"Morning, Yue Mom, you're back."
Gu Luo sat down at his seat with a smile and greeted Shen Yue, casually slipping his backpack into the desk drawer.
Life without a deskmate feeding him snacks always felt like something was missing.
Of course, the main reason was that he didn’t want to eat lunch with Situ Wenyao and his crew anymore.
Endless chatter about airplane flights—who could stand that?
And the flight attendants they talked about were all bizarrely terrifying.
He’d thought "Big Northern Rain Sis" was already mind-boggling enough, but who knew they’d bring up "the final math problem from last semester’s finals"?
Derivative functions? Seriously?
"Good morning."
Shen Yue returned his smile, then pulled out an exquisitely wrapped box from her drawer and placed it on his desk.
"What’s this?"
Gu Luo’s gaze was drawn to the box.
"A gift I brought back for you."
"I actually get a gift?" Gu Luo picked up the box and gave it a gentle shake, curiosity lighting his voice. "What is it? Can I open it?"
"Of course. It’s a watch. Mom helped me pick it out."
"......Isn’t this too expensive?" Gu Luo suddenly felt the gift box burning in his hands.
"It’s fine, it’s not that pricey."
Shen Yue smiled softly.
Because it really wasn’t that expensive.
Just a little over a thousand yuan.
That was her mom’s suggestion—a thousand yuan was enough to feel meaningful without being excessive for their age. Anything more would’ve been inappropriate.
"......"
Gu Luo hesitated.
He didn’t trust these little rich girls when they said something "wasn’t expensive."
The thought of the little devil casually spending ten thousand like it was nothing, or the little angel inviting him to share her hundred-thousand-yuan monthly allowance, made the gift in his hands feel even hotter.
If it was too expensive, how could he reciprocate?
No matter how close he was with Shen Yue, they were still just classmates and friends—not family.
That was fundamentally different from his relationship with the little devil and the little angel.
Being forced to spend their money... well, his conscience could just barely tolerate that.
But with Shen Yue, he didn’t want money to complicate things.
"Yue Mom... maybe we should just forget about this..."
Gu Luo slowly pushed the gift box back toward her, his face tinged with apology as he carefully explained:
"I really appreciate the thought, and I’m genuinely happy, but..."
"But we’re still just students..."
Hearing this, Shen Yue immediately placed the box back on his desk and insisted:
"Really, it’s not expensive. Just a few hundred yuan."
Well... rounding up a thousand to "a few hundred" wasn’t technically wrong.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Her initial idea had been to pick something between 5K and 20K, but her mom had outright vetoed it.
Thank goodness she’d listened—otherwise, Gu Luo definitely wouldn’t have accepted it.
Mom for the win!
"Really?"
Gu Luo still looked skeptical.
"Really!"
"Then... thanks, Yue Mom."
Only then did Gu Luo relax, his smile returning as he carefully unwrapped the box.
A gift worth a few hundred yuan was something he could handle.
This feeling of not being "kept" was truly wonderful.
The whole "little rich girl forced love" thing was already more than enough with the little devil and the little angel.
Otherwise, once his standards softened, they’d be hard to raise again.
The box was soon opened, revealing a sleek black men’s watch inside.
The watch face was minimalist in design, and the strap felt soft and comfortable to the touch.
Though he didn’t recognize the brand, it looked undeniably stylish and high-quality.
Gu Luo smiled sincerely.
"It’s really nice. Thank you, I love it."
He trusted Shen Yue enough not to immediately look up the price—that would’ve been rude.
But he’d definitely check later.
Just in case.
Seeing Gu Luo’s happiness, Shen Yue felt as if she’d swallowed honey—sweet and satisfying, a warm rush of fulfillment filling her chest, making her want to give him even more.
This feeling was strange.
She just wanted him to be happy.
The happier he was, the happier she became.
This was... no, this had to be what they called "liking" someone.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Shen Yue pulled two more boxes from her drawer.
These were also beautifully wrapped, though compared to Gu Luo’s, they were less elegant and more cute.
She grinned.
"These are gifts for Manman and Xuexue. I’ll give them to them during the long break."
Gu Ximan was Gu Luo’s sister, so of course she had to show some appreciation.
As for Lu Xuexue—even if she was a potential rival, she always brought homemade treats whenever she visited. It was only polite to return the favor.
Besides, the three of them got along really well now.
"Ah... then I’ll thank you on Manman’s behalf first," Gu Luo said, then added:
"But they won’t be coming during the long break today."
"Huh? Why not?" Shen Yue blinked, surprised.
Part of her felt sad—she’d finally made two good friends—but another part was secretly glad her rival Lu Xuexue wouldn’t be around.
Her emotions were complicated, to say the least.
"That’s what Manman told me, at least. I’m not sure why." Gu Luo shook his head, looking just as puzzled.
"I see... Then could you give these to them after school?"
"Oki-doki." Gu Luo flashed an OK sign, then quickly followed up:
"Uh... they’re not expensive, right?"
"Nope, just little accessories."
"Good. Manman’ll be thrilled."
Just then, Gu Luo’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out and saw a message from Gu Ximan.
[Gu Ximan: Big bro, can you take a walk with me in the garden during the long break?]
Reading this, Gu Luo almost rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Since when did the girl who constantly called him "stupid old bro" sound so... soft?
A bad feeling crept into his chest.
Something must’ve happened.
He immediately typed back:
[Gu Luo: Manman, did someone bully you?]
[Gu Ximan: No, no... I just really want to talk to you...]
Seeing this, Gu Luo quickly pulled up his saved class schedule, skimmed it, and replied:
[Gu Luo: Your first period is music class. I’ll go tell your teacher you’re not feeling well and that I’m taking you to the nurse’s office.]
[Gu Ximan: Bro... how do you know our first-period schedule...]
[Gu Luo: I’ve known since day one. Anyway, head to the garden first. I’m skipping class with you today.]
[Gu Ximan: Are you... really sure?]
[Gu Luo: Absolutely. Because a certain little comrade needs me right now.]
[Gu Luo: Meet you at our usual spot in the garden.]
This time, Gu Ximan’s chat bubble showed "typing..." before disappearing, then reappearing several times.
Finally, she sent back a cute panda nodding sticker.
............
............
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
