Chapter 82
The morning sunlight was blocked out by the heavy curtains, leaving the room in dimness.
The alarm hadn't gone off yet, but Gu Ran was already awake.
A young body is always full of vitality. Even after being chased back to his room by a flustered and exasperated Ye Zhenzhen last night, and then staying up late studying voice acting materials, he was still full of energy this morning.
He rolled over and sat up, immediately drawing in a sharp breath. Hiss.
The memories of last night instantly flooded his mind.
---
Rewind to a few hours ago.
"Get out!"
Ye Zhenzhen was lying face down on the bed, her entire face buried in the pillow. Her voice was muffled, but it couldn't hide her embarrassment and annoyance.
"Wait, I'll be done in a second."
Gu Ran didn't stop what he was doing. The knuckle of his index finger pressed against an acupoint near her shoulder blade, slowly applying pressure.
"It hurts..."
Ye Zhenzhen's body trembled, her fingers unconsciously gripping the bedsheets tightly.
"It's really knotted up here. If I don't rub it out, you'll feel even worse tomorrow." Gu Ran's tone was serious, though he lightened the force of his hands a bit. "You've been looking down at your books too much lately; your neck and shoulders are too stiff."
Ye Zhenzhen pursed her lips and said nothing.
She had indeed felt a heaviness in her shoulders for several days. Just now, when Gu Ran pressed a certain spot, the sore, swollen sensation accompanied by a sharp pain almost made her cry out.
But letting this guy stay in her room and touch her back...
Even through her pajamas, it was too intimate.
"Are you done yet?" she urged again, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.
"Almost." Gu Ran moved to another acupoint and pressed down hard with his knuckle.
"Ah!"
Ye Zhenzhen let out a soft cry, caught off guard, and immediately became angry out of embarrassment. "Gu 'Dog' Ran! Be gentler!"
"It won't work if I'm too gentle." Gu Ran kept a straight face, but he did ease up a bit. "Bear with it. It'll feel better once the knot is gone."
Ye Zhenzhen buried her face deeper into the pillow and stopped talking.
The only sounds left in the room were their faint breathing and the rustling of fabric as Gu Ran's fingers massaged her back.
After an unknown amount of time, Gu Ran finally stopped. "Done."
Ye Zhenzhen immediately pulled the blanket over herself, revealing only her head, and glared at him with her cold, clear eyes. "You can leave now."
Gu Ran didn't move. Instead, he sat down on the edge of the bed and held out his hand. "Let me see your hands."
"What?"
"Did you secretly eat something cold again yesterday?" Gu Ran raised an eyebrow. "Your complexion is so pale; your hands must be freezing too."
Ye Zhenzhen froze, instinctively pulling her hands further under the blanket.
She really hadn't been able to resist yesterday and had secretly eaten half a tub of ice cream while Gu Ran wasn't looking.
"No, I didn't," she said stubbornly.
Gu Ran didn't argue. He simply lifted a corner of the blanket and grabbed her wrist.
The coldness coming from her fingertips made him frown. "Still lying?"
"Mind your own business..." Ye Zhenzhen tried to pull her hand back, but he held it tighter.
"If I don't care about it, who will?"
Gu Ran spoke with righteous conviction. His warm palms enveloped her icy fingers, gently rubbing them. "You can't have anything cold these next few days."
His palms were very warm, his fingertips still carrying the residual heat from massaging her just now.
Ye Zhenzhen felt a warm current spread from her fingers up her arm, and her cheeks inexplicably grew a little hot.
"I know..." she muttered softly, rarely choosing not to talk back.
Seeing her like this, Gu Ran suddenly felt the urge to tease her.
He squeezed her fingertips, his tone teasing. "If you sneak cold food again next time, I'll tell Aunt Ye."
"Don't you dare!" Ye Zhenzhen immediately glared at him.
"Try me." Gu Ran raised an eyebrow, not letting go of her hand. "Or... you could beg me?"
Ye Zhenzhen stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly opened her mouth and bit down hard on the back of his hand.
"Hiss!" Gu Ran gasped in pain. "Ye Zhenzhen, are you part dog?!"
"That's what you get for bullying me!" Ye Zhenzhen let go, looking at the clear teeth marks on the back of his hand with a flash of triumph in her eyes. "Are you still going to tell on me?"
Gu Ran looked at the bite mark on his hand, then at her smug expression, and suddenly reached out to lightly flick her forehead. "You're rebelling, aren't you."
"Ah!" Ye Zhenzhen covered her forehead and glared at him in dissatisfaction.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing at the same time.
Gu Ran shook his head and let go of her hand. "Alright, are your hands a bit warmer now?"
Ye Zhenzhen wiggled her fingers; they were indeed much warmer than before.
She looked at the teeth marks on the back of Gu Ran's hand and suddenly felt a little guilty. "...Does it hurt?"
"What do you think?" Gu Ran raised his hand so she could clearly see the bite mark. "You bit down so hard."
"Serves you right." Ye Zhenzhen was unforgiving with her words, but she dug out a tube of ointment from the nightstand. "Put some medicine on it."
Gu Ran took the ointment but didn't apply it. Instead, he stared at her. "Why do you have this in your room?"
"None of your business." Ye Zhenzhen turned her face away. "Use it or don't, whatever."
Gu Ran smiled, unscrewed the cap, and applied a little. The cooling sensation relieved the pain. He casually placed the ointment on the nightstand. "Thanks."
"Hurry up and leave." Ye Zhenzhen started shooing him away again.
Gu Ran stood up, and just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back. "By the way, we're jogging tomorrow morning. Don't oversleep again."
"I won't." Ye Zhenzhen pulled the blanket up to cover half her face, her voice muffled.
"You better not." Gu Ran smiled and closed the door.
---
The memory ended. Gu Ran looked at the now bruised bite mark on his arm and sighed helplessly.
This girl really bites hard.
He sluggishly changed his clothes, and just as he was about to open the curtains, the balcony door was pushed open.
Ye Zhenzhen was wearing a light gray tracksuit, her hair tied up in a high ponytail, looking clean and sharp.
She walked into the room and, seeing that Gu Ran was already up, a flash of disappointment crossed her eyes, her plan to catch him sleeping in had failed.
With her hands behind her back, she slowly circled the room like a cat patrolling its territory.
Her gaze swept over the tidy desk, the folded blanket, and the neatly arranged miscellaneous items, and her brow furrowed unconsciously.
She had just helped him clean up yesterday, so now she really couldn't find anything to nitpick.
Gu Ran followed behind her, watching her circle around and around, and couldn't help but ask, "Inspector Ye, did you find any problems during your inspection?"
Ye Zhenzhen paused her steps and glanced back at him. "The hygiene is maintained decently."
"Of course. It was personally guided by Inspector Ye, so it must be maintained." Gu Ran played along, his tone laced with amusement.
Ye Zhenzhen let out a soft hmph, her eyes landing on the little bear plushie on the desk.
She walked over, picked up the bear that had a school name tag pinned to it, and turned to look at Gu Ran. "Why is this here with you?"
Gu Ran was taken aback. "You gave it to me."
"I don't remember." Ye Zhenzhen was expressionless.
"..." Gu Ran pointed at the school name tag. "It even has my name written on it."
Ye Zhenzhen picked up the name tag, looked at it carefully, and said slowly, "Oh, then why did you write your name on my school name tag?"
Gu Ran: "..."
He finally understood. This girl was just here to pick a fight.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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."
