Currently, he was technically unemployed. Though he had a source of income, he still needed a plausible explanation for it. Whether it was starting a business, freelancing, or some other money-making venture, he needed a cover story.
"Guess I'll think about it tonight while lying in bed..." Shen Yi muttered to himself as he closed the holographic screen in front of him.
Glancing out the window, he noticed it was already nighttime. The rain outside had gradually lightened, now falling in a gentle drizzle.
He got up, pulled the clothes from the washing machine, and hung them to dry. Grabbing his phone, he casually ordered takeout.
The rain had ruined his plans for an evening run, so while waiting for the food to arrive, Shen Yi did some light indoor exercises to stretch his limbs.
He hadn’t had time to go for a long run during his recent trip back to his hometown, and he was already missing the feeling. A few days without exercise left him restless.
"No wonder people say working out is addictive. Seems like they weren’t joking."
"Hey, maybe I should sign up for a marathon?"
Shen Yi pondered the idea while doing push-ups.
That middle-aged man by the lake—who looked like a coach—had repeatedly recommended it before, but back then, Shen Yi hadn’t been in the mood to consider it.
He didn’t know much about marathons, only that professional athletes flew around the world to compete for prize money.
For amateurs, it was more about passion or personal challenge. Actually winning prizes required serious training.
Shen Yi wasn’t afraid—his stamina could easily handle a full marathon. What worried him was accidentally breaking a world record and drawing too much attention.
He wasn’t joking. Last time, what he considered a "slow jog" over 20 kilometers had taken him just 57 minutes.
He still hadn’t tested his full potential, afraid of what the results might be.
Being slightly better than average made you a genius. Being too far ahead? That made you a freak.
He didn’t want his physical abilities to attract scrutiny before his system was exposed.
"Wonder if those urban legends about ‘live dissection research’ are real..."
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang, snapping Shen Yi out of his wandering thoughts. He stood up, shaking out his arms before answering.
"Hello, your delivery is here."
Shen Yi thanked the delivery guy in the yellow helmet, took the food, and glanced at the apartment across the hall—still no sign of movement.
Where did she go?
After closing the door, he sat down and devoured his dinner before resuming his workout.
The earlier exercises had just been a warm-up. He was far from satisfied.
Once done, he showered and stepped out feeling refreshed.
Shaking the water from his hair, he checked his phone—several unread messages awaited.
The first was a photo from Fu Nanzhi.
It showed her dinner: three dishes and a soup, beautifully presented and undoubtedly delicious.
Below it were her messages:
"Hubby, look! Guess which one I made?"
"Cat eagerly waiting emoji"
"(｀へ´)?"
"Hey hey hey?"
"Cat scratching head emoji"
Shen Yi smiled, almost able to picture Fu Nanzhi’s adorable face through the screen.
Still shirtless, he sat down and started typing.
"Sorry, was in the shower. Didn’t see your messages."
Fu Nanzhi must have been glued to her phone because she replied instantly.
"Ohhh... that explains it."
"Come on, guess! Can you tell which one I made?"
Shen Yi reopened the photo, zooming in to inspect it closely.
In their simulated life, Fu Nanzhi had initially been hopeless at cooking—Shen Yi had handled all the meals. Later, after he took over Jinhang and got busier, she had quit her job to become a full-time mom after adopting Xiao Lingdang.
That was when she finally learned to cook, painstakingly following recipes.
So the answer was obvious. Shen Yi recognized it immediately and typed his reply.
"The lotus root and pork rib soup, right?"
"Wow, you’re amazing! You got it! ヾ(≧▽≦)o"
Fu Nanzhi praised him, then followed up:
"How did you know, hubby?"
Shen Yi shook his head, fingers flying across the keyboard.
"Easy. The first soup you ever made successfully was this one—how could I forget?"
"Besides, the dishes would need to be cooked fresh. You’re at work all day, so your mom must’ve made those. Only soup can be prepped ahead of time."
"Hehehe..."
Fu Nanzhi sent a string of giggles.
"You still remember that~"
"Full marks! Here’s your reward—a kiss! o(￣3￣)o"
Shen Yi sent back a kissing emoji, then asked:
"How’s it going at your mom’s place?"
Fu Nanzhi replied:
"Absolutely perfect."
"You should’ve seen her face when I served her the soup—hilarious!"
"She couldn’t stop praising me after tasting it. Too bad you couldn’t try it..."
Shen Yi quickly typed back his praise:
"Your cooking skills speak for themselves."
"Don’t worry, focus on winning over your mom first. If she’s happy, everything else falls into place."
Fu Nanzhi responded obediently:
"Mhm."
"You’re right."
"?)))3'"
Shen Yi noticed a short voice message and immediately played it, holding the phone to his ear.
"Hubby~ I miss you."
A soft, muffled whisper reached his ears, as if she’d buried herself under the blankets to say it.
Shen Yi’s grin widened. He set the phone down to reply, "I miss you too."
Still feeling it wasn’t enough, he scrolled through his stickers and added one.
Fu Nanzhi didn’t reply right away—maybe she got busy.
Shen Yi exited the chat. While he was showering, someone else had called—Shu Yunyi, whose contact he’d only added two days ago.
Compared to Fu Nanzhi’s lively messages, Shu Yunyi’s approach was minimalist.
Opening their chat, he saw no texts—just a missed call notification.
Call canceled.
Shen Yi hit redial.
The line connected after a few rings. Shu Yunyi’s low, velvety voice came through:
"What were you doing? Why didn’t you pick up?"
Shen Yi answered promptly:
"Was in the shower. Left my phone outside."
"Oh? Let me see."
The mention of a shower piqued Shu Yunyi’s interest. She sounded amused as she abruptly hung up.
Ding-ding... ding-ding-ding...
Before Shen Yi could lower his phone, a video call request popped up.
Chuckling, he accepted.
The camera displayed his face clearly—damp strands of hair clinging to his forehead, his sharp jawline perfectly outlined.
Shu Yunyi’s teasing voice came through:
"Well, well, who’s this handsome guy?"
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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...
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
