Lin Wanwan was still pressing against his arm, her fingers gently hooking his hem.
"What's wrong?" Sensing his body stiffen, Lin Wanwan looked up at him.
Chen Zhi quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket, turned his head, and forced an expression.
"Wanwan, I have to head back first."
"Huh? Where to?"
"Damai just sent an urgent message. Something happened at the company," Chen Zhi spoke rapidly. "I need to find a place with a computer to handle it right away, otherwise the company will be in chaos."
Lin Wanwan froze for a moment. The disappointment on her face couldn't be hidden at all, but she immediately let go of his hand.
"Is it very serious?"
"Extremely serious. I'm sorry, I can't walk with you tonight."
"It's okay, it's okay, work is more important. Hurry and go, I can just take a taxi back myself." Lin Wanwan took a step back, making way for him.
Chen Zhi nodded, turned around, and ran.
He hadn't run two steps when Lin Wanwan called out from behind.
"Chen Zhi!"
He looked back.
"Don't be too anxious, stay safe!"
The riverside on the summer night was so muggy it was hard to breathe.
Chen Zhi ran to the main road and flagged down a taxi with its vacant light on.
"Driver, to the old Dongcheng neighborhood. Please hurry, I'll pay extra."
The car shuttled through the night.
Chen Zhi turned his phone screen off and on again.
He read the last few messages Pei Ningxue had sent over and over again.
He had forgotten that Pei Ningxue grew up without a mother, and with Pei Dongcheng busy doing business, her greatest fear was being left behind.
Today, he had left her all alone in a completely unfamiliar place.
Left her in a house where someone could push the door open at any moment and treat her coldly.
Her foot was hit by a fishing rod, and no one cared.
She ate stone-cold takeout while listening to the sounds of the family next door going out to a hotel for a meal.
"Driver, can you go any faster?"
"Young man, there's a speed limit on this road. I'm already driving at the max limit. Any faster and I'll get points deducted." The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, and seeing his terrible expression, added, "Emergency at home?"
"Yeah."
"Don't worry, we'll be there right away."
The streetlights outside the car window flew by one by one, light and shadow flickering randomly across his face.
Chen Zhi closed his eyes.
He had always thought he could control the whole situation, thought he could rely on the information gap of his rebirth and a bit of cleverness to pacify all these girls. He thought that even if Pei Ningxue was angry, she would wait in the guest room for him to return and explain.
He was too arrogant.
As soon as the taxi stopped steadily at the entrance of the neighborhood, Chen Zhi threw down a hundred-yuan bill, didn't even wait for the change, pushed open the door, and rushed out.
Chen Zhi returned home panting heavily.
The main light in the living room wasn't on; only a little light shone through from the kitchen.
Chen Zhi didn't even take off his shoes, rushing straight to the guest room.
He grabbed the doorknob and gave it a hard push.
It was completely empty inside.
The bed was made neatly, as if no one had ever been there.
The silver suitcase in the corner was gone.
He walked in and flipped the switch on the wall.
The lightbulb flickered twice and turned on, its light dim and yellowish.
The takeout box sat on the desk, its lid closed tightly.
Chen Zhi walked over and reached out to touch it.
The box was cold.
A pair of things lay quietly next to it.
Chen Zhi saw it clearly.
It was that pair of red string bracelets.
Footsteps came from behind.
Zhang Guifang walked out of the master bedroom. Seeing Chen Zhi standing in the guest room, she walked over in a few strides and pointed at his nose, cursing.
"What are you doing back now! You still have the nerve to come back!"
Chen Zhi turned his head, his voice terribly hoarse.
"Mom, where is she?"
"Gone," Zhang Guifang's voice was a bit hoarse too. "When I came back, she was packing her luggage in the guest room."
Chen Zhi took a step forward.
"How long has she been gone? Which way did she go?"
"You're asking me?" Zhang Guifang slammed the rag onto the coffee table. "You're asking me when she left?"
"I came back carrying the takeout bags, wanting to heat up a couple of dishes for her." Zhang Guifang stood up, her voice trembling slightly. "When I pushed the door open, she was sitting alone on the edge of the bed, her eyes all red."
"Seeing me come in, she even smiled."
"Smiled and called me Auntie."
Zhang Guifang paused here and turned her head away.
"I asked her if she had eaten. She said she had. I took a look, and the takeout box was sitting in the trash can. The food was barely touched."
"I put the takeout bags on the table and told her, 'Eat a little, these were just packed from the hotel.'"
"She stood up and bowed to me."
Chen Zhi froze completely.
"And said, 'Auntie, thank you, I've caused you trouble.'"
"Then she started packing her things."
"I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen."
Zhang Guifang turned back to look at Chen Zhi, her eyes red.
"She said, 'Auntie, I shouldn't have come.'"
Chen Zhi couldn't utter a single word.
Just this morning, Zhang Guifang was still feeling indignant on behalf of Lin Wanwan, but now she was here shedding tears for Pei Ningxue.
Pei Ningxue had quietly swallowed all her grievances and then left without a trace.
Chen Zhi immediately pulled out his phone and dialed Pei Ningxue's number.
Beep— Beep—
It rang twice and was directly hung up.
He called again.
"Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off."
The mechanical female voice was exceptionally jarring in the quiet guest room.
Chen Zhi panicked, completely panicked.
He switched to WeChat and opened Pei Ningxue's chat.
With trembling fingers, he typed out a few words.
[Where are you now? I'll come find you.]
Clicked send.
The moment the message was sent, a red exclamation mark popped up on the screen.
Followed by a line of small text below it.
The other party has enabled friend verification. You are not yet his (her) friend. Please send a friend request first...
Chen Zhi stared at that red exclamation mark.
Pei Ningxue had deleted him.
That Pei Ningxue who, in the top-floor duplex of Wanliu Academy, had blushed and called herself his wife.
That Pei Ningxue who, in the private room of the Guomao Hotel, had withstood the pressure from her own father and said she wouldn't marry anyone but him.
That Pei Ningxue who was left behind by him in the guest room of an old neighborhood in Jiangcheng, eating stone-cold takeout, aggrievedly sending him messages.
All along, Chen Zhi had relied on the fact that he was a reincarnator, relied on the trump cards in his hand, navigating effortlessly among several girls.
He thought that as long as his methods were skilled enough, he could balance the scales and give everyone a home.
It wasn't until this moment that he truly understood what panic was.
The kind of panic where a piece of your heart has been forcefully gouged out.
"Chen Zhi!" Zhang Guifang shouted from behind.
Chen Zhi whipped around, grabbed the pair of red strings from the table, stuffed them into his pocket, and rushed out the door.
Hurried footsteps echoed in the stairwell, mixed with the stumbling sounds of almost tripping on the way down.
Chen Jun happened to be walking in from outside. Seeing his son looking so lost and devastated, he froze at the door.
"Where are you going?"
Chen Zhi didn't hear him at all, rushing straight into the dark night outside.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
