(There were some minor changes in the previous chapter, feel free to revisit it if you're interested~)
Early in the morning, Tao Yaoyao slowly woke up.
Opening her eyes to look at the empty pillow beside her, Tao Yaoyao felt a bit dazed for a moment, as if everything that happened last night was just an absurd dream.
If it weren't for the lingering sense of emptiness in her body that was still quite palpable.
Tao Yaoyao would really have thought she had imagined it all.
Xu Mingyao had actually apologized and admitted her mistake to her.
It really was...
...
Unbelievable.
Exhaling softly, Tao Yaoyao's thick eyelashes were weighed down by her heavy thoughts.
She had never even dared to hope for the apology that came from Xu Mingyao's lips last night.
After all, she knew better than anyone what kind of person Xu Mingyao was.
But when those apologetic words actually echoed in her ears, Tao Yaoyao felt somewhat lost and overwhelmed.
Did she...
...
still deserve this apology?
Or rather, was she the one who should be apologizing?
Shrinking her body, Tao Yaoyao instinctively hugged the blanket in her arms tighter, as if wanting to stuff it into her chest to quiet the turbulent guilt and bad conscience wreaking havoc inside her.
Click.
The faint sound of the lock cylinder popping open suddenly rang out.
Tao Yaoyao subconsciously looked up, only to see Xu Mingyao, with her red hair tied into a bun, appearing at the door, speaking in a strikingly contrasting gentle tone:
I've cooked breakfast.
There's porridge, fried eggs, pickled vegetables, and...
Xu Mingyao listed the breakfast items while counting on her fingers, looking cute and well-behaved.
But as she counted, she suddenly froze, her alluring fox-like eyes widening in panic as she blurted out:
Oh no!
I forgot to take the bacon out of the oven!
With that, Xu Mingyao quickly turned around and hurried toward the kitchen.
However, before leaving, she didn't forget to look at Tao Yaoyao and remind her:
Breakfast is ready!
Get up and eat!
After saying that, Xu Mingyao's figure hurriedly disappeared from the bedroom door.
Tao Yaoyao lay on her side in bed, blankly watching Xu Mingyao appear, and then blankly watching her hurriedly disappear.
To be honest.
She was still very unaccustomed to this...
After all, just a few days ago, Xu Mingyao had treated her with extreme indifference, not even willing to spare her a single glance.
But...
this version of her was very nice...
...
A hint of softness gathered in Tao Yaoyao's clear eyes, but soon, some nightmare-like memories struck, causing the light that had just sparked in her eyes to quickly dim again.
The warmth rippling in her heart also turned into a soul-burning poison.
What should she do?
What was she supposed to do?
Lying in bed, Tao Yaoyao tried to find a way to solve her predicament.
But after thinking it over and over, Tao Yaoyao despairingly realized that the only path she could take was the one that man had left for her.
One year...
...
Biting her lower lip gently, after a moment of internal struggle, Tao Yaoyao softly exhaled.
She could only hope he would keep his word...
Sitting up in bed, Tao Yaoyao ignored the feather-like tickling sense of emptiness within her body.
It wasn't hard to do.
It was like enduring a blanket that had absorbed a bit of dampness.
As long as you didn't intentionally focus on it, it wouldn't draw much attention.
But what Tao Yaoyao failed to consider was...
The dampness clinging to the blanket wouldn't just reset at midnight every day, disappearing without a trace and leaving the blanket dry and fresh.
It would accumulate over time.
Getting heavier and wetter...
...
The beef on the grill pan was sizzling, oozing golden grease and emitting an appetizing savory aroma.
Lin Yu sat on one side of the grill table, looking at Tang Manman opposite him, feeling truly somewhat speechless.
Was it really necessary?
Following the team to some remote mountain ravine to do some messy experiments, what was the point of suffering for nothing?
Look at how tanned she got.
Her skin wasn't as translucent and fair as before.
Lin Yu still couldn't quite understand.
Obviously, whether it was money or status, under the influence of Qing Mo, neither he nor she lacked anything anymore.
Since that was the case, why was she still clinging to these lackluster experiments?
If she failed, it wouldn't have any impact on her life.
If she succeeded, it naturally wouldn't give her much more either.
So why was she so persistent?
He couldn't understand it.
Resting his elbows on the table, Lin Yu lazily stared at Tang Manman across the table, trying to figure out what was going on in her little head.
But Lin Yu's probing gaze clearly gave someone the wrong idea.
She picked up a large piece of cooked beef that she had been eyeing for a long time and carefully flipping, and placed it on the plate in front of Lin Yu. Her face revealed a slightly reluctant but credit-seeking smile, making her look a bit goofy.
Lin Yu was amused by her expression and almost laughed as he said:
Hurry up and eat your own food.
Don't worry about me.
This little fool had been complaining on the phone about how bad the food was over there and how she wanted to feast once she got back.
And yet, she still had the mind to give him the first piece of grilled meat?
Receiving his permission, Tang Manman immediately let loose and started eating heartily.
Lin Yu wasn't very hungry to begin with, so he focused most of his attention on Tang Manman.
It was strange to say.
He didn't know why.
When facing Tang Manman, he didn't feel the same guilt he felt when facing Xia Muzhu.
hmmm...
Maybe it wasn't entirely absent.
It just wasn't as strong as before.
He didn't know if it was because his skin had grown thicker, or if he just owed Xia Muzhu too much.
As they ate, Lin Yu suddenly noticed that Tang Manman would glance at him from time to time. Her gaze was very uneasy, as if she was hiding something on her mind.
After a brief moment of thought, confirming that he shouldn't have any traces exclusively belonging to Tao Yaoyao on him, Lin Yu felt relieved and looked at Tang Manman, asking in confusion:
What's wrong?
Is something on your mind?
Tang Manman shook her head. Her jet-black high ponytail and the loose strands framing her forehead swayed out of sync, and her eyes, as clear as a blank sheet of paper, revealed a hint of guilt.
This girl...
What was wrong with her?
Lin Yu couldn't quite figure out what Tang Manman was up to.
However, seeing her eating so happily, Lin Yu didn't press her with questions.
After eating for a while longer, the barbecue was nearing its end.
Tang Manman suddenly revealed her true intentions. Taking a bank card out of her bag and placing it on the table, she said cautiously:
This is the experiment stipend my mentor gave me for this period.
For you.
Lin Yu picked up the bank card on the table, flipped it over a couple of times, and subconsciously asked:
How much is it?
Over thirty thousand.
Tang Manman answered truthfully.
Hearing this number, Lin Yu almost laughed out loud and asked:
Why are you giving me this little amount of money?
Just keep it for yourself.
With that, Lin Yu flicked his two fingers, tossing the bank card back onto the table.
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.
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!
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?!
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
