Chapter 56
Nighttime.
Ye Zhenzhen crouched at the kitchen door, her ten slender fingers moving nimbly as she peeled plump cloves of garlic one by one.
This glorious and great task of peeling garlic had officially been transferred from Lao Gu to Comrade Ye Zhenzhen, who gladly accepted it.
Ye Shulian was currently busy making dumplings, while Lao Gu helped out on the side. The family of three huddled in the kitchen, looking very warm and cozy.
The only dog in the house, however, was squatting in his own room, testing the final version of Temple Run.
Except for the art resources and voice acting that had yet to be added, all development tasks were complete.
After nearly two months, using only a little over half an hour of free time each day, he had finally finished it.
While testing the game, he browsed Tieba and QQ groups.
However, most of his attention was focused on Tieba. In this era, Tieba was still the main gathering place for internet surfers.
Especially the university forums, which had a constant twenty-four-hour resident population.
Therefore, his eyes were mostly fixed on the local art academy's Tieba.
He had posted a thread looking for a part-time artist, but because his settlement cycle was very long, very few people showed interest.
He also wanted to pay wages quickly, but he had no choice—he really had no money.
While he was at his wits' end, scrolling through Tieba, Ye Zhenzhen pushed the door open and walked in, having finished peeling the garlic.
Humming softly, the young girl walked up behind him with her hands behind her back.
"It's one thing not to work, but you're hiding in here playing on the computer," Ye Zhenzhen wrinkled her nose slightly, leaning over to whisper.
"Who's playing? I'm doing serious business."
Smelling the faint scent of osmanthus at the tip of his nose, Gu Ran's mind cleared up.
Gently rubbing his temples, his headache was instantly relieved a lot.
He had to admit, this was literally a case of sister cures the illness!
He needed to find time to get the little bear back; it should have absorbed enough of her scent by now.
"Serious business?"
Ye Zhenzhen tilted her head, getting closer to the screen to take a careful look.
The girl hadn't tied her hair up in a high ponytail. Her black hair flowed down like a waterfall, and a playful strand curled up, brushing against his face.
It tickled a bit, so Gu Ran couldn't help but reach up to scratch it, but he accidentally brushed the back of his hand against the girl's cheek.
There was no exquisite coincidence or romantic atmosphere, only a delicate scolding.
"Gu 'Dog' Ran!"
Ye Zhenzhen immediately bounced back and retreated, covering her cheek with her hand and glaring at him in shy anger.
She couldn't understand how this guy dared to touch her face in broad daylight.
Was he really not afraid that she would call for Uncle Gu!
Gu Ran: "..."
His hand that had scratched his face was still hovering in the air. He twitched the corner of his mouth awkwardly and said speechlessly, "I was just scratching my face and accidentally touched you. What are you barking for?"
Hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen widened her eyes. What was she barking for? Would she bark if he hadn't touched her face...
Wait, what kind of phrasing was that? What was she barking for?!
Was she a dog?
What kind of wording was that!
Glaring at him again in shy annoyance, Ye Zhenzhen blushed and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat."
With that, she fled out of the room like she was escaping and entered the kitchen.
Ye Shulian was plating the dumplings and didn't notice her expression, but Lao Gu, who was waiting to carry the plates, immediately saw her flushed cheeks and hurried steps.
She just went to that boy's room for less than three minutes, how did her face get so red?
He couldn't help but feel suspicious, but his face showed no change. Instead, as usual, he cheerfully asked Ye Zhenzhen to help carry the plates.
Gu Ran appeared leisurely right after, bringing all the dishes for dinner to the table before the family of four finally took their seats.
As the head of the family (which Gu Ran considered to be temporary), Gu Xiangcheng naturally raised his wine glass and said a few words.
Listening to Lao Gu chattering away, bringing his workplace rhetoric back home, Gu Ran felt a bit speechless, but he wouldn't be so ignorant as to ruin the moment.
Changing his usual style, he listened attentively today, but the more he listened, the stranger he felt.
When Lao Gu mentioned that they were now a new family, helping each other, not blood relatives but better than blood relatives, he keenly noticed that Lao Gu glanced at him several times.
What did that mean?
Did he think he wasn't getting along well enough with the others?
Fine then, from now on, he would definitely treat Ye Zhenzhen even better and turn her into a blood relative!!!
Gu Ran gave Lao Gu a knowing look. Noticing his gesture, Gu Xiangcheng nodded in satisfaction and ended his speech.
During the meal, listening to Ye Shulian and Gu Ran chatting lively with a very harmonious atmosphere, he also couldn't help but want to join in.
After pondering for a moment, he paused and decided to show some concern for his son's studies.
"I heard the first mock exam is over. How did you do?"
As soon as he spoke, Ye Shulian's smiling face instantly froze. She then reached out, pinched his thigh, and rolled her eyes at him.
They were having a perfectly good meal, why bring up grades? Wasn't it better to just be happy during the holidays?
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lao Gu also realized he had misspoken. They had agreed not to meddle with the boy's studies, but he still couldn't control his concern.
"Um... not much, just over five hundred," Gu Ran replied casually with a straight face, pretending to be nonchalant.
Ye Zhenzhen, who was mixing the dumpling dipping sauce on the side, couldn't help but roll her beautiful eyes at him.
Childish!
Hearing this, Lao Gu nodded and said comfortingly, "Mhm, it's fine, five hundred... How much did you score???"
Halfway through his sentence, he realized it wasn't the usual two or three hundred points, but over five hundred, making him momentarily think he had misheard.
Gu Ran smiled and replied while eating a dumpling, "Over five hundred, not high, not high at all~"
Gu Xiangcheng: "..."
Ye Zhenzhen: "..."
Give him an inch, and he takes a mile.
Ye Zhenzhen kicked off her slippers, stretched out her small foot, and gave his calf a kick.
But the latter immediately responded by clamping his legs together, trapping her foot between them.
With her small foot controlled, Ye Zhenzhen couldn't pull it back for a moment, and a blush slowly crept up her pretty face.
She was sitting on Gu Ran's right. After her leg was clamped, she had to sit turned towards him.
In order to keep her upper body straight, she could only twist her waist as much as possible.
Poking Gu Ran's waist repeatedly with her small hand, she bit her lip, lowered her head, and murmured.
"You... let go!"
Gu Ran pretended not to hear and proudly raised his head to answer Lao Gu's question.
"I really scored over five hundred. If you don't believe me, ask Ye Zhenzhen."
Saying that, he reached out and gently nudged the girl who was murmuring with her head down, "Right?"
"Show some respect, call her older sister."
Gu Xiangcheng glared at him first before looking at Ye Zhenzhen.
Gu Ran: "..."
Great, he had found the source!
The phrase call me older sister that Ye Zhenzhen always had on her lips was actually learned from here. No wonder the tone sounded so familiar.
Hearing herself mentioned, the girl quickly raised her head and nodded, slightly flustered. "Y-yes, Uncle Gu, Gu Ran scored five hundred and twenty-six points on this exam."
Gu Xiangcheng: "???"
Five hundred and twenty-six?
Was this a score his son could achieve?
He glanced at him suspiciously. Seeing this, Ye Zhenzhen quickly added, "There's no inflation; it's the result of his own hard work."
Seeing Ye Zhenzhen vouch for him, Gu Xiangcheng finally believed it.
Although he still found it incredible, he couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. He picked up the glass in front of him, downed it in a single gulp, and repeatedly exclaimed, "Good, good..."
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
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!
