Chapter 308
At 3:30 in the afternoon, the car pulled into the parking lot under the guidance of the resort attendant.
The luggage was handled by dedicated staff and would be delivered directly to the room.
The four of them approached the front desk to check in and collected their room keys.
Ye Shulian glanced at the card in her hand and looked at Gu Ran with a hint of confusion.
"Xiao Ran, didn't they mess up the rooms?"
She pointed to the number on the key card.
"How come our floors are different? You two are on the sixth floor?"
Gu Ran kept his composure, launching into a flawless performance.
"With so many people during the New Year, there was only one suite with a private hot spring left on the first floor."
He looked at the two elders with sincere eyes.
"I thought it'd be more convenient for you and Dad to use, so you wouldn't have to walk far and risk catching a cold in the weather."
Gu Xiangcheng and Ye Shulian nodded repeatedly on the surface, praising the thoughtful arrangement.
But inside, both of them were quietly cracking up.
This kid's little scheme was practically screaming in their faces!
He just wanted to get the elders out of the way so he could flirt openly, didn't he?
The old couple saw through it but didn't call him out, playing along as they took their key cards and prepared to leave.
As the saying goes, see through it but don't say a word, and you'll still be good in-laws—oops, good spouses.
Before they left, Gu Ran gave one more reminder.
"Dad, Aunt Ye, the herbal hot spring will be open on the back hill tonight."
He glanced at his watch.
"I've booked a room, so let's meet up on the first floor at nine o'clock."
Under their gazes, Gu Xiangcheng led Ye Shulian toward their room.
Once they were out of sight, the younger pair also headed for theirs.
Ye Zhenzhen looked at Gu Ran walking ahead of her, leading the way.
The two stepped into the elevator together, the small space holding only the two of them.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered what Gu Ran had accidentally let slip the other night.
The girl bit her lip, her overwhelming curiosity driving her to speak.
"Gu 'Dog' Ran, is there something you're hiding from me?"
Watching her blink with those big eyes, Gu Ran's heart skipped a beat.
"What secrets could I possibly keep from you? Don't you know everything about me?"
He forced himself to stay calm, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Well... if you want to talk about secrets..."
The girl looked expectant, waiting for his next words, never expecting his shamelessness.
Gu Ran slowly spoke up.
"I'm wearing a leopard-print underwear I've never worn before today."
Ye Zhenzhen's face flushed crimson at his brazen comment.
"Pervert! Who cares what you're wearing!"
She grew a little flustered, unsure why—the more Gu Ran avoided telling her, the more she wanted to dig deeper.
Though she had a vague idea in her heart, she still wanted to hear him say it outright.
"I want to know about the messing around you did to brush me off the other night, and the stuff you hid this morning—are you planning to..."
Her words trailed off, and just then the elevator reached the sixth floor with a crisp ding.
Ye Zhenzhen looked at the boy's calm eyes, her heartbeat skipping.
"Plan to do what?"
Gu Ran turned her question back on her, trying to stay collected.
Seeing him like that, Ye Zhenzhen suddenly lost her confidence.
His counter-question sent her thoughts into a tangled mess.
Forget it, she thought, maybe I'm just imagining things—how awkward would that be?
Feeling a surge of frustration, the girl shoved past Gu Ran, who was blocking her way.
She snapped out a stiff line.
"Nothing. I can't be bothered with you. I'm going to my room."
She trotted quickly out of the elevator, not looking back as she searched for her room.
Watching her retreating figure, Gu Ran felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
This girl's intuition was way too sharp—he'd almost blown it.
No, he absolutely couldn't get caught.
The proposal had to wait until New Year's Eve, after their relationship was made public. That was the ritual meant just for the two of them.
He'd have to keep his tail hidden tight for the next couple of days.
Gu Ran took a deep breath, steadying his racing heart.
He grabbed his suitcase and strolled slowly after Ye Zhenzhen.
"Sis, you're going the wrong way. Our rooms are over here."
He kindly offered a reminder.
Ye Zhenzhen froze mid-step, rooted to the spot.
She smacked her forehead in frustration, then turned and shot him a glare.
"Mind your own business! I'm just scoping out the area."
She stubbornly dug up an excuse to save face.
Gu Ran couldn't help but laugh at her sassy attitude.
"Right, right. Dr. Ye thinks ahead—I was out of line."
He walked up beside her and casually took her bag.
"Now that you're done scoping, can you deign to come check out the room with me?"
Ye Zhenzhen humphed softly, lifting her chin as she walked ahead.
She swiped her keycard to open her suite door, with Gu Ran following close behind.
The girl was used to it by now and didn't react much, instead excitedly admiring the room.
The first thing she saw was an incredibly lavish setup, a spacious living room connected to a huge terrace with a view.
Ye Zhenzhen was instantly drawn to the scenery, running to the balcony with a gasp.
"Wow, this view is amazing!"
Gu Ran put down the luggage, stepped up behind her, and joined her in gazing at the distant snowy mountains.
"Think this is beautiful? Wait until tonight when we soak in the private hot spring—there's even better to see."
Ye Zhenzhen turned to look at the boy so close to her.
His eyes reflected the snowy peaks, clean and bright.
"Gu 'Dog' Ran, this is by far the happiest New Year I've ever had in my whole life."
Gu Ran slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her gently into his embrace.
"This year is just the beginning. It'll only get happier from here."
Hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen felt a little shy and pushed lightly against his chest.
"It's broad daylight—behave yourself."
Instead of letting go, Gu Ran held her tighter.
"What's not proper about what I said? Ye Zhenzhen, you need to clean out your head."
Blushing, the girl raised her fist and lightly hit him.
"What nonsense! My brain is the purest thing ever!"
Gu Ran suddenly leaned in, whispering near her ear, his warm breath sending a shiver through her.
"I don't think so—you might need to add something to clean it out properly."
Ye Zhenzhen groaned internally, annoyed that she'd caught his meaning.
Damn it, why did she always understand too fast!
"Pushing your luck~"
Though her words were playful, her body softened, and she stopped resisting.
The two stood quietly on the balcony, embracing, savoring a rare moment of peace.
A sudden phone ring broke the silence.
Gu Ran reluctantly let go, pulled out his phone, and glanced at the caller ID.
It was Li Sinan.
"Ah, the blessings of being a capitalist—always right behind you," he muttered in complaint.
Ye Zhenzhen laughed at his put-out expression.
"Well, you're the big boss. 'The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility,' right?"
She gleefully turned and went back to the living room to start unpacking.
Gu Ran watched her cheerful back and shook his head helplessly.
This girl, switching moods so fast.
But that's fine—when New Year's Eve comes, let's see if she can still laugh so carefreely. It'll move her to tears!
He answered the phone. "What's up, Professor Li?"
A crisp voice came through the line from Li Sinan.
"President Gu, the final test report for the payment interface is out. Everything's normal, you can rest easy."
Good news kept coming one after another. Truly, when your mood lifts, everything goes smoothly. The young man smiled.
"Thank you for your hard work. Now all that's left is the New Year's Eve red-envelope system maintenance. Once that's successful, WeChat can finally get on track."
"After it's done, everyone gets triple bonuses and a company-wide holiday!"
Hearing Li Sinan's excited response on the other end, Gu Ran added softly,
"Thanks for your hard work, Professor Li. And... Happy New Year."
Li Sinan paused, and for some reason, her eyes grew slightly misty.
"Happy New Year... Gu Ran."
Gu Ran hung up the phone, walked up behind the young woman, and wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind.
He rested his chin on her shoulder, his hands clasped together in front of her.
The two held each other tightly.
In Qinglin City,
Li Sinan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of her office, gazing down at the bustling traffic below.
The phone screen slowly faded to black, and her heart likewise settled into calm.
......
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
