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!"
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!
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
] [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!"
