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...
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
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.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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."
