Ji Qingyi sensed what was going through his mind at that moment, which in turn made Su Cheng fall silent.
Being with Ji Qingyi meant there was no need to put on a brave front or lie—she could always tell.
From the back seat, Gu Ruoxue also glanced over at him, her eyes scrutinizing, clearly having heard Ji Qingyi’s earlier words.
“Where’s the thing on your wrist?”
Ji Qingyi asked again.
Su Cheng froze, then looked down. The small hairband the club president had given him last time had been put away, leaving his wrist bare. He explained, “I put it away.”
“I see.”
Ji Qingyi’s tone was unreadable, yet it sent a shiver down Su Cheng’s spine.
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Ji Qingyi seemed slightly displeased, as if she wasn’t happy about him not wearing the hairband.
The two of them fell silent over the matter.
The rest of the class passed in agony until the bell finally rang.
Xuan Ying and her two friends immediately got up and rushed out as if they had something urgent to attend to. Even Li Guanqi only gave him a glance before leaving the classroom with the others.
Surprisingly, Cornelia and Ailiya didn’t linger either, merely shooting him a few looks before carrying their absurdly large bouquet and walking out.
After bidding Ji Qingyi farewell, Su Cheng headed to the Social Practice Club.
“Good afternoon.”
Just as he was about to open the clubroom door, Gu Ruoxue’s voice came from beside him—softer than usual, lacking her usual sharpness and coldness, instead carrying a quiet, composed serenity.
Su Cheng paused mid-motion and turned to look at her. Dressed in her school uniform, she was as stunning as ever, as if she existed in a completely different world from ordinary people.
Especially now, with sunlight streaming in from outside and casting a faint glow on her face, making her almost radiant. Su Cheng found himself momentarily dazed.
This girl really knew how to set the scene!
He snapped out of it and replied, “Good afternoon.”
Then, he pushed the door open, while Gu Ruoxue lifted her long, straight legs—clad in black thigh-high socks—and stepped inside.
“After tea, we’ll head out,” Gu Ruoxue said, walking over to the cabinet and neatly arranging the tea set, her movements unhurried.
“Oh, sure.”
Su Cheng nodded and took his usual seat.
Soon, the aroma of tea and the sound of her brewing filled the clubroom.
He watched her meticulous movements with surprise—usually, she was much more straightforward.
Now, she stood before the steaming kettle, elegantly pouring hot water over the tea leaves. The sunlight filtering through the window refracted off the steam, casting a golden glow on her face and making her breathtakingly beautiful.
Impossible to replicate. Absolutely impossible.
Her ability to find the perfect backdrop was just too overpowering.
Why was it that among all humans, only she came with special effects?
Su Cheng squinted, secretly memorizing the time, angle, and pouring technique, determined to show off in front of Ji Qingyi and Li Guanqi someday.
Just then, she seemed to sense his gaze and looked up, tilting her head slightly as if silently asking, Is something wrong?
“No,” he shook his head.
“Here’s your tea.”
By the time he averted his eyes, Gu Ruoxue was already handing him his mug, her lips parting slightly as she spoke.
“Thanks.”
He took the cup and took a sip.
The tea was sweet and mellow, its fragrance enveloping him, making his eyes close involuntarily.
Huh, she’s actually pretty good at this.
Su Cheng marveled inwardly before glancing at Gu Ruoxue again—only to catch a fleeting look of satisfaction on her face.
But she quickly schooled her expression, sat down, and picked up a book as usual. Her fingers turned the pages gently, her focused gaze making it seem as if she wasn’t reading words but flipping through a long-sealed photo album.
“Wait a second!”
Su Cheng jolted in shock—because the book in her hands was a photo album. Unable to hold back, he shot up from his seat, causing Gu Ruoxue to close it.
“What’s wrong?”
She frowned at him.
“That album… it’s not full of old photos of us, is it?”
Su Cheng asked in disbelief.
At that, Gu Ruoxue pressed a hand to her temple as if warding off a headache, then wordlessly opened the album and held it up. “What do you think?”
Inside were various pictures of cats.
Su Cheng coughed awkwardly and forced a laugh, quickly changing the subject. “My bad, got a little carried away.”
“Hm.”
Gu Ruoxue responded indifferently and went back to reading.
Soon, he finished his tea in silence.
“I’ll pick you up at your place at five. I’m leaving first.”
With that, she walked out of the clubroom.
Su Cheng tidied up, locked the door, returned to the classroom to stash all the chocolates in his system inventory, then rode his bike home.
The moment he arrived, a message from Li Guanqi came through:
"About to board the plane."
Along with flight details.
After giving a few instructions to his pet crow, he changed clothes, packed a light backpack, and waited outside his apartment for Gu Ruoxue.
Ding-dong~
His phone buzzed again.
Su Cheng pulled it out and saw the caller ID: Ji Qingyi.
For some reason, his heart tightened.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he swiped to answer and held it to his ear.
“Su Cheng.”
Ji Qingyi called his name, then said, “I’ll be disguising myself and staying with Ji Yuewu and the others.”
“Got it.”
The moment he replied, the line went dead with a series of beeps. Su Cheng blinked in confusion.
Liu Qingyue was picking up Xuan Ying…
Which meant Ji Qingyi would be with them too?
Xuan Ying’s trio and the master-servant pair—that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
He gulped nervously, but with Li Guanqi around, nothing too crazy should happen… right?
Reassured, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
Then it buzzed again.
Li Guanqi: "Cornelia and a woman in her twenties just showed up at the airport."
“Huh?!”
Su Cheng stared at the message in shock.
Was Cornelia heading to his hometown too?
No way it’s a coincidence, right?
He never told her!
It had to be a coincidence!
Just then, a car pulled up abruptly beside him. In the back seat sat Gu Ruoxue. He opened the door, placed his bag between them, and climbed in, buckling his seatbelt.
“Where are we going?”
“The airport.”
Gu Ruoxue replied, now wearing oversized sunglasses and a hat that obscured her striking features.
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow. “Did you buy tickets?”
“Yes, already booked.”
“Wait—you know my ID number?!”
Su Cheng was stunned, but more than that, a sense of foreboding crept over him.
This couldn’t be happening, right?
Please don’t tell me they’re on the same flight as Li Guanqi…
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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.”
