The winter break passed in the blink of an eye, feeling even faster than a quick bathroom trip between classes. In a flash, it was time to head back to school.
Lin Wanwan was wearing a white lace tiered dress today, paired with a mint green cardigan on top. The outfit accentuated her fair skin, making her look like a pure, delicate little white flower.
Chen Zhi pulled his suitcase with his right hand and held Lin Wanwan's hand with his left.
The red string on their wrists was particularly eye-catching under the lights, sitting right next to the Longines Master Collection watch Lin Wanwan had given him.
"Is that all you're wearing?" Chen Zhi cast a sideways glance at her flimsy cardigan, frowning slightly. "When we get to Beijing, you're going to freeze to death."
Lin Wanwan didn't care at all. "I'll wear whatever looks good on me. Besides, the Beijing airport definitely has heating, and holding hands with such a pretty girlfriend makes you look good too."
"Fine, you're beautiful, you're so noble," Chen Zhi grumbled in exasperation. "Just don't come burrowing into my arms later."
"I will, I will!" Lin Wanwan stuck out her little tongue with a cheeky expression.
Three hours later, at Beijing Daxing International Airport.
When the cabin door opened and the freezing wind poured in through the gaps in the jet bridge, Lin Wanwan completely froze.
Just stepping out of the terminal doors, before they even got in line for a taxi, she shrank her neck from the cold, her delicate body shivering in the icy wind.
"Chen Zhi, I'm cold," Lin Wanwan looked at him pitifully.
Chen Zhi looked at his silly girlfriend and let out a helpless sigh. As he unzipped his long black puffer jacket, he scolded, "What did I tell you back in Jiangcheng? I said you'd freeze to death in Beijing. Now do you realize how bad it is?"
Saying that, he made a move to take off his coat.
What could he do? This silly girl was his girlfriend, after all.
Seeing this, Lin Wanwan quickly pressed her hands over his. "No, if you give me your coat, you'll definitely catch a cold too."
"I'm in good shape. Freezing for a bit won't kill me." Chen Zhi continued trying to take it off.
Lin Wanwan rolled her eyes thoughtfully, suddenly giving a sly smile. She ducked down and burrowed straight into Chen Zhi's oversized puffer jacket.
Her two slender arms hugged Chen Zhi's waist tightly, her small face pressed against his chest, greedily absorbing the warmth.
"Hehe, this works. It's warm!"
Chen Zhi looked down at the girlfriend in his arms, not knowing whether to laugh or cry for a moment.
"How are we both supposed to walk like this?" Chen Zhi patted the back of her head.
"We'll just walk slowly. We're not in a hurry anyway," Lin Wanwan refused to come out, her voice muffled. "If you get tired, I'll just hug you a bit tighter."
Travelers came and went all around them, and quite a few cast peculiar glances at the affectionate young couple.
A middle-aged woman walked past and chuckled, muttering to her companion, "Young people these days really pack on the affection no matter the occasion."
Chen Zhi's face flushed red. He decisively pulled out his phone and ordered a private car, planning to drop Lin Wanwan off at her campus first.
During the ride, Lin Wanwan warmed up in the car and started chattering away, sharing amusing stories about recording her new song over the winter break.
Chen Zhi had the driver head to the Central Conservatory of Music first.
"We're here. Hurry back to your dorm and change into some thicker clothes. Don't catch a cold." Chen Zhi reminded her as he walked her to the campus gates.
"Got it, Butler Chen!" Lin Wanwan gave a playful salute. Catching a moment when no one was looking, she planted a quick peck on Chen Zhi's cheek, then grabbed her small bag and dashed off.
Chen Zhi touched his cheek, shaking his head with a chuckle, before turning around to catch a cab back to Peking University.
Pushing open the door to Dorm 404 at Yuanpei College, he saw that his roommates had already arrived.
Guo Yang was slumped over his desk, sighing at his computer screen; Li Zicong sat in his chair staring blankly into space with empty eyes; Zhang Tianyang was also staring blankly at his computer screen.
The entire dorm room was enveloped in a low-pressure gloom known as post-holiday syndrome.
It was clear that none of them had recovered from the pain of the new semester starting.
"Boys, have your souls returned to the Yan Garden?" Chen Zhi shoved his suitcase under his desk and greeted them with a smile.
No one answered him.
Guo Yang slowly turned his head, a hint of desolation in his voice. "Boss Chen, you're finally back. Just thinking about having an 8 AM class tomorrow makes my heart feel like I've eaten a hundred bitter melons."
Li Zicong sighed as well. "The girls in Jiangcheng are gentle, but the wind in Beijing is like a knife. Chen Zhi, you're looking glowing and healthy. Did you have a pretty nourishing winter break?"
Chen Zhi thought to himself, how could it not be nourishing? Juggling three things at once nearly broke his back.
He dug a large bag of Jiangcheng local specialties out of his suitcase. Lin Wanwan had specifically reminded him to bring them for his roommates.
"Alright, stop acting so melodramatic," Chen Zhi walked over, carrying the bag. "We haven't seen each other for one winter break, and now you're all so bashful? Come on, have some snacks to nourish your brains."
He walked over to Zhang Tianyang first, grabbing a large handful of spicy broad beans and Yunpian cakes and shoving them into his hands.
"Thanks, Brother Chen," Zhang Tianyang smiled shyly.
Next, Chen Zhi walked toward Guo Yang.
Guo Yang was scrolling through TikTok. Seeing Chen Zhi approach, he instinctively scooted his chair back and pretended to adjust his clothes, putting on an I'm very busy act.
One of the unwritten spooky rules of the dorm: whenever a roommate willingly offers to share food, you suddenly find yourself with a bunch of inexplicable things to do.
"Here, Guo Yang, do you want some? This is authentic Jiangcheng crispy candy," Chen Zhi shook the bag.
"Huh? What's this?" Guo Yang pretended to have just noticed, his eyes showing thirty percent confusion and seventy percent reserve.
"Just some snacks. My girlfriend specifically ran across several streets to buy them for me, saying I should bring them back for my roommates to try."
Guo Yang's outstretched hand froze in midair.
He looked at the bag of candy and suddenly felt a sourness rising in his stomach.
Why did he suddenly lose his appetite? Was this candy actually sour?
Chen Zhi chuckled, handed a handful to Guo Yang, and finally walked over to Li Zicong, who was pretending to study his watch.
Li Zicong had actually been eyeing the dried meat slices in the bag for a while. Seeing Chen Zhi coming over, he coughed deliberately, waiting for Chen Zhi to pay his respects.
Chen Zhi rummaged around in the bag, making a loud rustling noise.
Li Zicong waited eagerly.
Unexpectedly, Chen Zhi pulled his hand back, completely skipped him, and returned to his own seat.
"Hey?" Li Zicong froze, turning his head to glare at Chen Zhi. "Where's mine?"
Chen Zhi looked at him innocently. "Aren't you a rich kid from Beijing? You've seen all sorts of delicacies. I was afraid my cheap local specialties would taint Young Master Li's eyes."
"Damn it! Chen Zhi, you really are a dog!" Li Zicong jumped straight up from his chair. "Bring it over! That's our sister-in-law's kind gesture, and as the dorm head, I have to take the lead in tasting it!"
"Haha, just kidding." Chen Zhi tossed the remaining half of the bag straight over. "Good sons, there's plenty for all of you."
Thanks to this little commotion, the atmosphere in the dorm room finally livened up a bit.
Li Zicong chewed on a piece of dried meat as he leaned in close to Chen Zhi, lowering his voice to ask, "Seriously, Chen Zhi, how is your company doing? Over the winter break, I heard my dad say there is an AI company called Deep Space Tech that is blowing up right now, valued at tens of billions. The boss's last name is also Chen, and he is also from Peking University. That couldn't possibly be you, right?"
Guo Yang pricked up his ears too, even stopping his scrolling on TikTok.
Chen Zhi was turning on his computer to check Moss's backend data. He didn't even bat an eye at the question. "There are plenty of people with the same last name. If I were a billionaire, would I still be sitting here eating instant noodles with you guys?"
Li Zicong threw an arm around his shoulder in profound agreement. "True. If you were that big shot, I would livestream myself doing a handstand while eating instant noodles."
Chen Zhi just smiled and didn't reply.
Ever since he started his business, he had been very careful to keep his face out of the media. The reason was simple: he was currently juggling three relationships. If he got exposed, there would be too many eyes on him, and he wouldn't be able to keep his three girlfriends a secret anymore.
Furthermore, his official girlfriend in the public eye was Lin Wanwan, who was a celebrity. As a rising AI startup star from Peking University and a new-generation pop singer, the two of them combined would generate massive buzz and easily attract paparazzi. That would only make it harder for him to achieve his ultimate goal of eventually getting all his girls into the same bed.

lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.

ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!

ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!