A few days before the wedding, Ye Shuang went home to pick up some things and planned to stay the night.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, Bai Yuyou, Keke, and Yezi were all in the living room. When Ye Shuang opened the door, Keke and the others gathered around.
"Brother, you’re back?" Keke said.
"Yeah, just grabbing some stuff and staying over for a night before heading back. I’ll probably be staying there until after the wedding," Ye Shuang said with a smile. He didn’t want to be running around so close to the wedding, and figured he’d only come back here to live once the ceremony was over.
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Bai Yuyou. The girl was dressed simply in casual loungewear, her waist-length hair cascading down like a waterfall. She stood quietly to the side, not saying a word.
Maybe noticing Ye Shuang’s eyes on her, Bai Yuyou hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, "Welcome home."
"Mm."
Ye Shuang gently patted Bai Yuyou on the head, then grabbed his things and headed straight upstairs.
Bai Yuyou remained standing there, turning her head to watch Ye Shuang’s retreating figure as he climbed the stairs. Keke, standing nearby, walked over and whispered,
"Yu You, why didn’t you hug Brother?"
"I…" Bai Yuyou showed a hesitant expression. "I don’t know—would that be inappropriate?"
Tang Keke was taken aback. Was Yu You... developing a sense of boundaries?
Hearing words that didn’t sound like the old Bai Yuyou, Keke felt her brain struggling to process it. It seemed Yu You really had grown up, no longer the little girl who used to cling to Ye Shuang without moving.
"Mm..." Tang Keke scratched her head, uncertain.
"Mommy!" a voice suddenly rang out from nearby.
Bai Yuyou looked down and saw Yezi tugging at her clothes. "It’s okay, just go hug Dad!"
"I..."
"Come on, I’ll take you to hug Dad!" Yezi said, grabbing Bai Yuyou’s hand and pulling her upstairs.
Watching the big one and the little one run upstairs, Keke, left behind, scratched her head again.
"That little rascal..."
"Looks like she’s got the makings of a strategist."
"But, can she win?"
Keke shook her head and shifted her attention to the refrigerator. "What’s done is done. Time to cook."
...
"Mm..." Ye Shuang was tidying up his room. He wasn’t moving out—he just needed to grab a charger and a few odds and ends. But was it really worth making a special trip and staying over for something this trivial?
Clearly, even Ye Shuang knew he hadn’t come back for those things.
The real reason—
He just wanted to check on Bai Yuyou. Thinking this, he instinctively touched his neck. On his shoulders and a few other spots, faint blackish-red marks lingered.
If he hadn’t been sleeping in separate rooms from Chen Qin these past few days, she would surely have noticed by now.
Ye Shuang was terrified of seeing that look of disappointment in her eyes. He knew Chen Qin wouldn’t be like that, but still...
"Phew..."
He took a deep breath, then noticed footsteps outside the door. He glanced over and saw a big figure and a little one standing there. Yezi held Bai Yuyou’s hand and announced loudly to Ye Shuang,
"Dad!"
Seeing how determined Yezi looked, Ye Shuang was a little stunned, not quite knowing what to make of it.
What was this little radish up to?
You’d think they were arresting a criminal.
"Dad!" Yezi called again, and Ye Shuang just smiled. "What’s with the angry face?"
"Dad! Do you like Mommy?!" Yezi demanded, reaching out to grab Ye Shuang’s clothes.
Ye Shuang paused for a few seconds before asking, "Which mommy?"
As ridiculous as that question sounded, Yezi called both Bai Yuyou and Chen Qin "mommy," so Ye Shuang had no idea which one she meant.
Yezi pulled Bai Yuyou closer. "This one!"
"Uh..."
For a moment, both Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou fell silent. No one could have predicted the little kid would ask something like that.
But Ye Shuang didn’t stay quiet for long. He gave a definite answer. "Yeah, I do."
Bai Yuyou’s eyes flickered, and her grip on Yezi’s hand tightened a little.
"Then that’s it!" Yezi said eagerly. "Dad and Mommy, give each other a hug!"
"Uh...?"
Even though he didn’t understand what Yezi was trying to do, Ye Shuang still reached out and gently wrapped his arms around Bai Yuyou. Maybe it was because they hadn’t hugged in a few days, but holding the soft, pliant Bai Yuyou stirred an odd feeling in his chest.
Right...
It was because Bai Yuyou hadn’t embraced him back. In the past, she would have held on tightly, but today she didn’t reach out at all. She just let herself be held like a doll.
"Mommy!" Yezi suddenly called out, making Bai Yuyou lower her gaze to look at the child beside her, tilting her head slightly.
"Mommy, don’t you like Dad?"
"I..."
"If you like him, hug him!"
Without thinking, Bai Yuyou wrapped her arms around Ye Shuang. Whether it was intentional or just a reaction to Yezi’s sudden shout, she wasn’t sure.
"See? That’s how it’s done. I don’t get all this lovey-dovey stuff, but if you like someone, you hug!" Yezi said, hands on her hips.
Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou exchanged a glance. Thanks to Yezi’s interruption, the awkward tension between them seemed to have dissipated.
"Hug—" Bai Yuyou tightened her arms around Ye Shuang, pouring all the longing of the past few days into the embrace.
She couldn’t hold back her feelings for him. When the dam broke, she couldn’t help but press herself into his arms, her grip growing stronger and stronger.
"..." Ye Shuang gently patted the back of Bai Yuyou’s head, then hesitated and began to stroke her silky, smooth hair—like stroking satin.
Ever since he learned of Yezi’s existence, Ye Shuang had come to understand many things. He no longer resisted physical contact with Bai Yuyou. But when it came to that final step, maybe because he was about to get married, he felt an inexplicable guilt.
Chen Qin had said all kinds of things to reassure him, but Ye Shuang didn’t want to hurt her that way—especially not so close to their wedding day.
Chen Qin wasn’t immune to pain; she had simply made the biggest concession she could.
With that thought, Ye Shuang slowly let go of Bai Yuyou and looked down at Yezi. "Yezi, is this good enough?"
"Not enough!"
"Not enough?" Ye Shuang found it almost amusing. He poked Yezi’s little nose. "You little rascal, what exactly are you up to?"
"Make a baby right now!" Yezi declared loudly.
"Pfft—"
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!
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!" "......"
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.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
