Chapter 267
Ye Shulian had already walked over.
Covering her mouth, her eyes lit up as she looked at the young man.
Her eyes curved into a smile, showing the kind of deep affection a mother-in-law has when looking at her son-in-law.
"Whose handsome young man is this? Quick, quick, stand next to Zhenzhen, Mom will take a picture of you two!"
Ye Zhenzhen lowered her head, her pretty face blushing as her mother pushed her to Gu Ran's side.
Slightly brushing against the young man's arm, as if sensing the heat beneath his clothes, the girl subconsciously took a half-step sideways to maintain a proper distance between siblings.
The young man turned his head and whispered teasingly,
"Sister, the way you were looking at me just now was so intense, it was practically dripping with affection."
Ye Zhenzhen: "!!!"
Hearing this, the girl immediately clenched her small hands, her heart going on high alert, wishing her little ears could prick up.
Was she really that unreserved?!
Was it that obvious?!
If she wasn't afraid of drawing attention, she would have raised a hand to wipe the corners of her mouth...
"You weren't secretly drooling in your head, were you?"
The girl bristled on the spot.
N-No way?!
Gritting her teeth, she couldn't help but reach out and pinch him on the waist.
"Shut up, if you keep blabbering, I'll knock your head off!!!"
She thought her authority as an older sister could suppress this disobedient guy, but not only did he not back down, his eyes actually lit up.
"Then I'm really looking forward to it."
Gu Ran looked up at Ye Shulian's phone, a relaxed smile on his lips.
"Sister's punishment... I've always been very cooperative with it."
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
What on earth was going through this dog's head?!
What Sister's punishment series...
Was she talking about that kind?!
The girl was completely left speechless. At Ye Shulian's call to look at the camera, she stiffly twitched the corners of her mouth, squeezing out a half-dead smile.
Gu Ran lowered his head.
He looked at the little person next to him, who was as angry as a pufferfish yet still trying to keep up appearances.
He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ye Shulian pressed the shutter at that exact moment.
She looked down at the screen—
In the photo.
The young man was looking down with a smile, his gaze soft.
The girl's cheeks were slightly puffed out, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously carried a trace of a smile.
Standing there together, they looked exactly like a painting.
Ye Shulian was overjoyed, and the shop assistant next to her added fuel to the fire.
"A match made in heaven! Congratulations!"
"With these looks, their future children will be absolutely gorgeous!"
Ye Shulian tried hard to maintain a calm facade, but the smile in her eyes completely betrayed her true feelings.
She didn't even want to explain that they were siblings; she just covered her mouth, chuckled softly, and replied, "Thank you."
At the same time, she began to fantasize about her future grandchildren.
Looking at the perfect couple in the photo, their future genetics... would definitely be top-notch!
...
After picking out the clothes and matching shoes, they changed back into their own outfits.
Gu Ran walked briskly to the cash register, took out his bank card, and before Ye Shulian could rummage through her bag—
"Beep."
The card was swiped.
Ye Shulian gave him a helpless glare from behind and scolded him playfully.
The three of them walked out of Yunjin carrying exquisite shopping bags.
Gu Ran handed his bags to Ye Zhenzhen.
"I'm going to the restroom. You guys take your time looking around."
With that, he turned and disappeared into a quiet corridor of the mall.
Reaching a corner, he took out his phone and scrolled to a contact.
[Lao Gu].
He dialed the number.
"Ring—"
"Ring—"
After two rings, it connected.
"Hello? You brat, what is it?"
Gu Xiangcheng's voice came from the other end of the line, accompanied by the rustling sound of flipping documents in the background.
Gu Ran lowered his voice and said mysteriously,
"Dad, come home from work early today."
"I have a huge surprise for you."
"A surprise?"
Gu Xiangcheng scoffed.
"You not causing trouble for me would be the biggest surprise!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"It's definitely going to be a grand spectacle."
"Hanging up."
Gu Ran hung up abruptly.
On the other end of the line, Gu Xiangcheng held his phone, looking completely baffled.
A huge surprise?
A grand spectacle?
He snorted aloud, but a hint of uncontrollable anticipation welled up in his heart.
...
The Chief's Office.
Gu Xiangcheng put down his phone, muttering, "Acting all mysterious."
But the corners of his mouth were already twitching upward, unable to suppress a smile.
Right at that moment.
Deputy Chief Zhang Jianguo knocked and walked in, carrying a stack of documents.
Catching sight of his unconcealed smile, he casually asked,
"Chief Gu, what are you smiling about? Why so happy? Did our Xiao Ran come home for the holidays?"
Gu Xiangcheng picked up the stainless steel thermos from his desk and slowly blew on the floating tea leaves.
He let out a sigh.
The expression on his face perfectly illustrated the meaning of "feigned distress."
"You actually guessed right, it is that brat of mine."
He shook his head, his tone feigning deep disappointment.
"Back then, I told him to study hard for the police academy and take over my mantle, but he absolutely refused to listen! He insisted on getting into the internet business and started some... GR Company."
Lao Zhang chimed in:
"Young people nowadays are all like that, full of ideas. Opening a small company to get some experience is quite nice."
"Nice, my foot!"
Gu Xiangcheng slammed his thermos onto the desk, looking heartbroken.
"It's pure nonsense! A while ago, he insisted he pulled in some Sequoia Capital, an investment of several million dollars."
"And now, he's recently gotten into a business war with that Penguin Group."
"Tell me, how massive is the Penguin Group? Yet he just had to butt heads with them!"
Clearly contradicting his expectations, Lao Zhang listened in stunned silence, only managing a few awkward chuckles.
Moreover, being a shrewd man, he naturally heard the showing off in his chief's words, so he had no choice but to continue playing along, acting as a qualified hype man.
"Well... young people have drive. Taking a loss is a blessing in disguise."
"Taking a loss? If he actually took a loss and learned his lesson, that would be fine."
Gu Xiangcheng sighed, but the smugness in his eyes was like needles piercing straight into Zhang Jianguo's eyes.
This guy...
"So what was the result?"
"The result? Who would have thought, this kid actually won! He made some software called WeiLiao, which apparently launched nationwide now and is insanely popular. I'm worried he's getting too big for his boots."
"Tell me, he's single-handedly carrying a platform of millions of users. If his health collapses, what's the use of making those hundreds of millions?"
"Hehe, hehehe... Chief Gu is right. You already work hard enough steering the overall direction of the bureau's work. Now you also, also have to worry about your son's business. It's truly too exhausting. You need to focus on taking care of your own health too."
Lao Zhang flattered him with a forced smile. Thinking of his own son who only knew how to play online games all day, the fiery urge to grab his leather belt ignited in his eyes.
Then he cast a resentful glance at Gu Xiangcheng and twitched his lips.
How is this worrying at all!!
It's clearly blatant showing off!!
And to think he actually wanted to comfort him!
Lao Zhang coughed dryly and placed the documents on the desk.
"Um... Chief Gu, I'll leave the documents from the provincial office here. I have some matters to attend to, let's talk later."
Before his voice even faded, he had already turned around and slipped away.
Returning to his office, he immediately turned on his computer and opened the browser, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
He searched for "GR Company".
A few seconds later, a string of financial news reports flooded the screen:
"Sequoia Capital Leads 5 Million USD Series A Round! Social Media Rising Star WeiLiao Surges!"
"Rejecting Penguin's Acquisition! The GR Company Founder's Path to Breakthrough!"
Lao Zhang stared at the screen, his eyes wide as saucers, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest.
Did Lao Gu's family ancestral tomb... just erupt in flames?
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."
] [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!"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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.
