After purchasing a batch of ingredients, the four of them returned to the apartment.
The apartment wasn’t very spacious—it would have been just right for two people, but with four, it was starting to feel a bit cramped. This was especially noticeable when Ye Shuang was preparing the ingredients, as he realized Bai Yuyou and Chen Qin were standing on either side of him, crowding the already small kitchen.
"Miss Chen, why are you standing here watching? Do you even know how to cook?" Ye Shuang asked as he deftly chopped the ingredients with a cleaver.
Chen Qin muttered, "I can learn, can’t I?"
"Then help me trim these sweet potato leaves," Ye Shuang said, handing her a basket of greens and motioning for her to sit on the sofa while she worked.
Chen Qin took the basket and sat down on the sofa, but when faced with the leafy greens, she hesitated. She glanced at Tang Keke, who was playing with a kitten by the staircase, then at Bai Yuyou, who was skillfully assisting Ye Shuang with chopping seasonings. Feeling too embarrassed to ask for help, she decided to figure it out herself.
Trimming leaves.
She vaguely remembered how the housekeeper at home did it—just pluck them off, right?
Oh, she thought she got it.
With that in mind, Chen Qin proceeded to strip off all the leaves, tossing the stems into the trash. By the time she finished, only a quarter of the original greens remained in the basket.
"Ye Shuang, I’m done," Chen Qin said cheerfully, carrying the basket back to him.
Ye Shuang stared at the basket full of leaves and fell silent.
"Have you never eaten sweet potato leaves before?" he asked.
"Of course I have."
"In your memory, do sweet potato leaves only consist of the leaves?" Ye Shuang pressed.
It was only then that Chen Qin slowly realized her mistake. She let out a soft "Ah," her face flushing with embarrassment. "I messed up."
Damn it. She had wanted to impress Ye Shuang, but instead, she’d made such a basic mistake.
She wasn’t even as capable as that other girl.
The thought made her heart sink.
But just then, a pale, delicate hand reached toward her, holding out a clove of garlic.
Chen Qin looked up and met Bai Yuyou’s calm gaze.
"Don’t… don’t worry," Bai Yuyou said softly. "At first… I didn’t know either… Take it slow…"
Chen Qin instinctively took the garlic from Bai Yuyou, then glanced uncertainly at Ye Shuang. He was wearing an apron and smiled reassuringly. "Just ask if you don’t know. Everyone starts somewhere."
Why be so hard on yourself?
Their words were like a gentle breeze, dispelling the gloom in Chen Qin’s heart. She looked down at the garlic in her hand and said, "Then… give me something else to do!"
"You should just sit on the sofa. We don’t actually need that many hands in the kitchen," Ye Shuang said.
Chen Qin, after all, had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth. It was perfectly normal for someone like her to just sit and wait for the meal to be ready.
"No!" she insisted.
"Fine, then help me peel garlic," Ye Shuang said before calling out, "Keke, teach your Chen-jie how to peel garlic."
Hearing his voice, Tang Keke, who had been cuddling a kitten, turned around. The little cat was kneading happily in her arms. "Oh, coming!"
"I don’t need to be taught how to peel garlic!" Chen Qin protested, feeling like Ye Shuang was treating her like an idiot.
Ye Shuang just chuckled.
At dinner, as soon as they sat down, Ye Shuang noticed his phone ringing—it was a call from Chen’s Mother.
"Hello, Aunt Chen."
"Shuang, have you eaten yet?" Chen’s Mother asked.
"Yeah, we’re eating now. Chen Qin is here too," Ye Shuang said, glancing at Chen Qin.
Hearing that Chen Qin was with him, Chen’s Mother asked, "Then do you know about Aunt Xian’s matter? Did Qin tell you?"
"She did. Did something happen?" Ye Shuang asked, unable to imagine why Aunt Xian would want to see him over the weekend.
"It’s hard to explain over the phone," Chen’s Mother said. "How is Xiao Bai doing now?"
The sudden question about Bai Yuyou caught Ye Shuang off guard, but he replied, "She’s doing well."
"Could you send me a photo of Xiao Bai?"
"A photo of Yuyou?"
"Yes, preferably a clear one."
Ye Shuang glanced at Bai Yuyou beside him. The girl, hearing her name, looked at him with innocent curiosity.
"Hmm." Ye Shuang stood up and walked to the balcony.
Gazing at the nightscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, he said, "Aunt Chen, just tell me directly if there’s something you want to say."
"Is Xiao Bai with you?"
"I’m alone on the balcony."
There was a pause on the other end before Chen’s Mother sighed. "Actually… I think Xiao Bai resembles Aunt Xian."
"Aunt Xian once had a daughter…"
"But she went missing later…"
Ye Shuang froze, then narrowed his eyes.
He reached into his pocket, took out a sour plum candy, and popped it into his mouth. "Aunt Chen, actually, we recently found out that Yuyou isn’t biologically related to her parents."
"You’re serious?!" Chen’s Mother sounded excited.
"Yeah, it’s true."
"Heaven has eyes," Chen’s Mother murmured. "I’ll tell Aunt Xian about this."
But Ye Shuang said, "Don’t rush. This doesn’t necessarily mean Yuyou is Aunt Xian’s daughter. After all, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."
"I know."
"But if—just if—Yuyou really is Aunt Xian’s daughter," Ye Shuang took a deep breath, "what would Aunt Xian do?"
"Do?"
"Yeah. Take her back to Hong Kong?"
"Of course. Aunt Xian only has this one daughter—she’d definitely bring her home to recognize her roots," Chen’s Mother said without hesitation.
For some reason, the candy in Ye Shuang’s mouth suddenly tasted much more sour, almost bitter. He held the phone silently for a moment until Chen’s Mother called out, "Hello?"
Only then did he force a smile and say,
"What if Yuyou prefers to stay here on the mainland?"
"Well…" Chen’s Mother seemed to understand his concern but still spoke earnestly,
"Shuang, letting her return to her birth parents is the best choice. Besides, Hong Kong isn’t far from Haizhu… There’ll be plenty of chances to meet in the future."
"That child needs a family, doesn’t she?"
Ye Shuang fell silent again.
Of course he knew that.
He bit down hard on the candy, the crunching sound sharp in his ears. Memories of Bai Yuyou’s words under the streetlamp flashed through his mind, and his expression turned serious.
"Aunt Chen, I think this decision should respect Yuyou’s wishes."
"She’s her own person. We can’t casually dictate her future."
At the dining table, Bai Yuyou took small bites of rice, her gaze lingering on Ye Shuang's figure in the distance.
His presence loomed tall and steadfast, like a towering mountain—seemingly capable of shielding her from any storm.
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.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
