Lin Yu took a taxi to the mall where they had agreed to meet. As soon as he got out of the car, he spotted Gu Yue right away.
She stood at the entrance of the mall, holding a tan paper bag in her hand, bundled up in a stylish yet adorable outfit.
She wore a vanilla-white puffer jacket, oversized black straight-leg jeans, a white scarf, and topped it off with a cute round tower hat.
She really knew how to put an outfit together!
After meeting up, the two instinctively headed into the mall, eager to browse around and grab some snacks or drinks.
Passing through the revolving doors, they were momentarily taken aback by the deserted scene inside before quickly realizing why.
Well, of course.
It was the Lunar New Year—most vendors had gone home for the holidays.
Who would still be open for business?
The spacious mall was mostly empty, with only a handful of stalls selling New Year couplets and nuts stubbornly remaining open, barely keeping the place alive.
Staring at the quiet scene, Lin Yu, whose pockets were comfortably full, couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
Damn it!
He had money to burn, but nowhere to spend it—how unfair was that?
After wandering around the few open stalls, the two eventually stopped at a nut vendor. With a grand gesture, Lin Yu splurged on a full two pounds of pistachios!
No big deal!
Just flexing his financial freedom!
After paying and collecting their haul, each of them cradled a paper bag of pistachios, cracking them open like sunflower seeds as they strolled leisurely through the empty mall.
As they walked, Lin Yu, feeling a bit bored, suddenly remembered what Gu Yue had mentioned on the phone. He turned to her and asked,
“Didn’t you say there was a really fun place to go?”
“Where is it?”
“Let’s head over.”
Gu Yue checked the time on her phone, thought for a moment, and then hesitated slightly before replying,
“It’s still a bit early to go now.”
“Let’s do something else first.”
“We can head over when the time’s right.”
Lin Yu tossed a pistachio shell into the large paper bag, which already had a thin layer of white shells at the bottom, then popped another whole pistachio into his mouth. Curious, he asked,
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“And why do we have to wait?”
Remembering that Tang Manman was waiting for him later, Lin Yu didn’t want to keep her waiting too long. He found an excuse to nudge Gu Yue, saying,
“I’ve got something to do at home tonight.”
“Can’t stay out too late.”
Gu Yue shook her head.
“It won’t be late.”
“We’ll head over around four.”
“We’ll be done by six!”
At this, Gu Yue lifted her delicate face slightly, her bright eyes shimmering with anticipation as she looked at Lin Yu earnestly. Her voice carried a hint of nervousness as she asked,
“Do you have time for that?”
“...”
Lin Yu hesitated.
In his original plan, his time with Gu Yue was supposed to wrap up by around three in the afternoon.
After that, he was supposed to meet Tang Manman.
By four, she should have finished whatever she was busy with.
But Gu Yue wanted him to stay until six…
That clashed with his schedule.
Lin Yu was about to refuse, but seeing the hopeful look on Gu Yue’s face, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her.
What to do?
If he didn’t want to ruin Gu Yue’s mood, he’d have to meet Tang Manman later.
But then he wouldn’t get to spend much time with her…
No way!
The extra time spent with Gu Yue couldn’t be taken from the time reserved for Tang Manman!
After some thought, Lin Yu quickly made a decision.
If push came to shove, he’d just shift the entire schedule back a bit.
Qing Mo would have to endure a little inconvenience.
He’d take the blame...
Wait, no!
That woman Qing Mo would probably enjoy it!
Might as well scold her over the phone first.
She wouldn’t be upset anyway.
With that in mind, Lin Yu nodded without a shred of guilt and said:
"Alright."
"Let’s make it six o’clock."
"Any later is really pushing it!"
"It won’t be late!" Gu Yue looked thrilled, her tone firm as she assured him:
"I’ll give you a surprise—guaranteed not to disappoint!"
Lin Yu nodded, then asked:
"So, what should we do now?"
"We can’t just stand around waiting, right?"
"How about catching a movie?" Gu Yue tilted her head and suggested.
"Sure, sure." Lin Yu agreed with a nod.
The mall had its own cinema.
The two took the elevator up, but as they reached the theater entrance, Lin Yu’s mind wandered again.
Unlike the rest of the quiet mall, the cinema was packed, buzzing with a festive New Year’s energy.
Walking into the theater with Gu Yue, Lin Yu kept his eyes on the movie posters behind the ticket counter and asked without turning:
"What do you wanna watch?"
Gu Yue was also studying the posters. Hearing his question, she shook her head lightly and said:
"Not sure yet."
But soon, she found a film that caught her eye. Pointing at one of the posters, she turned to Lin Yu excitedly:
"I want to watch this one!"
Lin Yu glanced over, following her finger to the poster.
The background was eerie, and at the center was a half-portrait of a little boy—his face ashen, his expression grim. Though his lips weren’t curved, there was something undeniably unsettling about him, as if he were smiling.
A creepy, unnatural smile.
No trace of it in his expression, yet the impression was unmistakable.
Pure horror, dialed up to the max.
Lin Yu’s body gave an involuntary shudder. He quickly averted his gaze, refusing to look in that direction again.
Masking his fear with a frown, he put on an annoyed face and grumbled:
"Who watches horror movies during the New Year?"
"It’s bad luck!"
"Let’s watch this instead!"
He pointed at an anime movie poster he’d never even heard of and declared:
"This one’s good."
"I’ve been wanting to see it for ages."
"Fine."
Since Lin Yu liked it, Gu Yue had no choice but to relent—what could she do? She liked him.
But where he couldn’t see, she pouted her soft, glossy lips in silent protest.
Her plan had fallen through, and she was genuinely unhappy.
It wasn’t just about the horror movie.
She’d been counting on using the scary scenes as an excuse to act frightened, cling to Lin Yu, and maybe even snuggle up to him.
Now?
An animated film.
All her schemes ruined!
Hmph!
So annoying!
Why would they even show cartoons during the New Year?
Ugh, the worst!
Gu Yue was sulking hard, but Lin Yu was ten times more irritated.
Seriously?!
What kind of cinema screens horror movies during the New Year?
Are they out of their minds?
And you had to make the poster so scary, deliberately trying to unsettle people who are afraid of ghosts... (scratch that)
deliberately trying to annoy those who don’t like horror movies, right?
So annoying!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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?!
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?!
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!
