Chapter Forty-Four
On New Year's Eve, the cold wind was piercing.
By the time the two arrived at People's Square, many people had already gathered early to claim a good spot.
The area was swarming with people, a bustling crowd moving in an endless stream.
"There are so many people..."
Seeing the dense crowd, Ye Zhenzhen felt a bit intimidated.
It wasn't social anxiety; the quiet girl simply didn't like large crowds.
But Gu Ran was different. He turned his head and smiled, saying, "Come on, holidays are supposed to be lively with lots of people!"
Afraid that the girl might get lost, he reached out, grabbed Ye Zhenzhen by the wrist, and pulled her into the crowd.
"You..."
Seeing her wrist being held, Ye Zhenzhen's aloof eyes widened in surprise.
She wanted to say something, but as the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back for some unknown reason.
Quietly letting Gu Ran hold her, she pursed her lips and followed his steps.
Looking up, she saw that colorful lights had already lit up all around, and the smell of fireworks was already lingering in the air.
It felt as if the temperature tonight was much warmer, especially at her wrist, which felt burning hot...
Gu Ran led her weaving left and right, protecting her as they squeezed through the crowd until they found a viewing spot in the front row.
The two stopped, and Gu Ran released her wrist right on cue.
Feeling the burning heat on her wrist vanish, Ye Zhenzhen quietly took a deep breath, a hint of unnaturalness appearing on her usually calm face.
Raising her hand slightly to tuck a stray lock of smooth hair behind her ear, she turned to look at the center of the square.
By now, the center of the square had been cordoned off, and a simple fireworks platform had been set up inside.
Staff members were busy placing boxes of fireworks onto the platform, pulling the fuses and connecting them together.
Gu Ran savored the delicate touch lingering on his hand. Although grabbing her had been an unconscious action, he hadn't let go of the girl's wrist even after realizing it.
There was no other reason; it just felt too nice to hold.
He took out his phone to check the time; there were three minutes left until the fireworks display.
Feeling a bit unaccustomed, he stuffed the phone back into his pocket, planning to buy a watch after the college entrance exams.
He couldn't help it; pulling out a clunky phone just to check the time felt a bit too silly...
He glanced at Ye Zhenzhen beside him. At this moment, her eyes were full of earnestness, her pretty little face completely serious as she stared intently at the fireworks in the center.
Finding it somewhat amusing, he tugged at the girl's high ponytail. "Why are you so tense? We're out to have fun, you need to relax!"
Having her hair pulled, Ye Zhenzhen immediately turned her head, her eyes full of shy annoyance.
Slapping away his mischievous hand, she glared at Gu Ran, wondering what was wrong with this guy and why he enjoyed pulling her hair so much.
"When we get back tonight, you're doing an extra test paper!"
Gu Ran was speechless.
His slapped hand hung in mid-air as he looked at the girl in front of him in shock and confusion.
Good heavens, I bring you out to watch fireworks, and you bite the hand that feeds you?!
He felt the need to argue his case, but just as he opened his mouth, the girl staring at the fireworks said without even turning her head, "Two papers!"
"..."
Fine, fine, fine. He didn't even care about pulling her ponytail anyway!
Unless she tied it into twin tails someday, then he might consider it...
Bang!
Seven-thirty arrived, and the staff lit the fire. The fuses burned quickly, and clusters of fireworks were launched into the sky.
The brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night sky like a beautiful painting.
Red like fire, blue like the sea... Various colors reflected off each other, decorating the entire square like a wonderland.
Staring at the fireworks exploding in the sky, Ye Zhenzhen unconsciously revealed a smile.
Although it was a waste of study time, she had to admit it was truly beautiful.
It was a pity she didn't have a camera to capture the scene before her.
The fireworks continued to bloom in the sky, casting colorful lights onto her face, but she shifted her gaze and looked at the boy beside her.
It was her first time coming to see fireworks, and she never expected it to be with him...
A new family member?
It was actually quite nice...
Noticing her gaze, Gu Ran, who had been quietly enjoying the fireworks, turned his head. He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled with narrowed eyes.
"Ye Zhenzhen!"
The boy's sudden shout startled the girl beside him.
"W-what are you doing? People are looking..."
Noticing the gazes from around them, Ye Zhenzhen could no longer maintain her aloof expression. With a flushed face, she tugged at his arm in embarrassment.
"Happy New Year."
This time, Gu Ran lowered his voice. The smile on his face was so sincere that she unconsciously found herself mesmerized.
A knowing smile unconsciously appeared on her face. Ye Zhenzhen's eyes were full of joy, and mimicking his action, she cupped her small hands around her mouth like a megaphone.
"Gu Ran, Happy New Year!"
The girl's shout was drowned out by the explosions of the fireworks, but Gu Ran heard it loud and clear, and a warm smile mirrored on his face...
...
Sunday morning, Gu Ran woke up early. After getting dressed, he went over to the girl's bedroom next door as if returning to his own home.
He still took the balcony door because, at his strong insistence, Ye Zhenzhen no longer locked it.
First, he helped her open the curtains, and then he pulled up the still-sleeping girl, forcing her to wake up.
"Ugh... what time is it..."
Knowing it was him, Ye Zhenzhen squinted as she was pulled into a sitting position, not feeling the slightest bit startled.
Instead, she naturally kept her eyes closed and fell straight forward, leaning against Gu Ran's body.
For some reason, she felt incredibly sleepy this morning.
"It's already seven o'clock, hurry up and get out of bed!"
Catching the boneless-feeling girl, Gu Ran freed a hand to pinch her nose, forcing her to open her eyes.
Hearing that it was seven, Ye Zhenzhen shook her head, feeling the drowsiness in her mind refusing to dissipate.
Still half-asleep, she unconsciously revealed a cute and naive side. Pressing her head against Gu Ran, she nudged him gently and said, "Let me sleep a little longer..."
But with the large movement, she suddenly felt a sensation of dampness coming from deep within the covers.
She abruptly opened her eyes, instantly wide awake.
"W-what is today's date?"
Hearing this question, Gu Ran blinked in confusion.
They had just finished watching the New Year's Eve fireworks last night, and she was asking for the date first thing in the morning?
Is this how top students operate?
Truly impressive...
However, seeing the girl's unnatural expression, he seemed to vaguely guess something, and his gaze unconsciously drifted downward.
Noticing his look, Ye Zhenzhen immediately grew flushed with embarrassment. Biting her lip, she glared at him.
"What are you looking at?!"
Seeing her speak in that tone, Gu Ran blinked again, looking the picture of innocence.
"We're not going for a run this morning?" he raised an eyebrow and asked tentatively.
Ye Zhenzhen quickly shook her head, refusing very decisively.
Seeing this, Gu Ran completely understood. He asked in a low voice, "Is it that time of the month?"
Ye Zhenzhen was speechless.
Ahhh, how could he ask such a question out loud!
Her aloof eyes instantly widened, and her pretty face immediately turned bright red, like a steamed crab.
"You... you..."
Stuttering and not knowing what to say, she had no choice but to continue biting her lip, glaring at this guy in sheer embarrassment...
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!
] [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!"
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?!
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
