"Mengli? I see."
Seeing Shen Mengli suddenly avert her gaze, Ye Feng felt inexplicably nervous and stood up abruptly from his seat.
But at that moment, Shen Mengli reached out and clutched the corner of Ye Feng's clothes again.
"Shen... Mengli?"
"Um... well..."
Hearing Ye Feng suddenly address her like this, even though she had prepared herself, Shen Mengli's words became hesitant. Although her expression and face showed no signs of embarrassment, when she sensed that Ye Feng was about to leave, she anxiously held onto him.
"Ye... Mr. Ye Feng, you haven’t told me how I should address you yet."
"Ah... sorry. As for how to address me, just call me Ye Feng. Calling me 'Mr.' feels a bit strange."
"Is that so?"
Shen Mengli suddenly glanced at the teddy bear in her arms and immediately blurted out,
"Xiao Feng!"
"W-what?"
"Can I call you Xiao Feng? I want to call you Xiao Feng."
"This nickname?"
Ye Feng hadn’t expected Shen Mengli to address him like this. Shen Mengli was probably the only one who would do so.
"This nickname is fine."
"Mm, so Xiao Feng, you’re agreeing, right?"
"Of course, it’s fine. But Mengli, can you tell me why you chose this nickname?"
Shen Mengli looked down at the teddy bear in her hands, then raised her head to gaze at Ye Feng. "This... I won’t tell you."
......
On his way home, Ye Feng’s mind kept replaying the memories of his time with Shen Mengli that day. Although Shen Mengli’s expression remained calm when he left the welfare center, he could clearly sense a newfound liveliness in her demeanor.
She should be fine now, right?
Ye Feng touched the disinfectant tablets in his pocket. Even though he seemed to have talked Shen Mengli out of her suicidal thoughts today, he still couldn’t shake off his worries. What if Shen Mengli was just putting on a front to appease him? Maybe he should keep an eye on her just to be safe.
With that thought, Ye Feng turned around and headed back toward the welfare center.
He didn’t dare to rely solely on his instincts to judge such matters, especially when it involved a living, breathing life.
"Mengli, what did Mr. Ye Feng talk to you about today?"
During dinner, the director, seemingly on purpose, brought her bowl over and sat down beside Shen Mengli. Her eyes carried a hint of amusement. After all, she had noticed something unusual when she saw Shen Mengli tugging at Ye Feng’s clothes earlier.
Based on her years of understanding Shen Mengli, the usually quiet girl had always been unflappable about everything. But Ye Feng’s appearance had changed her in many ways.
From the director’s perspective, Shen Mengli now seemed more like a living, breathing person rather than an emotionless doll.
"Di... Director, what are you talking about! Xiao... Mr. Ye Feng just discussed Wenwen’s situation with me. He didn’t say anything unnecessary."
"Sigh, Mengli, you’ve grown up. You’ve even learned to lie to me, the director. It breaks my heart~"
The director put on a tearful expression, which made Shen Mengli, who was never good at lying, feel even guiltier. But at the same time, a strange sense of shyness welled up inside her.
"R-really, I’m not talking to you anymore, Director! I... I’m full!"
Shen Mengli put down her bowl and chopsticks, pushed her wheelchair, and headed toward the hallway. Watching this scene, the director couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle softly.
Mengli has finally grown up. It seems like everything is moving in a positive direction.
"Phew..."
Shen Mengli pushed her wheelchair to the familiar garden, reached out, and patted her cheeks. Her heart felt like a tangled ball of yarn, chaotic and restless.
What... what’s wrong with me? I’ve never felt this strange before. What on earth is going on...
Xiao Feng has already left. I wonder when he’ll come back next.
Shen Mengli’s mind gradually filled with images of Ye Feng. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she shook her head vigorously, as if trying to shake something off.
W-what’s happening? Why does my heart race whenever I think of Xiao Feng? It must be some kind of curse! I must have fallen under some strange spell!
After a while, Shen Mengli calmed down and sat in the pavilion, staring at the blooming flowers in a daze.
Just then, a figure approached her.
"Hmm?"
Shen Mengli turned her head and saw that it was the director.
"Director? Why are you here?"
The director, wearing a gentle smile, sat down beside Shen Mengli. Under Shen Mengli’s puzzled gaze, she took her small hand and said softly, "What? Can’t I come to see the child I raised with my own hands? Or do you wish it was Mr. Ye Feng who came to see you instead?"
"Of course not, Director! Stop teasing me! I was just curious why you followed me here."
Shen Mengli’s voice grew softer, and her eyes wandered aimlessly.
"Alright, alright, let’s just say I overthought it."
The director patted Shen Mengli’s hand, but then her tone shifted as she brought up another topic.
"Mengli, actually... there’s something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Mengli, you’ve been an adult for quite some time now, haven’t you?"
"Ah... yes."
"Sigh."
At this point, the director tightened her grip on Shen Mengli’s hand. Her expression showed reluctance and pain as she prepared to say what came next.
"I... I’m sorry, Mengli. Before I say anything else, I need to apologize to you."
"Director, what are you..."
Although Shen Mengli didn’t understand why the director was saying this, she could see the deep sorrow and reluctance in her expression.
"The truth is, I’ve been hiding something from you. Once the children here reach adulthood, they must leave the welfare center. The center doesn’t have the right to continue caring for them."
The director’s voice even carried a hint of a sob. She knew what her next words would mean for Shen Mengli, but she had no choice but to say them.
"Because I couldn’t bear to let you go, Mengli. And if you were to leave, you’d likely be sent to a center for people with disabilities. I have no idea whether that place is good or bad. To keep you here, I broke the rules of the welfare center. But if this continues, it’s only a matter of time before it’s discovered. When that happens, the entire welfare center will face serious consequences..."
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.
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!"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
