As expected of you, Old Cao

Father Cao and his son sat facing each other.

Two cups of fragrant tea, half a pack of cigarettes, each with one dangling from their lips!

Father Cao, slightly melancholic, spoke first: "I have something to tell you."

"I also have something," Cao Cheng replied.

Father Cao smiled. "You go first."

"No, you first."

"Alright, then I'll go first."

Father Cao took a drag from his cigarette, tilting his head at a 45-degree angle as he gazed out the window, exuding an air of melancholy—three parts free-spirited, three parts wistful, three parts untamed, and a faint trace of reserved dignity.

Father Cao was a charmer.

A man in his forties, yet his days were filled with Aunt Liu, Aunt Li, Aunt Zhang, or Aunt Chen…

He’d nearly collected the entire "Hundred Family Surnames."

With his looks and demeanor, women—especially older women—were drawn to him like moths to a flame.

A seasoned playboy, through and through!

After a prolonged, pretentiously silent moment, Father Cao finally spoke: "I… want to settle down."

Cao Cheng’s cigarette-laden hand paused mid-air.

He was stunned.

Father Cao, a veteran captain who had sailed the seas of romance for years, now wanted to dock his ship?

No more wandering?

Turning over a new leaf?

Under Cao Cheng’s astonished gaze, Father Cao smiled faintly, his eyes brimming with nostalgia. "I met someone… a woman."

"That day… the sunlight was just right, the breeze gentle."

"To me, it was just another ordinary small town in Jiangnan, where every brick whispered loneliness, every vine-covered old wall hid the solitude of time."

"It was like an ancient elder, weathered and worn, carrying the weight of centuries."

"Only… it lacked a spark of life."

"But her arrival brought that town to life."

"I still remember—she wore a long dress that day. She, too, was lonely, but her smile was beautiful."

"I fell in love with that smile instantly."

"I once knelt before Buddha, pleading for five hundred years, all for the chance to meet the right person in a small town like that."

"…"

Cao Cheng had always known why those aunties adored Father Cao—it was because the old man was smooth.

Cao Cheng scoffed. "How old is she?"

Father Cao sighed wistfully. "Age is just a number. It means nothing, especially in the face of love. It pales, becomes insignificant."

Cao Cheng shot him a sidelong glance. "Can you speak normally? Are you preparing for grad school or something?"

"Ahem!"

"Force of habit."

Father Cao chuckled. "She’s around my age, actually a year younger."

"Is she ugly?"

"No, she’s beautiful."

"So it was her looks that caught your eye?"

"Not entirely. More like her wealth—wait, no… It was her smile. Like Cupid’s arrow, it pierced my heart and blinded me to all other women. She became the only light in my world. Do you know how enchanting her smile was—"

Cao Cheng cut him off with a summary: "So she’s rich?"

"Uh… She’s a businesswoman."

"Got it. Why didn’t you just say that from the start? Cut the poetic nonsense and let’s talk straight. When’s the wedding?"

Father and son—who didn’t know each other inside out?

All that flowery buildup, the dramatic flair—it was just Father Cao’s way of testing the waters, afraid his son might oppose his remarriage.

"Ahem… You saw through me? Well, we’re planning a destination wedding."

Father Cao quickly added, "I never remarried before because you were young. I worried you might resent it, or that your stepmother wouldn’t treat you well. But now you’ve graduated—it’s time for you to live your own life. So, your old man wants to find his own happiness too."

"…"

Father Cao had always been a smooth talker.

He could spin any excuse to justify his shamelessness.

But Cao Cheng also knew—Father Cao had never held a steady job. Raising him had been possible only because of that silver tongue.

"Honestly, I don’t mind. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters," Cao Cheng said.

Father Cao clapped his hands in delight. "That’s my boy! I knew you’d understand. I’m sure you’ll like your stepmother too."

Cao Cheng shook his head. "Whether I like her or not doesn’t matter—you’re the one who has to live with her. Like you said, it’s time for me to have my own life. Blended families come with too much drama, so let’s live separately. I’ll stay here; you go enjoy your newlywed life."

"Hmm…" Father Cao pondered for a few seconds. "Fair enough."

Cao Cheng asked, "Where’s she from?"

"Zhonghai."

"Oh, a Shanghainese auntie?"

"Yep!" Father Cao nodded, a hint of bashfulness in his expression.

Hundreds of miles apart.

His father was about to be "married off" far away.

Cao Cheng asked, "So when are you leaving?"

"Wait—why do I get the feeling you can’t wait to see me go?" Father Cao blinked.

Cao Cheng feigned sincerity. "Not at all. I just want you to embrace your happiness sooner. All these years, surrounded by aunties in stockings, I could tell—you were lonely. You need a steady love, a safe harbor for your restless soul. Now that you’re docking, I’m happier for you than you are."

"Exactly. Your old man has been so lonely. You really get me." Father Cao sighed, his eyes turning misty with emotion.

Cao Cheng rolled his eyes.

Classic Father Cao—give him an inch, and he’d take a mile.

Suddenly, Father Cao remembered. "Oh right, you said you had something to tell me earlier. Go ahead."

"Never mind. It’s nothing now." Cao Cheng smiled and shook his head.

And with that, their conversation ended.

In truth,

What Cao Cheng had wanted to say was that he’d awakened memories—and a golden finger (cheat ability).

More precisely, a lifetime’s worth of memories from a dream.

Last night, in that fleeting dream, he’d lived an entire life on a planet called Earth—eerily similar to their own Blue Star. He’d stayed there until 2099, "dying" of old age before waking up.

Calling it a dream…

Felt more like a soul transmigration, merging two lifetimes of memories.

The sensation was indescribably surreal.

The most obvious change was in his eyes. The once-clear gaze of a fresh graduate now carried an unfathomable depth, weathered by time.

And then there was the system.

Called: Emotion Energy Loop

Okay,

The name sounded a bit slapdash, but its function seemed powerful.

From what he gathered, it could amplify the emotions of those around him—especially negative ones—and convert them into "Emotion Points" based on intensity and the person’s status.

These points could then be used for… lottery draws!

Simple as that.

Originally, Cao Cheng had planned to ask Father Cao for seed money to kickstart his ventures—and maybe poke the old man a little to see how much Emotion Points he could harvest.

Currently, Blue Star was only in 2006, nearly a century behind the timeline from his "dream."

The opportunities to make money were endless.

Becoming the richest man seemed almost too easy.

But now,

Father Cao’s late-life romance had thrown a wrench into Cao Cheng’s grand plans.

He didn’t know how to bring it up anymore, nor did he want to sour the old man’s mood.

Especially when Father Cao was practically radiating springtime bliss—negative emotions would be in short supply.

…

"Oh, one more thing."

Father Cao took out his wallet and pulled out a photo, handing it to Cao Cheng.

"This is a picture of me and Aunt Ren. Take a look so you’ll recognize her face. From now on, you’ll need to address her properly when you see her. She also has four daughters. Next time we get the chance, we’ll take a proper family portrait together!"

Good grief.

Four daughters.

She sure was productive.

Four kids—would their figures even be worth looking at?

Old Cao’s standards were getting lower by the day!

Cao Cheng was too exhausted to even snark.

He took the photo and glanced at it—then his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

He jerked his head up to stare at Father Cao. "Wait, how did she even end up with you? Is it because you don’t shower? Or because you look like a grandpa?"

"What—what kind of nonsense is that? Is your old man really that bad?" Father Cao scowled, veins bulging on his forehead, looking far from his usual suave, pretend-elegant self.

But there was no emotional feedback—meaning his stress tolerance had really leveled up.

Love really changes a person, huh?

Cao Cheng shook his head and doubled down. "It’s not that you’re bad—it’s that you’re not even in her league. You said she’s just one year younger than you? Looking at her face, I’d say there’s at least a ten-year gap. Is she desperate for a father figure or something? Or did you dig up some dirt on her? We don’t do illegal stuff, Old Cao. I don’t wanna be an orphan."

"You little brat, talking nonsense like that! Since when do you trash your own father like this?" Father Cao’s face darkened.

Still no emotional feedback.

Is this system even real?

Cao Cheng couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Or was love really that powerful?

Did it just make people immune to anger?

Still…

The woman in the photo was genuinely stunning.

Which only made Cao Cheng even more confused.

Old Cao might’ve spent half his life charming every auntie in the neighborhood, but his skills only worked on local middle-aged women.

Aunt Ren, though? A wealthy, drop-dead gorgeous woman from Zhonghai—what could she possibly see in him?

Had she gotten so tired of fine dining that she lost her standards?

"Wait, you just said she has four daughters? Including a pair of twins?"

"Yep, all a bit older than you. So, starting now, you’ve got four new sisters."

"Well…"

Cao Cheng muttered, "I’m not totally against blended families. Living together might not be so bad."

"…"

The old playboy stared at the young playboy in silence.

In Father Cao’s eyes flickered a mix of emotions—30% pride, 30% understanding, 30% disdain, and the remaining 10% condensed into a firm pat on Cao Cheng’s shoulder.

Encouragement, delivered with the force of a palm strike!