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.
......
] [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!"
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a 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.
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."
