Chapter 166
"Don't panic."
Gu Ran let go of his hand, pointed at the French windows, and mouthed silently, "The coast isn't clear, let's bounce!"
Ye Zhenzhen woke up as if from a dream, nodding her head like a wind-up doll.
He didn't waste another word, hunching over and retreating toward the balcony.
The girl scrambled out of bed and dashed barefoot to the desk.
Click.
The desk lamp lit up.
She grabbed a study material and spread it open, not even caring if the book was upside down. The moment her butt touched the chair, the footsteps outside had already approached the hallway.
Her heart was drumming crazily in her chest, as if it would pop out the next second to entertain the two elders.
As soon as Gu Ran entered his room, he heard the footsteps stop right outside his bedroom door.
He ripped off his white shirt and tossed it onto the back of the chair with the precision of throwing a grenade.
He threw himself onto the bed, rolled up in the blanket, and frantically ruffled his hair, instantly creating a messy look of someone who had been sleeping so deeply they lost track of time and reality.
Click.
The door was pushed open.
Light from the living room poured into the dim bedroom.
Gu Xiangcheng stood at the door, his hand resting on the handle. Those eyes, which had scrutinized countless suspects, swept into the room like a radar.
He then subconsciously reached out and touched the back of the computer monitor, raising an eyebrow immediately. Oh ho, this kid has made progress, he actually wasn't staying up late playing games?!
Gu Ran poked half his head out from under the covers, squinting, his voice muffled and nasal: "Dad? Why are you back?"
With this acting, even the Oscars owed him a golden statuette.
Under the light, Gu Xiangcheng saw his son's bare-chested, bird's-nest-hair appearance. The doubt in his eyes dissipated a bit, turning into surprise.
"Asleep already? It's only past nine."
He walked into the room, his gaze sweeping around.
The shirt thrown haphazardly on the chair matched his stereotype. Everything was normal.
"I'm tired," Gu Ran yawned, rolling over and complaining half-jokingly, "Practicing driving all day, the S-curves made my cerebellum shrink."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Show some proper manners."
Gu Xiangcheng scolded him verbally, but his feet walked straight to the balcony.
Seeing this, Gu Ran's heart instantly leaped into his throat, cold sweat breaking out on his back.
Lao Gu pulled the curtains and casually fastened the lock.
Click.
A crisp locking sound.
"Even if it's hot, you need to close the balcony door when you sleep, otherwise you might catch a draft and get a stroke in the middle of the night."
Gu Ran quietly breathed a sigh of relief under the covers.
"Dad, why did you come back early?" He then sat up, showing a timely sense of curiosity.
Mentioning this, Gu Xiangcheng sighed for his lost annual leave.
He pulled the chair over and sat down, habitually reaching for his cigarette case, but remembering this was his son's room, he stuffed it back.
"Something happened."
Gu Xiangcheng lowered his voice: "The top boss of the A County Police Bureau was taken away by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection last night."
Gu Ran's pupils shrank slightly.
Memory fragments quickly pieced together.
Summer of 2011, a massive political earthquake in A County.
This storm came earlier than he remembered from his previous life.
Gu Xiangcheng was exactly the one appointed in this time of crisis, officially taking the helm half a year later and starting his rapid rise to power.
The butterfly flapped its wings, and the timeline was moved up.
"Under disciplinary investigation?" Gu Ran probed.
"Yeah, it's a huge deal." Gu Xiangcheng's expression was complex. "The municipal bureau directly called me back to take charge. I probably won't get to sleep tonight; I have to change clothes and go to the bureau for a meeting."
After saying that, he took a deep look at his son.
In the past, he would never have said a word about such things.
But ever since Gu Ran turned over a new leaf half a year ago, with his grades improving by leaps and bounds and his entire demeanor becoming steady, Gu Xiangcheng subconsciously treated him as a grown man.
"Dad, take care of your health," Gu Ran reminded him softly. "When an opportunity comes, you still need your life to seize it."
Gu Xiangcheng was taken aback, then chuckled, reaching out to roughly rub his son's messy hair. "You brat, lecturing your old man now. Go to sleep, I'm leaving."
Watching his father close the door and leave, Gu Ran let out a long breath of stale air and collapsed on the bed.
He had managed to scrape through this trial.
But the person next door didn't have such good psychological fortitude.
...
The guest bedroom next door.
Ye Zhenzhen sat stiffly in her chair, her back straight as a steel plate, gripping her English book so tightly she was about to leave finger marks on it.
Click.
The door was gently pushed open.
Ye Shulian walked in carrying a plate of watermelon, her face full of tenderness. "Zhenzhen, still studying? Take a break and have some watermelon."
Ye Zhenzhen turned her head mechanically, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying. "Mom... you're back."
"Yes, Uncle Gu had an emergency at work."
Ye Shulian set the plate down and her gaze landed on her daughter's face, suddenly letting out a sound of surprise.
"Why is your face so red?"
She reached out to feel her daughter's forehead. "You don't have a fever. Are you hot? Isn't the AC on?"
Ye Zhenzhen's cheeks were astonishingly hot. Half from holding her breath earlier, and half from fear now.
"N-no." Her eyes darted around, her brain spinning wildly, and finally, she squeezed out a lame excuse. "This math problem is too hard, it made my brain overheat."
"..." Ye Shulian was amused. "Alright, the college entrance exams are over anyway. Don't push yourself too hard."
Saying this, she turned and took out an exquisite kraft paper bag from her suitcase.
"I was going to give this to you in a few days, but since you're awake, try it on first."
Ye Shulian handed it over as if presenting a treasure. "When we were coming back, we passed by Wuzhen and saw this while shopping. I instantly thought it would suit you. That ancient town blue calico fabric will definitely make your skin look fair, just like a girl from a Jiangnan water town."
Wuzhen... Blue calico...
Several keywords pierced her ears like needles, and an extremely ominous premonition surged within Ye Zhenzhen.
With trembling hands, she took the bag and opened it.
A dark blue cotton-linen dress with a white floral print lay quietly inside. Vintage frog buttons, a cinched waist design, and a few small daisies embroidered on the hem.
Boom!
A nuclear bomb seemed to detonate in Ye Zhenzhen's brain, instantly rendering her mind completely blank.
This dress... compared to the one Gu Ran bought for her when he took her on a secret trip to Wuzhen over half a month ago...
You couldn't say they were unrelated; you could only say they were exactly the same!
Even the placement of the daisies on the hem was identical!
"How is it? Do you like it?" Ye Shulian urged with a smile. "This is a custom handmade piece from that old shop. They said it's one of a kind. I picked it out for a long time."
One of a kind... One of a kind my foot!
Ye Zhenzhen's mouth twitched wildly.
If her mom found out that hidden in a sealed bag deep inside her closet was an identical "one of a kind" dress...
Then jumping into the Yellow River wouldn't be enough to wash away the scandalous affair between her and Gu Ran!
This wasn't a dress; it was clearly courtroom evidence!
"I l-like it." Ye Zhenzhen gripped the bag tightly, her voice trembling. "Thank you, Mom. It's... such a surprise."
A surprise indeed. More like a fright!
"As long as you like it. You... never mind, wear it tomorrow and show me." Ye Shulian nodded in satisfaction and yawned. "It's getting late. Go to sleep early, I'm going to wash up too."
The door closed.
Ye Zhenzhen slumped limply in her chair, as if her bones had been removed.
She looked at the dress in her hand, which felt like a hot potato, and then at the tightly shut closet door, wanting to cry but having no tears.
The evidence must be destroyed!
But... the one in the closet was a gift from Gu Ran, and the one in her hand was a gift from her mother...
The girl clutched her head in her hands, caught in an unprecedented inner struggle as she found herself completely torn between family and love.
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.
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
] [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!"
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."
