The train journey lasted through the night.
By mid-morning the next day, around ten o'clock, they arrived in Zhonghai.
Over ten hours.
Cao Cheng hadn’t managed to get a ticket for the Z-series train, so he had to settle for the K-series. Still, it wasn’t too bad—he just slept through the night, woke up, freshened up a bit, brewed a cup of tea, and before he knew it, they were at the station.
"Stinky little brother, over here!"
At the arrival gate, Ren Yuege spotted Cao Cheng immediately—his striking presence made him stand out like a crane among chickens in the bustling crowd.
But it took Cao Cheng several minutes to find her.
Proof that she was just… average.
"Stinky little brother~" Ren Yuege was clearly happy to see him. Even with a mask covering half her face, the delight in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Sweet little sister. Huh, where’s Third Sister?" Cao Cheng asked curiously.
"What’s that supposed to mean? Is it not good enough for me to pick you up?" Ren Yuege’s expression darkened. She had been about to give him a sisterly hug, but his words made her freeze mid-motion.
A hug?
Forget it.
She’d rather kick him!
"Not at all, I was just wondering. Didn’t Third Sister say she’d come yesterday?" Cao Cheng chuckled.
"Hmph, she’s unreliable. Don’t believe her in the future—believe me!" Ren Yuege shamelessly threw Third Sister under the bus.
"…"
Cao Cheng smirked.
Probably something came up.
Ren Yuege studied him. After not seeing him for months, had he gotten even more handsome? And maybe a little taller?
His aura was sharper too.
But…
"Is that all you brought? Just one backpack?"
"One bag’s enough. I shipped the rest ahead," Cao Cheng said.
If not for fear of standing out, he wouldn’t even have bothered with the backpack.
With a storage dimension, why lug around luggage?
Who did she think he was?
Since when did cultivators haul giant sacks onto trains?
Ren Yuege wore a mask and a cap, covering most of her face, but her presence was still striking enough to draw frequent glances.
Tall, nearly 1.7 meters, with long flowing hair—she definitely wasn’t bad-looking.
Of course, having Cao Cheng beside her helped.
A guy this good-looking wouldn’t be seen with someone ugly.
That logic was flawless.
"Let’s go home. Your dad and my mom are waiting."
"Sure."
Cao Cheng nodded and followed her out of the station.
Somewhere in the crowd behind them…
Brother Meng Hu suddenly sensed something.
His gaze locked onto Cao Cheng’s retreating figure—it felt eerily familiar.
Too familiar.
A chill ran down his spine. He shook his head violently, rubbed his eyes, and looked again, but the figure was already gone.
A hallucination?
Was he just scaring himself?
"What’s wrong?" Kuang Long handed his luggage to a subordinate and noticed his brother’s odd expression.
Meng Hu forced a laugh. "Bro, I… I think I saw that bastard?"
"Which one?"
"The one surnamed… Cao."
Kuang Long stiffened, scanning the surroundings.
"Where?"
"He disappeared just now. Bro, you think he’s following us?"
"Are you sure it was him?"
"Not 100%, but it felt like him."
"Damn it!"
Kuang Long smacked him upside the head. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Next time, make sure before opening your mouth."
Meng Hu rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.
"So, where to now, bro?"
"Head straight to Uncle’s place first. We’ll settle in there."
……
As Cao Cheng stepped out of the station, he received several notifications of negative emotions—fear, anger.
No names were attached, so he had no idea who was scared.
Not that it mattered.
These alerts popped up all the time now.
He had tweaked the system to only notify him for emotions above 20 points. Anything lower was ignored.
Otherwise, his mind would be flooded with alerts every few seconds—tiny spikes of 1 or 2 points.
Such was the power of the Stock God.
Some newbie investors were only now seeing his posts, and the sheer arrogance in them instantly sparked resentment.
Too cocky.
……
Zhonghai in this era was already prosperous.
Most places here were far more developed than Sanjiang City.
But compared to thirty years later, it still felt… a little shabby.
In his dream of the future, Cao Cheng had lived in Zhonghai for a while, and by then, the city had been completely transformed.
"Hey, just a heads-up…" Ren Yuege said suddenly. "When you see Second Sister later, brace yourself. Don’t engage with her, no matter what face she makes or how she talks. Just ignore it. She’s not a bad person, really."
Cao Cheng knew Second Sister specialized in verbal smackdowns.
Short temper.
Seemed to hold a grudge against him and Old Cao.
So chances were, she wouldn’t be welcoming.
Perfect.
The worse Second Sister’s attitude, the more emotional spikes he’d harvest.
A win-win.
Cao Cheng nodded without comment, focusing inward to study the system.
A new alert had just flashed.
[Ding~]
[Range fusion successful. Emotion multiplier activated!]
The name alone was cryptic.
But after a quick analysis, he got it.
Zhonghai was part of East China, already an emotion-collection zone. Cao Cheng also had province-wide collection abilities.
Meaning, wherever he went, the entire province became part of his harvesting range.
Now, by coming to Zhonghai, the two zones had merged.
From now on, all emotions generated within this range would be doubled.
Damn.
Cao Cheng was thrilled but also slightly annoyed.
If he’d known earlier… he would’ve come here right after the system upgrade instead of waiting.
Do you know how many emotions he’d missed out on?
Stupid system. When would it finally start talking properly?
……
"Fourth Sis—"
"Call me Fourth Sister." Ren Yuege shot him a glare. "I didn’t push it back in Sanjiang, but here, you better show me some respect. Otherwise… hmph!"
One hand on the wheel, she raised a dainty fist and gnashed her teeth in mock threat.
Cao Cheng grinned. "Fine. In public, I’ll give you face. In private, you give me face—call me ‘bro.’"
Ren Yuege shook her head stubbornly. "No way. I’m older than you. Even by just a month, I’m still your elder."
After knowing each other for half a year, he hadn’t called her "sister" even once.
The resentment ran deep.
Cao Cheng was well aware, but calling her "sister" was out of the question. Doing so would undo all the emotional buildup.
He deftly changed the subject. "Tell me about the family. I don’t know much about your side. Oh, what’s your mom like?"
"Call me ‘sister,’ and I’ll tell you."
"Never mind. Focus on driving—talking is dangerous."
"…"
Stinky little brother.
Ren Yuege shot him a furious side-eye.
[Ding~ Negative emotion +202]
Ha!
Cao Cheng grinned.
Double the pleasure, double the fun.
So satisfying.
Even just 20 points felt amazing when doubled.
Imagine if it crit.
Now that would be a beautiful sight.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
