After receiving the slow-cooked soup from Luo's mother, Ye Chuan stuffed the entire thermal soup container into his backpack—after all, anything placed inside would have its time paused, so there was no need to worry.
"Summer break is almost over. Any plans?" Luo's mother asked, bringing over a fruit platter.
"Haven't thought about it yet. Is Luo Xi planning to finish the rest of her studies?" Ye Chuan replied.
"Yes."
"Then I’ll probably stay with her for the remaining years," Ye Chuan said, pausing before adding with a smile, "After all, before my family passed away, they also hoped I’d attend a good school."
After a brief silence, Ye Chuan shook his head.
Materially, he lacked nothing now.
Luo's mother smiled without saying anything, watching him for a moment before speaking. "Then how about getting engaged after graduation?"
"Ah…"
"Don’t want to?"
"No, it’s just that we’d have to ask the great beauty Luo Xi first. I’m all for it," Ye Chuan chuckled. "Right, Mom?"
The word "Mom" made Luo's mother beam with joy. "Alright, I won’t see you out then."
"Got it. I’ll head back now."
As Ye Chuan came downstairs from Luo Xi’s place, Lan Xiaoke was idly spacing out on the first floor. Spotting him, she perked up and trotted over. "Ye Chuan, you’re back!"
"Yeah, let’s go home," he said.
"So early?"
"What else would we do? You still haven’t broken through to the Crystal Stage," Ye Chuan said, side-eyeing her. This girl really had no interest in cultivation.
"Of course I’ll reach the Crystal Stage!" Lan Xiaoke declared, throwing a few mock punches into the air. "Hah, hah! I’m already a Crystal Stage powerhouse!"
"Oww!" Before she could finish, a swift chop landed on her head.
"Since you don’t want to go home yet, I’ll take you somewhere else to play," Ye Chuan said. "I’ll let you choose."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Yay!"
……
……
"This is where you wanted to go?" Ye Chuan stared at the neon sign of the arcade.
[Bobo Arcade World]
"Mm-hmm!" Lan Xiaoke clung to his arm, nodding vigorously.
Pushing open the glass door, they were immediately engulfed by a deafening wave of noise—high-pitched electronic sound effects, the crisp clatter of joysticks, the rhythmic swish of basketballs sinking into hoops—all blending into a chaotic symphony.
"Wow!" Lan Xiaoke’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Ye Chuan, meanwhile, scanned the surroundings. Neon signs overhead flickered in shifting colors, casting blue-purple hues over rows of arcade machines. On the screens, digital characters battled under players’ commands, while the fighting game section drew the densest crowd, joysticks creaking under aggressive maneuvers and buttons hammered like rapid drumbeats.
It was surprisingly lively. Ye Chuan had assumed home consoles would’ve made arcades obsolete, but the bustling scene before him suggested otherwise.
And why were those rhythm game players so perfectly synchronized?
Could they pilot mechs with that coordination?
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ye Chuan noticed the weight on his arm was gone. He glanced sideways to find Lan Xiaoke plastered against a claw machine’s glass, eyes gleaming at the plush toys inside.
The fluffy stuffed animals looked especially adorable under the lights.
"Xiaoke, you want to try the claw machine?"
"Yeah!" She bounced in place, barely containing her eagerness. "Ye Chuan, Ye Chuan, I wanna play!"
"To play, you need tokens first, right?" Ye Chuan looked around and spotted the token dispenser.
"Let’s see… 100 yuan for 200 tokens."
"I’ll do it!" Lan Xiaoke whipped out her phone, scanned the QR code, and—beep!—instantly bought 500 yuan worth.
She grabbed a plastic token tray, and with a cheerful jingle, the machine began spilling coins until the basket overflowed.
"Wow~" Lan Xiaoke leaned in, mesmerized.
"Hehe." She handed half to Ye Chuan. "Here’s your share!"
"I’m not really into this…" Before he could finish, Lan Xiaoke had already scampered back to the claw machine.
Ye Chuan sighed but followed.
"Three tokens per try." Lan Xiaoke fed coins into the slot and maneuvered the claw toward a Pikachu plush. But after three or four attempts, the toy kept slipping free from the shaky grip.
"Hmm." She stared blankly. "No fair… why’s it so hard?"
"Not surprising. These machines adjust their grip strength internally. Only every few tries does it actually hold tight."
"Really?" She tried several more times but still came up empty.
"Ugh."
Seeing her pout, Ye Chuan stepped in. "Let me try."
He inserted a token, eyed the claw, and zeroed in on the Pikachu. The claw clamped onto its head—then, with a surge of spiritual energy, Ye Chuan forced the loose mechanism to lock tight.
Thud!
The plush dropped into the chute.
"Yay!" Lan Xiaoke scooped it up, beaming. "Ye Chuan! You’re amazing!"
"Just decent," he said. "But these toys aren’t worth much anyway."
Lan Xiaoke hugged the plush, her expression nostalgic. "It’s fine… Back when I was poor, I’d just watch others play. I always wanted to try, but I was scared of wasting money if I failed." She grinned sheepishly.
Watching her cradle the toy, Ye Chuan tilted his head slightly, smiling faintly.
"Is that so?"
"Oh! And I’m super good at King of Fighters!"
"Sure, I’ll play a few rounds with you."
"Don’t cry when I beat you!"
"Heh."
……
Ten minutes later, Lan Xiaoke was getting demolished, scrambling to recover the joystick.
"No way, no way!"
"Yes way."
"No!" She was frantic after losing every round. "My secret combo didn’t work on you!"
"Your reactions are too slow," Ye Chuan said. With his heightened perception, he could predict her every move.
"Not fair! I wanna win just once!"
By evening, they still hadn’t exhausted the 500-yuan stash, no matter how hard they played.
But Lan Xiaoke, swinging a bag of seven or eight plushies and clinging to Ye Chuan’s arm, hummed cheerfully. "Hmph~"
"Ye Chuan, can we come again next time?"
"You could just come by yourself. Bring Qian Shuang."
"I…" She tightened her grip on his arm. "Just the two of us. That’s what I want…"
Ye Chuan glanced over and saw her head lowered, her expression hidden.
"I’ll think about it," he said, looking away.
"Hehe, so that’s a yes! Ye Chuan, you’re the best."
"Only if you break through to the Crystal Stage tonight."
"Ugh."
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
u serious?" Chen Feng watched helplessly as his painstakingly trained disciple, fresh off a championship victory, publicly abandoned him. "You had your chance, but you didn’t appreciate it. Now, face the consequences of your choice!" Chen Feng possessed the "Master System," a treasure trove of supreme martial arts techniques, capable of molding ordinary individuals into peerless prodigies. "Legs like yours? A shame not to train in the Crippling Kick." "Ever heard of a palm strike that descends from the heavens?" "Auntie! I see extraordinary bone structure in you—a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand." The once-defiant senior disciple, now watching her juniors rise to fame one after another, dominating the internet, was consumed by endless regret.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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.
