"Look here, Ah Wang."
"If a girl doesn’t like you, it doesn’t necessarily mean she has no taste."
"Sometimes, you need to reflect on yourself—have you worked hard enough all these years? Wait, no—have you actually been putting in the effort?"
"??"
Wang Haodong was speechless.
Cao Cheng continued, "What I mean is, you need ambition. You can’t just laze around all day. Slacking off is unacceptable. People must work, strive, and fight for something."
"I know your family is wealthy, just like mine."
"But look at me—have I rested? Have I slacked off? Have I been idle?"
"No, I’ve been busy nonstop."
"Just last month, I was on a business trip to Hong Kong for a whole month, swamped with work. Sometimes, I didn’t sleep until four or five in the morning. Can you even imagine that?"
Wang Haodong shook his head. Now that was dedication!
Cao Cheng straightened up. "When is a man at his most attractive?"
"Ask any girl, and the answer will probably be—when he’s focused."
"And when is a man most focused? When he’s working, making money, striving, fighting for something."
"Does that make sense to you?"
"..."
Wang Haodong’s expression gradually darkened. "It does!"
Cao Cheng nodded. "So, you can’t just coast through life, living off your family’s wealth, taking it for granted. Uncle Wang worked his way up from nothing, built a fortune, and ensured you’d never want for anything. Was that easy for him? No, it wasn’t, Ah Wang."
"Right!" Wang Haodong grimaced.
Cao Cheng pressed on, "We’re meant to inherit our fathers’ legacies, but wealth isn’t just money—or rather, it’s not just about money. It’s about hard work, perseverance, relentless effort. It’s a spirit."
"The youth are the future of the nation, Ah Wang!"
Wang Haodong felt spiritually cleansed.
He had an epiphany.
"Brother, just tell me straight—what should I do?"
"What you do isn’t the point, Ah Wang. You’re still missing it. I’m talking about a spirit, a shining quality you should embody."
"Everyone has a shining quality—some are obvious, like mine."
"And some aren’t, like yours!"
"So, if girls don’t like you, maybe it’s because your brilliance hasn’t been uncovered yet. You need to shine, to glow brightly."
"Once you do, how could girls not like you?"
Wang Haodong’s eyes lit up.
Right!
"Then… what’s my shining quality?"
"Money!"
"??"
Wang Haodong was confused. "I thought it was supposed to be about hard work and perseverance?"
"Damn it, that’s ‘hard work and perseverance.’ Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, with money, you can do a lot. Your starting point is higher than most people’s…"
"So, what should I do?"
"Entertainment."
"Huh?"
"The entertainment industry!" Cao Cheng declared confidently.
"Entertainment industry? Female celebrities?"
"Come on, let me explain properly how to make a splash in the entertainment world. Let’s talk over tea."
"Let’s go, let’s go." Wang Haodong eagerly followed him to the side.
What followed was a discussion between the two brothers about how to become the ‘disciplinary inspectors’ of the entertainment industry.
Forget that so-called ‘Si Cong.’
He’s nothing.
There’s only the great Haodong!!
Being a disciplinary inspector was a thankless job, and Cao Cheng didn’t dare stir up trouble recklessly.
But Wang Haodong? He had no fear.
What did he care?
Besides, if Cao Cheng pushed him into this role, he could indirectly harvest emotional energy.
With his hacking skills and fragments of memories from dreams,
the number of fallen stars would be staggering.
If Wang Haodong teamed up with Zhuo Gou, the entertainment industry wouldn’t stand a chance.
As the mastermind behind the chaos, Cao Cheng would undoubtedly reap even more emotional energy.
Perfect!
……
Half an hour later.
The Wang father and son took their leave!
Back in the car.
Wang Haodong’s face was flushed with excitement, leaving the butler stunned.
In the past, the young master had never gained an upper hand in the Ren household.
Every time, he’d arrive eager and leave dejected.
But today… he looked radiant?
Wow~~
"Young Master, did Third Miss Ren accept you?" The butler raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing.
Wang Haodong snorted arrogantly and shook his head. "I didn’t even see her."
"..."
The butler’s face twisted. "Then… why are you so happy? What happened?"
"You wouldn’t understand."
"If you tell me, Young Master, this old servant might."
"Well… I didn’t really understand most of it either." Wang Haodong scratched his head.
"?"
There had been too much talk.
By the end, he’d forgotten the beginning.
But the gist stuck with him.
A man… must rely on himself.
He must have a shining quality.
He can’t afford to idle aimlessly.
He must work.
He must strive.
Hmm~~
The entertainment industry.
First, gain fame.
Make the name Wang Haodong known to all, so everyone sees him not as a spoiled heir but as a positive force.
Then…
Well, that was the plan for now. The rest could come later.
Anyway, it all made perfect sense.
"Enough nonsense! How could a butler possibly grasp the matters discussed between gentlemen? Drive!"
"Yes, sir!"
Young Master, you’re becoming more and more manly!
……
……
New Year’s Eve arrived in the blink of an eye.
This was Cao Cheng’s second Spring Festival in Zhonghai.
The atmosphere was noticeably livelier than the year before.
It also marked a full year since Young Master Cao had arrived in Zhonghai.
Everything seemed to have changed.
Yet, in some ways, nothing had.
Old Cao remained the quintessential antagonist, bullying Young Master Cao without restraint. If not for Ren's Mother’s protection, Cao Cheng wouldn’t have known how to endure.
Eldest Sister was still the same. After fulfilling the ten bets, her defenses had cracked slightly, but with little interaction, things hadn’t progressed further.
Her condition wasn’t easy to treat.
Young Master Cao was busy, too.
He figured he’d focus on her properly once things settled down. Traditional Chinese medicine could handle even stubborn ailments like depression.
No rush.
Second Sister had returned this year, free of major cases, but she ignored Cao Cheng entirely.
He was baffled. For no apparent reason, she’d started giving him the cold shoulder.
Ah, a woman’s heart is as deep as the ocean.
Had he done something?
Probably not.
So, she was just being difficult.
The Third and The Fourth?
Carefree as ever!
Since none of the siblings were married, they all received red envelopes for the New Year.
Fifth Brother got the fattest one—Ren's Mother gifted him another car.
This year, Cao Cheng had received plenty of presents.
Naturally, he’d given out just as many.
It was all about reciprocity.
Birthdays for the four sisters, though not celebrated with grand parties, were marked with family dinners.
And Mother’s Day—a major event in the household, rivaling even Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival in importance.
All in all,
it was a lively holiday.
Between the social obligations and accompanying Ren's Mother on her rounds, Cao Cheng found traditional customs exhausting at times.
The streets were alive with dragon dances, lion dances, and firecrackers…
The riverfront on New Year’s Eve was packed.
Even with masks on, the family turned heads wherever they went.
If anyone was unhappy this Spring Festival,
it was the investors.
Their New Year’s feast might as well have been cardboard.
The "Stock God Aotian" never appeared again, plunging everyone into despair.
Cao Cheng no longer paid attention to the stock market—not even the overseas markets. Professionals were handling it, and Tang Xin was keeping an eye on things as well.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
