The elevator car vibrated slightly, letting out a crisp "ding."
The metal doors slowly slid open to both sides.
Before Chen Zhi could recover from the shock of being "passively married," Zhang Jianguo had already stepped out of the elevator. His booming voice instantly pierced through the security door, directly hitting the eardrums of everyone inside the apartment.
"Sis! Brother-in-law! Open the door! Our family's great hero has returned!"
Holding a stainless steel basin in his hand, Chen Zhi looked like a wilted eggplant, dragging his heavy footsteps behind him.
Lin Wanwan, on the other hand, was full of excitement, her short little legs moving rapidly.
The security door opened in response.
A rich aroma of braised pork ribs rushed out.
Zhang Guifang, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, looked at the one adult and two children at the door with a puzzled expression.
"Jianguo? What are you shouting blindly for? They can hear your commotion all the way downstairs."
Zhang Guifang's gaze swept past Zhang Jianguo and landed on the two children. Her brows instantly knitted into a knot.
"Chen Zhi! What are you doing with a broken basin? Did you go begging?"
Before Chen Zhi could speak.
Zhang Jianguo was already laughing so hard he was rocking back and forth. He stepped aside, pushing the two children forward as if displaying rare treasures.
"Sis, don't underestimate this basin. This is our Zhi Zhi's treasure bowl!"
Zhang Jianguo changed into his slippers, put the gifts he was carrying on the entryway cabinet, and began to vividly describe the epic feat that had just happened downstairs.
From how Chen Zhi intercepted the Audi, to the three deafening kowtows, and then to the smooth delivery of auspicious greetings.
Zhang Jianguo spoke with spit flying, making it more entertaining than a professional storyteller.
"Do you know what the best part was?"
Zhang Jianguo kept them in suspense, scanning the faces of everyone in the room.
Chen Jun, who had been sitting on the sofa watching TV, was also drawn over. Holding his teacup, he looked curious.
"What was it?"
Zhang Jianguo pointed to Lin Wanwan, who was blinking her big eyes with an innocent look.
"This little girl, right in front of me, called Zhi Zhi her husband! She even said she was going to hand over all her red envelopes to him!"
Pfft—!
The hot tea Chen Jun had just sipped sprayed right out, the mist drawing a rainbow in the air.
The spatula in Zhang Guifang's hand almost dropped to the floor.
The air in the room was quiet for three seconds.
Immediately after, a burst of laughter loud enough to lift the roof erupted.
"Hahahaha! Oh my god, I'm dying of laughter!"
Zhang Guifang laughed so hard she slapped her thigh, tears welling up in her eyes. She squatted down and reached out to pinch Lin Wanwan's chubby cheeks.
"Wanwan, do you know what a husband means?"
Lin Wanwan was a bit baffled by the adults' laughter.
She tilted her head to think for a moment, then nodded with absolute certainty.
"I know! Mommy said a husband is someone who buys yummy food and listens to his wife!"
As she spoke, she reached into her pocket and struggled to pull out the thick red envelope Zhang Jianguo had just given her.
Under everyone's watchful eyes.
Without any hesitation, she shoved the red envelope into Chen Zhi's arms.
"For Zhi Zhi!"
This set of movements was smooth and natural, clearly having been practiced once in the elevator.
The room erupted into another roar of laughter.
Chen Jun laughed until his stomach hurt. Pointing at his son, he teased, "Not bad, kid. You're better than your dad. You already know how to live off a woman at the age of three."
Chen Zhi stood there expressionless.
He skillfully took the red envelope, stacked it with his own, stuffed it into his inner pocket, and patted it.
Laugh, go ahead and laugh.
Dignity is worthless in the face of money.
As long as the money is in the bag, let alone being a husband, he'd even be a grand-uncle.
"Oh, I can't, I can't take it anymore."
Zhang Guifang, having laughed enough, finally remembered the main business.
She put away her smile, her gaze focusing on Chen Zhi's bulging pocket. An aura known as "maternal intimidation" instantly spread out.
"Zhi Zhi, come here, come to Mommy."
Zhang Guifang's tone was gentle, wearing a kindly smile like the Big Bad Wolf acting as the grandmother.
"You're still young, it's not safe to carry so much money. What if you lose it? Come, Mommy will keep it safe for you first, and you can use it to marry a wife when you grow up."
Here it comes.
Alarm bells rang wildly in Chen Zhi's mind.
This was the ultimate move used by parents all over China: "I'll keep it safe for you."
In his past life, this sentence had scammed him out of his entire childhood's New Year's money. Even when he graduated from college, he never saw a trace of that massive fortune.
This time, he absolutely could not repeat the same mistake.
Chen Zhi took a half-step back, his hands tightly covering his pockets, his little head shaking like a rattle drum.
"No!"
The refusal was crisp and decisive.
The smile on Zhang Guifang's face stiffened for a moment, and then she increased the temptation.
"Be a good boy, Mommy will buy you Kinder Joys and big toy cars."
As she spoke, she reached out to grab Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi nimbly weaved through the forest of adults' legs, using his size advantage to maneuver.
"I don't want to buy cars! I want to save money!"
Chen Zhi hid behind the sofa, poked half his head out, and shouted righteously.
"Save money for what?" Zhang Guifang was amused by her own exasperation. "A little brat like you wants to manage finances?"
Chen Zhi took a deep breath and decided to unleash his ultimate weapon.
He pointed to Lin Wanwan, who was still standing there in a daze, with a serious face.
"I want to save money to buy a house!"
"Uncle just said she's my wife. Raising a wife costs a lot of money, and I have to buy a big house to live in, otherwise my wife will run away!"
This statement was logically rigorous and impeccable.
It not only echoed the joke from earlier but also provided a perfect excuse for his greed.
Zhang Guifang's hand paused in mid-air.
Chen Jun and Zhang Jianguo exchanged a glance and burst into laughter again.
"Good! How ambitious!"
Zhang Jianguo gave a thumbs up, crying from laughing so hard. "Sis, listen to that! What awareness! What a sense of responsibility! He has to keep this money himself!"
Zhang Guifang was also amused by the absurdity and helplessly withdrew her hand.
"Fine, fine, you keep it. Let's see how many days you can hold onto it."
Crisis averted.
Chen Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But before he could even catch his breath, Lin Wanwan suddenly leaned over.
The little girl tugged at the hem of Chen Zhi's shirt, lowered her voice, and spoke with a tone full of expectation.
"Zhi Zhi, we have money now. Can we go buy that glowing fairy wand?"
Chen Zhi looked down at those clear, trusting big eyes.
His conscience, for a brief moment, pricked him slightly.
But only slightly.
Chen Zhi clutched his pocket even tighter and bluffed with a straight face:
"Not right now."
"Why?" Lin Wanwan's little face instantly fell, her mouth pouting as if she was about to cry.
Chen Zhi immediately switched modes, his expression turning mysterious.
He leaned into Lin Wanwan's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Because the money we have now isn't enough to buy the biggest one."
"We have to plant the money in a jar. By next year, it will grow into lots and lots of little money. Then we can buy a hundred fairy wands, enough to bury you in them."
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.”
