Soon, a series of exquisite dishes were served—cheese-glazed baby lobster, steamed red grouper, abalone sauce sea cucumber…
"Hmm? The 1288-yuan set menu is actually quite reasonable." Ye Chuan often shopped for groceries and had seen the market prices of these ingredients. As he gazed at the delicacies before him, despite the modest portions, he couldn’t help but feel it was a decent deal.
Luo Xi had never eaten such dishes before. She was mostly worried about the cost, so much so that she hadn’t even picked up her chopsticks, her eyes blinking nervously.
Having helped with household chores since childhood and with her mother constantly needing medication and medical care, Luo Xi understood the value of money better than anyone. She rarely spent on herself, saving almost everything she earned.
"Not eating?" Ye Chuan asked when he noticed Luo Xi hesitating.
"I’ll eat." Luo Xi nodded softly. Since the dishes were already ordered, she didn’t want to dampen Ye Chuan’s mood.
For her, once Ye Chuan had placed the order, there was no point in insisting they leave. It wasn’t practical, and they couldn’t exactly return the food now.
Picking up her chopsticks, she placed a piece of fish belly on Ye Chuan’s plate. "This part is the tenderest."
"I don’t like fish," Ye Chuan said, glancing at it.
"You just don’t like picking out bones, right?" Luo Xi knew him too well. She nudged him playfully. "I’ll pick them out for you. Eat up—how can you skip fish? It’s so nutritious."
Ye Chuan found her pouting expression amusing and didn’t argue further.
After the meal, Ye Chuan stopped Luo Xi from paying and settled the bill himself.
Even splurging over a thousand yuan on a meal didn’t make him wince—something that would have felt absurd to his past self. Was it because things came too easily now that he didn’t treasure them as much?
"Over a thousand for one meal… that’s so expensive," Luo Xi murmured as they left the restaurant. She could’ve eaten at her family’s barbecue stall for a whole week with that money. She glanced at Ye Chuan. "Chuan Chuan, are you heading home now?"
"Come take a walk with me first." Ye Chuan pulled out his phone to check nearby stores.
A walk?
Luo Xi assumed they’d be shopping for clothes or something similar, but instead, Ye Chuan led her to a store selling bathroom fixtures. Inside, everything from showerheads and bathtubs to faucets and toilets was on display.
"Chuan Chuan, are you buying a showerhead?" Luo Xi guessed. Ye Chuan’s current setup at home involved a simple hose running hot water into a bucket—something Luo Xi had commented on before, though he’d insisted he was used to it.
But now, it dawned on her: what he called "habit" was just an excuse to make peace with his circumstances. It wasn’t that he was used to it—he was used to settling.
"Boss, how much for this shower set?" Ye Chuan pointed to a black shower system, complete with a rainfall showerhead, a shelf, and temperature control.
"That’s a premium brand—1299 yuan," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "This one will last you a good eight to ten years without any issues."
"599, including installation," Ye Chuan countered without hesitation, cutting the price in half.
The shopkeeper’s expression stiffened. "No way, young man. My cost price is already 1100. I’m barely making a profit here."
"Then pack it up if you’re selling. Otherwise, I’ll check elsewhere." Ye Chuan turned to leave.
The shopkeeper sighed. "Fine, go ahead. I can’t do this deal."
Ye Chuan took Luo Xi’s hand and walked toward the exit.
Just as they were about to step out, the shopkeeper called after them, "Hey, handsome! Alright, alright—599 it is. Let’s consider it a friendly deal. Just remember to come back next time!"
"Sure." Ye Chuan smiled.
After paying a deposit and leaving his address for installation, he and Luo Xi left the store.
"I’ll never learn to haggle like you. Wasn’t that too harsh?" Luo Xi asked once they were outside.
"You can tell from their tone how much markup there is. Brick-and-mortar stores need at least a 50% gross margin to survive," Ye Chuan explained.
"Ohh?"
After treating Luo Xi to bubble tea and strolling around to cheer her up, the two parted ways and headed home to rest.
Back at his place, Ye Chuan grabbed a bag of snacks and knocked on Bai Qianshuang’s door.
He first checked her status in his log, confirming she was just lost in thought, before calling out, "Immortal Bai, got a moment?"
"Come in."
Pushing the door open, he found Bai Qianshuang seated in a chair, a book in her hands.
She wore his white robe, her jet-black hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. Her serene, obsidian-like eyes remained calm and unreadable.
Ye Chuan took a closer look at the book’s cover.
Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests
Ye Chuan: "…"
"You understand this?" he asked. Since when had Bai Qianshuang taken an interest in high school prep books?
"No. But… it’s intriguing," she admitted, though her attention soon drifted to the snacks in Ye Chuan’s hands. Though her face remained expressionless, the way her hair tuft perked up betrayed her excitement.
"Here, snacks for you."
"Thank you, scoundrel," Bai Qianshuang said solemnly.
Ye Chuan fell silent for a few seconds before clearing his throat. "Uh, ‘scoundrel’ can have different meanings depending on context. Just call me Ye Chuan normally."
Bai Qianshuang nodded. "Then you may call me Qianshuang."
"Sure." Ye Chuan smiled. A little familiarity wasn’t a bad thing.
Amused by her struggle between curiosity about the snacks and maintaining her dignified composure, Ye Chuan pulled out the spirit stones.
"Oh, by the way, I found these by the river when I was a kid. They’re pretty—want to keep one?"
Bai Qianshuang’s gaze flickered over them. When she recognized the stones and sensed the pure spiritual energy radiating from them, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Spirit stones?"
"Spirit stones?" Ye Chuan feigned surprise. "Are they valuable?"
Bai Qianshuang collected herself. "In my world, they’re not rare—just currency for cultivators, infused with refined spiritual energy."
In the Heavenly Mystery Continent, they were commonplace. But here? The minuscule traces of energy she’d absorbed over the past days paled in comparison to even a tenth of what a single stone contained.
With enough spirit stones, Bai Qianshuang could fully restore her power!
Her expression turned conflicted. She didn’t know how to ask, but she desperately needed them.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
