Back at the apartment, Fu Nanzhi had just finished tidying up inside and out.
When she returned, she found Shu Yunyi already awake, wrapped in a blanket and staring blankly into space.
Fu Nanzhi sat down beside her and asked softly,
"You're awake. How do you feel? Are you uncomfortable?"
Shu Yunyi didn’t answer, only shaking her head silently.
Her constitution was always unusual, and after drinking ginger tea, she had recovered quickly.
Her head was still a little dizzy, but otherwise, she didn’t feel too unwell.
"You remember what you just did, right?"
Fu Nanzhi stared into her eyes as she asked.
With the alcohol wearing off, Shu Yunyi naturally remembered. She avoided eye contact and lowered her head.
"I know."
"Ah..."
Fu Nanzhi sighed and shook her head.
"Why would you do this to yourself...?"
Shu Yunyi hugged her knees and curled into a ball, her eyes downcast.
"I just couldn’t stand it..."
"How could she get ahead of me?"
She had already been in a foul mood, and in her moment of weakness, she had broken her own rules—her thoughts had spiraled out of control.
Now, with a clear mind, the memory filled her with dread.
This incident had nearly caused a major disaster. Shen Yi would definitely not be pleased with her, and in her usual state, she was still deeply afraid of him.
Fu Nanzhi, on the other hand, was far more accepting. She couldn’t help but say with a hint of envy,
"But what else could we do? We all agreed to the rules back then, and now she’s pregnant."
"There has to be some resolution—if not for ourselves, then for the child."
"I..."
Shu Yunyi’s lips trembled, but she swallowed her words.
If it weren’t for Yaoyao, if she hadn’t made that agreement with Shen Yi, Cheng Jun would never have stolen her chance.
After a moment of silence, Shu Yunyi still couldn’t suppress her resentment.
"Honestly... if I’d lost to you, I could’ve accepted it."
"But I just can’t stand her—always acting like she has ulterior motives."
Fu Nanzhi couldn’t help but laugh, taking it as a compliment to herself.
"It’s not really ulterior motives. I know Zhujun a little better."
"She’s always been clever, with a quirky personality, and she’s naturally good at winning people over. That’s just how she is..."
Then, with a touch of melancholy, Fu Nanzhi added,
"That’s just how love is—it’s inherently selfish. Anyone would feel the same."
"Besides, Zhujun’s family isn’t just any ordinary household."
"Uncle Cheng and Aunt Wen dote on her. How could they hide something as serious as an out-of-wedlock pregnancy from them?"
"Once the elders get involved, things get complicated. The pressure is no small matter..."
"......"
Fu Nanzhi’s meticulous explanation left Shu Yunyi uneasy. She knew full well the gravity of the mess she had just caused.
Her impulsive words earlier, whether true or not, would undoubtedly bring Shen Yi to her—on that point, Shu Yunyi still trusted him completely.
But with only half an hour left before the wedding, there was no way he could make it back in time. The ceremony wouldn’t wait or be postponed for anyone.
Threatening Shen Yi with her life to make him abandon the wedding was tantamount to dragging him down with her.
Thankfully, Fu Nanzhi had stopped her at the critical moment, saving her life. And now, despite everything, she was still taking care of her. Shu Yunyi felt deeply grateful.
"I understand."
"Either way... thank you."
For the first time, Shu Yunyi gave Fu Nanzhi a faint smile.
"No need for thanks. I couldn’t just watch you jump."
Fu Nanzhi hadn’t thought as deeply as Shu Yunyi—she had simply acted out of compassion.
"But you were too reckless... You have to stay calm."
Today had truly shaken Fu Nanzhi, and she couldn’t help but warn her.
"Yeah."
Perhaps there was a natural stubbornness in her personality, but Shu Yunyi was definitely calm now.
Her mood remained low as she rested her chin on her knees, her gaze distant.
"I’m already thirty-five... not young anymore."
"My life is already laid out before me."
Fu Nanzhi smiled reassuringly.
"People age slowly these days. You’re still beautiful—what’s wrong with being thirty?"
"Don’t you watch dramas? Plenty of actors in their forties are still playing young characters."
"It’s not the same."
Shu Yunyi shook her head, a chill running through her at the thought. For the first time, she confided in someone other than Shen Yi.
"I have less than forty years left to live."
This was a secret she should never have shared, but Fu Nanzhi was different—they both carried the same kind of hidden truth.
"What...?"
Fu Nanzhi was stunned, completely unprepared for the revelation of Shu Yunyi’s short lifespan.
"Is there... some kind of illness?" she asked.
"No."
Shu Yunyi shook her head again.
That was precisely why it was so hopeless. If it were an illness, she could seek treatment. But the truth was, she simply wouldn’t live longer.
Ordinary people feel anxious just looking at their bank balances—how much worse was it to count down the years of your life?
Fu Nanzhi didn’t know how to comfort her.
She, too, knew exactly how long she would live, but in her case, that lifetime had been happy and fulfilling.
There were regrets, of course, but they were things she could make up for. Fu Nanzhi had never asked for more than what she was given.
"So... you understand, don’t you?"
Shu Yunyi suddenly looked up at her.
Fu Nanzhi hesitated.
"Understand... what?"
"Why I care about him so much."
At this, Shu Yunyi’s eyes reddened again.
"He’s all I have left. I can’t lose him in the years ahead."
Fu Nanzhi sighed.
"The deeper the love, the sharper the pain. It’s a tangled mess."
Shu Yunyi murmured,
"In just a few years, I’ll start to fade. How could I ever compare to you and Cheng Jun then?"
Finally, Fu Nanzhi understood a little better. Shu Yunyi was someone who deeply lacked security, and that insecurity stemmed from many factors.
Seeing the dynamics between them more clearly, Fu Nanzhi decided to speak more openly.
"I think you need to trust Shen Yi a little more. Otherwise, why did you fall for him in the first place?"
"If you don’t trust him, maybe it’s better to walk away."
"If you believe in the strength of your bond, then in the end, it all comes down to how you live your lives."
The words felt foreign to Shu Yunyi, and she looked lost.
"Are you saying... I should leave?"
Fu Nanzhi shook her head, her beautiful eyes unwavering.
"I can’t give you advice. You have to decide based on what you truly want."
Seeing Shu Yunyi’s confusion, she decided to spell it out even more plainly.
"All this back-and-forth between us, the endless emotional drain—isn’t it exhausting?"
"Either walk away and live freely, or compromise and live comfortably."
"You’ve already lost. No matter how much you struggle, the outcome is set."
Fu Nanzhi tapped her fingers on the coffee table.
"You only have two choices now..."
She held up one finger.
"One—you’re heartbroken, like now, and decide to leave."
"That’s not necessarily a bad choice. Living alone can be simple and freeing."
Then, a second finger.
"Two—you still can’t accept it, like now, so you compromise."
"Try to accept it, to compromise—because we’re already tangled up in a mess that can’t be cut or unraveled."
At this point, Fu Nanzhi couldn’t help but sigh, revealing that her calm exterior belied the turmoil within.
"This... this is..."
The words were undeniably bold, and Shu Yunyi’s eyes widened in shock.
Her thoughts wavered between resignation and reluctant defiance.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
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.
