"Buzz."
The words sent a shiver down Cheng Jun's spine, and she instinctively retorted,
"What did you say, Nanzhi?"
Fu Nanzhi's expression, however, looked utterly casual, as if she'd just asked whether Cheng Jun had eaten.
Thinking Cheng Jun hadn't heard clearly, she repeated herself.
Truthfully, Cheng Jun had heard her perfectly—it was just that her mind was in chaos, thoughts scattering like raindrops.
She asked again to buy herself time to think.
'Why is she asking this?'
From the moment she'd accepted the invitation, Cheng Jun had been plagued by an inexplicable sense of unease.
Now, with this question, that unease reached its peak.
'Is she serious? Or just joking?'
This wasn't a test with a definitive answer.
In a flash, Cheng Jun recalled that rainy night, her father Cheng Tianwei's words echoing in her mind.
She decided to follow her heart.
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Cheng Jun subtly glanced at Shen Yi, who was lounging idly in the distance.
Turning back, a faint smile graced her delicate features as she spoke sincerely,
"Nanzhi, I won’t lie to you."
"I do have feelings for him... after all, he saved my life."
"But feelings don’t always have to lead anywhere..."
Everything she said was genuine, except for that last line—tailored specifically for Fu Nanzhi.
Fu Nanzhi waved her hand dismissively, tilting her chin slightly as if amused.
"No need to explain. It’s perfectly normal."
"Hero saves the beauty... I get it."
Her tone was reassuring, showing no trace of discomfort—if anything, she seemed oddly proud of Shen Yi’s actions.
Cheng Jun slowly relaxed, handing Fu Nanzhi a few clothing options for reference.
The topic was smoothly brushed aside, neither of them pressing further.
Fu Nanzhi held a hanger absently, her mind elsewhere.
'Good. If she has feelings, that makes things easier.'
This question hadn’t been asked lightly. Fu Nanzhi had laid the groundwork carefully—first checking records, then arranging coincidental meetings, followed by casual chats under the rain shelter, and finally this invitation as a test.
Anyone else confronted so abruptly would either fluster from having their feelings exposed or deflect with guarded lies. But Fu Nanzhi was no fool.
Most of the time, with Shen Yi around, she preferred not to overthink. But when strategy was needed, she could match wits with anyone.
'Step one, complete.'
No matter how many calculations whirled beneath the surface, Fu Nanzhi’s smile never wavered.
She turned toward Shen Yi, holding up the hanger and calling out,
"Honey, come try this on!"
Several men loitered in the seating area, Shen Yi among them.
Bound by the shared plight of waiting for their partners, they’d struck up a conversation.
Naturally, the discussion had turned to the two women nearby.
Fu Nanzhi and Cheng Jun, with their striking looks, had drawn attention from everyone on the second floor—some even mistook them for celebrities.
That single word—"honey"—shattered a few hopeful hearts. The flowers were already taken.
But the real blow came when someone actually stood up in response.
"Yeah, coming."
Shen Yi rose from the group of long-suffering companions, offering a sympathetic nod to his fellow captives.
The men gaped at him.
"Wait, bro..."
"..."
"Damn, man... respect."
The last one even gave an impressed thumbs-up.
Their stunned expressions were the highest praise. Even Shen Yi couldn’t help feeling a flicker of pride.
"Gentlemen, duty calls."
As Shen Yi walked over, the trio—two women and one man—became the center of attention.
The boutique was upscale, its price tags hefty. Most shoppers browsed, but few actually bought.
Fu Nanzhi shoved the clothes into Shen Yi’s hands, urging him to change while she continued browsing.
She’d hem and haw over buying for herself, but for Shen Yi? Everything looked perfect. Not purchasing any of them felt like a crime.
Once Shen Yi emerged, Fu Nanzhi adjusted the wrinkles on his back.
He tugged at the hem, studying himself in the mirror. Admittedly, women had a far better eye for fashion.
The transformation was undeniable.
"See? Cheng Jun picked this one. Flawless taste—you should thank her."
Fu Nanzhi leaned against Shen Yi by the mirror, grinning.
Shen Yi hadn’t expected that. He’d assumed Cheng Jun was here purely out of courtesy to Fu Nanzhi. Turning, he murmured his thanks.
Cheng Jun averted her eyes, waving him off.
"Nanzhi, stop teasing. No need for thanks—it’s not like I paid."
Fu Nanzhi giggled behind her hand, whispering in Cheng Jun’s ear,
"If you want to gift him something, go ahead. I won’t stop you."
Cheng Jun didn’t dare take her seriously, brushing it off as a joke.
"Alright, that’s enough, right?"
Shen Yi straightened his collar. He had plenty to wear now—no need to go overboard.
Fu Nanzhi disagreed. This was her chance to dress him up properly.
"Just a few more," she insisted, pulling at his collar.
"Today, you’re our puppet. Just go with it."
The phrasing made Cheng Jun sneak a glance at Shen Yi’s reflection.
Resigned, Shen Yi trudged back to the fitting room, trapped in an endless cycle of changing, posing, critiquing, and repeating.
A childhood memory surfaced—his mother Liu Huijuan’s relentless fashion experiments. The trauma was real.
Finally, four shopping bags later, they reached the checkout.
Shen Yi wasn’t even allowed to pay. Fu Nanzhi took charge, and even Cheng Jun had a say—only the beneficiary himself was sidelined.
A heaping spoonful of "soft life" was shoved into his mouth, ready or not.
Left with nothing to do, Shen Yi let his mind wander.
No snobbish salespeople sneered at them—the staff remained professional, unfazed by whether customers bought or not.
No arrogant rich kids caused trouble either. The other shoppers were civil, their reactions limited to envy or admiration, well-masked if bitter.
No cliché confrontations. No dramatic face-slapping.
Even the potential for awkward one-upmanship fizzled out. In tough economic times, even mistresses got knockoff bags—who had the energy to flex on strangers?
Shen Yi was standing there like a human-shaped signboard, his arms laden with shopping bags, waiting for the two women to finish paying and come out.
What he most wanted to do at the moment was to sit down and have a meal.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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!
