Chapter 125
Like?
These two words exploded in Ye Zhenzhen's mind like a sudden clap of thunder.
She liked Gu Ran?
This realization sent all the blood rushing to her head. Her heart pounded uncontrollably, thumping so loudly it made her eardrums ring.
How could that be?
How was that even possible!
He was just a younger brother to her!
But...
The tingling sensation on her neck last night, the crisp scent she caught when he pulled her into his arms, and those eyes that grew so deep they seemed to pull her right in...
Scene after scene replayed uncontrollably in her mind, every frame becoming incredibly clear.
So, her inexplicable fluster last night, her tossing and turning in bed, wasn't out of anger or embarrassment.
It was... her heart fluttering.
This discovery threw Ye Zhenzhen into complete disarray.
She froze in place, staring blankly at the young man who was still talking non-stop, her eyes losing their focus.
Gu Ran was enthusiastically talking about several store locations he had his eye on, when he suddenly noticed the atmosphere across from him wasn't right.
He stopped talking and looked at the girl who had suddenly stood up, looking completely dazed. His heart skipped a beat.
Oh no, what was wrong with this little princess now?
"Ye Zhenzhen?" he called out tentatively, his body subconsciously leaning back slightly, ready to receive his "older sister's loving discipline" at any moment.
Called out by him, Ye Zhenzhen suddenly snapped back to reality.
Meeting Gu Ran's inquiring and wary eyes, the heat in her cheeks rose again.
No!
She couldn't let him see it!
She was the older sister!
This was way too embarrassing!
The girl took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the stormy waves in her heart, trying to regain control of the situation.
She cleared her throat and spoke in a tone she thought was very serious, but was actually a bit shaky.
"Ahem! That... that plan you just mentioned, I think... I think it's necessary to... supervise it!"
Gu Ran: "???"
Supervise?
He looked at the girl in front of him, her back straight, pretending to be calm, yet the tips of her ears were so red they were almost bleeding. He almost laughed out loud.
What kind of play was this?
"Oh? You want to personally supervise, sister?" Gu Ran raised an eyebrow, leaning forward with his elbows on the dining table, moving closer with great interest.
"Then how do you think you should supervise, sister? A field inspection, or... close-contact guidance?"
He deliberately said the words "close-contact" very lightly, carrying an indescribable ambiguity.
Ye Zhenzhen's mind buzzed and went blank again.
Close... close-contact guidance?!
What on earth was inside this bastard's head!
She stiffened her neck, her eyes darting around frantically, just not daring to look at him.
"I... of course I have to go with you! What if you get scammed! I'm... I'm exercising my rights and obligations as an older sister!"
She said this with righteous indignation, but she lacked confidence, her voice trailing off at the end.
"Oh—"
Gu Ran dragged out the syllable, looking as if he suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. I thought you just couldn't bear to part with me and wanted to spend time together."
"Who... who can't bear to part with you! Stop flattering yourself!" Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Ye Zhenzhen instantly bristled, her voice rising an octave.
This reaction was too interesting.
The smile on Gu Ran's lips deepened.
Seeing her mixed with embarrassment and anger, yet unable to do anything about him, Gu Ran felt a surge of secret delight.
It seemed the "warm water" from last night had worked well. Today, the "frog" was already jumping into the pot on her own.
So he stopped teasing her and gave her an out.
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble her ladyship to lower herself and accompany her younger brother on a trip. Get ready, we'll head out in a bit."
With that, he stood up and walked leisurely back to his room, leaving Ye Zhenzhen with a dashing view of his back.
Watching him disappear behind the door, Ye Zhenzhen finally let out a sigh of relief, her whole body going soft as she slumped into her chair.
She raised her hands to cover her burning cheeks, her heart still beating rapidly.
It was over, it was all over.
She really seemed to have... fallen for this bastard.
...
Half an hour later, the two walked side by side on the tree-lined path of their residential complex.
Ye Zhenzhen deliberately kept half a step away from Gu Ran. She kept her head down, her eyes wandering, her hands nervously clutching the hem of her shirt, not saying a word.
Her mind was now filled with the two conflicting thoughts of "I like him" and "I'm his older sister" fighting each other, leaving her in a state of extreme contradiction and confusion.
Gu Ran turned his head and glanced at the girl beside him who was hiding like a timid quail, finding it amusing.
He slowed his pace to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with her, then seemingly unintentionally reached out and accurately grasped her small hand that was currently ravaging the hem of her shirt.
"!"
Ye Zhenzhen's body stiffened, and she tried to pull her hand back as if she had been electrocuted.
"Don't move." Gu Ran's voice was deep, carrying an unquestionable tone. "We're crossing the street, there are a lot of cars. It's safer to hold hands."
Ye Zhenzhen looked up.
Ahead was the main gate of the complex. Let alone cars, there wasn't even a single person in sight.
This excuse was way too lame!
She complained in her heart, but her hand stopped struggling, allowing his warm palm to wrap around hers.
This stupid younger brother had large hands, but his knuckles were distinct, like a hand model's.
The girl's heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks flushed embarrassingly once again.
She secretly peeked at the young man beside her out of the corner of her eye.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on his sharply contoured side profile.
His long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a faint smile hung on the corners of his lips.
Bah!
What a charmer!
Ye Zhenzhen scoffed inwardly, but she felt her own palm starting to heat up, the warmth spreading up her arm and all the way to the bottom of her heart.
It seemed... she wasn't so opposed to it after all.
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
