Ten minutes later, Yoshie carried four cups of coffee over to the coffee table and set them down.
“Handsome boys and beautiful girls, your coffee is ready.”
Li Yuanying picked up her coffee and smiled. “Sis Mie, I didn’t know you could make coffee.”
“It’s not that difficult. I make it for myself at home sometimes.”
“Can you cook, too?”
Yoshie nodded. “Yes, but I only know how to make dishes from my country. I’m nowhere near as good as Su-san.”
“Being able to cook at all is already impressive, okay? How about showing off your skills tonight and making us a meal from your country?”
“Sure.” Yoshie smiled brightly.
“Great, then it’s settled. Su Yang will cook later, and Sis Mie will make dinner tonight.” Li Yuanying leaned back on the sofa with a beaming smile.
“If Yoshie and I are cooking, what are you two going to do?” Su Yang asked, tilting his head.
“We’ll be in charge of tasting, hehe. Mainly because I can’t cook. Otherwise, I’d definitely make everyone a meal.”
“Fine, fine. Just eat.” Su Yang popped the last bite of cake into his mouth, then picked up his coffee and took a sip.
“Perfect.” He leaned back against the sofa as he said it.
“Do we have anything planned today?” Qingxia asked.
Li Yuanying shook her head. “I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay curled up inside.”
Yoshie smiled. “Same here.”
“None of you want to go out? What about you, Su-san?” Qingxia looked at Su Yang.
Su Yang thought for a moment. “I don’t really have any plans either.”
“When we passed through town earlier, we saw a beautiful lake. There were even people rowing boats on it. How about we go boating after lunch?” Qingxia asked the others.
“No, no. I just want to lie down.” Li Yuanying closed her eyes and shook her head.
Yoshie sat down beside Qingxia and smiled. “None of us feel like going out today. How about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? All right, then. What should we do after lunch?”
“Lie around, obviously. Sunbathing and taking an afternoon nap in such a beautiful, peaceful place sounds wonderful.” Li Yuanying smiled.
“Okay, then we’ll watch a movie tonight. I’ll see if there’s anything good out lately.” As she spoke, Qingxia slipped off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the sofa.
Seeing that, Li Yuanying also took off her shoes, leaned toward Su Yang, and closed her eyes.
The four of them stayed there quietly without saying a word until 11:50.
It wasn’t until someone’s stomach growled that Su Yang finally got up and went into the kitchen to make lunch.
Using some of the ingredients left over from the day before, he prepared seven dishes and a soup. By half past one, everyone had eaten their fill.
After lunch, Su Yang went to the sofa on the balcony to smoke. The three girls carried the dishes into the kitchen, washed them, and then joined him on the balcony.
A few minutes later, sleepiness began to creep over them.
Seeing this, Su Yang said, “This sofa can be folded flat. Once it’s opened up, it’s basically a large bed.”
“Really?” Li Yuanying stared at the sofa in surprise.
“Of course. You three get up first.” Su Yang stood and walked behind the sofa, then crouched down.
He grabbed the latch at the back and pulled hard. The sofa, which had been shaped like an L, immediately unfolded into a flat bed.
“Wow, that’s amazing! It turns into a bed in an instant.” Li Yuanying happily kicked off her shoes and jumped onto it.
“It’s pretty wide, too. Let’s try it out.” Su Yang walked to the front of the sofa bed and lay down.
Yoshie and Qingxia also took off their shoes and climbed on.
The four of them lay side by side on the black sofa bed, enjoying the gentle breeze while playing on their phones.
Su Yang lay in the middle, with Li Yuanying on his right and Yoshie and Qingxia on his left.
“Oh, right. There’s something I wanted to ask you.” Su Yang suddenly sat up, breaking the peaceful silence.
The three girls looked up at him. “What is it?”
“How long are you planning to stay here?”
“What do you mean? Are you planning to travel to another country again?” Li Yuanying turned toward him and propped her chin on her hand.
“No. I’m just asking you all—especially you.”
“Me?” Li Yuanying pointed at herself.
“Yeah. You’re a celebrity, after all. It’s not like you can stay on vacation forever, right?”
“Oh, stop worrying about it. I can take at least ten days off this time. I’ve been performing all over the place for the past six months, and I’m exhausted. Right now, I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay on this secluded hillside and enjoy this rare vacation.”
“Okay. What about you two?” Su Yang turned to Yoshie and Qingxia.
Yoshie thought for a moment. “I have thirty days of vacation.”
Qingxia tilted her head and smiled. “I don’t have a job.”
“So what exactly are you trying to say?” Li Yuanying asked again.
Su Yang smiled. “Nothing much. Some of my friends from China are planning to come here and visit me, so that’s why I was asking.”
“Your friends from China?”
“Yeah. There are more than ten of them—quite a crowd.”
“Really? That many?” Li Yuanying sat up.
“Are they men or women?” Qingxia asked.
“Two men. The rest are women.”
“Just like Su-san. Out of more than ten friends, only two are men.”
“When are they coming?” Yoshie asked.
“In three or four days. So there’s one problem.”
“What problem?” the three girls asked in unison, all turning toward Su Yang.
“If they all come, there definitely won’t be enough room here.”
“That goes without saying. This house can accommodate ten people at most,” Yoshie said.
Su Yang thought it over before replying, “How about I look around later and see if there are any vacant houses nearby, then book another one?”
“There definitely are. A few dozen meters to the right, there’s a three-story villa that’s even bigger than this one.” Li Yuanying pointed toward the right side of the balcony.
“That one might not be available for short-term rentals. I’ll check later. There are plenty of houses around here anyway. I’ll look on my phone, and while I’m at it, I’ll extend our stay here, too.”
“Sounds good. Once your friends arrive, it’s going to be so lively. With such a big group, we can play Werewolf! I can’t wait!” Li Yuanying grinned and lay back down.
“Exactly. My friends are all outgoing, and they love playing games.”
“That’s right up my alley.”
“That’s all I wanted to tell you. Nothing else. Let’s get back to relaxing.” Su Yang lay down again.
The other three girls also fell silent, smiling as they continued playing on their phones.
The Dreamy Hillside was especially peaceful that afternoon. Although there were plenty of houses nearby, they were spaced far enough apart that no noise carried between them.
The only sounds were the chirping of birds flying overhead from time to time and the rustling of leaves as the breeze swept through the trees.
The sunlight fell gently across the four of them. Before long, the three girls had fallen asleep while playing on their phones.
Taking advantage of the quiet, Su Yang contacted the homeowner, Aleia, and extended their rental for another ten days. He then opened a booking app and searched for short-term rentals near their current house.
After browsing for more than ten minutes, Su Yang found the three-story wooden villa that Li Yuanying had mentioned, just a few dozen meters away.
“Huh? It really is a short-term rental. And no one’s staying there at the moment. Let’s see what the inside looks like.”
He tapped through the property photos.
The interior design was completely different from the place they were staying in. It had a distinctly European, vintage style.
Overall, though, it was quite decent. It had everything one could need: seven bedrooms in total, three on the first floor and two each on the second and third floors. In addition, there were three bathrooms, making it very suitable for multiple occupants.
The rent was €610 a day, €110 more than the place they were currently staying in. But to Su Yang, that little bit of money was practically the same as nothing.
After looking over both the inside and outside of the house, Su Yang paid a deposit and contacted the landlord, asking him to show them around the property in person.
However, the landlord was busy today and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.
“Hmm, that settles that for now. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Once everything was taken care of, Su Yang played on his phone for a while. Just as he was about to take an afternoon nap as well, Li Yuanying suddenly rolled over and wrapped her arms around him, casually draping her right leg over his body.
......
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…
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
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.”
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
