Chapter 294
The autumn wind in Qinglin City blew past the GR Company building with a hint of chill, rustling the leaves of the camphor trees lining the streets.
Su Wan clicked her high heels all the way to her workstation, already scheming how to exploit her status as a newcomer.
She planned to infiltrate the database, pull off a heist from the inside, and get her hands on the core architecture of WeChat.
She had just set up her nameplate and had not even had time to turn on her computer when Li Sinan walked over, carrying a thick stack of documents.
"Su Wan, these are the basic data reports for all competitor analyses this month. Familiarize yourself with them first."
Li Sinan slammed the documents onto the desk with a thud, a flawless, professional fake smile plastered on her face.
"Our company believes in wolf-pack culture. This stack of data must be manually entered and handed over to me before you get off work today."
Looking at the mountain of documents, Su Wan cursed this amateur operation eight hundred times in her head.
Still, she managed to squeeze out an obedient smile.
"Director Li, isn't this workload a bit too much? I am afraid I will not have enough time on my first day."
"It is a good thing for young people to endure some hardship. President Gu specifically asked me to properly cultivate a highly educated talent like you."
Li Sinan smiled, patted her on the shoulder, and turned to leave in her high heels.
Su Wan thought to herself: F*** you!!!
After returning to her office, Li Sinan looked through the blinds at Su Wan's miserable state as she frantically typed on her keyboard, and laughed out loud.
Did she really think a capitalist's wool was so easy to shear?
Wanting the horse to run without feeding it grass? Today, I will let you experience the sinister nature of society!
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Su Wan was so tormented by the blessing of the 996 work schedule that she now sported heavy, dark circles under her eyes.
Not only had she failed to see a single line of core confidential code, but she had also been completely reduced to the company's soulless typing machine.
Every day, besides making reports, she had to write that deadly three-thousand-word handwritten daily report. She felt like her wrists were going to break.
Looking at the dense data spreadsheets on her screen, Su Wan only felt dizzy.
Back when she was an executive at Penguin, this kind of grunt work was always left to the interns under her!
Now she had to personally verify everything line by line, and she was not even allowed to use web scraping software.
Gu Ran had specifically set this rule, using the glorious excuse of data security to mandate that all materials be entered purely by hand.
Su Wan was so furious that she greeted all eighteen generations of Gu Ran's ancestors in her heart.
While making coffee in the pantry, Su Wan's hand holding the cup trembled uncontrollably.
"Engineer Chen, isn't our company's overtime intensity a bit anti-human? We don't even have time to catch our breath."
Su Wan tried to fish for information from the technical backbone getting water next to her, looking for a breakthrough to instigate a defection.
"I think it is quite fine. Specialist Su, if you are tired, you should drink more coffee to refresh yourself."
The technical backbone, Engineer Chen, gave a perfunctory reply and hurriedly left the pantry with his cup.
He turned around and walked straight into Li Sinan's office.
"Boss Li, that Su Wan was just asking me about the core architecture again in the pantry, and even hinted at me jumping ship."
Li Sinan nodded in satisfaction after hearing the report.
"You did well. Continue to play dumb and keep her steady. Do not let her see any flaws."
She picked up her phone and dialed Gu Ran to report the situation.
On the other end of the phone, Gu Ran laughed heartily after hearing this.
"Keep her steady for now. The moment she completely breaks down will be the best time for us to reel in the net."
......
In the cafeteria of Qinglin University, the midday sun poured through the glass windows onto the dining tables.
Gu Ran sat opposite Ye Zhenzhen with his tray, eating braised pork while keeping an eye on the young woman's movements.
Ye Zhenzhen was looking down, swiping at something on her phone screen, barely touching her favorite sweet and sour spareribs.
Gu Ran leaned over to take a peek under the pretense of reaching for some food.
His sharp eyes caught the text in the search bar of her mobile browser.
[Is it good to live with your boyfriend before marriage?]
Seeing this line of text, Gu Ran almost could not hold back his laughter, instantly feeling confident.
"Dr. Ye, you have been complaining these past few days about not being able to grab a seat in the library. How about I find you a quiet place to review?"
Gu Ran casually threw out the bait, testing the waters.
Ye Zhenzhen quickly turned her phone screen face down on the table, a suspicious blush spreading across the tips of her ears.
"None of your business. I can read in the dorm too, I just need to put on my earphones."
"The dorm is so noisy. I happen to have rented a two-bedroom river-view apartment in Yijia New Residence, the environment is exceptionally good."
Not allowing her to refuse, Gu Ran directly grabbed her hand resting on the table.
"Come on, I will take you there to recognize the door, just consider it a field inspection."
"Hey, wait, I haven't agreed yet!"
"Gu Ran!"
The latter turned a deaf ear and headed straight for their destination.
The two arrived at the door of the apartment in Yijia New Residence. Gu Ran opened the door and stuffed a brand-new key into Ye Zhenzhen's hand.
"From now on, this is our home. You can come over to study anytime."
Holding the still-warm key, Ye Zhenzhen was completely dazed, but looking at the object in her hand, an indescribable flutter welled up in her heart.
"Stop being so narcissistic. Who wants to have a home with you? I am just here to check the environment."
She muttered proudly, but her feet honestly walked inside to start patrolling the territory.
The apartment was spacious and bright, with a warm and minimalist decor style. Sunlight spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the entire living room.
When she saw that there were two bedrooms, the young woman suddenly felt a trace of disappointment in her heart.
Ye Zhenzhen pushed open the doors of the two bedrooms to check.
She discovered that although the two bedrooms were separate, they were connected outside by a super-large balcony.
The subtle feeling in her heart instantly dissipated, replaced by an unspeakable joy.
Realizing her own thoughts, the young woman secretly despised herself in her heart, the temperature of her cheeks rising higher and higher.
Ye Zhenzhen, what nonsense are you thinking about!
A girl should be reserved!
Gu Ran followed her into the master bedroom and subconsciously locked the door behind him.
The two stood on the balcony, enjoying the cool river breeze as cruise ships slowly sailed past on the water.
The young man hugged the young woman's slender waist from behind.
"We finally have a space of our own."
He whispered softly in her ear, his warm breath hitting the crook of her neck.
"Just thinking about being able to make dinner with you in the future."
Gu Ran tightened his embracing arms.
"Going to the supermarket together, picking out furniture together, and slowly decorating our little home, my heart feels completely full."
Hearing these words, Ye Zhenzhen's eyes grew hot. Her heart felt sweet, and for once, she did not talk back.
"Me too."
She replied shyly, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's hum.
Gu Ran took the opportunity to turn her around. The two drew closer and closer in front of the river view until their noses touched.
Two hearts slowly pressed together. The young woman's heartbeat quickened, and her hands gripping Gu Ran's shirt subconsciously tightened.
The sunlight cast their connected shadows onto the ground, their closely joined figures looking as though no one could ever pull them apart.
......
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."
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.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
