Li Mucheng narrowed her eyes slightly as she surveyed the desolate street around her. She didn’t doubt the credibility of the phone call for a second—she could sense the unmistakable bitterness in the voice of the woman named Shen Mengli on the other end.
But why had Shen Mengli chosen such a secluded location for their meeting?
Just as Li Mucheng was pondering this, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.
"Welcome, Miss Li Mucheng. My apologies for not greeting you properly."
Li Mucheng blinked slowly before turning to face the figure behind her. When her eyes finally settled on the person, a flicker of surprise passed through her otherwise calm gaze.
Shen Mengli sat gracefully in a wheelchair, her frail form contrasting sharply with her composed demeanor. With snow-white hair and crimson eyes, she looked every bit the delicate, sickly girl. Li Mucheng’s expression remained icy, her thoughts unreadable, though the tension in her chest eased slightly at the sight of Shen Mengli’s wheelchair.
"Who... are you? I’ve never heard Teacher mention you before."
Shen Mengli lowered her head, her fists clenching around a small stuffed bear in her lap. Her voice trembled with suppressed frustration.
"Because... I’m incomplete. Someone like Ye Feng only looks at me with pity."
Li Mucheng studied her carefully, searching for any hint of deception, but the raw emotion in Shen Mengli’s voice seemed genuine.
"Then how did you meet him?"
"It was one day when..."
Shen Mengli recounted her encounter with Ye Feng, weaving a half-truthful tale that painted her as a lovelorn, pitiable girl—omitting, of course, the details of their cohabitation.
"That’s why I chose to tell you about this."
"And how did you get my contact?"
"I... saw your number in Ye Feng’s phone once."
"My contact information..."
A faint warmth flickered in Li Mucheng’s chest. So Ye Feng did value her enough to keep her details close.
"But why do you think I’d help you? With your condition, aren’t you afraid I’ll just use you as a stepping stone?"
"I... know I can never win Ye Feng’s affection like this."
Shen Mengli’s voice was barely a whisper, her dull eyes brimming with resignation. Her lips trembled as if cursing the unfairness of the world, her frail body shaking with barely contained emotion.
"That’s why I thought of cooperation. Because there’s a bigger threat standing in our way."
"Shen Mengli, aren’t you overestimating yourself?"
Just as Shen Mengli was about to bring up Xie Yuyan, Li Mucheng cut her off sharply.
"Why should I cooperate with someone who has nothing to offer? You’re practically my rival. Why would I help you?"
"Straight to the point—as expected of someone as sharp as you. You’re right. A weakling like me is useless to you."
Shen Mengli lifted her head, her crimson eyes locking onto Li Mucheng’s. The two stared at each other in silence.
"But I do have leverage. Besides the two of us and the one who jumped the gun... isn’t there another contender in this race?"
"What are you implying? Are you threatening me?"
Li Mucheng’s voice turned icy, her surprise evident. She hadn’t expected Shen Mengli to know about Su Yuxin. How did someone on the fringes have such insight?
"Threaten you? I’m just looking for the right partner. As you said, you have no reason to work with me. But if Su Yuxin were to find out about this, wouldn’t she make her move?"
"......"
"Do you really think you’ll get the chance to tell her?"
Li Mucheng’s tone was frigid, like a blade of ice poised to pierce Shen Mengli’s heart.
"Miss Li, instead of wasting time with me, shouldn’t you be thinking about how to deal with the one who’s already ahead? If you don’t act soon... there’ll be a winner declared."
"Tch..."
Li Mucheng clicked her tongue in irritation. She hated being cornered, and Shen Mengli’s confidence—that she wouldn’t dare harm her—only made her more uncomfortable.
"Relax, Miss Li. I just want a sliver of what’s rightfully mine. Our end goals are the same, aren’t they?"
"Fine. If you’re so eager to cooperate, have it your way. Just don’t regret this decision later."
"Don’t worry, Miss Li. I know my place. I just can’t stand watching that woman hurt Ye Feng. When the final round comes... I’ll just be a spectator, unfit for the stage."
"At least you’re self-aware."
Li Mucheng scoffed, somewhat appeased by Shen Mengli’s humility. What could a disabled girl possibly do? If she wanted to be a pawn, so be it. Soon enough, she’d realize she was nothing more than a disposable piece.
"Then it’s settled. It’s an honor to stand on the same side as you, even temporarily."
Shen Mengli extended a hand in goodwill, but Li Mucheng crossed her arms, making no move to reciprocate.
"I just hope you’ll be of some use. Now, tell me everything about this ‘early bird.’"
"Gladly. I have plenty of information to share. But after talking for so long, shouldn’t we find a better place to discuss this?"
With a faint smile, Shen Mengli turned her wheelchair toward the livelier end of the street. Li Mucheng watched her retreating figure in silence before finally following.
In Li Mucheng’s eyes, Shen Mengli was just a pawn—a temporary ally to be discarded once the real threats were eliminated. Someone who laid all her cards on the table from the start was bound to be the first one out.
What she didn’t realize was that, on another chessboard, she herself was Shen Mengli’s pawn...
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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...
