Wang Keyan's body stiffened for a moment, as if she had guessed something, then she slowly looked up—her large, dewy eyes meeting Li Ming's shocked gaze head-on.
"Ah!!!" Wang Keyan cried out in mortification, never expecting Li Ming to wake up so quickly! She hurriedly tried to pull away, but in her panic, she forgot her hand was still pinned beneath him. The more she struggled, the less she succeeded—instead of freeing herself, she lost her balance, slipped, and tumbled straight back onto Li Ming!
Before Li Ming could react, Wang Keyan had already crashed onto him, her lips landing perfectly on his as if guided by some unseen force.
Mouth to mouth, wide eyes locked onto equally stunned ones—even Wang Keyan, who had been flustered moments ago, now seemed frozen in place. Neither moved a muscle.
Li Ming could feel the soft warmth of her lips and the delicate curves of her body pressed against him, and it nearly drove him mad. Fighting to control himself, he summoned all his willpower to gently lift Wang Keyan off him.
They sat side by side in silence, the air thick with awkwardness.
"So… are you hungry? Maybe we should grab something to eat?" Li Ming finally broke the tension, testing the waters.
Wang Keyan, who had just started calming down, flushed again and gave a small nod.
Ahem. "Let’s go then. Do you need to grab anything else? If not, after breakfast you can come with me. I’ve got some business to take care of before heading back to Black Mountain Prison. You can visit your mom while we’re there." Li Ming stood up, stretching his stiff limbs before heading to the bathroom to splash some water on his face.
Wang Keyan kept her head down, trailing behind him. She washed her face hastily, too embarrassed to speak.
Once ready, they left the apartment one after the other. Li Ming led the way to his Jeep parked outside the complex, and Wang Keyan climbed in after him.
They didn’t go far before Li Ming pulled over at a random breakfast stall, where they ate a quick meal.
Today, he still had to pick up another prisoner from a different facility before escorting them back to Black Mountain Prison. Checking the files, Li Ming confirmed the location and set off.
On the road…
Wang Keyan seemed to have forgotten the morning’s awkward intimacy and began asking Li Ming about Black Mountain Prison and her mother.
Unfortunately, Li Ming had only been there for two days himself and had already shared everything he knew.
The car fell silent again until Wang Keyan’s eyes lit up with a new idea—she started probing for details about him.
"Li Ming, you’re so young to already be a prison warden! You must’ve been top of your class, right?" Wang Keyan gazed at him with admiration, thinking how the so-called "elite" seniors at her school paled in comparison.
Tall, handsome, with an incredible physique—gentle, kind, and the bearer of news about her mother? The more she thought about it, the more infatuated she became.
Normally, her personality matched her photos—cool, aloof, the epitome of an ice queen. But under Li Ming’s unintentional charm offensive, she’d melted into a docile kitten.
"Ah, well, I got lucky," Li Ming chuckled awkwardly. He couldn’t exactly admit he’d gotten the position through his father’s connections—that would ruin the image.
Wang Keyan only admired him more. Humble and capable? A stark contrast to the boastful guys who’d pursued her.
In her limited experience, Li Ming was the most remarkable man she’d ever met. And after what had happened between them… well, for an innocent girl like her, Li Ming had already planted a seed in her heart—one that was growing at an alarming rate, threatening to bloom.
"So… Li Ming," she ventured, stealing glances at his profile as he drove, "someone as amazing as you… you must have a girlfriend, right?" Please say no, she silently prayed.
Li Ming tensed. Was she… developing feelings for him?
Even ignoring whether they’d be a good match, there was Wang Xin—her mother, and the things he had done. Getting involved with Wang Keyan would be unforgivable. He’d be no better than scum.
His mind raced. How could he let her down gently without hurting her?
That morning had been pure accident. He only remembered holding her hand—how had they ended up tangled together? And that kiss? Absurd, yet undeniably real.
After a tortured internal debate, Li Ming decided honesty was best. "I’m just an ordinary guy. Plenty are better than me. And no, I’m single."
Wang Keyan’s heart leaped at his words. A faint blush crept up her cheeks as she nibbled her lip, gathering courage for the next question.
"Then… what kind of girl do you like?"
Li Ming’s grip tightened on the wheel. This direct? He took a steadying breath. Maybe he was overthinking—maybe she was just making conversation.
"I think mutual understanding and respect matter most. Compatibility is key." He chose his words carefully, keeping them vague. "Looks aren’t the priority—a kind heart is." He glanced sideways just in time to see her nodding thoughtfully, mentally checking if she fit the bill.
Oh no. This was exactly how other girls had acted before confessing.
The car hummed along the highway, but the atmosphere had shifted into something far more delicate. Li Ming scrambled for a distraction—anything—when his phone rang like a lifeline. He answered without checking the caller.
"Li Ming! You done with your errand?" Lin Xi’s voice crackled through.
"Yeah, all set. Driving to Qingcheng Prison now—should arrive by noon," Li Ming replied, silently thanking Lin Xi for the perfect timing.
"Good. Qingcheng’s staff called earlier. When I mentioned our warden was coming personally, they insisted on rolling out the red carpet. Just be careful on the road. If they won’t let you leave, staying overnight’s fine."
"Got it. Don’t worry." Lin Xi hung up before Li Ming could say more.
Checking the GPS, he saw they were close. Qingcheng Prison by lunchtime—no problem.
"Brother Lin, the sister who just called you has such a lovely voice! Who is she?" Wang Keyan blinked her eyes curiously as she asked.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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.”
