Ye Shuang originally wanted Bai Yuyou to get plenty of rest, but after just a day or two, he realized that Yuyou was actually on the same level as Chen Qin in that regard, and even surpassed her. The way she drained every last bit of energy out of him with a deadpan expression had Ye Shuang starting to steep a cup of goji berry water for himself every morning.
"Sigh..." Ye Shuang's gaze fell on the thermos cup in front of him. The few goji berries had turned the clear water inside a bright orange-red. Of course, Ye Shuang didn't think he was getting old, but he did figure it was high time he paid more attention to his health regimen. Otherwise, how was he supposed to get through all the years ahead?
While Ye Shuang was lost in his thoughts, Kou Kou at his side handed over the documents in her hands. "Mr. Ye, these are the documents that need your signature today."
"Alright." Ye Shuang nodded slightly when he saw the documents being passed over, then got to work.
The group's affairs hadn't been particularly busy lately, so Ye Shuang had been coming into the office less often. When lunchtime rolled around, he brought the two "little fish" along to the canteen to meet up with Chen Qin and the others.
"A-Ye—" Chen Qin spotted Ye Shuang and hurried over with a bright smile on her face.
Ye Shuang also saw Chen Hai standing right next to Chen Qin, and Qiaoqiao was there too, her eyes curved into sweet little crescents as she wore a cute grin.
"Everyone's here? Even Qiaoqiao's with us." Ye Shuang couldn't help but smile when he saw the little girl. When she came bounding over to him, he pinched her soft little cheek. "Did you miss me, Qiaoqiao?"
"Yes!" Qiaoqiao nodded right away. Her innocent, bright personality felt so healing that it could soothe anyone's heart. After Ye Shuang ruffled her hair, he looked over at Chen Hai.
Although Chen Hai hadn't been too thrilled about it, he had still been promoted to the management tier. To be fair, he had already been a department manager at the bank before, so he was no stranger to being a leader. But after getting promoted by the group, Chen Hai worked even harder, and at the very least, he finally started acting like a proper father.
Ye Shuang still wasn't sure if the whole An Yao incident had been a motivation or a blow to Chen Hai, but whatever it was, it had turned him into a completely new person.
"Qiaoqiao insisted on coming to see where I work, and she said she wanted to visit her little aunt and little uncle too," Chen Hai said, sounding a little helpless. Especially seeing Qiaoqiao dash straight over to Ye Shuang, he couldn't help wondering why Ye Shuang was so unbelievably popular with little girls.
"Maybe even little kids have a thing for handsome guys," Chen Qin chimed in with a grin.
"Am I not handsome? I'm the strong, macho type of hunk, right Qiaoqiao?" Chen Hai said, pointing at his own face. "Look, isn't Daddy super handsome?"
"Daddy is handsome! Mommy says Daddy has gotten much better-looking lately."
"Really?"
"But Daddy's beard is all scratchy," Qiaoqiao said, crossing her arms with a matter-of-fact little pout that was impossibly cute.
Everyone burst out laughing.
After chatting for a little while, the group headed over to the canteen to get some food. The two little fish trailed along behind them, waddling slowly, but they were unusually quiet today, as if they were messing around with some secret little thing.
Ye Shuang got himself a bowl of rice noodle soup, and Chen Qin, who had similar tastes, ordered the same. As for Chen Hai, he got an eggplant casserole and ordered a kids' meal for his daughter — it was actually just a simple low-fat set, with a small portion and mild flavors, which worked perfectly as a meal for a little kid.
"Now that you're in management, is the work going alright?" Ye Shuang asked Chen Hai over lunch.
"It's manageable. The work itself is pretty straightforward, but I think I could use an assistant," Chen Hai said, nodding toward An Shiyu and Anshi Yi sitting next to Ye Shuang. "Can you spare one of the Little Fish girls? You've got two of them, you only need one to get all your work done, right?"
Right after Chen Hai finished speaking, An Shiyu and Anshi Yi both looked up for a second, then went right back to shoveling food into their mouths.
"I don't mind at all. You can ask them what they think," Ye Shuang said with a faint smile.
"Really?" Chen Hai immediately turned to An Shiyu. "Hey Little Fish, wanna be my assistant?"
An Shiyu just stared back at him with big, blank dot eyes.
A few seconds later, she flipped him the middle finger, her purple nail polish glinting faintly with the letters "SB".
"Knew it," Chen Hai said, not even a little surprised by her response. Those two never left Ye Shuang's side, there was no way he'd ever be able to coax one of them to come work for him.
After An Shiyu shot him down, Chen Hai looked back at Ye Shuang. "How about we all grab dinner tonight? It's been ages since the guys got together."
"Hmm, is Fugui free?" Ye Shuang asked. He hadn't really gotten in touch with Fugui much lately.
"Fugui's free. He's been staying in the city this whole time."
"Sounds good to me," Ye Shuang nodded. It would be nice to hang out once in a while. He'd had a lot on his plate lately, and it had been ages since he got to sit down and have a proper drink with friends.
"I wanna come too!" Qiaoqiao piped up suddenly.
"Sorry, Qiaoqiao, you can't come," Chen Qin said with a soft smile, pinching the little girl's cheek when she started clamoring to tag along. "That's a grown-ups only party. You have to wait till you're older to come with us."
"Then can I go play with Yezi?" Qiaoqiao asked.
Qiaoqiao had met Yezi a few times before, and since she'd had to transfer schools so many times, she didn't have any good friends, so she really wanted to get along with Yezi.
"You want to go play with Yezi?" Ye Shuang asked with a warm smile.
Yezi only had Duoduo as a friend right now. He wasn't sure how things were going at her school, but that kid was so mature for her age that it was hard for her to strike up a conversation with kids her own age, let alone make friends.
"Yep, I wanna play with Yezi."
"How about Daddy takes you to find Yezi tonight, okay?" Chen Hai offered from the side.
"Yay!"
...
Lunchtime passed, and everyone headed back to their posts to get on with work. Ye Shuang had just sat down, ready to take a short nap during his lunch break, when he saw Anshi Yi reach over and pop open his thermos cup. She peered inside and let out a little curious "eh".
"Looks like you really do need to stock up on supplements, old man."
"This is called health preservation," Ye Shuang protested.
"More like reloading your bullets, isn't it?" Anshi Yi shook his thermos cup gently. "It's tough getting old, huh? Having to keep up with a young girl."
Ye Shuang: "..."
He had a strong feeling there was a hidden meaning behind her words.
"Tell me, did you two actually install those things in my room?" Ye Shuang asked her point-blank.
"Eh? What things?"
"Security cameras."
"Wow, old man, is that how little you trust us?" Anshi Yi tapped her own cheek. "Look at my cute face and ask me that again."
"Not cute at all," Ye Shuang said.
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
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...
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…
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.”
