Hospital.
Chen Qin was rushed into the operating room almost as soon as she arrived. Her condition was extremely critical; there had not even been time for a full examination before they had to work to keep her alive.
Ye Shuang and the others could only stand helplessly outside the operating room, staring at the light glowing above the door.
“Ha...” Ye Shuang crouched beside the wall, covering his face as he struggled to figure out what to do. As a medical student, he knew all too well how terrifying the amount of blood soaking Chen Qin’s skirt had been.
“...”
An Shiyu and Anshi Yi exchanged a glance. They did not know how to comfort Ye Shuang, so all they could say was, “She should be okay.”
Just then, the operating room door opened, and a doctor stepped out.
“Doctor, is she all right?!”
“The patient’s pupils have already dilated.”
The doctor’s words sent Ye Shuang plummeting into an icy abyss. He stared in disbelief. “Her pupils have dilated?”
One of the medical signs of death was dilated pupils.
“We have to operate immediately, but there’s only a ten percent chance of success. Even if we manage to resuscitate her, she may never wake up again and could require life support for the rest of her life,” the doctor said.
“Save her—save her! I need to sign a consent form, right?” Ye Shuang seemed to seize that sliver of hope, his voice growing frantic.
“Sir, please calm down. The resuscitation is already underway.”
“Oh, all right. Calm down. I need to calm down.”
But the trembling of Ye Shuang’s hands betrayed his feelings completely. In a situation like this, there was no way he could remain composed.
“Uncle, you need to stay calm.” An Shiyu placed a hand on Ye Shuang’s shoulder. “Sit down and wait patiently.”
Like a puppet, Ye Shuang allowed her to guide him to a chair.
He rubbed his hands together, repeating the motion mechanically.
“This time...” An Shiyu looked at the signal light and monitor in the distance, momentarily at a loss for words.
In truth, the doctor’s estimate of a ten percent chance had already been an optimistic one.
Though they did not know the exact extent of Chen Qin’s blood loss, if a major artery had been severed, a person could lose consciousness within ten or twenty seconds. The blood would gush out like a fountain, impossible to stop.
“Who did this? Why would anyone do something like this?” Anshi Yi leaned against the wall, deep in thought.
And it had happened at Yinshan Academy, of all places.
“There are surveillance cameras in the parking garage. We should check them.”
But Ye Shuang was not listening to anything the two fishes were saying. His eyes remained fixed on the operating room in the distance.
...
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. At last, the doctor emerged from the operating room again, followed by a medical trolley. Chen Qin lay on it with an oxygen mask over her face.
“We’ve temporarily stabilized her vital signs, but she’ll remain in critical danger for the next few days...” the doctor said. “She needs to be transferred to the intensive care unit.”
“Her vital signs are stable... That’s good. That’s good.” Ye Shuang hurried to Chen Qin’s side.
At that moment, a window slowly appeared before him—
[Character: Chen Qin
Severely injured and unconscious. Estimated survival time: less than 24 hours]
The simple message made Ye Shuang feel as though his breathing had stopped. He stared blankly at Chen Qin’s face, his lips moving soundlessly.
...
Several hours later, reporters arrived as well. News that someone had been stabbed in the academy’s parking garage had spread quickly. Fortunately, no one was allowed into the ICU corridor, and the nurses kept the reporters outside.
Through the window, Ye Shuang sat silently in the corridor, watching Chen Qin lying inside the intensive care unit.
His mind replayed one possibility after another.
A business rival?
Jin Sha?
A case of mistaken identity?
Ye Shuang had no idea. He could only clasp his hands together and pray that Chen Qin’s condition would improve. But the system’s message from earlier felt like a thorn driven straight into his heart.
No matter how unwilling he was to believe it, the system had never been wrong.
Was Chen Qin really not going to make it?
She had still been smiling just that morning. The thought filled Ye Shuang with a crushing sense of helplessness.
Bai Yuyou and the others arrived after receiving the news, bringing Ye Shuang some clothes and his phone. When they heard that Chen Qin had been attacked, the girls were all stunned.
It felt like something that only happened in the news had suddenly occurred right beside them—to someone they knew.
It was only after seeing Chen Qin unconscious in the hospital bed that they truly believed it. Sister Chen Qin really had been stabbed, and her life was in grave danger. Even though the surgery had succeeded, she still had not escaped the crisis.
Bai Yuyou looked at Ye Shuang and discovered that he had sunk into deep thought, sitting there blankly without the slightest reaction.
He looked as if he were about to shatter.
The police came to learn what had happened as well. But since Ye Shuang had been out running and knew nothing, they chose to retrieve the surveillance footage and question the teacher who had first found Chen Qin collapsed on the ground.
“Sister Chen Qin should be all right, shouldn’t she? Didn’t the doctor say the surgery went well?”
“I don’t know... She’s still in critical condition.”
“All right.”
As Bai Yuyou and the others spoke, they kept glancing at Ye Shuang’s reaction. His gaze remained empty.
Why had something like this happened?
Ye Shuang did not understand.
All he could do was watch Chen Qin lying inside the ICU, unable to do anything.
He could do nothing.
Ye Shuang drew a deep breath. Every time he thought of the system’s words—she would not survive twenty-four hours—his scalp prickled, and he felt as though he could no longer breathe.
[Are you... willing to pay the price?]
A window suddenly appeared before him, making Ye Shuang freeze.
[Are you... willing?]
The price...
Ye Shuang suddenly recalled how the novels described it.
Paying a price in exchange for something.
“Was that how it worked the first two times?” Ye Shuang murmured. As though afraid the window would disappear, he hurriedly said, “I’m willing!”
[Give up half of your memories to obtain a chance to heal Chen Qin.]
[Warning: If you make too many exchanges, your memories may collapse and become impossible to restore on their own.]
Half?
[1. Chen Qin
2. Bai Yuyou]
Memories...
Bai Yuyou or Chen Qin?
In other words, he would become like he had been back when he did not know An Shiyu.
“Big brother, are you all right?” Ye Shuang’s sudden shout of “I’m willing!” made Bai Yuyou and the others look over. Perhaps sensing that something was wrong with him, the girls all wore worried expressions.
Ye Shuang came back to his senses. “I...”
“It’ll be all right, Ye Shuang. Everything will get better.” Bai Yuyou reached out and embraced him, trying to comfort him.
The girl’s embrace was warm. Ye Shuang looked toward Chen Qin in the ICU, then at Bai Yuyou standing before him.
Two choices.
...
Why?
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.”
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…
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
