The next day.
At noon, the house was left with only Gu Ximan and Luo Shuhe.
"Ximan, I have something to take care of outside, so I won’t be joining you for lunch," Luo Shuhe said as she straightened her skirt, addressing Gu Ximan, who was sprawled on the sofa.
"Mm, bye," Gu Ximan replied weakly, waving her hand.
Luo Shuhe gave her a thoughtful glance, shook her head, and then headed for the door.
As she walked, she sent a message to a contact labeled 【Peak Dad】:
【Luo Shuhe: Dad, I heard Mom has meetings all day today, so I’ll come keep you company for lunch.】
At that moment, the entire house fell into silence, leaving Gu Ximan alone.
She stared anxiously at the time on her phone, her mind racing over how she would bring up the topic with Lu Xuexue later.
Would they still be able to stay as close as before after she laid everything out?
Ugh.
So frustrating.
It’s all because of that jerk of an older brother who can’t keep his hands to himself.
Well, if that’s the case, better to rip the bandage off quickly.
With that thought, Gu Ximan immediately sat up, slipped on her slippers, and rushed to her room to change.
............
An hour later.
Inside Lu Xuexue’s room.
Sunlight filtered through the pale pink curtains, casting a soft glow.
The two best friends sat on opposite sides of the bed, staring at each other in silence.
After what felt like an eternity, Gu Ximan suddenly took a deep breath and cut straight to the chase:
"Xuexue, is that senior you like… my annoying older brother?"
Her voice wasn’t loud, but in the quiet room, it hit like a thunderclap.
Even though Lu Xuexue had braced herself, the zero-warning question still caught her off guard.
Her face flushed instantly, and her hands fidgeted nervously in her hair. After a long pause, she finally stammered:
"Um... I... I like Gu Luo..."
Just as expected.
Even though she already knew the truth, Gu Ximan’s heart still felt like it had been struck hard, a sharp pain shooting through her.
Clenching her teeth, she took the plunge and declared:
"Xuexue, the person I like is also Gu Luo."
The moment those words left her mouth, Lu Xuexue’s jaw dropped in shock, her mind going completely blank.
What?
What did she just hear?
Who likes who?!
After a long pause, she managed to suppress her disbelief and asked in a trembling voice:
"Ximan... what did you just say?"
"I—SAID—I—LIKE—GU—LUO." Gu Ximan enunciated each word with all her strength, her voice firm.
Then, she dropped another bombshell—"And, Gu Luo and I aren’t related by blood."
At this point, Lu Xuexue’s brain completely short-circuited.
Too much information.
Her CPU couldn’t process it.
How was she supposed to compete with that?
She knew better than anyone how deep the bond between Gu Luo and Gu Ximan was.
If Gu Ximan confessed, Gu Luo would agree no matter what.
Just then, Gu Ximan clenched her fists and spoke solemnly:
"I know you’ve already confessed to Gu Luo, Xuexue. You’re probably already together."
"But."
"I don’t want to give up, so tonight, I’m going to tell Gu Luo how I feel."
Lu Xuexue was utterly stunned, her mind reeling from the barrage of ‘bombshells.’
Wait.
Who confessed to who?
Who’s together with who?
Ximan is going to confess to Gu Luo tonight?
This... it’s only been a day, right?
Why does it feel like a whole year has passed?
"Xuexue, I’m sorry."
Gu Ximan stepped off the bed and bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.
"I really am sorry. I’m the one who broke our promise."
"So, even if you want to cut ties with me, I won’t argue."
"But you’ll always be my best friend."
Lu Xuexue stared blankly at the scene, her brain working overtime as she stammered:
"Ximan... is there some kind of misunderstanding here?"
"I... I never confessed to Gu Luo..."
"You... me... what’s even going on?"
Huh?
Huh?
HUH?!
Gu Ximan’s face froze in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief as she asked in a shaky voice:
"Then... what about yesterday, when he carried you in a princess hold...?"
"Weren’t you confessing then?"
"...No?" Lu Xuexue looked like she wanted to cry. She had considered it, but she never actually said anything.
This was outright slander.
"Ah... then... what were you two talking about...? You looked so close and happy..." By now, Gu Ximan’s face was burning red, the flush spreading to her ears and neck.
"We... we were talking about you, Ximan... Gu Luo kept going on about how well-behaved and adorable you were when you were little..."
Gu Ximan stood frozen in place.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds.
Suddenly—
"AAAAAAAAAAAH—!"
A high-pitched shriek erupted from Gu Ximan before she covered her face, now red enough to drip blood, her entire body resembling a boiled shrimp.
............
............

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!

tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...

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?!

and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!