Soon, under Sun Shenghai's watchful gaze, Qin Ning and his group drove away.
About ten minutes later, the car pulled up at the base of a residential complex in the center of the county.
Outside the complex gates, Father Cheng and Mother Cheng, having received Cheng Weiyang's call earlier, were already waiting to welcome them.
During their last meeting, the two elders had learned of Qin Ning's extraordinary nature, understanding that he was an existence beyond the secular world.
For Old Master Cheng's seventieth birthday, Qin Ning's presence was an absolute and unparalleled honor for the Cheng family.
However, precisely because of Qin Ning's special status, they hadn't dared to casually reveal any information about him to anyone. They only told the eldest brother's family that some truly distinguished guests would be arriving today and warned them not to show any disrespect.
"Dad, Mom." Cheng Weiyang stepped out of the car and hurried forward, giving her parents a warm hug.
Qin Ning and the others followed close behind.
Father Cheng smiled and extended his hand, saying, "Young Master Qin, welcome, welcome."
Qin Ning and his companions shook hands with the two elders. After exchanging greetings, they followed them into the residential complex.
The complex was not run-down; it looked like it had been built only a few years ago.
Moreover, in recent years, Xinguang County's economic development had been soaring, so housing prices here were not cheap, only slightly lower than those in the city center.
The fact that Cheng Weiyang's eldest uncle could afford to buy a house here suggested he was living quite comfortably.
Soon, they took the elevator upstairs.
Many people were already seated in the living room. Most were elderly friends of Old Master Cheng, along with some younger family members they had brought along. Altogether, there were about twenty or thirty people.
The living room was quite spacious, holding three or four round tables laden with fruits, snacks, and tea. Everyone sat around, chatting pleasantly.
The appearance of Qin Ning and his group immediately drew the attention of everyone in the room.
Mainly, they were just too conspicuous. After all, how could a single man accompanied by several young, beautiful girls not attract stares?
Father Cheng and Mother Cheng arranged for them to sit at an empty table and sat down to chat with them.
Before long, an elderly man walked out of a room. It was none other than Old Master Cheng.
Leaning on his cane, he smiled and greeted the crowd in the living room before making his way over to Qin Ning's table.
"Dad, please sit," Father Cheng quickly stood up, offering his seat to the old man.
"Grandpa." After he sat down, Cheng Weiyang poured him a cup of tea and handed it over.
"Good, good. It's Weiyang, right? I haven't seen you in years, and you've changed so much. Grandpa almost didn't recognize you."
The old man smiled amiably and took a sip of the tea she offered. Then, he looked at Qin Ning and the others. "You must all be Weiyang's friends, right? Welcome, welcome. There are a lot of people at home today, so it's a bit crowded. Please forgive any lack of proper hospitality."
"You are too polite, sir," Qin Ning and the others replied courteously.
Old Master Cheng had a very kind countenance and gave off an approachable aura.
However, looking at him, Qin Ning noticed something amiss.
The old man had a weak heart, which was a very dangerous condition at his age.
"Has Xiao Mo not returned yet?" While chatting with the group, the old man scanned the living room and asked.
Mother Cheng replied, "He's on his way. He should arrive before lunch is served. I told him to head straight to the hotel."
"Alright." Old Master Cheng nodded, then asked, "What kind of work are Weiyang and Xiao Mo doing now?"
Although his grandchildren would occasionally call him, their conversations mostly consisted of greetings and family gossip. They never talked about work, so the old man actually knew very little about Cheng Mo and Cheng Weiyang's current situations.
"I'm working over in Liu City. The benefits are quite good, so you don't need to worry, Grandpa. As for my brother, he's technically in the same company as me, but I'm at the headquarters while he's at the subsidiary in Bin City," Cheng Weiyang said with a smile.
It wasn't that she wanted to hide anything from her grandfather, but rather that she didn't trust her eldest uncle's family.
Since she was little, Cheng Weiyang knew that the relationship between her family and her uncle's family was quite poor.
If it weren't for her grandfather's birthday this time, they wouldn't have come at all.
"That's good then." The old man nodded.
Just then, three people walked in through the door.
Cheng Linhua, Cheng Weiyang's eldest uncle.
Behind him followed two young men. One was Cheng Weiyang's cousin, Cheng Linhua's son, Cheng Hao.
The other person looked to be about the same age as Cheng Hao.
His name was Lu Peng, Cheng Hao's former classmate and current boss.
Both of them worked at the largest company in Xinguang County, Sun Shenghai's Youli Group.
Lu Peng was a department manager. Anyone who could hold such a position in a massive corporation like Youli Group was no ordinary person. Between his base salary and various year-end bonuses, his annual income was nearly a million.
In a place like Xinguang County, an income like that firmly established him as a major figure.
Cheng Linhua and Cheng Hao had just gone out to personally pick up Lu Peng.
Upon entering the room, Cheng Linhua frowned slightly when he saw that almost every seat was taken.
He glanced around and noticed there were exactly three empty seats over by Qin Ning's table, so he promptly arranged for Lu Peng to sit there.
"Dad, let me introduce you. This is Lu Peng, Xiao Hao's department manager." Cheng Linhua glanced at Father Cheng and Qin Ning's group but ignored them, smiling as he introduced the guest to Old Master Cheng.
"Hello, Old Master Cheng."
Lu Peng reached out his hand with reasonable politeness.
"Hello, hello." The old man, who seemed to have a warm smile for everyone, reached out and shook his hand.
"Weiyang, are these your friends?"
Cheng Hao's gaze swept over Qin Ning, Qin Fei, and the others at the table as he asked.
"Yes," Cheng Weiyang replied softly.
Since childhood, her eldest uncle's family had left a very bad impression on her, and that included her cousin Cheng Hao.
If it weren't for her grandfather, she would have no intention of interacting much with them at all.
Mainly, back when she was in school, she and her parents had visited Xinguang County to see her grandfather a few times, and her uncle's family had never missed a chance to mock them, treating them with disdain as their poor relatives.
Seeing Cheng Weiyang's expression, Cheng Hao frowned slightly but didn't make a fuss. Instead, he picked up a teacup, preparing to pour tea for Lu Peng.
However, he found that the teapot was already empty.
He immediately handed the teapot to Cheng Weiyang and said, "Go fetch some more tea for me."
Hearing this, Cheng Weiyang looked up at him, finding it somewhat laughable. "This is your home, and I am a guest. You're telling me to go pour tea to help you entertain?"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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.
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.”
