After spending the entire morning cleaning the house, Lin Yu rested for a while after lunch before joining Xia Muzhu in more preparations, while Xia Yueshan went to catch up on sleep.
By the time dusk approached, everything was ready. A sumptuous feast was laid out on the dining table, and the three of them happily began their meal, savoring the New Year's reunion and delicious food.
After dinner, the fixed program for New Year's Eve was, naturally, watching the Spring Festival Gala.
This was Lin Yu's first time watching the Spring Festival Gala in this world. Last year's New Year schedule had been packed, and he hadn't even caught a glimpse of what the Gala was like.
He just didn't know about the quality of this world's Spring Festival Gala.
Lin Yu was a little worried.
He remembered that in the world he came from before crossing over, the Spring Festival Gala had been getting worse and worse, even gradually falling from a national-level program, an indispensable part of New Year's Eve, to becoming something of a laughingstock.
Would this world's Spring Festival Gala be just as disappointing?
With a mix of apprehension and curiosity, Lin Yu sat down on the living room sofa, picked up the remote control from the coffee table, and turned on the TV.
The timing was perfect. The Spring Festival Gala had just started; the hosts hadn't even come out yet, and the opening animation was playing on the TV.
Xia Muzhu also finished her tasks and walked over to the sofa, sitting down beside Lin Yu.
With his fragrant, soft girlfriend right next to him, Lin Yu couldn't help but reach out, wrap his arm around her waist, and naturally pull her into his embrace.
With Xia Yueshan nearby, Xia Muzhu felt a bit embarrassed, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she shyly nestled closer, leaning softly against Lin Yu.
Xia Yueshan had gone to the cabinet with a wicker basket to grab some nuts. In no time, he filled the basket with dried fruits, stacked a few together, and carried them over to the sofa area.
Seeing the two being all lovey-dovey, his expression was a mix of teasing and disdain.
So you finally can't keep up the act anymore, huh?
Day in and day out, acting like some secret, nameless affair.
Who are you even hiding from!
He bent down to place the baskets one by one on the coffee table. As he straightened up to leave, he shot them another teasing look, as if saying, "Why don't you two keep pretending?"
Xia Muzhu lowered her head in slight embarrassment, while Lin Yu remained as steady as Mount Tai. He even glared back at him and growled,
"Go on, get out of the way. Don't block the TV."
Xia Yueshan curled his lip, then sat on another sofa. Grabbing a handful of almonds, he started eating while watching the Gala with them.
Spring Festival Gala programs are generally divided into two categories: performances and language-based acts (like skits and crosstalk). The opening acts were all dances and music, which weren't particularly interesting.
But Lin Yu felt it was okay. Mainly, holding a soft, fragrant girlfriend like Xia Muzhu, he could happily sit there all night!
The three of them sat on the sofa, waiting for the skits or crosstalk to appear.
That was the real key to judging whether a year's Spring Festival Gala was successful or not!
But before they could see a skit or crosstalk on TV, they first got a video call.
Xia Muzhu picked up her phone from the coffee table. Seeing the ID of the caller, she pursed her peach-colored lips, looking somewhat nervous.
"Who is it?" Lin Yu asked curiously.
"It's Sun Tao," Xia Muzhu said, looking up at him.
Hearing the name, Lin Yu couldn't immediately recall who she was. Xia Muzhu promptly reminded him,
"You've met her. Last autumn, she stayed at my place for a while."
With that reminder, Lin Yu remembered who she was—a very interesting person who used to often tease Xia Muzhu about him back then.
"Oh, her. Then answer it," Lin Yu said casually.
Xia Muzhu seemed hesitant, but she nodded and answered the video call.
The call connected, and Sun Tao's pretty face appeared on the phone screen. A smile played on her lips, her eyes sparkling, looking very eager to see Xia Muzhu.
The next second, upon seeing Xia Muzhu shyly leaning against Lin Yu's chest, her expression froze for a moment.
Immediately after, her eyes widened in shock, her red lips parting slightly. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at the two of them with the other, asking in delighted surprise,
"You... you two... you're together?"
"When did you get together?"
"Xia Muzhu, why didn't you tell me anything?"
Seeing Sun Tao's clueless look, Lin Yu smiled, glossing over many details, and simply explained for Xia Muzhu,
"This summer, after I graduated high school, Xia Muzhu and I got together."
"Oooh~"
Sun Tao drew out the sound, a smile she couldn't hide on her lips. She put on an exaggerated, envious expression and teased,
"Look at you, Xia Muzhu. You're something else."
"Couldn't even wait for him to start university, huh? Snatched him up right after high school graduation."
"Aren't 'high school boys' all the rage online these days?"
"Not bad."
"You're keeping up with the trend."
Xia Muzhu's face flushed bright red from the teasing. She shot Sun Tao an annoyed glare but couldn't come up with a retort. She could only quickly change the subject, asking how her work was going.
Sun Tao had gone to another city. Her job was good, but she couldn't adapt to the local customs and poured out her grievances to Xia Muzhu.
The two chatted for over half an hour before Sun Tao started feeling a bit down.
Seeing Xia Muzhu nestled in a warm embrace while she was all alone working in a different city, without even her family around, she felt like she might start crying if they kept talking. She hurriedly ended the call.
Before hanging up, she didn't forget to stand up for her good friend, telling Lin Yu to treat her well, or else she wouldn't let him off the hook!
Not long after this call ended, before even one full program had finished on the Spring Festival Gala, another call came through.
This time, Lin Yu didn't need Xia Muzhu to say anything; he saw the contact name on the phone at a glance.
Dad.
Perhaps influenced by some universal pressure symbolized by his hair color, seeing those two words made Lin Yu feel immense pressure. He unconsciously let go of Xia Muzhu.
Sensing Lin Yu's nervousness, Xia Muzhu looked up at him and comforted him softly,
"It's okay."
As she spoke, she tugged at Lin Yu's hand, wanting him to meet her family.
Lin Yu wasn't a coward, but he still declined Xia Muzhu's suggestion.
Meeting the parents was a serious matter, especially the first time. Lin Yu didn't want to meet his future father-in-law so casually. After all, first impressions were crucial!
"Next time, next time. Next time I'll properly tidy up. Let's skip it this time. I didn't even use soap when I washed my face this morning!"
Lin Yu moved a bit away from Xia Muzhu, staying out of the camera's view as he refused.
Seeing Lin Yu's insistence, Xia Muzhu had to give up the idea.
Only after Lin Yu had moved away did she answer the video call, addressing the middle-aged man and woman on the screen sweetly,
"Dad, Mom."
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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!
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
