Chapter 92
Sunday, afternoon.
Gu Ran was carrying two backpacks, following closely behind Ye Zhenzhen.
Just as they walked out of the school gates, they were stopped by Gu Xiangcheng, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Come on, get in the car!"
Lao Gu honked the horn to remind the siblings to get in.
Seeing the window of the black Jetta roll down to reveal Lao Gu's face, the previously calm and composed girl instantly tensed up.
"H-hello, Uncle."
As she stuttered her greeting, she quickly reached out and snatched her backpack off the boy's shoulders.
As if doing this would make it seem like she wasn't bullying her younger brother...
Gu Ran: "???"
Seeing her actions, Gu Ran's mouth instantly twitched.
Only when she saw his dad did she remember to act like a good girl.
Alright, alright, so that's how we're playing it?
He strongly condemned this hypocritical behavior in his heart, but on second thought, he realized he also acted like a perfect gentleman in front of Ye Shulian.
Oh, never mind then. Please, continue your performance!
Ye Zhenzhen blushed as she snatched the backpack and quickly put it on her own back. For a moment, her cold, clear eyes didn't dare look toward Lao Gu.
"Mm, hello to you too, Zhenzhen."
Seeing the girl's little movements, Lao Gu chuckled softly.
This kind of childish shyness was indeed something only young people had...
Turning his head to see Gu Ran, he paused and couldn't help but take back his thoughts.
Although only young people would be shy... thick-skinned ones were the exception.
Noticing Lao Gu's gaze, Gu Ran decided to play along with Ye Zhenzhen and nodded firmly. "Mm, that's right. My sister always carries her own backpack. She never forced me to carry it for her."
Gu Xiangcheng: "..."
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
While the former was left speechless, the aloof girl blushed and glared at him in embarrassment and anger.
She wanted to raise her little foot and kick this annoying guy to death, but remembering that Lao Gu was watching right in front of them, she had to pull back, shooting him another glare.
"Don't just stand there, get in."
After the siblings got in, Gu Xiangcheng drove off.
The destination was clear: the Confucian Temple he had mentioned before.
Realizing this, Gu Ran, sitting in the back seat, was left speechless.
Even if Lao Gu didn't bring it up again, he knew his dad hadn't given up... wait, no, he just wasn't resigned to it.
Along the way, he kept steering the conversation. His implicit and explicit meaning was all about how great the University of Political Science and Law was, constantly tempting the two to apply to this type of school.
Because he had been warned by Ye Shulian before to respect the children's wishes, he was afraid that the two kids were young and ignorant and might go to a school with poor employment prospects, so he still took great pains to persuade them.
Ye Zhenzhen clearly perceived his intentions and was very grateful. At the same time, she seriously began to consider political science and law universities in her heart.
Turning her head, she glanced at Gu Ran, who was leaning his head against the car window with a look of utter hopelessness. She couldn't help but frown and reached out to pinch the lazily sprawling boy.
Amidst their conversation, they arrived at their destination.
What came into view was an ancient and solemn temple.
Passing through the busy streets and bustling crowds, the surroundings were enclosed by mountains, appearing unusually quiet and empty, which further highlighted the ethereal and elusive atmosphere of the Confucian Temple.
The outer walls of the Confucian Temple stood tall. There were no carved dragons or phoenixes, only blue-gray stone bricks, making it look solemn and majestic.
But this only made the temple seem all the more extraordinary.
Gu Xiangcheng parked the car, and the three of them got out together. The siblings closely followed Lao Gu's footsteps and stepped through the main gate of the Confucian Temple.
Inside the temple, the antique architecture exuded a faint scent of sandalwood.
With gray walls and dark tiles, the blue tiles were inlaid with black patterns, resembling an ethereal landscape painting.
Unlike the lazy guy, Ye Zhenzhen's cold eyes constantly observed the surroundings, her heart filled with awe for this place.
Entering the main hall, the usually lazy Gu Ran rarely became serious and solemn. After respectfully bowing to the statues, they each picked up the bamboo fortune stick cylinders in front of them.
Lao Gu didn't go in; he just watched quietly from the outside.
He didn't believe in these things, but his children were about to take the college entrance examination. Hearing that this place was very effective, out of a parent's heart, he still brought the siblings here.
Ye Zhenzhen devoutly closed her eyes and prayed silently.
Her wish was very simple: to get good grades in the college entrance examination in a little over a month, get into a good university, and make her mother proud.
Even though Ye Shulian had now married Lao Gu and their livelihood was not as strained as before, she still wanted to work harder so that Ye Shulian could stand tall.
After all, her mother's most outstanding achievement was perhaps her...
Clack!
Just as she was deep in thought while shaking the cylinder, a bamboo stick jumped out.
A waiting Taoist priest stepped forward to pick it up, staring at it silently, focused on interpreting the fortune written on it.
"When mountains and rivers meet, there must be an auspicious sign. All things will go smoothly, and the whole family will prosper. Though branches grow at present, the root remains unchanged. Spreading across the world, bringing great abundance."
When he finished reading the last word, he smiled and said to Ye Zhenzhen, "Excellent! Female lay believer, this is a top-tier auspicious fortune."
Hearing this, the girl's eyes lit up, but her face still maintained a calm expression as she asked softly, "Daoist master, how do you interpret this fortune?"
The Taoist priest bowed slightly and then slowly said, "This fortune is highly auspicious, a top-tier draw. The academic success the female believer seeks will have a very good outcome.
The first line, 'When mountains and rivers meet, there must be an auspicious sign.'
The meeting of mountains and rivers symbolizes the realization of ideals; the auspicious sign means there will be a lucky omen, indicating the guidance and protection of deities.
The second line, 'All things will go smoothly, and the whole family will prosper.'
This means that everything will go smoothly, and even family relationships will become more harmonious.
The third line, 'Though branches grow at present, the root remains unchanged.'
The female believer should note that no matter what happens right now, you must stick to your inner beliefs and not waver.
The fourth line, 'Spreading across the world, bringing great abundance.'
This line is the concluding point, meaning that if you persevere, you will realize your ideals."
Hearing this detailed analysis, even the aloof girl couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, the joy in her eyes overflowing.
Especially the part about family relationships becoming more harmonious—it truly spoke right to her heart.
Thinking of this, she gently turned her head and looked at the boy beside her.
Seeing the usually lackadaisical Gu Ran acting serious at this moment, as a sister, she couldn't help but nod slightly at seeing her younger brother become sensible.
With her small hands behind her back, she lightly strolled behind the boy and listened to his fortune being read.
At this time, another Taoist priest looked at Gu Ran's fortune stick. After pondering for a moment, his expression turned slightly strange, but maintaining good professional ethics, he spoke softly: "'Rouse your lifelong ambitions, 'tis good to travel to the southwest. With a hundred thousand strings of cash wrapped around your waist, ride a crane to Yangzhou.' This fortune is auspicious."
After speaking, he pursed his lips. Although it felt a bit odd, he bit the bullet and continued interpreting the meaning of the text: "The one who draws this fortune will begin to rise in power this year and will very soon achieve success and fame."
Upon hearing the result, Gu Ran's face remained completely impassive, yet he couldn't quite conceal the glimmer of joy in his eyes.
He might not believe a word of it, but who didn't enjoy hearing a few nice words?
Meanwhile, the more the young woman beside him listened, the deeper her pretty eyebrows knitted together.
Why did she get the feeling... that this guy wasn't asking about his academic prospects at all?!
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!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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?!
