Wednesday
The sun was shining brightly today, with not a single cloud in the sky—a rare, clear day.
"Hey, New Year Crow, good morning."
After waking up, washing up, and dressing neatly, Su Cheng noticed Crow Crow, now clad in a festive red sweater, cheerfully watching TV in the living room.
The TV was playing some animated show.
"Caw~"
Hearing the greeting, Crow Crow, dressed in its stylish red outfit, turned its little head to glance at Su Cheng and let out a sound before turning back to fix its gaze on the TV again.
The TV held an almost irresistible allure for Crow Crow these days. It would even wait in front of the screen at specific times for its favorite cartoons. Thanks to its daily TV sessions, it was becoming smarter and more knowledgeable by the day.
The red sweater it wore was a new outfit Su Cheng and Li Guanqi had put on it yesterday after returning home.
As for the item Li Guanqi had claimed only she could procure—well, Su Cheng found it incredibly awkward and embarrassing to even think about.
It turned out to be stockings from a certain high-end brand.
After searching online, he realized they were indeed nearly impossible to buy. The purchasing window had already closed, and the next pre-order wouldn't open until next year.
But since he’d already promised, he had no choice but to steel himself and either approach President Ji at noon or find another way to get them.
Still, the thought was mortifying!
Having to ask President Ji for women’s stockings!
Even Li Guanqi had seemed somewhat embarrassed about it yesterday. She’d waited until she got home before texting him the details—color code, size, and specifications.
After sending that message, she never replied again.
She’d effectively dumped all the awkwardness onto Su Cheng, leaving him in a daze the entire evening. He’d wished President Ji goodnight but then agonized over whether to bring up the request. In the end, he decided to first see if he could find another way to get the stockings.
By morning, the tension had eased slightly, but he was still in a sour mood. After all, he’d never expected this to be the item he’d have to procure.
After breakfast, he took out the trash and rode his bicycle to school.
"Screech—"
Pulling to a stop near the building, he tossed the garbage into the bin and continued riding, his mind still preoccupied with how to get the stockings without making things awkward or giving President Ji the wrong idea.
Arriving at school, he parked his bike and straightened his clothes.
But the moment he turned around, he came face-to-face with Hoshino Mirai, the "Disciplinary Committee Member." She was holding a small notebook, scrutinizing Su Cheng’s appearance with a slightly odd look, as if frustrated that he was impeccably dressed today.
Su Cheng, in turn, began sizing her up—and then his eyes lit up.
He noticed the stockings she was wearing were from the exact brand he needed, even the same color.
Thanks to Li Guanqi, he’d done some research last night. He knew this particular product from the Ji family was nearly impossible to obtain outside their annual online pre-order event. The only other way was through the Ji Group’s internal commercial channels, and even then, they were exorbitantly expensive—tens of thousands for a single pair, with limited supply making them hard to get even if you had the money.
Hoshino Mirai and Li Guanqi were about the same height and build. If he could somehow get a pair from her...
A plan instantly formed in Su Cheng’s mind.
Kill two birds with one stone—prove he wasn’t the "Penguin Prince" and get his hands on a pair of stockings. Perfect, right?
But this scheme required an accomplice…
Someone to play the role of the penguin…
If he asked Li Guanqi for help…
Ugh…
The two of them teaming up to trick someone out of a pair of stockings…
Just thinking about it was unbearably embarrassing!
Even if Li Guanqi agreed, his image in her eyes would undoubtedly plummet.
If only Senior Sister Liu were at school right now…
While he was lost in thought, Hoshino Mirai turned and walked away.
Sighing, Su Cheng headed to class.
No solution had come to him yet, but he decided to focus on class for now and mull it over later.
…………
The moment he stepped into the school building, he spotted a lone, frosty figure walking ahead—aloof, elegant, and radiating an icy aura.
If legs could be graded, the pair encased in black stockings before him would undoubtedly rank SSS-tier. The way she walked, light and graceful as if treading on snow, only accentuated their length, straightness, and perfect proportions.
Yet no one dared to admire the sight. Those around her hurriedly stepped aside, afraid of provoking her wrath.
Because her name carried far too much weight.
She was—Ji Qingyi.
Seeing her, Su Cheng immediately composed himself and quietly followed. As he drew closer, her signature scent grew stronger, stirring something in him—though he quickly suppressed it.
"President Ji."
Once they were side by side, he greeted her politely.
Ji Qingyi didn’t react.
Not even a flicker of expression. She didn’t so much as glance his way, as if he didn’t exist.
No response at all?!
"Is she mad at me?!"
Su Cheng couldn’t read her, but her demeanor screamed displeasure. He wracked his brain, trying to recall if he’d done anything to offend her yesterday.
Had she found out about his little scheme?
Uneasy, he decided to turn on the charm. "President Ji, you look absolutely stunning today. I noticed you from afar—it’s almost unreal how beautiful you are…"
He deliberately left the sentence hanging, hoping she’d bite and ask why it felt unreal.
But Ji Qingyi remained unmoved.
His flattery didn’t so much as crack her icy composure. Her gaze stayed fixed ahead, her tone distant and cold as she replied, "You flatter me."
With that, she stepped past him and headed upstairs in the opposite direction.
Su Cheng stood frozen for a second before it fully sank in—President Ji was genuinely upset with him.
And judging by her attitude…
Candy and dumplings definitely wouldn’t cut it this time.
Now, he was faced with an even more vexing problem:
How to get back in her good graces.
Maybe lay on the sweet talk at noon?
But he quickly dismissed that foolish idea. He knew better than anyone that flowery words were useless against President Ji—she wasn’t the type to fall for them.
At this point, his head was starting to hurt. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t figure out how to appease her.
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.
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?!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
