"The archery competition is postponed?" Su Cheng asked in surprise. "President, when will it start then?"
"The exact date hasn't been decided yet. Just wait for the announcement," Ji Qingyi replied flatly, as if discussing something entirely unrelated to her.
"Oh, then..." Su Cheng suddenly felt conflicted, unsure whether to be relieved or frustrated.
On one hand, the delay meant more time to study archery techniques and hone his skills.
On the other, the fiery determination that had just ignited in him was instantly doused.
"Would you like to share your thoughts?" Ji Qingyi poured herself a cup of tea and asked nonchalantly.
Su Cheng looked at her and spoke earnestly, "President, when the time comes, could you register me for the individual competition? I’d like to give it a try."
"Let’s set that aside for now. First, practice as I’ve instructed. When the time is right, I’ll arrange it for you." With that, Ji Qingyi lowered her head and continued sipping her tea.
"Thank you, President!" Overjoyed, Su Cheng momentarily forgot himself and eagerly raised his longbow, saying, "I can still enter that state I was in earlier. Please watch closely—"
Before he could finish, Ji Qingyi slammed her teacup onto the table with a loud clatter. Su Cheng flinched and immediately lowered the bow, standing stiffly in place.
"No showing off."
Ji Qingyi scolded sternly, her tone like a parent reprimanding a child. "Now, sit down and meditate with me."
"But I’ve been training hard lately," Su Cheng argued stubbornly. "President, I don’t agree with your view that well-rounded development is the only way to maintain consistency. That was just my first shot—I still have energy left. Let me try again. I believe that with continuous practice, I’ll eventually be able to shoot consecutively."
Ji Qingyi frowned slightly, her expression shifting to one of surprise, as if she hadn’t expected Su Cheng to challenge her so directly.
She studied him for a moment before countering, "And if you can’t enter that state, what then?"
"If I truly can’t, I’ll follow your instructions without complaint," Su Cheng declared firmly.
"You mean that?" Ji Qingyi narrowed her eyes.
"My word is my bond!" Su Cheng answered sincerely.
"Fine, then go ahead." Ji Qingyi picked up her teacup again, looking relaxed, as if waiting to be entertained.
"Watch closely, President!"
Su Cheng turned, retrieved an arrow from the rack, and stepped into position. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, trying to recapture the feeling.
Soon, beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
He realized he couldn’t enter that state at all.
If he had to describe it, it was like drawing the bow instinctively, as if guided by some deep-seated memory in his DNA.
Before, he’d slip into it effortlessly whenever he held a bow. But now, the harder he tried, the more elusive it became.
What should he do?
He could feel Ji Qingyi’s gaze boring into his back. He didn’t want to disappoint her, but he simply couldn’t do it.
In the end, he had no choice but to force the shot.
Seeing Su Cheng’s sloppy posture and movements, Ji Qingyi shook her head—it seemed she’d won this round.
Just as she was about to stand and stop him, something shocking happened—
Startled by her movement, Su Cheng panicked and released the arrow prematurely. His poor form caused the bowstring to snap violently against his left arm!
Snap!
With a sharp crack, Su Cheng gasped in pain and dropped to one knee.
"Stubborn fool!"
Ji Qingyi rushed over in alarm, calling for an attendant to bring the first-aid kit.
Hanging his head in shame, Su Cheng muttered, "You were right."
"Don’t speak." Ji Qingyi removed his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt sleeve, and rolled it up to his elbow, revealing the angry red welt.
Her eyes darkened, and after a brief silence, she guided him to the tea table. The attendant soon arrived with the medical supplies, and Ji Qingyi carefully tended to the injury.
"Bear with it." She pressed an ice pack to the swelling while gently massaging the surrounding muscles, her touch so skilled and tender it was almost mesmerizing.
"Does it hurt?" she asked softly.
"No." Su Cheng watched her movements, breathing in her faint, elegant fragrance. Dazed, he murmured, "President, you’re so gentle... It’s a little scary."
Ji Qingyi’s hands paused briefly before resuming their work.
A few minutes later, she stopped and looked at him seriously. "Do you know why you lost focus and let the string hit your arm?"
"Because my form was terrible, right?" Su Cheng answered sheepishly. "Like you said earlier, I haven’t practiced enough to develop muscle memory, so I got string slap."
Ji Qingyi lowered her head and continued massaging the injury. "To put it simply, your body hasn’t yet established a stable trapezoidal force line."
After helping him straighten his clothes, she said, "This was my oversight. I shouldn’t have let you shoot without protective gear. I share the blame."
"No, President, this is my fault," Su Cheng insisted sincerely. "I acted recklessly and brought this on myself. It has nothing to do with you."
"I’m still responsible." Ji Qingyi adjusted his collar and spoke gravely. "As your senior, I should’ve stopped you before things went wrong. But I didn’t—partly because I secretly wanted to see you learn your lesson the hard way. That was negligent of me."
She met his eyes firmly. "Let’s both learn from this mistake."
"I understand." Su Cheng nodded.
"Good." Satisfied, Ji Qingyi added, "Starting today, I’ll personally apply medicated ointment to your injury at noon until it fully heals."
"President, I can handle that myse—"
Su Cheng tried to refuse, but a sharp glance from Ji Qingyi silenced him. He obediently agreed.
As the club session neared its end, Su Cheng excused himself to the restroom. When he returned, he carried a completed competition registration form. Ji Qingyi’s expression darkened at the sight.
"That injury must’ve slipped your mind awfully fast," she said coldly, eyeing his bruised left arm. "You just promised to follow my arrangements, and now you’re acting on your own again."
"President, didn’t you say you’d register me?" Su Cheng handed her the form. "I filled this out in advance so you can just submit it when the time comes."
Su Cheng said the words, but Ji Qingyi keenly detected the unease in his tone. Her expression darkened further as she fixed her gaze on him and demanded, "Are you doubting whether I'll keep my promise?"
"No, of course not!" Su Cheng quickly waved his hands in denial, explaining, "I just thought preparing in advance would be more convenient and save you the trouble." As he spoke, he accidentally aggravated his injury and sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
Noticing this, Ji Qingyi stood up and walked over to Su Cheng, gently massaging his arm as her tone softened. "If you're hurt, then behave yourself. Stop fussing over unnecessary things, or you'll strain your muscles and delay your recovery even longer. At that point, forget archery—you won’t even be able to lift your arm."
"Only an arm that has known injury can shoot the world's most extraordinary note!" Su Cheng declared with a bold grin.
Ji Qingyi raised an eyebrow. "And which famous figure said that? Where did you pick up such a line?"
"I adapted it from a quote by Tagore," Su Cheng admitted sheepishly, scratching his head. Then, he picked up the registration form and handed it to Ji Qingyi, sincerity in his voice. "President, this might be the only chance in my life to prove my determination and courage. Please, grant me this opportunity!"
Ji Qingyi studied his eyes—still bright and resolute despite his injury—and after a brief silence, finally relented slightly.
She knew Su Cheng had already sensed her intentions.
This time, he’d even used an honorific.
"Whether it happens or not depends on your progress. First, you need to heal properly. Then, you’ll follow my training plan step by step. If you meet the standard by then, I’ll register you for the competition myself."
"I won’t let you down! You’re not just my president—you’re my mentor and my truest friend!" Su Cheng was so elated he nearly hugged Ji Qingyi, barely restraining the impulse in time.
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?"
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...
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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...
