Tang Manman took the sparkler with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. Lin Yu showed her how to hold it properly, then lit the fuse for her.
The fuse burned down.
After a brief, pungent whiff of smoke, a round red orb of light shot out from the tip of the sparkler, trailing a fiery tail as it arced gracefully toward the ocean at their feet.
Before the red orb could fade, another glowing sphere of a different color burst forth from the long sparkler, following the same trajectory into the sea.
The orbs continued one after another like a string of pearls.
Tang Manman, who had never seen such fireworks before, was utterly amazed. Her lips parted slightly, her delighted eyes reflecting the kaleidoscope of colors.
Gradually,
a smile curled at the corners of her mouth—but instead of watching the mesmerizing display, she immediately turned her gaze to Lin Yu.
Seeing his gentle smile, her joy deepened. Her peach-blossom eyes crinkled into crescents, brimming with every beautiful emotion the world could offer.
Amid that swirl of indescribable feelings, Lin Yu caught a fleeting glimpse of something almost intangible.
Happiness.
And in that very moment,
a single, all-encompassing word surfaced silently in his heart.
Forever.
...
Whether by coincidence or not,
when Lin Yu brought Tang Manman to the café, every window seat was occupied.
Except one—the very spot where he had once sat with Gu Yue.
Left with no choice,
Lin Yu suppressed the strange thrill (scratch that) unease in his chest and feigned innocence, leading Tang Manman to the only empty table by the window.
"Two lattes, a slice of Black Forest cake, and some cookies, please."
Recognizing the waiter, Lin Yu didn’t even bother asking Tang Manman for her order. He skipped the menu and listed standard café items, eager to dismiss the waiter, whose odd look threatened to stir unnecessary trouble.
Soon, the coffee, cake, and cookies arrived.
Lin Yu checked his phone.
9:30 p.m.
Perfect.
A little eating and drinking would easily fill the time until ten.
After the fireworks, he’d take Tang Manman home.
Having roughly mapped out the evening, he set his phone down and took a sip of coffee.
Noticing Tang Manman hadn’t touched hers, he asked,
"Don’t you like this blend?"
She shook her head.
"It’s not that."
"But if I drink coffee now, I won’t sleep tonight, right?"
"Oh crap."
Her words struck him like a revelation. Lin Yu stared at the coffee in his hand, then set it down with the expression of someone who’d just swallowed a fly.
Tang Manman’s lips twitched as she fought back a laugh.
"Makka Pakka..."
The amusing and lovely ringtone rang, and Lin Yu instinctively glanced down.
Qing Mo?
Had she landed?
Stealing a furtive look at Tang Manman, he hesitated before deciding to decline the call.
He quickly sent a message instead.
Dragon Proud Sky: Busy right now.
Dragon Proud Sky: I’ll meet you at 10:30.
After a long pause, Qing Mo replied with a single word:
"Okay."
With Qing Mo's matter settled, Lin Yu guiltily glanced up at Tang Manman.
Seeing her gaze fixed on him, he immediately lowered his head again.
When feeling guilty, people often pretend to be busy.
Busying himself, Lin Yu picked up his coffee and took another sip.
Realizing it wasn’t the best time for caffeine, he froze for a second.
But soon, memories of his time with Gu Yue resurfaced.
Back then, he had drunk plenty of coffee.
At this rate, he probably wouldn’t sleep tonight anyway—what difference would one more cup make?
With that thought, he resigned himself and kept drinking.
Fortunately, after just a few sips, Tang Manman’s attention was drawn elsewhere.
Her phone rang, and she answered, pressing it to her ear as she replied sweetly:
"Hello, Mom."
"Manman, where are you now?"
"Are you still with Lin Yu?"
A gentle yet slightly worried woman’s voice came through the phone, audible even in the quiet café.
"Yes," Tang Manman answered.
"I’m still with Lin Yu."
"We’re at a café by the beach."
Hearing this, the voice on the other end relaxed noticeably before continuing:
"How late do you plan to stay out?"
"Don’t stay too long—it’s not safe outside."
Tang Manman didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she looked up at Lin Yu, her eyes silently asking for his input.
Seeing her seemingly ready to follow his lead, Lin Yu felt a mischievous urge.
For a moment, he considered telling her they wouldn’t go back tonight, just to see her reaction.
But after a brief hesitation, he dismissed the idea.
After all, the person on the other end of the call might very well be his future mother-in-law.
Did he really want to risk that?
Suppressing his playful impulse, Lin Yu raised his voice slightly and spoke toward the phone:
"We’ll leave by ten."
"She should be home by around ten-thirty."
"I’ll make sure she gets back safely—don’t worry, Auntie."
"Oh?"
"Alright."
"Be careful on the way back."
Tang's mother clearly hadn’t expected Lin Yu to hear her, and after a brief pause, she quickly wrapped up the call with a few more words of caution.
Once the small interruption passed, Lin Yu ordered Tang Manman a glass of milk. The two continued chatting over snacks, their conversation drifting toward the future.
"Do you have a dream university in mind?" Lin Yu asked, popping a bite of cookie into his mouth as he watched her.
Tang Manman hesitated for a moment before answering softly:
"I want to go to A University."
Hearing the name, Lin Yu nodded slightly, unsurprised.
A University—ranked among the top fifty in the country.
In his past life, it would’ve been considered a top-tier institution, like the Ivy League or Oxbridge.
For someone as academically gifted as Tang Manman, aiming for such a school was only natural.
A University...
Hmm...
Were there any decent universities nearby?
He’d have to look it up on his phone later.
Honestly, just hearing the name "A University" made Lin Yu give up on even trying.
He knew his limits all too well.
The only way he’d ever set foot in A University was if he bought a blanket that conjured sweet dreams—then buried himself under it.
Maybe then he’d get to visit the campus in his sleep.
"What about you, Lin Yu?" Tang Manman asked in return.
"Do you have a particular university you'd like to attend?"
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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'!"
