"O-of course."
Gu Luo suppressed the fluttering in his chest, forcing his breathing to steady.
Yet the slight tremble in his fingertips betrayed his nervousness.
He took a deep breath and slowly rested his hand atop Luo Shuning's small head.
Gently, he began to tousle her hair.
His fingers threaded through her silky strands with deliberate care,
each stroke tender and cautious.
At that moment, only one thought filled Gu Luo's mind—he wished time would slow down, freeze even, so this sweetness could last forever.
Neither spoke. One was lost in the soothing motion of the caress, the other savoring the warmth beneath his fingertips.
Gu Luo's lips parted slightly as if to say something, but after a hesitant pause, he swallowed the words back down.
Don’t rush. Don’t rush.
Haste makes waste.
There’s plenty of time.
The future is long.
How long they lingered in that blissful moment, neither could tell.
Suddenly, a bright voice sliced through the kitchen’s quiet:
"Brother, is the food ready yet?! I’m starving—!"
At Luo Shuling’s call, Gu Luo and Luo Shuning jolted as if electrocuted, scrambling apart in a fluster. Their hands flew over ingredients and plates,
busy yet accomplishing nothing.
Luo Shuling yawned as she ambled to the kitchen doorway, tilting her head. "Brother, Shuning, why are you ignoring me?"
"Ah... almost done," Gu Luo feigned calm, wrestling his voice into steadiness while his heart still hammered wildly.
Beside him, Luo Shuning kept her head bowed, lips pressed tight. She dared neither speak nor glance at Luo Shuling,
her face burning crimson—whether from shyness or the sudden interruption, it was hard to tell.
Thankfully, her curtain of dark hair shielded most of her embarrassment.
"Keep at it, then! I’ll snack on some chips first." Unbothered, Luo Shuling breezed past them, plucked a bag of cucumber-flavored chips from the fridge,
and hummed her way out of the kitchen.
Only when her slipper-clad footsteps faded did the pair exhale in unison, tension draining.
Yet silence and awkwardness quickly reclaimed the kitchen. Neither knew what to say next.
Luo Shuning fidgeted, wondering if she should consult her "strategist" for advice.
She’d never dated, never really known how to act around boys.
Now, anticipation tangled with unease in her chest—hope for something more with Gu Luo, but mostly fear of missteps.
After another stretch of quiet, Luo Shuning finally spoke: "Brother, any plans today? With the school festival next week, we’re rehearsing at noon. Will you come?"
‘Yes.’
The word nearly leapt from Gu Luo’s tongue.
But he caught himself just in time—he’d already promised Luo Shuling his day.
Damn it!
This was the perfect chance to deepen things with Luo Shuning.
Yet a promise was a promise.
Gritting his teeth, Gu Luo shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, Shuning. I’ve got something else today..."
"No need to apologize."
Luo Shuning smiled, though a flicker of disappointment crossed her face before she quickly added,
"Hanging out with friends?"
Gu Luo stiffened, nerves coiling tight.
He hated lying to her.
But how could he explain this?
The truth about Luo Shuling was impossible to share.
Maybe honesty? The thought flashed and died just as fast.
No, no...
After today, he’d be "even" with Luo Shuling anyway.
She’d behaved lately.
Best to keep it quiet.
Handle it privately.
Sorry, sorry, my little angel...
Gu Luo mentally groveled before forcing out, "Just... a class dinner."
The same lie he’d told Gu Ximan.
Now recycled.
"That’s great! You’ll bond with everyone." Luo Shuning’s smile returned. "Shen Yue will be thrilled. She loves eating."
Oh no.
Gu Luo’s vision darkened.
He’d forgotten Luo Shuning knew Shen Yue.
"Ah... yeah, haha."
His laugh was pure awkwardness.
The words had barely left his mouth when Gu Luo regretted it so much he wanted to slap himself.
Damn it, damn it.
He should’ve said he went with other classmates.
If Luo Shuning and Shen Yue were to ask about it...
Ah—!!!
Gu Luo, are you an idiot?!
How could you not think of that?!
Gu Luo didn’t even dare to imagine Luo Shuning’s expression if she found out he’d lied to her.
But there was really no helping it—his mind had been too flustered at the time. It was a spur-of-the-moment lie, with no time to think it through.
Still, according to Shen Yue, she and Luo Shuning weren’t particularly close, so they probably didn’t chat much in daily life.
Even if they did, Luo Shuning likely wouldn’t bring up something like this.
But it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Maybe he should just come clean.
But how could he explain it?
If he admitted the lie, he’d have to explain why he lied in the first place.
And that would inevitably lead to another lie about ‘that thing.’
Luo Shuning had been bringing him warm milk every single day because of it.
Gu Luo’s mind felt tangled in a mess of threads, dizzy and throbbing the more he thought about it.
Was this the price of lying?
Now, all he could do was pray for the favor of Lady Luck.
Time ticked by, and just as breakfast was nearly ready, Luo Shuning smiled and said, “Brother, I’ll go heat the milk now.”
“Ah... okay.”
Hearing that, Gu Luo’s guilt only grew heavier.
What a piece of work he was.
No matter what, after today, he wouldn’t ‘owe’ Luo Shuhe anymore.
From now on, he absolutely couldn’t slip up with the names again—no giving that little demon an opening.
He could only hope everything would be resolved smoothly today.
............
............
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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?!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
