"So that's how it is—An Shiyu and Anshi Yi want to invite us to an island for three days and two nights."
Late at night, Ye Shuang, who had just come back from the company, brought the matter up. Even though anything coming from the mouths of the two fishes might sound a bit unreliable, Ye Shuang had given it some serious thought on the way back—after all, every holiday was a traffic jam everywhere, and he didn't have a lot of free time anyway. Choosing one of Haizhu City's islands instead seemed like a pretty good option.
Actually, Haizhu City itself was a tourist destination.
You can't get ivory from a dog's mouth, but this time, the two fishes had actually made a solid suggestion.
"Go play on an island?" Tang Keke seemed a little surprised. She and Yu You had been thinking about how to spend the holiday, and since Ye Shuang had no time, they had planned to learn something to pass the hours instead.
"Does Ye Shuang have the time?" Bai Yuyou also asked, since everyone knew very well how busy Ye Shuang was.
"As for time, we can pick a day that's a bit more flexible. Hmm... after all, with the two fishes helping out, my workload has definitely gotten a lot lighter." Ye Shuang had to admit it—work felt completely different with the fishes around compared to without them.
To put it in simpler terms, it was like in a gacha game: An Shiyu and Anshi Yi were a T0 top-tier support card, able to clear any stage with ease, making everything effortless.
"I want to go." Bai Yuyou said once she heard the plan. If it didn't interfere with work, then spending time with Ye Shuang was something she'd agree to a hundred percent.
"Same here."
Keke immediately chimed in. She'd heard there was BBQ involved—beach plus BBQ was an absolute win.
"Dad, can I go too? I haven't finished my homework," Yezi also asked.
"Of course you can." Ye Shuang smiled.
"Then can I leave my homework for the last day?"
"No."
Once the decision was made, Ye Shuang started looking into which island to pick.
"So our city has that many islands?" Keke was curious.
"Keke, you're too much of a homebody," Bai Yuyou remarked.
"Yu You, how can you say that! You didn't know either!" Keke quickly shot back. She knew Yu You was just as much of a shut-in—there was no way she knew Haizhu City had so many islands.
"Haizhu City is also known as the City of a Hundred Islands. It has over a hundred and forty islands of various sizes," Bai Yuyou said immediately.
Keke: Wait.
You actually know that?
"Yu You might be a homebody, but she's very studious, so she knows a lot of things." Ye Shuang smiled at this point. "As for Keke, well, she basically only knows about islands in video games."
"Fine, I'm just a useless little moocher, wah wah wah." Keke looked pitiful, and Bai Yuyou, with a deadpan expression, patted her on the back in consolation.
There were several ways to get to the island—by boat or by plane. Planes were out of the question, and Chen Qin's private jet wasn't something you could just fly around casually. As for taking a boat, there were plenty of options available.
"We'll take a boat over there," Ye Shuang said.
"Then we'll have to buy tickets." Keke pulled out her phone, checked the official account, and found that only two or three islands were even accessible.
"We're definitely not taking those boats."
Ye Shuang pulled out his phone, took a look, and then directly called Chen Qin.
After learning that Ye Shuang was planning to take the group to an island for some fun, Chen Qin thought for a moment. "An island, huh? Give me a moment, Daddy—"
A short while later, Chen Qin's voice came back through the phone.
"There are a few yachts of ours at the dock. Just take one out—I'll arrange someone to drive it for you."
"Okay."
"You've been working hard lately, right? Make sure you relax properly." Chen Qin chuckled on the other end, but since she was pregnant, she wouldn't be going out on the boat.
After hanging up, Ye Shuang told Keke, "Well, we have a private boat, so we don't need to buy tickets."
Keke: "Money really is nice."
She recalled that private yachts had docking fees calculated by the foot, and you'd be lucky to get away with less than a couple hundred thousand a year.
Since preparations were mostly done, Ye Shuang and the others began planning who to invite. After all, they couldn't just have a handful of people on the island—it would feel a bit dull without more company.
Ye Shuang didn't forget to invite Chen Hai along. The guy had been pretty gloomy lately, so getting him out might help lift his spirits.
"Island? Deep-sea fishing?" Chen Hai sounded a bit interested when he heard Ye Shuang's suggestion on the phone.
"It's been a long time since I went fishing. Yeah, I'm in."
"Fishing, BBQ, and camping."
"Damn, sounds too good. Count me in." Chen Hai naturally wanted to come. He'd been cooped up in the hotel for days and was starting to go stir-crazy.
He didn't know why, but ever since he brought up divorce with Feng Shan, he'd felt a hollow emptiness in his chest, like something was missing. Chen Hai figured it was probably because of Qiaoqiao, but he couldn't quite convince himself of that.
Since Ye Shuang had extended the invitation, he figured he'd go clear his head.
After asking Chen Hai, Ye Shuang also contacted Fugui, but upon learning that the latter was still abroad for Fashion Week, he dropped that idea—next up were the members of the Light Sound Club. Coincidentally, Zhixia and the others were free, so they happily agreed.
"Alice—what about Mother?" Bai Yuyou didn't forget about Aunt Xian and Alice. Ever since the ice-breaking at that pre-concert event, their relationship had been pretty decent all things considered.
"Alice and Aunt Xian? They might not have the time."
Ye Shuang knew Aunt Xian was out on her touring schedule, and as for Alice, she probably had a ton of activities lined up for the holiday—being a big influencer meant no shortage of shooting commitments. But since Yu You had brought it up, Ye Shuang decided to try sending Alice a message anyway.
Ye Shuang: Alice, are you free these days?
A moment later—
Alice: What? Just got out of the shower.
Ye Shuang: Heading to an island in a few days for some BBQ and fishing. Interested?
Alice: Hmph, do I look like someone that easy to invite? At the very least, you should show a bit of sincerity, no?
Ye Shuang: Sincerity...?
Ye Shuang: [Video Call]
Alice: [Declined Video Call]
Ye Shuang: [Video Call]
The video connected, revealing half of Alice's face. She seemed to have just stepped out of the shower—her hair was still a little damp. "W-W-W-Wait, what are you doing? Why are you calling me on video?"
"Hmm, wouldn't a sincere invitation be better delivered face-to-face on a video call?" Ye Shuang asked.
"You idiot, that's not it at all!" Alice said on the other end, clearly not liking video calls with Ye Shuang. She let out a little huff and switched the camera around, revealing Bobo by the doorway.
"Sorry..."
"Hmph." Only after she was sure Ye Shuang couldn't see her face did Alice relax a little. She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
"So? You actually want me to come over?"
"As in, just the two of us?"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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!
] [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!"
