Uesugi Akizuki lay flat on the bed, while Su Ze placed her legs on his knees, carefully and meticulously trimming her toenails.
Su Ze was genuinely surprised—there was no unpleasant odor at all, and her feet were fair, long, and beautiful.
Is this what they call racial talent? Waking up with hair still neat and feet without any smell—is this a race evolving toward perfection?
She playfully wiggled her cute little toes, making Su Ze chuckle. Seeing him laugh, the little shrine maiden, lying on the soft bed under the warm orange light, also giggled sweetly.
Gradually, her smile began to waver, showing signs of hesitation. She stared at the ceiling, her small hand gently tugging at Su Ze’s sleeve.
Su Ze wrapped the trimmed nails in a tissue, tossed it into the trash, and then lay down beside Uesugi Akizuki. “Let’s sleep,” he said.
Uesugi Akizuki nodded but quickly shook her head. “No sleep…”
Su Ze was puzzled. While he was pleased that she was gradually using words to respond to him, what was this about? If not sleep, what did she want to do?
Uesugi Akizuki turned to her side, holding Su Ze’s hand and looking into his eyes. Su Ze sensed her hesitation but didn’t press her.
He knew she probably had something to say but was still deciding how to phrase it. He didn’t rush her.
Outside, the rain grew heavier, pattering against the window. The wind howled, shaking the trees, and the river’s surface rippled with splashes of water.
Compared to the stormy chaos outside, the atmosphere inside was peaceful and warm.
Under the dim orange light, the little shrine maiden with her wine-red hair gazed into Su Ze’s deep black eyes. After a long moment of hesitation, she seemed to make up her mind, her expression serious and stubborn as she said:
“Let’s get frisky!”
“…”
The room fell silent for a moment. “What… did you say?”
Su Ze thought he must have misheard. Was this something the little goofball would say?
Uesugi Akizuki’s face was adorably serious and stubborn, clearly dissatisfied with Su Ze’s lack of response. She repeated firmly:
“Let’s get frisky!”
“No, no frisky!” Su Ze finally managed to respond after a long pause.
“Let’s get frisky!” Uesugi Akizuki insisted stubbornly, wrapping her arms around Su Ze’s neck but making no further move.
Staring at Uesugi Akizuki’s beautiful, soft face under the orange light, Su Ze’s heart began to race. Yet, he shook his head. “No frisky!”
Tears welled up in Uesugi Akizuki’s eyes, her voice almost hoarse. “Let’s… get frisky.”
Was Situ Jiajia right after all? Did Su Ze not like her? Had this test… failed?
Uesugi Akizuki couldn’t accept the idea that Su Ze didn’t like her.
He had always been so kind to her—this test shouldn’t have failed.
She had hesitated because she was afraid of facing this outcome.
“Why… are you crying?” Su Ze’s heart ached. After a moment of hesitation, he gently patted her head, seemingly making up his mind. “Just once…”
What did ‘just once’ mean? Situ Jiajia hadn’t explained, and Uesugi Akizuki didn’t understand.
But it didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered in this moment except for this one time!
Su Ze slowly leaned in, and Uesugi Akizuki, still dazed, suddenly felt her lips soften. Her eyes widened, her body tingling, and she instinctively held Su Ze tighter.
The storm outside seemed to quiet down, as if it didn’t want to disturb the tenderness of this moment.
Su Ze slowly pulled back, a thin, glistening thread connecting them.
Under the orange light, his cheeks were as red as the evening clouds.
Uesugi Akizuki’s eyes were dazed, her mind a tangled mess.
The glistening thread broke.
Her lips were moist, reflecting the faint light.
The girl’s blush was more vibrant than the sunset.
Uesugi Akizuki’s face was slightly flushed.
“Alright… time to sleep,” Su Ze said, his voice slightly unsteady, as he gently wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.
Uesugi Akizuki nestled into his arms, and Su Ze held her gently.
Hours passed, and the two remained in this position.
Su Ze wasn’t asleep, and perhaps Uesugi Akizuki wasn’t either, as he could feel her heart still racing.
Now, as he calmed down, Su Ze regretted his impulsive decision earlier.
It must have been Situ Jiajia who taught the little goofball this.
At the time, he had been so confused and overwhelmed by Uesugi Akizuki’s actions.
He regretted it, not because he didn’t want to take responsibility, but because he might not be able to.
After all, in his line of work, living to fifty was considered a long life. He didn’t know when he might die on the battlefield.
What would happen to the little goofball then?
But now that things had reached this point, Su Ze knew he had to shoulder the responsibility.
If he could survive the calamity, he would go to Russia.
“Can’t sleep either?” Su Ze whispered, gently stroking Uesugi Akizuki’s head.
Uesugi Akizuki lifted her head from Su Ze’s chest, her lips pressed together, her gaze complex as she looked at him.
She didn’t fully understand what had just happened, but her instincts told her it was a significant moment that bound her and Su Ze together.
That moment felt so incredibly magical.
“Let’s go for a walk. I want to talk to you.”
Uesugi Akizuki nodded, her mind still in a daze, forgetting her earlier promise to respond to Su Ze with words.
Su Ze gently picked her up, putting on her white knee-high socks and white high-top shoes.
The little shrine maiden hopped off the bed, taking Su Ze’s hand.
It was 4 a.m.
The two walked in silence under the clear moonlight, the shimmering river on their left and a dense forest on their right.
Su Ze suddenly stopped, and Uesugi Akizuki, still holding his hand, stopped as well, turning to look at the handsome silver-haired boy under the moonlight.
Su Ze thought for a moment, then gently took her hand.
The little shrine maiden gazed at him with innocent eyes, the moon and the sparkling river behind her forming a serene backdrop. Her wine-red hair fluttered gently in the breeze, and the moonlight made her even more beautiful.
The silver-haired boy hesitated, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he steadied himself. Then, with a serious expression, he said, “Would you be willing to become my lover, with the intention of becoming my bride in the future?”
Su Ze’s cheeks were slightly flushed.
Su Ze was the first ray of warm sunlight that had pierced through the darkness of Uesugi Akizuki’s life, and she had already come to see him as the most important person.
And Uesugi Akizuki, in turn, was the first ray of warmth that had entered Su Ze’s dark life.
From childhood, his life had been filled with tragedy—or rather, he was the embodiment of tragedy.
Life often gives you hope only when you’re at your lowest.
The little goofball—or rather, Uesugi Akizuki—was the hope that heaven had placed under a streetlamp, waiting for him to claim it.
The first time their eyes met, it was a collision of hope.
Their encounter was like a withered tree coming back to life in spring.
Even if Uesugi Akizuki was a bit slow, she understood this was an important moment. Her eyes sparkled with joy as she smiled and nodded:
“Okay.”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
