Chapter 242
The weekend, below the teaching building of Pei Susu's school.
The autumn sunlight filtered through the leaves of the plane trees, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
It was the peak time after classes. A large wave of fashionable art students carrying drawing boards poured out of the teaching building.
But in the crowd, one figure stood out exceptionally.
It was Ye Jinliang.
Today, he wasn't wearing his usual baggy sweatpants and plaid shirt.
Instead, he had changed into a highly textured "City Boy" style outfit.
He wore well-tailored dark olive cargo pants, paired with a heavy-weight white T-shirt layered under a Japanese-style navy blue shirt.
His sleeves were casually rolled up, revealing a rugged sports watch.
The most crucial part was his hairstyle.
His original bird's nest hair, which looked like it had been struck by lightning, was gone.
In its place was a fresh, clean-cut American-style textured crop.
His sideburns were neatly trimmed, clearly the result of careful grooming.
He stood under the tree, holding two cups of Pei Susu's favorite Yi Dian Dian bubble tea.
Although he was shaded from the sun, his palms were sweating profusely.
Watching the crowd coming out one after another, knowing he was about to see the person he wanted to see, he grew increasingly nervous.
He occasionally looked down at the retro skate shoes Gu Ran had specifically told him to buy, his heart pounding.
"That dog Gu Ran, he said this is called... City Boy style. He couldn't be fooling me, right?"
Ye Jinliang was panicking hard.
"Susu won't think I look stupid, will she..."
Just as he was feeling apprehensive, a few girls passing by began whispering to each other.
"Hey, that guy has good taste in clothes. He looks really clean."
"Although he's a bit chubby, he looks very reliable. That kind of adorkable trendy guy vibe is actually kind of cute."
Ye Jinliang had sharp ears. Hearing these comments, his previously tense back instantly straightened, and he stood a bit taller.
From this moment on, he declared Gu Ran as his literal father!
At this moment, a commotion came from the entrance of the teaching building.
Pei Susu walked out arm-in-arm with her roommate.
Today she was wearing a small black camisole paired with high-waisted wide-leg pants.
Cool and hot, she was the center of attention the moment she appeared.
"Susu, look at that chubby guy over there, is he waiting for someone?"
Her roommate had sharp eyes and pointed at Ye Jinliang under the tree.
"He's dressed quite trendy, looks a bit like... that one rapper."
Pei Susu looked in the direction she was pointing.
With just one glance, she froze.
Was that... Ye Jinliang?!
What kind of international joke was this!
Under the sunlight, Ye Jinliang stood perfectly straight, raising his head from time to time to search the crowd.
The moment their eyes met in the air...
The "trendy guy's" face instantly broke into his signature goofy smile.
A mouthful of big white teeth and that familiar silliness instantly shattered his outward disguise.
Only then did Pei Susu breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Sister Susu!"
Ye Jinliang waved his hand and trotted over eagerly.
Watching him run towards her, a strange feeling inexplicably rose in Pei Susu's heart.
It was as if... a piece of uncut jade she had secretly hoarded...
Had suddenly been polished and placed in a display cabinet.
The evaluating gazes from the surrounding girls made her alarm bells ring.
An instinct known as "food guarding" instantly took the high ground in her brain.
Ye Jinliang ran up to her, handed over the milk tea, and scratched his head a bit embarrassedly:
"Um... I cleaned up a bit, like you said. Does it look weird?"
Pei Susu didn't take the milk tea.
She took a step forward, completely ignoring her dumbfounded roommate beside her.
She reached out with her slender fingers and carefully adjusted the slightly turned-up collar of Ye Jinliang's shirt.
"You clean up alright, at least you look human now."
Her words were still sharp, but the corners of her eyes and brows revealed an unconcealable smile.
She patted Ye Jinliang on the shoulder and swept a warning glance at the surrounding girls who were watching the scene.
"Dress to this standard from now on, don't embarrass me."
Ye Jinliang's brain crashed from this sudden intimate gesture; he only knew to smile goofily and nod.
"Okay! I'll listen to you! I'll listen to whatever you say!"
The roommate beside them had an auntie-like smile on her face and nudged Pei Susu with her elbow.
"Not bad, Susu, you've trained him well. You've definitely got this potential stock in the palm of your hand."
Pei Susu snorted, took the milk tea, inserted the straw, and took a fierce sip.
So sweet.
...
Evening, Nanning District Library.
As the National Day holiday approached, everyone's minds were elsewhere, and there were far fewer people in the library than usual.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the desks through the floor-to-ceiling windows, stretching their shadows long.
The youth was spinning his pen in boredom, a copy of Macroeconomics spread open in front of him, but his gaze kept drifting to the side.
Ye Zhenzhen was reviewing Systematic Anatomy.
The bloody diagrams of human muscles and internal organs in the book looked exceptionally... appetizing in the warm yellow light!
Gu Ran leaned over, resting his chin on the girl's shoulder.
He pointed at a diagram of a skinned human specimen in the book and lowered his voice.
"Dr. Ye, is this the pectoralis major? I have one that moves, do you want to feel it?"
Ye Zhenzhen was memorizing nerve pathways, and this interruption completely broke her train of thought.
She lifted her head from the pile of books, pushed up the blue-light-blocking glasses on the bridge of her nose, her eyes filled with helplessness and amusement.
"Gu 'Dog' Ran, move aside, I'm studying."
"Aren't I helping you study? Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, right?"
The youth smirked mischievously, his finger sliding down the page and stopping at the location of the heart.
"Tell me, if I make you mad in the future, will you dismantle me according to this diagram?"
Ye Zhenzhen looked at his punchable expression and couldn't help but pick up the red pen in her hand, lightly tapping the back of his hand.
"That depends on my mood."
She put on a faux-serious face, but her eyes were full of playful mischief.
"If I'm in a bad mood, I'll make the first cut right here..."
The tip of the pen slid from the back of Gu Ran's hand to the artery on his wrist, giving it a gentle tap.
"...and let you experience the true meaning of being chilled to the bone."
Gu Ran exaggeratedly pulled his hand back, clutching his chest and gasping in mock horror.
"A woman's heart is the most venomous! I can't afford to mess with you."
"As long as you know."
The girl gave a soft humph, but the corners of her lips couldn't help but curve upward.
The library's closing music started playing; it was a saxophone version of Going Home.
The two packed up their things and walked out.
The youth naturally took the backpack filled with brick-like books and slung it over one shoulder.
With his other hand, he took Ye Zhenzhen's hand, their fingers intertwining tightly.
The evening breeze blew through the tree-lined avenues of the campus, swirling up a few fallen leaves.
"Besides gathering with Ye Jinliang and the others during the National Day holiday, do you have any other plans?" Gu Ran asked.
"Spend time with my mom, and then... review my studies."
Ye Zhenzhen sighed, her tone revealing the despair unique to medical students.
"A medical student's holiday just means changing the location where you memorize books."
"You need to strike a balance between work and rest."
Gu Ran gave her palm a light squeeze, his tone mysterious.
"Once we're done with this busy period, I'll take you somewhere nice."
"Where to now? Is Boss Gu going on another undercover inspection?"
"It's a secret."
Gu Ran smiled mysteriously, casting his gaze into the distance.
Their silhouettes were stretched long under the streetlights, gradually merging into one.
...
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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."
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
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.
