"The braised eggplant with fish flavor smells pretty good." After all the dishes were served, Chen Qin scooped some sauce onto her rice as she spoke.
"Here."
"Thanks." Ye Shuang looked at the rice drizzled with sauce before him, his eyes brimming with nostalgia. "I used to love this in high school... Just this sauce alone could make me finish three bowls of rice."
Chen Qin knew, of course. But she just smiled without saying much.
She knew all too well...
Sometimes, even when she couldn’t recall her own favorite foods, she could effortlessly list his preferences.
Ye Shuang finished his rice quickly, then noticed something and turned to the girl beside him. "What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating?"
"My stomach’s been a bit sensitive lately. The doctor told me to avoid greasy food," Chen Qin said.
"Then why did you come here?"
"Hehe..." She giggled. "Just... reminiscing. It’s been a while since I last visited."
Ye Shuang stood up, walked over to the stir-fried noodle stall owner, and exchanged a few words. Soon, he returned with a bowl of soup noodles.
"Eat something. You just got off the plane," he said.
"Oh, okay." For some reason, Chen Qin immediately brightened up and dug in happily.
He’s worried about me.
Ye Shuang was full after one bowl of rice and some beef noodles. It seemed his appetite had shrunk since his growing years.
Chen Qin’s appetite was even smaller—she barely finished half her bowl.
"I’m full," she announced.
"That little?"
"I ate something on the plane." She pulled out a pack of wet wipes and handed one to Ye Shuang.
After taking it, he asked, "Where to next?"
"What do couples usually do after a meal?" Chen Qin countered. "Hmm, how about getting a room to rest?"
"Is this 'getting a room' as innocent as it sounds?"
"It doesn’t have to be."
"..." Ye Shuang sighed. "Are you always thinking about... that?"
Chen Qin straightened up with mock seriousness. "What nonsense!"
She slammed the table. "What I’m thinking is way dirtier than what you’re imagining!"
Her deadpan expression and tone left Ye Shuang momentarily speechless. He twitched his lips. "You’re unbelievable..."
"Give in to me."
"Stop messing around. You’re acting like a total creep."
"Only creepy for you."
"That’s still being a creep, you know?!"
After some playful bickering, they paid and left the noodle shop. Since the street catered more to afternoon and evening crowds, some stalls and stores were still closed or preparing.
But Chen Qin spotted a "Big Mouth No. 9" milk tea shop. Side by side, they sipped their drinks—still the same childhood flavors.
"Wanna watch a movie?"
"Now?"
"Yeah." Chen Qin swiped through her phone and paused at the newly released film Ex-Girlfriend 3. The title made her hesitate, so she quickly scrolled to the next page, landing on Pleasant Goat vs. Basketball Chicken.
"This one."
Ye Shuang raised an eyebrow at the poster. "You still follow this? These characters were from elementary school."
Chen Qin fidgeted slightly but, after glancing at the other options, insisted, "Yeah, I love it."
Unaware of her odd reaction, Ye Shuang agreed. After all, today was about accompanying her.
They headed to the nearest mall, taking the elevator from the underground parking lot straight to the cinema on the fourth floor.
Ding. Fourth floor.
As the elevator doors opened, a massive movie poster greeted them—Ex-Girlfriend 3: The Missed White Moonlight.
Chen Qin’s lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Ye Shuang remained calm, barely glancing at it before collecting their tickets.
While waiting, Chen Qin kept stealing glances at him, her furtive looks making Ye Shuang chuckle. "What?"
"Nothing. Just admiring how handsome you are."
"..."
Soon, it was time to enter. After a quick ticket check, they stepped into the screening room.
"Not many people," Ye Shuang remarked, scanning the nearly empty seats.
"Maybe we’re the first ones in." Chen Qin fiddled with something, then pressed a button on the armrest.
Click. The divider lifted and folded back, merging their seats into a cozy couple’s spot.
With no barrier left, Chen Qin naturally scooted closer.
Ignoring her antics, Ye Shuang said, "The movie’s starting."
"Oh."
True enough, no one else showed up. As the film progressed—Pleasant Goat and Grey Wolf battling it out in a basketball showdown—the plot heated up.
Then, a commotion erupted from the entrance.
"Meng Yao! Stop this."
"Me stop? Why can’t you just apologize?"
Hearing the name, Ye Shuang and Chen Qin turned in unison, their expressions shifting.
A woman in sunglasses and a flowing white dress stormed in, followed by a man. After some tugging, she spotted the occupied seats and plopped down right beside Ye Shuang.
The man, visibly annoyed at being embarrassed in public, strode over.
"Your call."
"You—" He hissed, "You think I’ll indulge you like he did? Last chance—are you leaving or not?"
Then he glanced at Ye Shuang. Under the flickering screen light, his face morphed into shock.
"It’s you?!"
The woman turned, meeting a pair of painfully familiar eyes.
"Ye... Ye Shuang?"
Ye Shuang gave her a fleeting look before returning to the movie, as if she were air.
"Small world," Chen Qin muttered, then shot the woman a glare.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
