Lin Yu put down his phone and gazed out the window.
The scenery outside gradually became familiar.
This was a road Lin Yu had walked many times before.
It was the way home from school.
Passing through two traffic lights and then straight ahead was an intersection; to the left led to his old rented apartment, while the road to the right went toward a small bar and the Xia Muzhu residential area.
Sitting in the car, Lin Yu pondered whether he should go see Xia Muzhu.
...
Better go.
He couldn’t really think of a reason not to.
After all they had been through together, since he was leaving, it only made sense to see her one last time.
Lin Yu gave the taxi driver Xia Muzhu’s home address.
The car passed two traffic lights, merged into the right lane, and turned right at the third intersection.
Inside the car, Lin Yu watched the greenery and pedestrians blur past the window, a flicker of nervousness rising in his chest.
Would something go wrong?
The thought made him chuckle at himself.
He was just being paranoid.
It was only a meal before parting ways—what could possibly go wrong?
With that thought, Lin Yu stretched and relaxed.
Just a meal.
After eating, he’d leave, take his motorcycle to the shipping place, and then head off to N City.
After that, everything here would no longer concern him.
That so-called fate?
Completely broken!
Not wasting time on nonsense, Lin Yu got out of the car and walked straight to Xia Muzhu’s door empty-handed, knocking.
“I’m here.”
A soft voice called out from inside, and soon the door was pushed open.
Seeing Xia Muzhu, the second female lead, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, Lin Yu felt a momentary daze—she seemed a little different from how he remembered.
Looking closer, he noticed she appeared slightly thinner, though not by much.
But combined with the flush on her cheeks, the first impression was strikingly different.
She no longer looked like the pale, milk-white Xia Muzhu he remembered.
Come to think of it, why was her face so red?
Lin Yu was puzzled, but the next moment, seeing the little cat apron she wore, he wasn’t surprised anymore.
She must have been cooking in the kitchen.
With all the smoke and heat in the kitchen, it made sense that Xia Muzhu’s face was flushed and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Completely normal!
“Zhuzi, long time no see.”
Lin Yu greeted her with a bright smile.
Xia Muzhu nodded, wiping the thin sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She seemed a bit hesitant to meet Lin Yu’s gaze, only giving him a meaningful, lingering look before lowering her head and stepping aside to let him in.
“Come in and sit down.”
“The meal is ready.”
“We’ll eat soon.”
Lin Yu nodded. Feeling a bit hungry, he sat down at the dining table, waiting for the meal.
It had been a while since they last met, and for a moment, Lin Yu couldn’t find much to say to Xia Muzhu. The atmosphere was a little awkward, but soon Xia Muzhu went back into the kitchen to busy herself, giving Lin Yu a chance to breathe a sigh of relief.
In no time, Xia Muzhu came out of the kitchen carrying the dishes.
Looking at her now, her complexion had improved quite a bit—no longer as flushed as before, though still tinged with a delicate rosy glow.
Judging by the damp strands of hair clinging to her ear, she must have just washed her face.
Lin Yu stood up to take the serving tray from her and helped Xia Muzhu set the dishes on the table. Noticing that Xia Yueshan wasn’t around, Lin Yu asked curiously,
“Where’s Xia Yueshan?”
“He...”
Xia Muzhu parted her lips softly, but her voice was dry and hoarse. She quickly cleared her throat twice before continuing,
“He went out to play basketball with some friends.”
“I just sent him a message; he probably won’t be back for a while.”
“I heard it’s an inter-class match, and since he’s a key player, he can’t leave.”
“I see.”
Lin Yu nodded, understanding where Xia Yueshan had gone to have fun, and at the same time, he found a common topic with Xia Muzhu.
“Xia Yueshan, huh! That’s you!”
“Has Xia Yueshan’s exam results come out yet?”
“How did he do?”
Xia Muzhu shook her head gently and said softly,
“They haven’t been released yet.”
“But he should have done well this time.”
“He’s confident.”
“That’s bad news.”
Lin Yu shook his head and sighed deeply.
?
Xia Muzhu tilted her head slightly, puzzled by his sigh and not understanding the reason.
Lin Yu spread his hands and explained,
“From my experience, whenever you feel confident you did well on an exam, it usually means you didn’t.”
“The last time I felt that way was last autumn.”
“My math exam was out of 120 points, and I scored 56.”
Xia Muzhu couldn’t help but chuckle, her voice carrying a hint of joy.
“Hearing you say that reminds me too.”
“In middle school, there was a quiz where I thought I’d ace geography.”
“But when the paper was handed back, I hadn’t even passed!”
Xia Muzhu and Lin Yu chatted happily, as if they had returned to those joyful days when Lin Yu would come here every night just to share a meal.
Thanks to their combined efforts, the dishes and bowls were quickly placed on the table.
Sitting opposite each other, the two continued their wide-ranging conversation.
As they talked, Xia Muzhu pushed a fragrant, simmered fish towards Lin Yu and recommended,
“Try this.”
“I learned this recipe from a friend.”
“It’s really delicious.”
Lin Yu looked at the pitch-black fish on his plate, his smile stiffening.
But then he thought better of it—realizing that after this meal, it might be hard to see Xia Muzhu again—so he decided to please her.
He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of the dark fish meat, and put it into his mouth.
The moment the fish touched his tongue, it wasn’t the fishy taste Lin Yu had expected. Instead, an incredibly rich aroma spread across his taste buds, making his eyes light up.
“Delicious!”
“Xia Muzhu, how did you make this fish?”
Lin Yu didn’t need Xia Muzhu to recommend anything else; he kept piling fish and meat from the plate onto his bowl. The savory, salty fish paired with the rice was simply delicious to the extreme.
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
