Sakura, Little Raccoon Town.
In the distance, a shabbily decorated old manor stood silently on the land. Just then, over a dozen sleek luxury cars, pitch black as ink, glided to a stop outside the manor like phantoms.
A fine drizzle drifted down from the sky, draping the whole world in a gossamer-thin veil. The tiny rain threads wove together into a hazy curtain that blurred all sight. Heavy dark clouds hung like clumps of thick ink, pressing low overhead to swallow every last ray of light between heaven and earth, making it almost impossible to tell if it was day or night.
With soft creaks, the doors of the black cars opened one after another. Footfalls landed steadily on the muddy ground, kicking up tiny splashes of water that bloomed briefly in the air before falling back into the murky puddles and vanishing without a trace.
Before long, all the people from the cars had gathered together. Every one of them wore black clothing, with a purple family crest pinned to their chests. At the head of the group, Anshi Yilang stared at the building ahead with a blank expression. He had never expected that [Madam] would be right here.
What was more, this place was barely dozens of miles away from the An family estate. It was absolutely absurd that they had failed to spot anything suspicious about the old lab right under their noses for so long.
"Ichiro, should we just charge right in?" an old man at his side asked.
"No need. She's already coming out," Anshi Yilang said. The moment his words fell, the iron gate of the manor slowly swung open. Raindrops pattered on the black metal railings, and the rust creeping across their surface lent the scene an eerie edge.
"The door opened on its own. Looks like they've got a little surprise all ready for us," another man remarked. It was clear that what lay ahead was no empty trick — the people inside were genuinely waiting to welcome them in.
No one knew what was waiting for them beyond the threshold, but Anshi Yilang remained unflustered. He simply said, "Let's go."
Hanging around outside served no purpose. All their questions would only be answered once they stepped inside.
"Just walk in like this?"
"Mm," Anshi Yilang gave a soft grunt of confirmation.
The group from the An family walked in together, but they soon came to a halt. What greeted them was a line of pitch-black umbrellas, and at the very front stood a tall woman holding a scarlet umbrella.
The woman's face was hidden from view. She was dressed in a full black lace gown befitting a noble lady, and a veil covered her features completely. The deathly pale tone of her arms, however, made it obvious that she was not of East Asian descent.
The two groups stood face to face, neither side speaking, with nothing but the patter of raindrops breaking the silence.
Anshi Yilang looked up at the tall woman before him. He stood at barely 1.6 meters, while the woman towered over two meters. Even so, his slight, thin frame exuded an aura that did not cede an inch to hers.
A soft chuckle rang out. The woman giggled, "So many guests. Why not come in for a cup of tea?"
"No need for pleasantries," Anshi Yilang narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "Are you [Madam]?"
"Mm... If there's no one else going by that title, then yes," she said, fanning herself with an elegant lady's fan, her eyes behind the veil glinting with amusement.
"I came here today to look into the cause of my son's death all those years ago." Anshi Yilang did not finish his sentence, but his gaze was fixed intently on her, leaving his meaning unmistakeable.
"What a shame. I don't recall anything about that," Jin Sha laughed lightly.
"You don't know?" Anshi Yilang's voice turned icy. "At a time like this, playing dumb is hardly the act of a smart person."
"Right. I've killed so many people over the years, how could I possibly keep track of which one was your son? But none of that matters anyway — they were all trivial, unimportant nobodies," Jin Sha said with a smile. Her casual words enraged every single member of the An family standing behind Anshi Yilang.
The men behind him burned with fury, but Anshi Yilang held them back. His voice was frigid as he spoke again, "Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"Hmph," Jin Sha gave a snort of laughter. She slowly lifted her hand, and the sleeve of her gown slipped down to reveal a pitch-black pistol.
"Bang!"
...
"Bang!"
The sharp sound of a shattering cup cut through the air.
In the school infirmary, Ye Shuang looked over at the broken pieces on the floor and said, "The cup broke. Water's spilled all over the place."
"Ah," came a lazy response from beside him. Anshi Yi bent down to pick up the shards, but Ye Shuang stopped her immediately. "Use a broom. You'll cut your hands if you do it that way."
Ye Shuang stood up, grabbed a broom from the side, swept up all the broken pieces, then took a mop to wipe up the remaining puddle of water.
Once he was done, he glanced out the window. The sky was gray, and raindrops slid down the glass, leaving faint trails that were soon covered by new drops, merging from thin lines into dense streaks.
"Weird weather like this always puts me in a bad mood," Ye Shuang said.
"Really? I love rainy days," An Shiyu said. "The best is when there's thunder too. You can just curl up in bed and play video games. It's so cozy."
Right then, she felt her palm, which had been clutching her game controller for ages, grow sore. She shook her hand out to stretch it, and accidentally knocked another cup flying off the table.
"Ah—"
But before it could hit the ground, Anshi Yi nudged it up with the top of her foot, tossed it gently into the air, and caught it steadily in her hand as it arced back down.
"Nearly broke that one too," Anshi Yi said.
"You can have it now, since your foot touched it," An Shiyu said, making a face.
"Eh—" Anshi Yi looked at the cup for a second, then passed it over to Ye Shuang. "Here, you can have it."
"Why would I want your cup?" Ye Shuang said, helplessly, shaking his head. That was hardly something he was into.
"Fair point. Guys are way more into used cups from girls they like, anyway."
"Stop spouting those weird jokes with a straight face!"
After messing around for a while, the two fishes grew listless, clearly not in the mood for anything that day.
"I'm bored. Let's go out for a drive," An Shiyu suggested.
"Where to, in all this rain?" Ye Shuang asked.
"No idea."
"You don't have any plan at all?"
Ever since An Shiyaya went back home, the two fishes had been holed up in the school infirmary. Summer vacation was just around the corner, and they were bound to come up with all sorts of silly fun to pass the time.
Just then, Ye Shuang's phone buzzed. He took it out, and froze the moment he saw the screen.
The text was from Anshi Yilang: What a troublesome woman. We failed.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
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…
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
