Inside the viewing area, the space was still filled with the lingering, enchanting atmosphere of the performance.
Once everyone had regained their composure, Xu Shasha eagerly pointed at Gu Luo, who was preparing to take his final bow on stage, and said to Luo Liang beside her, "Liang-jie, look! That handsome young man is my future son-in-law."
"Let me introduce him—his name is Gu Luo. Isn’t he incredibly handsome and talented?"
It was clear that Xu Shasha already regarded Gu Luo as part of her family.
She looked at him with the same pride as if he were her own son, her joy unmistakable.
Xu Shasha had absolute confidence in her daughter.
Once her daughter successfully lost weight, given the family’s generational good looks, there was no way Gu Luo wouldn’t be smitten.
Especially since she’d heard from the homeroom teacher that Gu Luo and Shen Yue were practically inseparable these days.
This only solidified the foundation of their relationship.
All that was left was to wait for their feelings to blossom.
Since the room was unusually quiet at the moment, Xu Shasha’s words were heard clearly by everyone.
Hearing this, a middle-aged woman asked in surprise, "Shasha, is this boy Yueyue’s boyfriend?"
As she spoke, she continued recording the scene on her phone, clearly unwilling to miss a single moment.
"Not yet, but he will be soon," Xu Shasha replied with a confident smile, speaking without hesitation.
"I even made a point to meet him this morning."
At this, she lifted her chin slightly, her tone full of certainty. "It’s only a matter of time before he’s with my Yueyue. I’ll have to visit his family soon."
"Is that so? Congratulations then," the middle-aged woman said, though inwardly, she was already calculating.
She couldn’t believe that such an outstanding and handsome young man would actually be interested in Xu Shasha’s chubby daughter.
Clearly, Xu Shasha was just staking her claim.
Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to introduce such an exceptional young man to her own family?
Most importantly, Gu Luo’s looks were flawless.
Even without considering his other qualities, his striking appearance alone was enough to make any woman’s heart flutter.
Moreover, students who could attend Guangya Academy either came from influential families or were exceptionally talented themselves.
Any one of these traits, combined with Gu Luo’s looks, was an unbeatable combination.
"My daughter has excellent taste. Right now, Gu Luo only spends time with her and doesn’t interact with other girls," Xu Shasha continued, eagerly sharing everything she knew.
Luo Liang stood silently to the side, listening expressionlessly. She seemed like she wanted to say something but held back.
Principal Liu wore a similarly complicated expression, his gaze shifting between Xu Shasha and Luo Liang.
He knew Gu Luo’s true identity.
And from the looks of it, Xu Shasha was completely unaware.
This was awkward.
Should he say something?
"By the way, Old Liu, how are Gu Luo’s grades? Does his family have any connections we know?" the middle-aged woman asked, turning to Principal Liu.
"Gu Luo is a transfer student this semester. He was consistently ranked first at Caizhou Academy. As for whether his family has any connections with yours..."
Principal Liu’s expression grew even more strained.
He cleared his throat, trying to mask his discomfort, and continued, "Actually, yes. And very close ones at that."
"Really? Which family’s child is he?" The middle-aged woman perked up immediately at this news.
She hadn’t expected Gu Luo to not only excel academically but also come from a well-connected family. It was almost too perfect.
But upon closer thought, something felt off.
She didn’t recall having any friends with the surname Gu.
Now, everyone’s curiosity was piqued, and all eyes turned to Principal Liu, waiting for his answer.
Just as Principal Liu was about to speak, Luo Liang, who had remained silent until now, spoke up in a calm, measured tone:
"Gu Luo is my son."
The moment these words left her mouth, the room erupted in surprise.
Gu Luo was Luo Liang’s son?
Some alumni who didn’t know Luo Liang had remarried immediately began imagining all sorts of illegitimate child scenarios.
Xu Shasha, who knew the truth, was stunned. Her lips parted slightly, and after a long pause, she finally managed, "Liang-jie… so we’re in-laws?"
Luo Liang ignored her and calmly explained to the group, "Gu Luo is my stepson. I remarried a week ago."
Her voice was soft, but every word was clear, as if she were stating the most ordinary fact.
"So that’s why you were so calm when little Luo held Ningning’s hand earlier," the middle-aged woman mused, her tone laced with implication.
Luo Liang remained expressionless. "Holding hands was just part of the performance."
After a brief pause, she added, "Of course, if Gu Luo and Shu Ning develop real feelings, I won’t object."
To her, the fact that they were step-siblings without blood ties meant nothing, and she couldn’t care less about others’ opinions.
Xu Shasha, meanwhile, was completely speechless. She wanted to say something but didn’t know how to respond.
Luo Liang’s stance was crystal clear.
She wouldn’t stand in the way if her stepson and daughter got together.
In matters like this, not objecting was the same as full support.
And if the competition was Luo Shuning, Xu Shasha wasn’t confident her daughter could win.
Just imagining Gu Luo and Luo Shuning living under the same roof, interacting so closely every day—both so outstanding—made Xu Shasha’s head ache.
But she had truly set her sights on Gu Luo, and her daughter was undoubtedly smitten with him.
It wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible.
If push came to shove, she, the future mother-in-law, would step in and give fate a nudge.
A daring rescue mission.
"Luo Liang."
At that moment, Mayor Li, who had been silent until now, set down his teacup and smiled warmly.
"If possible, I’d like to invite Gu Luo to the government compound sometime to perform the suona for some of our senior colleagues."
"What do you think?"
Before Luo Liang could respond, Director Zhou, seated nearby, chimed in, "I’ve studied the suona myself, but I’ve never heard this piece before."
"Gu Luo must come from a family of musicians, right? This must be a treasured heirloom piece."
"If possible, this composition should really be shared with the world."
A family of musicians?
Luo Liang wasn’t sure how to answer.
As far as she remembered, Gu Feng didn’t know how to play any instruments.
And he was an orphan who grew up in a welfare home.
She’d have to ask Gu Luo about this later.
"I’ll discuss it with Gu Luo when we get home," Luo Liang replied succinctly.
This was ultimately Gu Luo’s decision.
"Thank you," Mayor Li said with a smile.
......
[Notification: Special mission completed.]
[Special mission rewards: Skill Mastery Card ×1, Intelligence +1, Physical Fitness +1, 1000 points.]
[Older Brother: Gu Luo]
【Points: 1026】
【Charm: 9, Intelligence: 9, Physical Fitness: 8】
【......】
A thousand points and attribute boosts.
What a windfall, what a windfall.
Gu Luo was thoroughly pleased with the rewards this time.
With 9 points in intelligence, it should be more than enough to surpass Little Angel’s grades.
At this thought, the corners of his lips curled slightly, revealing a faint smile of anticipation.
Time to... surpass her!
On stage.
As the members of the Music Club bowed to conclude their performance, they deliberately left the center positions for Gu Luo, Luo Shuning, and Qu Meimei.
Yes, Qu Meimei was included in the spotlight too.
Even Ren Lei now believed this was an innovative twist the trio had planned in advance.
She felt both bewildered and a little hurt.
To think Shuning had kept even her in the dark.
And here she’d been worrying about her just moments ago.
Meanwhile, Qu Meimei stood beside Gu Luo, her expression as complicated as if she’d eaten something vile.
Yet, in front of the audience, she had no choice but to force a strained smile.
Her emotions were a tangled mess.
What the hell was going on?
Why were Gu Luo and Luo Shuning suddenly so close?
Why did it seem like they’d known she was going to cause trouble?
She racked her brains.
It made no sense.
Absolutely no sense.
Her CPU was about to overheat.
But the one thing Qu Meimei knew for certain was this:
Right now, she was the clown.
A clown wearing a painted smile.
Like a sewer rat dragged into the harsh sunlight, all her ugliness and wretchedness laid bare for everyone to see.
............
............
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!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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?"
