Feeling the warmth and breath of the "Ice Block" (Ying Bing), Li Mo naturally took her hand, guiding her movements while whispering in her ear.
He shared cooking tips, like how to handle baby bok choy.
“Don’t underestimate baby bok choy—simple as it seems, it’s the small dishes that test your fundamentals.”
The more he spoke, the faster Ying Bing’s heartbeat raced, proving that cooking baby bok choy could be quite thrilling.
"Add hot water when stir-frying. It keeps the bok choy crisp and prevents it from getting soggy."
Listening to his warm, close voice, Ying Bing nodded softly.
Perhaps to distract herself, she picked up a bite of the dish she’d just made, ready to taste it.
But before it reached her lips, she noticed the mouth behind her ear subtly shifting, as if eager for a taste too.
Ying Bing pressed her lips together and stuffed the bok choy into Li Mo’s mouth.
"I know you’re hungry. Go ahead."
"I want something delicious," Li Mo mumbled, cheeks bulging as he gave her a pitiful look.
Ying Bing arched a delicate brow, feigning displeasure. "Are you saying what I made under your guidance isn’t good?"
How could it not be good?
The "Ice Block" had been practically melting against him the whole time, barely lifting a finger. He’d guided her hands through every step—it was practically his cooking.
"Jie—"
Before Li Mo could finish, a slender hand clamped over his mouth.
Ying Bing shot him a warning glare, cutting off his usual antics.
"Uncle Li and Aunt Gu will be back soon."
With that, she pushed him away to set the table.
Not long after, Gu Xueqin and Li Dalong returned home. The moment they saw Li Mo sitting there unharmed, the weight in their hearts lifted.
Whatever had happened at the Qingyuan Sect, at least their son was safe and sound.
Before they could ask anything else, Ying Bing emerged from the kitchen with the dishes.
Gu Xueqin paused, then remembered—tonight’s dinner was Ying Bing’s handiwork.
"Oh, Little Bing cooked! Li Mo, how could you just sit there and not help?"
Li Mo: "??"
What did she mean he didn’t help?
He’d been guiding her hands the entire time!
"I taught the Ice Block how to cook," Li Mo protested.
"Mm, he did," Ying Bing agreed softly, nodding with an obedient air.
Li Dalong took a bite of the baby bok choy and, without even chewing, clapped. "Delicious! Absolutely delicious! I’d say Little Bing is a culinary prodigy."
"..."
Li Mo leaned back, eyeing his father with disbelief, as if putting distance between them.
Gu Xueqin frowned. "Why are you sitting so far? Not planning to eat?"
"I’m afraid if Dad faces a heavenly tribulation, the lightning might strike me too."
"?"
Gu Xueqin had no idea what nonsense her son was spouting. She set her things down and hurried to help Ying Bing, ushering her to the table.
"When Little Bing first came to our home, she still had pigtails, like a porcelain doll. Now she’s all grown up."
Gu Xueqin’s eyes softened as she looked at Ying Bing, her hair now tied in a neat ponytail, serene and elegant.
"We know Li Mo’s always causing trouble. Thank you for looking after him while we were away."
Li Dalong chimed in smoothly, "Yes, Little Bing, you’ve always been sensible. If he ever upsets you, just tell us."
Li Mo scratched his head. Why did this sound familiar?
Oh, right—his parents had said the same thing to his tutor when they first sent him to school.
Am I some kind of unruly child?
As he pondered, he noticed Ying Bing glancing at him from the corner of her eye, her gaze playful.
"He’s helped me too. We support each other."
"Good, that’s good."
Gu Xueqin reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Ying Bing’s ear, then glanced at her son.
"Li Mo, Ying Bing grew up in our home. I’ve long seen her as my own, and I can’t bear the thought of her leaving the Li family. Why don’t she start calling me 'Mom' too?"
Li Mo pretended to consider it, but his grin betrayed him. "Yeah, that sounds great."
"No wonder you always call her 'Jie.' If she becomes my sworn daughter, you’ll have an older sister."
"Sure—wait, no! That’s not happening!"
Li Mo’s smile vanished instantly.
Even Ying Bing’s lashes fluttered slightly. "If not as a sworn daughter, then as a daughter-in-law."
"Eat, eat, hahaha..."
Li Dalong chuckled, picking up his chopsticks while shooting his wife an approving look.
He knew exactly what she was doing. Of course she was reluctant to let Ying Bing go, but this was also a way to probe the girl’s feelings.
And to nudge the two youngsters toward settling things.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
The reason they hadn’t returned to Qinghe County yet? They were waiting for good news.
He hadn’t known how to broach the subject subtly, but his wife had gone straight for the heavens.
The rest of dinner was filled with the couple doting on Ying Bing, showering her with parental affection until Li Mo’s head spun.
His parents had always talked about wanting both a son and a daughter. Were they serious about making the Ice Block their daughter?
This... this was too much.
Li Mo squirmed in his seat, barely touching his food. The moment dinner ended, he grabbed Ying Bing’s hand and bolted.
Watching the two disappear upstairs, Gu Xueqin and Li Dalong exchanged a knowing smile.
---
"Ice Block, you saw it. Aunt Gu is desperate to hear you call her 'Mom.'"
Li Mo shut the door behind them, facing Ying Bing’s solemn, unsmiling expression.
"What do we do?"
Ying Bing pressed her lips together, amused by his flustered state.
"Don’t panic. You know me—I’m a genius."
Li Mo raised three fingers.
"I have three strategies: superior, middling, and inferior."
Ying Bing leaned against the couch, propping her chin on one hand. "What’s the superior one?"
"Make Mom skip the 'perfect family' phase and go straight to doting on grandchildren—until she’s utterly obsessed!"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
