Chapter 9
Her back was perfectly straight, her hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her small hands were casually tucked into her jacket pockets, and her school uniform pants were crisp and wrinkle-free.
That fair, delicate face bore a meticulous expression, as if she treated even every step she took with the utmost seriousness.
It had to be said, being beautiful really made a difference. Even the dowdy school uniform looked like a runway piece from Fashion Week when she wore it.
Gu Ran's gaze swept down from top to bottom, finally resting on the cotton socks peeking out between her pant cuffs and her size 36 little white shoes.
Beneath those pristine white cotton socks, there should be... a pair of exquisite, petite feet?
His mind unconsciously conjured up images of toes like tender lotus roots, naturally unfurled, with plump toe pads, slender digits, and insteps as smooth as jade...
This outfit completely hit his XP.
Ahem, the computer operating system, of course...
As these enchanting images slowly unfolded in his mind, he quickly shook his head, tossing those messy thoughts to the back of his mind.
Watching Ye Zhenzhen walk further and further away, his eyes still couldn't help but follow those gently swaying little feet.
No, no, no!
He was absolutely not a pervert and didn't have any weird hobbies. He hurriedly retracted his disobedient gaze and silently recited the Gu Family Swordplay in his heart to calm himself down.
How could a true man, born between heaven and earth, remain depressed and subservient to others for long?!
With no women in the heart, one's swordsmanship naturally becomes masterful.
He silently chanted the swordplay mantra in his mind:
First stance: Forget the one you love;
Second stance: Sever the soul of infatuation;
Third stance: Draw the sword to slay the god of love;
Fourth stance: Wave a hand to extinguish the mortal realm's desires...
All the way to the tenth stance: Return to me my free self!!!
On the way to the cafeteria, Ye Zhenzhen was full of anxiety, thinking about the meeting with her stepfather's family the day after tomorrow.
Hearing her mother mention this morning that her soon-to-be stepfather actually had a son filled her with even more unease and fear regarding her future.
Although she usually only loved reading, she would occasionally be dragged by classmates to watch anime, so her imagination was by no means lacking.
Now, the words stepfather and stepbrother had become heavy burdens in her heart.
Especially after hearing that her stepfather's son was around her age, the tension in her heart grew even stronger.
She had to admit that she was indeed very popular with boys.
From childhood to adulthood, the number of times she had been confessed to was countless.
It was only when she reached high school that she started learning to maintain an icy expression to avoid awkwardness.
But even so, requests to add her on QQ, asking for her phone number, passing notes, and delivering love letters continued to emerge endlessly.
She worried that once she moved into her stepfather's house, his son might develop feelings for her. This could lead her stepfather to mistakenly believe she was seducing his son and distracting him from his studies.
This worry strengthened her resolve: once the college entrance exams were over, she would no longer live at home.
After all, with her mother remarrying, she didn't want to become a burden to her, much less cause any problems while living under someone else's roof.
As the girl in the distance gradually walked further away, Gu Ran finished practicing his mental swordplay, and his eyes regained their clarity.
He turned to Ye Jinliang, who was staring just as intently, and said, "What are you still looking at? Never seen a woman before? Let's go, time to eat!"
Ye Jinliang: "......"
He was somewhat speechless, forced to admire Gu Ran's ability to act so self-righteous and serious the very next second after practically having his eyeballs glued to someone else.
Absolutely unreal!
The two quickly went to a restaurant at the school entrance to grab a bite, and then Gu Ran returned to the classroom to start a new round of studying.
Armed with the ultimate weapon, the memory of the college entrance exam papers, he readjusted his plans.
He decided to do targeted studying at school during the day and go home to write code at night.
For the very first game he was going to create, after filtering through his memories, he tentatively settled on "Temple Run".
This game had simple original art, novel gameplay, and was immensely popular, making it perfect for building his reputation.
Although it seemed relatively simple from a modern perspective, in the upcoming era of the mobile gaming market, it would be an absolutely mind-blowing phenomenon.
The person who designed this game was an absolute genius, cleverly utilizing the smartphone's built-in gyroscope, which not only enriched the gameplay but also started a whole new trend.
Moreover, the code for this game wasn't complicated; he could handle it entirely on his own.
Aside from the original artwork and voice acting, which he would need to outsource, he was fully capable of doing all the remaining work.
If push came to shove, he could even bite the bullet and do the art and voice acting himself.
While it might not be as exquisitely polished, as a programmer with over a decade of experience, writing code wasn't the only thing he knew how to do.
The reason he dabbled in such a wide range of skills was, of course, thanks to his exploitative boss from his previous life, who had cleverly come up with the "345" work method.
On the surface, this method seemed like a pay raise, but in reality, it was a disguised form of exploiting the employees.
Three people doing the work of five, but only getting paid the salary of four.
The boss saved on payroll, and while the employees technically got a raise, their working hours became much longer, requiring them to work overtime every single day.
However, in an increasingly competitive work environment, employees rarely got off work early anyway, so they figured it was better to at least earn some practical overtime pay.
Recalling his work experience from his previous life, Gu Ran couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He sighed, acknowledging that his skinflint boss was quite the talent, and wondered if he should introduce this "excellent" working method once he founded his own company.
From hating the boss, to understanding the boss, and finally becoming the boss, this was probably the trilogy of a successful person...
......
For the entire afternoon, Gu Ran sat as steadily as Mount Tai in his seat, studying diligently.
Whether it was during class or between periods, no matter how noisy his surroundings got, it didn't affect him in the slightest. His main vibe was absolute tranquility.
The teachers of various subjects also let him do as he pleased, as long as he didn't disturb the others.
However, his uncharacteristically focused behavior today caught the attention of several people, including his homeroom teacher and his English teacher.
Hao Cuiyun stood at the back door, looking through the glass window. Seeing Gu Ran break from his usual habits to sit quietly and study, she couldn't help but nod, feeling deeply gratified.
Meanwhile, the English teacher, Li Sinan, conducted an in-class pop quiz.
When she walked up to Gu Ran's desk to check on him, she knew that he usually wouldn't even pick up his pen to answer the questions.
But to her surprise, she found that not only was Gu Ran writing furiously, but everything he was writing was in English.
It was just that... it looked like a complete mess...
Pieces of white paper, scribbled with lines of code, were haphazardly piled up on the desk next to him.
Since Gu Ran didn't have a desk mate and the seat next to him was empty, that desk had become his dumping ground for scratch paper.
Seeing the English words on the paper, Li Sinan was slightly taken aback.
As a coding master with over a decade of experience, Gu Ran usually used shorthand when writing code, omitting formulas and symbols. As long as he could understand it, that was all that mattered.
However, the results of his scribbling were not very easy for a non-professional to understand.
Li Sinan found it somewhat difficult to read those lines of elegantly scrawled English sentence structures. She tried to translate them in her head, but the sentences just didn't seem to make any sense.
Moreover, it was filled with a massive amount of brackets and numbers, making it look exactly like... code?!
The thought surprised even her.
Back in 2010, in this small northern county town, few families even owned a computer, let alone a high school student who knew how to write code.
If she hadn't taken a programming elective in college, she would never have made the connection.
But there was no denying it, this genuinely looked like written code...
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."
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
] [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!"
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.
