Chapter 131
In the dimly lit bedroom, there was only the faint blue glow of the monitor.
Gu Ran's slender fingers hit the Enter key. After a brief loading spin, the App Store Connect backend interface popped up a string of green numbers.
Total Sales: $127,489.32
One hundred twenty-seven thousand dollars.
Based on the 2011 exchange rate, it was approaching nine hundred thousand RMB.
Gu Ran stared at the screen, his pupils slightly contracting, before he sank heavily into the back of his chair.
Nine hundred thousand.
In this wild era where smartphones were just beginning to rise, this wasn't just a string of numbers; it was his lever to pry open the future!
"Phew..."
He exhaled a breath of stale air. There was no anxiety of a corporate wage slave, only the thrill of a surging adrenaline rush.
He didn't have time to be intoxicated by it. He quickly opened a brand-new leather-bound notebook and began to plan his future business empire.
Making money was just the beginning; making waves was the goal.
Step one: register a company and recruit talent. Being a sole proprietor was small-time; only a professional army could topple the giants. A one-man band wouldn't cut it. Art and operations had to keep up... Maybe the English teacher, Li Sinan, could be a breakthrough?
Step two: copy... ahem, pay tribute to the classics.
As the saying goes, great minds think alike when it comes to good design, right?
Gu Ran's lips curled into a wicked smile, and his pen flew across the paper:
Project A: Fruit Ninja - The ultimate stress relief of multi-touch, slicing away all unhappiness. This thing could become so popular that even grandmas and grandpas would get addicted.
Project B: Subway Surfers - The culmination of 3D parkour, a future cash cow.
At this time, the Penguin Empire was still lying back and counting money from CF and DNF, completely looking down on the "petty profits" of mobile games. Not to mention, the popularization speed of smartphones in China wasn't exactly optimistic yet.
Who could have imagined that in less than three years, smartphones would sweep the globe like a virus?
This was the time difference.
By the time the giants turned around, he would already be the new giant.
"Ding-dong—"
The phone screen lit up, interrupting Gu Ran's ambition to top the Forbes list.
A QQ pop-up window. The avatar was a proud Ragdoll cat.
Note: [Dr. Ye].
This was the exclusive nickname he had just changed for Ye Zhenzhen.
[Dr. Ye: Are you asleep?]
This was followed by a meme: a cat frantically scratching a door with the text "Let me out."
Gu Ran's ambition instantly melted away, and he transformed back into the boy next door, even feeling a little urge to laugh.
[Gu Ran: Not yet, just finished counting money, my hands are sore.]
[Dr. Ye: ...You have everything in your dreams. Go to sleep early, in your dreams you can even be the richest man.]
[Gu Ran: Being the richest man is too tiring, I'd have to have meetings every day. My ideal is to be the man behind the richest man, or... let the richest man be my wife.]
In the next room.
Ye Zhenzhen was huddled under her air-conditioning blanket, exposing only a pair of bright, almond-shaped eyes.
Seeing the word "wife," her cheeks instantly burned hot. She subconsciously flipped her phone over onto her chest, her heart beating like a drum.
"Shameless..."
She muttered softly, but she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth from rising.
They had put down the same university for their college applications, and for the past few days, it had just been the two of them at home.
This kind of ambiguous, push-and-pull atmosphere was even more scorching than the thirty-eight-degree summer heat.
The phone buzzed again.
[Gu Ran: Dr. Ye, tell me... if I had a million dollars, what should be the first thing I do?]
A million?
This dog was daydreaming again.
And what the hell was Dr. Ye?
[Dr. Ye: What the hell is "Dr. Ye"?]
[Gu Ran: This is a title of respect for a badass who dares to go straight from a bachelor's to a master's and Ph.D., studying for eight consecutive years!]
[Dr. Ye: Badass?]
[Gu Ran: A little bit more than just ruthless...]
Ye Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and typed rapidly:
[If I were a doctor, my advice to you would be to first go get your brain treated, and then go get your waist checked.]
After sending this, she tossed her phone aside and pulled the blanket over her head.
Sleep!
If they kept chatting, she would definitely suffer from insomnia tonight.
...
Gu Ran looked at the terminated chat, not annoyed at all, but smiling even deeper.
Treat his brain?
Check his waist?
Sure, he would go follow the doctor's orders. He was all about taking advice.
Mr. Lu Xun once said: Using the front door makes you a guest, climbing the balcony makes you a lover.
He put down his phone, stood up, pushed open the French doors, walked out onto the balcony, and arrived in front of the French doors next door.
Through the gap, he could see the warm yellow halo of the bedside lamp and the bulging "silkworm baby" on the bed.
He pressed his palm against the glass and gave it a gentle push.
The tracks slid smoothly, without any resistance.
Unlocked?
Gu Ran raised an eyebrow. This girl's security awareness was basically zero. It was a good thing she met a "house thief" like him; anyone else would have emptied the place long ago.
He slipped inside sideways and closed the window behind him, shutting out the cicadas' chirping from outside.
The room was well air-conditioned, and the air carried the unique fragrance of a young girl, like a faint scent of locust flowers.
Gu Ran lightened his footsteps, approaching the bed step by step.
Just then, the "silkworm baby" on the bed seemed to sense a murderous aura, violently throwing off the blanket and sitting up.
Four eyes met.
The air froze.
Ye Zhenzhen, wearing a loose cotton nightgown with messy hair, stared wide-eyed at the boy who had appeared out of thin air, her brain completely crashing.
"You..."
"Shh."
Gu Ran raised his index finger to his lips and crossed to the bed in a few strides.
He leaned over, resting his hands on either side of the girl, completely enveloping her in his shadow.
A standard "bed-pin."
Ye Zhenzhen instinctively tried to shrink back, but her retreat was blocked by the headboard. She could only watch helplessly as that handsome face drew closer and closer.
"Dr. Ye, I'm here for my follow-up."
"You just said I should get my brain treated."
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
Gu Ran, are you sick in the head!!!
Just as their noses were about to touch, Gu Ran stared into her panicked eyes and slowly spoke:
"I think you're right."
"My mind is completely full of you right now. I'm definitely very sick."
Ye Zhenzhen: "!!!"
Definitely sick!
And very sick at that!!
Did this guy grow up soaking in a vat of grease?
He was way too cheesy!!!!
The next second, the young girl, bursting with embarrassment, suddenly sat up, re-established her sisterly authority, and delivered a righteous headbutt to the younger boy who didn't know his place.
"Thump!"
A muffled sound.
Gu Ran was stunned at first. Before he could react while clutching his forehead, a pillow carrying the girl's scent flew right at his face.
"Holy crap, woman, you're playing with fire!"
"I was wrong, I was wrong, good sister, I'm leaving now..."
"I'm never seeing a doctor again, you quack!"
.......
After kicking the illegal intruder out, Ye Zhenzhen locked the balcony door with a "click."
She slid down to sit against the balcony door, hugging her knees. Her heart was trembling wildly, and her face was as red as a ripe tomato.
She felt like things couldn't go on like this.
Gu Ran, that dog, his obvious intentions were becoming known to everyone, and she... seemed to be losing her grip more and more.
But when she heard the cursing and grumbling coming from next door, she couldn't help but burst into a laugh on her tense little face.
She rolled her eyes charmingly toward the next room.
"Pfft, idiot!"
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."
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.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
