Gu Luo swiftly put away his phone and turned to Shen Yue beside him, asking:
"Yue Mom, do you have any candy with you?"
"Of course, of course." Shen Yue immediately pulled out a pack of fruit-flavored candies from the drawer.
"Thanks, Yue Mom. Ximan isn’t feeling too well, so I’ll take her to the infirmary during first period." Gu Luo thanked her while picking out a few of Gu Ximan’s favorite flavors and slipping them into his pocket.
"Oh... is she okay?" Shen Yue asked with concern.
"Don’t worry, she’ll be fine."
Gu Luo reassured her with a smile, then gently placed his watch and the box back into the drawer before standing up and leaving the classroom.
"I hope Manman is alright."
Watching Gu Luo’s retreating figure, Shen Yue murmured a quiet prayer.
But not long after, her phone buzzed.
Pulling it out, she saw—unsurprisingly—a message from her mom. At this hour, it could only be her.
Yet the next moment, Shen Yue’s face flushed red.
[Xu Shasha: Sweetie, class is about to start. You’ve given him the watch, right?]
[Xu Shasha: Forgot to mention—this is actually a pair of couple’s watches. The other one’s in your room’s drawer~~~]
[Xu Shasha: (Cat laughing emoji.jpg)]
Meanwhile.
"Manman, what’s wrong?"
Lu Xuexue whispered worriedly to Gu Ximan.
"It’s nothing... I’ll tell you later, Xuexue..."
Gu Ximan took a deep breath, forcing back the sting in her nose as she mustered a faint smile.
Her mind was still swirling with Gu Luo’s message—[Because a certain little comrade needs me right now.]
And to think her infuriating big brother had even secretly memorized her class schedule.
Gu Ximan wished she could sprint to Gu Luo’s side right this instant and hug him tightly.
Ugh, why did he have to be so good to her...?
It only dragged her deeper into this emotional spiral.
The more doting and protective Gu Luo was, the harder it became to voice the words lodged in her throat.
"Ah... okay..."
Lu Xuexue nodded softly, wanting to ask more but swallowing her words at the last moment.
The atmosphere between them had grown delicate.
She had a hunch Gu Ximan had already guessed the identity of that senior.
Yet both chose silence, neither willing to pierce that thin veil between them.
They feared that once laid bare, it might trigger a chain of uncontrollable consequences.
If things escalated, even their years of friendship could shatter.
After steadying her emotions, Gu Ximan quickly stood and strode out of the classroom.
Right now, her heart and mind held only one thought—to see Gu Luo as soon as possible.
......
The small garden.
The air carried the faint, soothing fragrance of chrysanthemums.
Gu Ximan sat primly on a wooden bench, glancing around intermittently.
Eager for Gu Luo to appear, yet anxious about being spotted by a teacher.
Then again, at this hour, most teachers were in class—unlikely anyone would come here.
Even if they were caught, her infuriating big brother would handle it.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a familiar voice sounded beside her—
"Ah, open up."
Gu Ximan instinctively turned to find Gu Luo standing behind her, grinning as he held out a peeled candy near her lips.
She froze, her brain lagging as her body moved on its own, obediently parting her mouth.
"Sweet?"
Gu Ximan savored her favorite strawberry flavor, eyes bright as she nodded eagerly:
"Super sweet!"
Sweet on her tongue.
Sweeter still in her heart.
"Good." Gu Luo chuckled, circling the bench to sit beside her, a teasing glint in his eyes:
"So, how does skipping class with your infuriating big brother feel today?"
"It feels amazing!"
Gu Ximan answered while secretly fantasizing—what if they could skip town together? Somewhere no one knew them, where no one else could covet Gu Luo.
Noticing her mood had visibly lifted, Gu Luo finally spoke softly, his tone tender:
"So... what did you want to tell me, Manman?"
"I’m all ears."
At that, Gu Ximan’s expression faltered. After a hesitant pause, she lowered her head, murmuring sheepishly:
"I... I wanted to apologize."
"Apologize for what?"
"For last night... I shouldn’t have ignored your feelings and posted those photos without asking..." Gu Ximan’s voice grew smaller, her face ducking like an ostrich’s, too embarrassed to meet his eyes.
"That’s it?"
Gu Luo couldn’t help but laugh, his tone light:
"I thought it was something serious."
"Huh?" Gu Ximan’s head snapped up, disbelief coloring her voice:
"Bro... you’re not mad...?"
"Why would I be mad?" Gu Luo countered.
"Because I... I mean..." Gu Ximan’s thoughts tangled, stumbling over her words.
After fumbling for a while, she finally managed:
"But if those photos spread... people might gossip..."
"Do you care about that gossip, Manman?"
"Not at all..." Gu Ximan answered reflexively, then blinked in realization.
Wait, why was she the one being questioned now?
"Then why assume I would?"
Gu Luo leaned back comfortably against the bench, smiling as he gazed at her, utterly at ease:
"Ever considered that I actually love showing off how close I am with my dear Manman?"
"You’re the most important person to me."
"As for the gossip? Just jealous folks wishing they had a sweet, adorable little sister like you. The more they talk, the happier I’ll be—absolutely thrilled."
Just then, sunlight spilled perfectly across half his handsome face, a breeze tousling the soft bangs over his forehead.
Gu Ximan was spellbound.
All surrounding sounds—birds chirping, insects humming, the distant school bell—vanished from her world.
She stared dazedly until Gu Luo’s voice snapped her back to reality.
"Oi, oi, Comrade Manman, did my dazzling looks leave you speechless?" Grinning, Gu Luo struck a pose, sweeping his hair back with exaggerated flair—so ridiculous it shattered the moment’s elegance entirely.
Gu Ximan’s cheeks burned, her heart pounding wildly out of control.
She quickly turned away, her snow-white legs pressing tightly together. With a faux haughty "hmph," her lashes fluttered as she muttered under her breath:
"Stupid... stupid big brother, always teasing me..."
"You... you... you’re just the worst, most infuriating big brother ever!"
Watching Gu Ximan’s tsundere yet utterly adorable display, Gu Luo couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
He then pulled another candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and held it to her lips:
"Say 'ah.'"
"Hmph... ah~~~"
"Is it sweet?"
"It's alright, about as sweet as the last one," Gu Ximan replied, tilting her increasingly flushed face further away.
After a pause, she added, "Stupid big bro, I figured something out."
"Oh? What grand revelation has Comrade Ximan stumbled upon this time?" Gu Luo teased with a grin.
"Nuh-uh... not telling you!" Gu Ximan turned her head away, sticking out her tongue playfully before quickly facing forward again.
Seeing his silly little sister back to her usual self, Gu Luo didn’t press further. Instead, he shifted the topic:
"So, Ximan, how did you change your mind so suddenly overnight?"
At his question, the image of Luo Shuling’s short-haired, lively face flashed through Gu Ximan’s mind. After a brief hesitation, she mumbled,
"It was Shu He. She talked to me last night, but I didn’t really get it at first. I only understood after I got to school."
"I see..."
Gu Luo nodded thoughtfully.
So it was Shu He again.
Unbidden, memories of being ambushed by that little devil’s kisses resurfaced.
He had to admit—the weight she carried in his heart had grown just a little heavier.
............
............
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!
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?!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
