Early in the morning, Ye Shuang took Bai Yuyou home, but before they left, Chen's Mother stopped them and asked a few questions. Though it was a bit odd why she was asking, Ye Shuang still shared everything he knew.
"Remember to come by next time. Auntie will make soup for you," Chen's Mother said with a smile.
"Got it."
"Qin is really something—still sleeping in."
"Auntie, she just returned from abroad. Let her rest for now," Ye Shuang replied with a chuckle. "I’ll visit again another day."
"You sweet talker, saying things like that will make me upset," Chen's Mother teased before turning to Bai Yuyou. "Little Bai, remember to come by and play next time."
Bai Yuyou gave a slight nod.
After saying their goodbyes, Ye Shuang led Bai Yuyou to the car.
The morning air was fresh after last night’s light rain. Ye Shuang cracked the window open slightly, letting in a cool breeze.
It felt like an embrace from the wind—fleeting, disappearing without a trace before he could react.
Perhaps lost in thought, Ye Shuang’s expression grew somber, his breathing heavier.
Suddenly, he spoke to the girl beside him. "Yuyou, after we get back, stay at home. I need to go out for a bit."
Bai Yuyou tilted her head. "Ye Shuang, where?"
"..." He hesitated for a few seconds before forcing a smile. "Somewhere I don’t even want to go myself."
"I want to come..."
Ye Shuang asked, "It might be boring, you know?"
But the girl shook her head. "As long as I’m with Ye Shuang... I don’t mind."
Ye Shuang said nothing more.
After about an hour’s drive, Ye Shuang parked in a square. Once out of the car, he led Bai Yuyou straight into a flower shop.
The scent of flowers filled the air—similar to Bai Yuyou’s own fragrance, but richer. The shopkeeper, a young woman, quickly noticed them and eagerly approached.
"We just got fresh roses in. They’re lovely."
Ye Shuang glanced around before saying, "I need flowers to visit a departed loved one."
The shopkeeper paused, then smiled. "Chrysanthemums, perhaps? White ones symbolize remembrance and mourning, often paired with yellow ones for tribute. Most customers choose this combination."
Ye Shuang nodded. "That’ll do."
"Alright, that’ll be thirty."
After paying, Ye Shuang took the bouquet. Bai Yuyou watched him hold the flowers, vaguely understanding the mention of a "departed loved one" but not fully grasping its weight.
Next, Ye Shuang drove them to a cemetery.
After checking in, they walked past rows of gravestones and low shrubs lining the gentle slope. The scenery was beautiful, yet an unspoken stillness hung in the air, as if even the breeze carried a heaviness.
Silent, Ye Shuang led Bai Yuyou uphill until they stopped before a tombstone.
A familiar black-and-white photo stood stark against the dark stone. Ye Shuang carefully placed the chrysanthemums in front, then sat down, quietly gazing at it.
Bai Yuyou stood behind him, curiously studying the photo on the tombstone.
Last night, drunk, Ye Shuang had dreamed of his parents. If possible, he wished that dream could have lasted longer.
"I wasn’t close to my parents," Ye Shuang began softly.
"I hated my mom’s nagging—always worrying if I worked too hard, if I ate poorly, if I skipped meals or stayed up late..."
"I took her care for granted, like it was owed to me. Even as an adult, she still saw me as a child..."
"She always told me not to chase money at the cost of my health, that well-being mattered most. I’d brush her off, annoyed..."
"She was always thinking of me... as if even the city I lived in worried her..."
"And I hated my dad’s stubbornness—his silent strength, the way he shouldered everything alone..."
"How he’d insist he was fine even when hurt, calling it nothing..."
"But by the time I realized it, they’d already grown old..."
"Wrinkles at their eyes, fretting over gray hairs, dyeing them..."
"I remember helping my mom dye hers once. She wondered aloud what I’d look like with white hair, then sighed, saying she wouldn’t live to see it..."
"When they died in that accident—because of me—I finally understood the saying: 'A child’s regret comes too late.'"
"I always accepted their love without thought, yet I was too ashamed to tell them how I felt... And by the time I wanted to, I’d already lost the two people who loved me most."
"..."
Ye Shuang murmured, "I failed as a son..."
He spoke for a long time, while Bai Yuyou listened quietly. She didn’t fully grasp the complexity of his emotions, but she embraced them all the same.
Sitting there, the vast cemetery made them seem small.
When Ye Shuang finally came back to himself, he realized two hours had passed—and Bai Yuyou had stayed by his side, wordless.
"Was it boring, coming here?" He steadied his voice and smiled.
Bai Yuyou shook her head. "Not at all."
As she sat beside him, watching his slightly gaunt profile, it struck her—even he had his fragile side.
"Hug?" She suddenly spread her arms. "Can... recharge you..."
Ye Shuang pulled her into his embrace instead. Her soft warmth soothed him, and as he closed his eyes, his heart settled.
It really did recharge him.
"Ye Shuang."
"Yeah?"
"So... is death the end for everyone?" Bai Yuyou asked abruptly.
Ye Shuang paused, then replied gently, "Death isn’t the end. Life and death aren’t opposites—death is just part of life’s continuation."
The girl tilted her head, half-understanding. "Then what is the end?"
Ye Shuang thought for a moment before smiling. "Being forgotten, maybe. That’s scarier than death. When the world holds no trace of you, and no one remembers you... it’s like you never existed."
Bai Yuyou suddenly stepped in front of the tombstone, scrutinizing it carefully.
"What’s wrong?"
She answered earnestly, "I’m memorizing your parents’ names... so the world has one more person who remembers them."
Ye Shuang stood frozen for several seconds before smiling tenderly.
"Silly."
A breeze swept through, lifting Bai Yuyou’s hair—like an embrace that lingered, long and quiet.
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.
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…
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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.”
