"Really?"
Xia Muzhu's eyes shimmered with tears as she gazed pitifully at Lin Yu.
Just as Lin Yu was about to respond with certainty, Xia Muzhu suddenly seemed to remember something. Her expression shifted—no longer sorrowful or tearful—as she swiftly raised her hand and pressed a finger against Lin Yu’s lips. Her voice was soft, husky, and sincere as she said,
"You don’t need to say anything."
"I believe you."
A flicker of confusion passed through Lin Yu’s eyes. He couldn’t understand why Xia Muzhu’s attitude had changed so abruptly.
Tears still glistened in Xia Muzhu’s deep blue eyes. Her pale pink lips parted slightly, her voice gentle, yet the words she spoke struck Lin Yu like a tolling bell, sending a tremor through his heart.
"I’ll never doubt you again."
"I’ll believe whatever you say."
"..."
"Heh."
Lin Yu chuckled, half-embarrassed, half-guilty.
Strangely enough, when faced with Xia Muzhu’s suspicions, Lin Yu could talk endlessly, weaving elaborate explanations without pause. But now, confronted with her unconditional trust, he found himself at a loss for words. Even opening his mouth felt difficult.
Silence lingered between them. Having just bared her heart, Xia Muzhu grew shy. She lowered her head, her delicate fingers unconsciously clutching and twisting the hem of her floral dress.
Beneath the dress, her slender, milky-white legs pressed tightly together, occasionally rubbing uncomfortably, as if she wasn’t entirely at ease.
"I... I’m going to take a shower," Xia Muzhu murmured, preparing to stand up.
But as she rose, her brows suddenly furrowed, and her body slumped weakly back onto the seat.
Their eyes met—an unspoken understanding passing between them.
Even someone as thick-skinned as Lin Yu flushed crimson. Xia Muzhu quickly averted her gaze, her ears burning so red they seemed about to drip blood.
"Let me help you," Lin Yu offered softly.
"Mm."
Xia Muzhu gave a tiny nod, not refusing.
Half-carrying, half-supporting her, Lin Yu guided Xia Muzhu to the bathroom door and considerately opened it for her.
Gripping the doorframe for balance, Xia Muzhu slowly stepped inside.
"You..."
Turning back to face Lin Yu, the blush on her face deepened visibly.
"You..."
"You..."
She stammered the word several times, unable to articulate what she wanted to say.
Finally, she pinned her hopes on Lin Yu, gazing at him expectantly, willing him to understand without her having to spell it out.
Lin Yu stared back, utterly clueless.
At her wit’s end, Xia Muzhu could only turn her face away and whisper,
"Go buy some medicine."
"Oh! Right!"
Finally catching on, Lin Yu swiftly turned and hurried downstairs.
After purchasing a box of emergency contraception at the pharmacy near the neighborhood, Lin Yu didn’t rush back.
The events of the day had left him reeling. Burdened with unease, he stopped by a nearby convenience store and bought a pack of cigarettes.
Payment made, he sat on one of the stone spheres at the entrance of the complex, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
The familiar burn traveled down his throat and into his lungs, bringing a faint sense of relief.
The strange, lingering discomfort in his body hadn’t faded, and his mind remained foggy. Trying to sort through everything that had happened proved futile.
After finishing the cigarette in a daze, Lin Yu got up, deciding to buy some food for Xia Muzhu before heading back.
Well.
Whether she was hungry or not didn’t matter!
What mattered was the gesture!
...
...
A sudden thought struck him. He pulled out his phone and checked the time.
Almost 3 p.m.
Hmm...
After all that, she probably was hungry by now...
He picked up some pre-cut fruit and a bag of millet before returning to Xia Muzhu’s apartment.
She had already finished showering and was now lying in her room.
Lin Yu placed the fruit on the nightstand, then headed to the kitchen to boil water, intending to show off his culinary skills.
Lin Yu’s cooking was... mediocre.
Very mediocre.
Falling squarely in the "below average" category for most people.
His dishes were edible, but not particularly tasty.
However, there were three things he could make decently—
Though "decently" might be stretching it.
They were just passable.
One was fried rice, another was shrimp congee, and the last was millet porridge.
Of the three, the shrimp congee was the least impressive.
But Lin Yu was fond of this simple, satisfying dish, so he shamelessly included it in his repertoire of "signature dishes."
This time, he planned to make millet porridge for Xia Muzhu.
As one of his "specialties," this porridge naturally wouldn’t be the same as the bland versions sold elsewhere.
This millet porridge had a secret ingredient—
Sugar!
Yes, adding white sugar to millet porridge was Lin Yu’s culinary masterpiece.
It might sound laughably simple, but a spoonful of sugar did transform the porridge into something far more delicious! (Note: This didn’t work with plain rice porridge—adding sugar to that just made it taste like laundry detergent!)
After rinsing the millet, Lin Yu dumped it into the rice cooker, closed the lid, and pressed start.
By then, the water had boiled.
He filled a large bowl with cold water, then poured a glass of hot water and placed it inside the bowl to speed up the cooling process.
Once the water reached a drinkable temperature, Lin Yu carried the emergency contraception and the glass into Xia Muzhu’s room.
She took the pill quickly, then burrowed under the covers, still too embarrassed to look at Lin Yu.
Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Lin Yu excused himself, saying he needed to keep an eye on the porridge, and left to give her some space.
"Lin Yu."
Just as he was about to step out, Xia Muzhu called out to him.
"Yeah?"
He turned back, concerned.
"You’re leaving tomorrow, right?"
She asked the question but didn’t wait for an answer before continuing,
"You still have some money with me. If you’re leaving tomorrow, take it all with you."
"If it’s not enough, just let me know."
"..."
Lin Yu fell silent for a long moment before forcing a smile.
"No need."
"There were some things I had to take care of before."
"But not anymore."
"I... I can stay until a few days before university starts."
Hearing this, Xia Muzhu’s eyes brightened, her entire demeanor lifting with joy.
Lin Yu smiled back, then turned to leave again.
"Oh, one more thing."
Xia Muzhu suddenly asked,
"Which city are you going to for university?"
Lin Yu paused, his back still to her. After a beat, he replied softly,
"S City."
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
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!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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?!
