An Shiyu.
By the time they left the market, the sunset had painted the sky orange. Watching the two girls beside him, Ye Shuang recalled the years he’d spent grocery shopping alone.
"Just go by yourself. Do you really need me for something this small? Or can’t you even carry groceries as a grown man?"
"Forget it. I’ll order takeout. Handle it yourself."
The sharp, painful echoes of the past were fading, replaced by the cheerful voices beside him.
"Brother, let us carry some. Is it too heavy?"
"Give it to me…"
Ye Shuang looked at the two girls extending their hands toward him and couldn't help but shake his head with a faint smile. Instead, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders, as if a burden had been released from his heart.
"Let's go. I'll cook a big meal tonight."
"Yay!"
Bathed in the fading sunlight, the three of them walked home together.
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!
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."
] [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!"
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!" "......"
