Just as the movie ended and the credits began rolling, the couple in the front row did something that left Su Cheng utterly stunned for the entire year.
The boy pulled the girl into his arms and pressed a tender, lingering kiss to her lips.
Su Cheng, sitting beside them, gaped in shock.
A passionate kiss—no, the legendary "tongue kiss" he’d only heard about in rumors.
As Su Cheng awkwardly averted his gaze, he suddenly met Ji Qingyi’s deep, shadowed eyes. He quickly looked away, trying to withdraw his arm from her shoulder, only to realize it had gone completely numb.
He coughed awkwardly, attempting to lighten the mood. "President, my arm’s gone numb."
"Hmm." Ji Qingyi gave a faint nod, then raised her left hand and gently grasped his fingers, slowly shaking them before straightening his hand to stretch it.
Her movements were soothing, almost like a caring mother helping her child loosen stiff joints.
The other audience members had gradually left, even the couple in front had departed after their heated kiss, leaving only the two of them still seated.
"Why did you lose your nerve earlier?" Ji Qingyi asked nonchalantly as she massaged his numb fingers, her tone laced with teasing.
Su Cheng kept his head down, muttering softly, "I’m already satisfied. Just a fleeting glance from you is enough to fill me with happiness, let alone being able to hold you like this."
The moment he finished speaking, Ji Qingyi’s movements paused briefly. But soon, she placed his hand from her shoulder onto her lap. Her expression remained calm, but the faint amusement in her voice betrayed her delight.
"The movie’s over. Where to next?" she said coolly.
"Uh… oh… oh…"
Su Cheng choked on his words, but curiosity eventually overcame his embarrassment. He cautiously ventured, "President… if I tried doing what they did, would you reject me?"
Truthfully, he was burning with anticipation.
Even if it were just the lightest brush of lips, he could imagine the indescribable sweetness—enough to intoxicate him completely.
Hadn’t he noticed? The arm that had held her still carried the faint scent of orchids.
If they kissed, wouldn’t his lips be left fragrant too?
Hearing this, Ji Qingyi didn’t answer. Instead, she stood up, her posture straight and elegant like a queen, her figure graceful. Su Cheng instinctively froze, but just as he was staring dazedly, she suddenly leaned in close.
She raised a finger and lightly tapped his forehead. "Why don’t you try and see?"
"No."
In the end, Su Cheng didn’t dare push further. He was afraid—afraid that one bold move might leave him timid for life. So, he retreated.
She studied him for a moment. "Then let’s go."
Su Cheng exhaled in relief as Ji Qingyi strode toward the exit, her long, slender legs carrying her gracefully. He hurried after her.
Even if Su Cheng had mustered the courage to kiss her, Ji Qingyi would have stopped him. Why?
Because, as the "Dating Manual" said: A prey caught too easily lacks the tormenting thrill of the hunt.
………………
When the two stepped out of the cinema, the setting sun bathed the sky in golden flames, painting the world in breathtaking hues.
The street, famous for its night market, was already bustling with vendors setting up stalls selling all sorts of odd and fascinating goods.
The crowd was overwhelming.
Even Ji Qingyi couldn’t help clicking her tongue in amazement—she had never seen such a noisy, lively scene before.
"Let’s check out the street stalls?" Su Cheng stretched lazily as they exited the cinema, only to realize his clothes were still lightly scented with her signature orchid fragrance. The thought made him momentarily dazed before he snapped back to reality.
"The night market is at its best right now."
"Hmm."
Hand in hand, they wandered leisurely through the lively street. Ji Qingyi didn’t seem particularly interested in anything, but even with her mask on, she was like a powerful magnet, drawing the attention of everyone around her.
At each stall, she would pause—sometimes admiring the wares, sometimes listening with a faint smile as Su Cheng explained things. Su Cheng, meanwhile, stood quietly beside her, watching her every expression, his heart brimming with happiness.
Before they knew it, they arrived at a small roadside stall.
The vendor was a middle-aged woman, and the items on display were all cheap trinkets—nail clippers, lighters, toothpaste, brushes, notebooks, pens—each priced at just two yuan.
"Let me see that black hair tie, please," Ji Qingyi said politely, extending her slender, fair hand.
The vendor, a woman in her forties with rough, sun-darkened skin and sharp eyes, flashed a practiced smile.
"Young lady, buying a hair tie? Two yuan for three. They’re all new."
Ji Qingyi nodded but insisted on inspecting it first.
"Here you go."
The vendor handed her the hair tie, studying Ji Qingyi for a moment before suddenly saying, "This one suits you. You should consider it."
Ji Qingyi nodded again, testing the elasticity of the simple hair tie. But just as she was about to ask Su Cheng to pay, she noticed a subtle shift in his demeanor—as if he didn’t want her to buy it.
"Is there something wrong with this item?" she asked, holding up the hair tie.
"N-no," Su Cheng stammered.
"If there’s nothing wrong, then pay. I’ll take it." She arched a brow, her gaze piercing.
Su Cheng hastily handed the money to the vendor.
"Two yuan for three. Here are the other two," the vendor added.
"No need. One is enough."
Ji Qingyi declined, tucking the hair tie into her bag before turning away. Su Cheng followed silently behind.
Once they were alone, Ji Qingyi gathered her hair into the tie, then tucked a loose strand behind her ear.
She tilted her head toward Su Cheng, her delicate profile accentuated by her long, dark lashes and the signature teardrop mole at the corner of her eye—an alluring sight.
Su Cheng quickly looked away.
"Too afraid to even look now?" Ji Qingyi glanced at him sidelong, her voice a mix of laziness and intellect.
She had already figured out why Su Cheng hadn’t wanted her to buy the hair tie. Recalling the wood from earlier, she guessed he was likely planning to make her a hair ornament.
"It’s nothing."
Su Cheng shook his head.
He had originally intended to gift her a wooden hairpin, but now it seemed unnecessary—she already had the hair tie, and it suited her so well. She probably wouldn’t wear something like that anymore, right?
But the moment he lifted his head, he froze.
Because Ji Qingyi had just removed the hair tie, stepped closer, and—in the blink of an eye—grabbed his hand, slipping the hair tie onto his wrist.
"Alright." She gave a satisfied glance before taking his hand and leading him forward. "Let's keep walking."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Su Cheng was puzzled, staring blankly at his wrist, completely unable to understand why she had deliberately put it on only to then take it off and slip it onto his.
Just as the two strolled leisurely along the street, intending to continue their aimless wandering, a familiar female voice suddenly called out from behind.
"Su Cheng?"
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."
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.
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.”
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
