"Glug, glug~"
The sound of boiling water rose alongside the steam.
Su Cheng skillfully added handfuls of dried noodles into the pot, stirring gently to prevent them from sticking before lowering the lid. His movements were practiced and precise.
At three-fifty a pack, the noodles could last him six meals—second only to steamed buns in terms of cost-effectiveness, at least in his opinion.
After the opening ceremony, with no classes scheduled for the afternoon, he had returned straight home. Tomorrow marked the official start of the semester.
He hadn’t paid much attention to the student council president’s reminder. In his mind, hospitals were just another way to drain your wallet.
Besides, he knew his own body well enough. It was just exhaustion from overworking his brain these past few years. A few days of rest would set him right—no need to make a fuss.
And as for joining the student council?
He had no interest in bothering others or dealing with rich kids. Student councils sounded like something straight out of an anime plot anyway.
No way in hell was he going!
Soon—
A bowl of steaming yangchun noodles, garnished with scallions, sat on the coffee table in his living room.
A golden fried egg and a couple of blanched greens adorned the top, making it look as good as it smelled.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to eat better—it was just that indulging too much would spike his blood pressure and leave him feeling awful. For now, noodles were the safer option.
A lack of exercise was to blame for this, of course.
So, after finishing this bowl, he decided he’d start jogging at night to get back into shape.
He turned on the TV, once again choosing anime as his mealtime entertainment.
"Huh, another isekai protagonist?"
"Ugh, and of course, he’s got a system."
Su Cheng’s expression darkened as he read the anime’s synopsis, irritation bubbling up inside him.
He despised system-wielding protagonists more than anything.
His face twisted with envy, teeth gritted, fists clenched—he was downright furious.
In short, he was pissed.
For no other reason than the fact that he didn’t have one!
"Just a slave to the system, that’s all!"
With a scoff, he switched to another anime—one without transmigration, reincarnation, rebirth, systems, or flashy magic and superpowers.
Just a simple, slice-of-life romance.
Titled The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten.
"Isn’t this sci-fi?"
Su Cheng frowned at the summary, convinced it had to be a sci-fi series.
And as it turned out—
It was sci-fi!
Ding-dong.
Just as he resigned himself to watching it anyway, the doorbell rang, making his brow furrow.
Who in Flame City would be knocking? He didn’t know anyone here.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it. Setting his bowl aside, he headed to the door and swung it open—only to freeze at the sight of a radiant, golden-haired beauty standing outside, bathed in an almost ethereal glow.
One second. Two. Three.
Su Cheng stared, unmoving.
Then, his eyes widened in horror, his face stiffening. His lips trembled.
SLAM!
He slammed the door shut.
Slowly, he turned to the TV, where the anime’s golden-haired heroine stood at a doorstep in an identical scene.
His heart nearly stopped. Breathing grew difficult. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Stripping away the 2D and 3D distinctions, the girl outside was a carbon copy of the anime character. For a moment, Su Cheng wondered if he’d been isekai’d again.
Wait, am I the protagonist of this anime?
No, the setting’s completely different.
What, did an angel just descend onto my doorstep?
"Maybe my brain’s fried. Blood pressure acting up again?"
After calming himself, Su Cheng chalked it up to hallucinations. He staggered back to the couch, picked up his bowl, and muttered between bites, "I really should get checked at the hospital. I’m starting to lose touch with reality."
Knock knock knock!
Just as he convinced himself it was all in his head, the knocking started again.
Su Cheng: "…"
Eyes narrowed, he set his bowl down once more and marched to the door, yanking it open with newfound defiance.
And there she was—the same radiant, half-foreign beauty.
He rubbed his eyes. No mistake.
"Who are you?" he demanded, forcing down his confusion, shock, and wariness.
"Your future wife."
The girl’s answer hit him like a truck. Su Cheng questioned whether he’d misheard—or if some psychiatric patient had escaped from the local asylum.
Future wife?!
What kind of nonsense is this?
"You expect me to believe that?"
Su Cheng steeled himself, putting on his sternest face.
"I know some things defy scientific explanation, but I have proof," she replied, her sapphire-blue eyes shimmering like stars. Her tone was earnest, almost convincing. "At least let me inside. Standing out here isn’t very hospitable of you."
Su Cheng studied her for a long moment before sighing and stepping aside with a reluctant gesture.
"Thank you." She smiled gracefully and stepped in—only to pause at the genkan, crouching down to inspect the shoe rack.
"Oh, right. My slippers wouldn’t be here yet."
Finding nothing, she pouted slightly before slipping off her shoes, revealing petite feet clad in black tights. She padded toward the living room—but froze at the sight of the plain noodles on the coffee table.
"I knew you wouldn’t eat properly!"
Her face flushed with anger, her delicate features twisting in frustration.
"What I eat is none of your business."
Su Cheng bristled at her audacity, his voice turning icy.
"Of course it’s my business!"
She snatched up the bowl, glaring as she shoveled noodles into her mouth. Between bites, she declared, "I’m eating this for you. In return, I’ll be taking charge of your daily life from now on."
She devoured the food like a woman possessed, her refined image crumbling with each messy slurp.
"Hey, are you insane?!"
Su Cheng lunged to stop her, snapping, "Quit it! I don’t need anyone ‘taking charge’ of me! Explain this ‘future wife’ nonsense or get out!"
"Hmph!"
The girl haughtily lifted her chin and continued wolfing down her food, slurping noodles while mumbling indistinctly, "Once I finish eating, I'll tell you everything."
"What exactly do you mean?" Su Cheng frowned, vaguely sensing that something about this situation felt off.
He didn’t know this girl at all.
True, he was familiar with one person who had golden hair—the twin-tailed senior from today’s opening ceremony. But while this girl also had golden hair, her hairstyle and aura were completely different. So, Su Cheng didn’t associate her with that tsundere senior.
Even their sock styles were worlds apart—the tsundere wore white thigh-highs, fitting a cute aesthetic.
This girl, however, wore black tights, exuding a mature and sexy vibe. Not to mention her long, straight golden hair. The differences were too stark for her to be that same tsundere senior.
Soon, she polished off the entire bowl of noodles.
Then, the golden-haired girl elegantly dabbed her lips with a tissue before looking up at Su Cheng, her expression slightly complicated. "Your cooking skills haven’t changed at all—still amazing enough to make someone want to swallow their own tongue..."
"Enough. Answer my question."
Su Cheng had no patience for word games. He stared at her intently and demanded, "Answer me!"
"Hmm..."
The girl tilted her head, thinking for a moment before finally speaking. "Actually, I’ve been reborn from the future."
The moment the word "reborn" left her lips, Su Cheng’s heart tightened slightly, and he fell silent.
Though he had already suspected as much, hearing it outright was still shocking—especially since this girl claimed to be his future wife.
Since he himself had crossed into this world, the concept of rebirth was easier for him to accept than it would be for an ordinary person. But acceptance didn’t mean blind belief. He’d sooner assume she had escaped from somewhere and would soon be dragged back by white-clad nurses wielding sedatives.
Unless she could provide solid proof.
"Let me introduce myself first. I’m William Henry Cornelia, your future wife."
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...
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?"
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.
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
