Hearing this, the young man sitting in the middle grinned and turned to the two beside him. "Haha, interesting. He wants me to go over there personally."
The thinner guy next to him glanced at Ran Ran and said coolly, "Hey, beauty, didn’t you tell him that my brother Lin Fei is the cousin of this bar’s owner?"
Ran Ran pursed her lips. "I did, but he said even the owner himself wouldn’t make a difference."
"Damn? Haha, Lin, if the guy’s acting all high and mighty, why don’t we go check him out?"
The guy named Lin Fei casually touched the Rainbow Daytona on his wrist and said, "Fine. Since I’m the one trying to take someone from him, let’s go have a look."
Lin Fei stood up and asked Ran Ran, "Which table is he at?"
"Number six."
"Alright, lead the way."
With that, he strode toward the door, followed closely by his two companions.
Meanwhile, Xia Li had already ordered drinks and was chatting with Su Yang when the cabin door swung open.
Ran Ran walked in first, trailed by Lin Fei and his two friends.
As they entered, Su Yang gave them a once-over and thought, Oh, tattoos? Trying to act like gangsters?
Naturally, the trio also noticed Su Yang and Xia Li.
Ran Ran stepped forward and said to Su Yang, "Handsome, they’re here."
Su Yang nodded. Lin Fei narrowed his eyes, sizing Su Yang up before forcing a smile and approaching. "What should I call you, bro?"
"Su Yang."
"Su Yang, huh? I’m Lin Fei. So, here’s the thing—this beauty here must’ve told you already, but I really like the girl you picked. I was thinking we could work something out. How about you let me have her, and I’ll pay for you to pick two more to drink with you?"
Su Yang chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Not interested. I like her too."
Lin Fei was taken aback. He’d deliberately kept his tone polite, but this guy was still being difficult.
Before he could respond, Su Yang added, "By the way, ever heard of ‘first come, first served’?"
"I heard you’re the owner’s cousin, right? Just because you’ve got connections, you think you can snatch someone another guest picked first? That’s not how things work. Even if your cousin showed up, it wouldn’t fly."
Lin Fei’s expression darkened. The stocky guy beside him, Old Gao, stepped forward angrily. "You little—"
Lin Fei yanked him back. "Old Gao, chill. Let’s talk this out."
"Talk? This guy’s not giving us any face!"
The thinner guy shot Ran Ran a look, signaling her to leave.
Ran Ran swallowed nervously, nodded, and slipped out, closing the door behind her.
Su Yang kept his eyes on the three, waiting for their next move. Xia Li didn’t even glance up, scrolling through her phone.
Lin Fei sat down on a nearby couch and forced another smile. "Bro, I’m just trying to negotiate, alright? I’ve been polite, haven’t I? Didn’t come in here swinging my weight around, right? Let’s talk it out."
Su Yang smirked. "No need. I picked her first, and I’m not swapping. If you like her, come back another time. That’s it. You three can leave now."
At that, Lin Fei’s smile finally cracked, his face turning grim.
Despite his rough-around-the-edges appearance, Lin Fei wasn’t some reckless idiot. He’d kept his cool because, upon observing Su Yang, he noticed the guy’s clothes, demeanor, and especially the watch on his wrist—far more expensive than his own—suggested he wasn’t just some ordinary customer.
But now, Su Yang had left him no room to save face.
Old Gao couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped forward, glaring at Su Yang. "Bro, my man Lin’s being nice, but you’re really pushing it, huh? You’ve already got this older chick with you—gotta hog all the good stuff?"
Before Su Yang could react, Xia Li looked up. In her hand was a palm-sized glass ashtray.
She smiled at Old Gao—then, without warning, hurled the ashtray straight at his head.
Thud!
Clang!
The ashtray, sturdy as it was, didn’t break when it hit the floor. Old Gao’s head, however, wasn’t as durable.
For a second, he just stood there, eyes wide, blood trickling from his forehead down his cheek.
Even Su Yang was stunned. This was only his second time meeting Xia Li, and his impression from drinking together in Shima Town was that she was the composed type.
But today? She’d gone straight for violence.
Two seconds of silence later, Old Gao finally snapped back to reality. He wiped the blood from his face, his face twisting in rage.
"Fck you, bitch!!"
He roared and lunged at Xia Li.
Su Yang’s eyes sharpened. He sprang up, blocking the charging bull of a man. But Old Gao was beyond reason now.
Seeing Su Yang in his way, he bellowed, "Fck off!!" and swung a meaty fist straight at Su Yang’s face.
At nearly 6’1" and over 200 pounds, Old Gao dwarfed Su Yang. But despite his brute force, his movements seemed sluggish to Su Yang.
With a faint smirk, Su Yang raised a hand and caught the incoming punch mid-air.
Bam!
The impact echoed in the room. Old Gao froze. He knew exactly how much power was behind that punch—yet this guy, half his size, had stopped it effortlessly.
Before he could process it, Old Gao swung his left fist at Su Yang’s head.
Su Yang leaned back, dodging easily. Then, before Old Gao could attack again, Su Yang twisted the captured fist sharply.
"Aaarrgh!!" Old Gao howled as his body contorted in pain.
Su Yang snorted, released his grip, and instantly countered with a punch to Old Gao’s chest—holding back, using only 20-30% of his strength. A full-force hit might’ve killed him.
Boom!!
"Ahh!"
Old Gao gasped, eyes bulging, as his massive frame flew backward. Just before he could crash into the control panel, the thinner guy darted forward and caught him.
The whole exchange had taken mere seconds.
But Lin Fei had seen everything. He knew exactly how strong Old Gao was—his cousin’s elite bodyguard was the only one who could overpower him.
Yet this unassuming guy, Su Yang, had dismantled him without breaking a sweat.
His mind wasn’t as simple as Old Gao’s. The other party had such formidable skills and faced the three of them without a hint of fear, even maintaining a relaxed demeanor the entire time—this was clearly no ordinary person. He quickly grasped the situation.
Then he stood up and shouted at the grimacing, heavyset man, "Old Gao!!! What the hell are you doing?! We came here to talk things out, and you just can’t listen, can you?!"
Old Gao froze for a moment before retorting angrily, "Lin Fei, wasn’t it that woman who hit me with an ashtray first?"
"Who the hell told you to call her a ‘cougar’?! I’d have thrown something at you too!!"
Old Gao took a deep breath at those words, but his gaze remained venomous as he glared at Su Yang and Xia Li.
Seeing this, Su Yang smirked slightly and sat back down. Xia Li, after watching Su Yang force the heavyset man to retreat, simply lowered her head and continued scrolling through her phone.
[Ding, detected Xia Li’s favorability toward the host has increased to: 40. Reward: 3 million.]
Just then, Xia Li suddenly looked up again, her eyes landing on Lin Fei, who was sitting by the door.
"Hey, you’re Lin Fei, right?"
Lin Fei blinked in surprise, then nodded with a smile. "Yes, beautiful. My friend here was out of line earlier. My apologies."
Xia Li gave a faint smile. "No worries. He’s already bleeding anyway. But I heard you have a cousin?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Is his name Zhao Rui?"
"Zhao—" Lin Fei paused, looking puzzled. "You know my cousin?"
Xia Li chuckled. "Figures. I thought your name sounded familiar."
Lin Fei’s expression remained smooth as he laughed. "Damn, so you’re a friend of my cousin’s! Talk about a misunderstanding among family."
"I wouldn’t call us friends. We just had some business dealings before."
"Oh, got it, got it."
Xia Li thought for a moment before adding, "Wasn’t your cousin in Shanghai? When did he come to Haicheng and buy this place?"
"About half a month ago. But why he bought this shop, I’m not too sure," Lin Fei replied with a grin.
"Alright. Is he in Haicheng now?"
"He went back to Shanghai. He’s been shuttling between the two cities lately. Should be back in a few days."
Xia Li nodded. "Call him and tell him a woman named Xia Li came to his shop. Tell him to comp my bill."
Hearing this, Lin Fei hesitated briefly before nodding. "Sure thing, sure thing—I’ll call him right now."
......

to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!

for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?

his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…