Chapter 221
"A toast to the boss!"
"A toast to us for crushing Penguin!!"
"More than just crushing them, we literally rubbed their faces in the dirt! The whole internet is flooded with posts saying WeChat is too greedy, and they couldn't even copy our homework right!"
"So satisfying! We absolutely killed it this time!"
The programmers excitedly pumped their fists, the exhaustion usually hidden behind their thick black-framed glasses completely swept away.
It was replaced by the ecstasy of surging adrenaline.
Li Sinan stood in the crowd.
Looking at these soldiers she and Gu Ran had personally trained, her nose tingled with emotion.
This battle had been risky, but they won it beautifully.
"Boss."
Li Sinan adjusted her emotions and walked over, her voice filled with sincere admiration.
"I've already booked the place for tonight's celebration party, 'Heaven on Earth', the most prestigious club in Qinglin! The brothers are all waiting for our greatest hero to say the word. Tonight, we don't go home until we're drunk!"
Hearing this, Gu Ran smiled.
His gaze swept over Li Sinan's face, flushed with excitement, and then looked at the group of fired-up brothers.
"I won't be going."
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
Everyone looked at him with a "Did I hear that right?" expression.
Not going?
Was this some kind of joke?
This was the celebration party for taking down an internet giant!
How could the main character be absent?
Li Sinan was also stunned, her smile freezing on her face.
"Why? Everyone... everyone really wants to celebrate with you."
She subconsciously gripped the hem of her shirt.
The man before her was calm and powerful.
Even though he had just won a commercial war worth tens of billions, he remained indifferent.
This composure that radiated from his very bones held a unique attraction for her.
She knew very well that her feelings for him had long surpassed the mere appreciation of a subordinate for a superior.
Gu Ran seemed to see through something, but he just acted like usual.
He gently patted Li Sinan's shoulder, his tone relaxed.
"Teacher Li, take the brothers out and have a good time. Put all the expenses on my tab. Full reimbursement, no limit."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the astonished employees.
A gentle smile suddenly rippled in the depths of his eyes.
"I'm... busy going home to pet my cat."
"Pet your cat?"
Everyone looked at each other, their heads full of question marks.
Wasn't this excuse a bit too outrageous?
Whose cat was more important than a multi-million dollar business?
What kind of new humblebrag was this?
Only Li Sinan understood instantly.
This cat was not an actual cat.
It was the "cat" in Gu Ran's heart.
Being able to meet such an excellent boss and fight alongside these lovely colleagues
was a blessing in itself, and she was already very satisfied.
Having figured this out, a bright smile bloomed on Li Sinan's face again.
She waved at Gu Ran and teased.
"Alright, the world is big, but the boss's cat is the biggest! Then we will celebrate properly for you. We'll definitely eat you into bankruptcy tonight!"
"Go on, don't try to save me money."
Gu Ran smiled and nodded, saying no more.
Amidst the deafening cheers of the employees, he turned, pushed open the door, and blended into the night without any hesitation.
To Gu Ran, defeating WeChat and securing financing were just the first stepping stones in the blueprint of his massive business empire.
It was expected, so why be surprised.
His real treasure was still in school attending classes.
This feeling of anticipation was more addictive to him than making any amount of money.
Sigh... he felt like he hadn't seen her in ages.
He missed her.
Carrying this anticipation, the young man quickened his pace.
Gu Ran didn't go straight back to school; instead, he took a detour to the commercial street.
He stopped in front of an elegant flower shop.
"Boss, please wrap a bouquet of flowers for me."
"Okay, sir. What kind of flowers would you like? And who are they for?"
The female shop owner came up to him enthusiastically.
"Jasmine and white roses."
Gu Ran's gaze swept over the brightly blooming flowers, his eyes softening unconsciously.
"For my girlfriend."
When he said the word "girlfriend," his tone naturally softened.
"Ninety-nine stems, the freshest ones. As for the wrapping... um, make it look ceremonial, but not too tacky,"
he added.
Seeing that he drove a luxury car, spent generously, and was handsome, the shop owner's eyes were full of envy.
"Your girlfriend is so lucky, sir. Don't worry, I'll definitely wrap it beautifully and grandly for you."
Leaving the flower shop, the young man went to a famous French bakery nearby.
"Please give me a six-inch strawberry cake. And two small desserts."
He pointed at the most exquisite one in the display window.
Ye Zhenzhen had a typical sweet tooth, but she always complained about being afraid of getting fat, so she only dared to take a tiny, careful bite every time.
This size was just right.
It would satisfy her cravings without making her feel guilty.
Carrying the cake and flowers, he drove to the Nanning District Library.
This was the closest district-level library to Qinglin University.
After Gu Ran got a library card made, he carefully placed it on the bouquet.
He remembered Ye Zhenzhen casually mentioning last time that the school library during finals week was like the set of Train to Busan.
It was impossible to grab a seat.
He heard that the district library had complete resources and a good environment, but the threshold for getting a card was high and the procedures were troublesome.
...
Twenty minutes later.
Gu Ran glanced at his watch and parked his car steadily below the medical school's teaching building.
He had checked Ye Zhenzhen's schedule, and this time was exactly her last class.
Turning off the engine, Gu Ran rolled down the window and rested his elbow on the ledge.
He quietly looked at the brightly lit teaching building not far away, feeling completely at peace inside.
"Ring, ring—"
The class dismissal bell finally rang.
Soon, students poured out of the teaching building in twos and threes.
"Holy crap, look, it's God Gu!"
"Wow, he's here to pick up Goddess Ye from class again? This is way too sweet!"
"I'm so jealous. Why are other people's boyfriends so amazing? Handsome, rich, and loyal!"
"I just saw the news saying his company's valuation doubled, and he immediately turns around to pick up his girlfriend from school. What kind of fairy tale plot is this?"
Amidst the uncontrollable discussions,
Gu Ran pushed open the car door and stood leaning against the vehicle.
The streetlights stretched his shadow long. A luxury car, flowers, and a handsome guy—this scene was even more like an idol drama than an actual idol drama.
The young man's gaze accurately pierced through the crowd and locked onto that familiar figure.
The girl was wearing a light yellow dress and carrying a backpack, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders. She was so fair she seemed to glow in the crowd.
She was looking down and saying something to her roommate next to her, seemingly not having noticed him yet.
The smile in Gu Ran's eyes rippled outward.
He didn't make a sound, but just stood there quietly.
Waiting for his prey to discover him.
...
] 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.
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.
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.
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."
