“That little wretch still isn’t back?” Hu Xiulian scolded as she clattered her bowl with her chopsticks. “Xiao Wen, did you see her on your way home from school?”
Liu Wen kept his head down and said nothing, only shaking his head.
Hu Xiulian fumed, “If she’s not coming back, fine! Let’s eat! Let her starve!”
She turned her face and finally noticed something wrong: “What happened to your face? Who hit you?”
Hu Xiulian jumped to her feet. “Who slapped your face so swollen?”
Liu Wen almost blurted it out. His mind was in turmoil. Today, Fang Xiaolian had looked at him with that expression—like she wanted to kill him! How could he not be scared?
“Hmph, hmph.” Liu Wu ate his meal slowly, gloating as he watched Liu Wen.
Liu Wen felt a surge of anger. Just as he was about to speak, Fang Zhiyi, who had been eating in silence, suddenly spoke up: “Xiao Wu, you wouldn’t still be holding a grudge against your big brother, would you?”
At those words, a “brilliant idea” flashed through Liu Wen’s mind.
Before Liu Wu could answer, Liu Wen suddenly pointed at him.
“Liu Wu hit me! He hid by the roadside and threw a stone at me when I wasn’t paying attention!” Liu Wen blurted out.
Liu Wu froze. “Huh?”
Hu Xiulian turned to her younger son, utterly shocked. “Xiao Wu, how could you…”
“Liu Wen! Say that again!” Liu Wu slammed his bowl down and shouted.
Liu Wen was now committed. “Mom, look! He’s about to hit me again!”
Hu Xiulian immediately shielded Liu Wen with her body, pointing at her younger son. “What? Are you really going to hit your brother? Haven’t you embarrassed us enough from last time?”
Because there had been a precedent, she hardly doubted Liu Wen’s words.
Liu Wu stared at his big brother and mother in disbelief, gritting his teeth in fury. “Fine, fine. So this is how you see me, huh? Yeah, I hit him! So what? He’s only one year older than me, and he acts like the boss? Hah, bullshit!”
Hu Xiulian, already bottled up with frustration lately, slapped him across the face without a second thought. Liu Wu stood there stunned, while Liu Wen felt a secret satisfaction.
If he couldn’t mess with that crazy woman, at least he could put Liu Wu in his place, right?
Liu Wu exploded, bitterness flooding his heart. “You’re always playing favorites! You always take his side! I’m done with all of you! I’m going to go live with Grandma and Grandpa!” He flipped the table and ran off.
The already meager dishes on the table all spilled to the ground, except for two bowls that Fang Zhiyi had been holding.
“You—how dare you! Get back here!” Hu Xiulian chased after him.
Liu Wen squinted as he watched his younger brother and mother disappear through the doorway, finally feeling a bit of relief from his anger.
“Ah, I need to go find Xiao Lian to get some work done. Xiao Wen, you keep an eye on the house. Later, try to talk some sense into your mom. He’s your little brother after all, but I think you’re much more sensible than he is. I’ll be counting on you in the future.” Fang Zhiyi sighed, got up, and left.
Liu Wen watched his back and silently mouthed, “Dream on.” Then he, too, returned to his room. As for that Fang Xiaolian—she’d better wait. He would get his revenge sooner or later!
Fang Zhiyi found Fang Xiaolian crouching under a tree behind the mountain, her face full of fear. Fang Zhiyi said nothing, just handed her the food he had brought.
“Eat up, quick!”
“Dad, I…”
“What ‘I’? Didn’t come home for dinner? Don’t want to split the money with me?” Fang Zhiyi gave a cold laugh. “I’m telling you, the money you earn is meant to support your old man!”
Seeing that Fang Zhiyi wasn’t scolding her for hitting her big brother, Fang Xiaolian felt a wave of relief.
“What are you staring at? Where’s the ledger?”
And so, the usual routine began. Fang Xiaolian endured her troubles while listening to Fang Zhiyi’s rambling. She sometimes found herself thinking that what her father said actually made a sort of sense—if only he could be a little more hardworking, they wouldn’t be so poor.
Liu Wu hadn’t expected that his usually doting grandmother wouldn’t even come out to see him. Instead, that fierce Second Uncle came out, glaring at him and telling him to get lost. He also pointed at Hu Xiulian, cursing her out loud, which drew a crowd of villagers.
Most people in the village knew about the way Hu Xiulian and Fang Zhiyi behaved. Everyone despised it—words of accusation flew from all sides. Hu Xiulian tried to fight back with her sharp tongue, but in the end, she lost, and had to drag her younger son home.
But on the way, Liu Wu kept yelling that he wanted to live with his grandmother and wouldn’t acknowledge her anymore. This set Hu Xiulian off, and she slapped him across the face. That finally silenced him. He looked at his mother with cold eyes and didn’t say another word.
Life went on as usual, but the atmosphere in the Fang household had grown noticeably icy. Fang Zhiyi spent his days loafing around, occasionally bringing home some spare change. Liu Wen and Liu Wu now slept in separate rooms, their hostility toward each other so deep that they’d come to blows over the slightest disagreement. Hu Xiulian was run ragged managing household chores and mediating between her sons. Whenever she wanted to vent her anger on Fang Xiaolian, Fang Xiaolian was hardly ever home except for meals—leaving her stewing in frustration, which she redirected toward her own two boys.
“It’s hard to be a good person, but acting like a scumbag? That’s a walk in the park.” Fang Zhiyi, chewing on a blade of grass, sauntered over to his second brother’s land. His parents were already waiting there.
When they saw him, the two old people pulled out money wrapped in a plastic bag from their pockets. “Son, take it. Use it carefully, and don’t let Xiao Lian suffer…”
Fang Zhiyi took the money impatiently. “Why all the fuss? Just do your work!”
“Fang Zhiyi, have you no decency at all? Mom and Dad are old, and they earn some money from raising pigs—are you really taking that too?” A sudden roar came, and Fang Zhiyi turned to see his second brother charging over with a stick. He immediately made a run for it. “They owe it to me! Got a problem with that?”
“Stop right there!” Second Brother Fang was furious, but the old couple stepped in to block him, leaving him to watch Fang Zhiyi escape.
“You two just keep spoiling him! Go ahead!” He hurled his stick to the ground in disgust.
Fang’s father and mother exchanged glances and fell silent.
At the dinner table, Hu Xiulian stared at Fang Xiaolian. “Xiao Lian, your big brother’s exams are coming up. I want to talk something over with you.”
Fang Xiaolian lowered her head, her mind full of that day’s business accounts.
“Starting next year, you won’t need to go to school anymore. What’s the point of a girl studying so much? A waste of money. Besides, we don’t have that much. Your big brother will need a lot for college in the future. I’ve talked it over with your dad—starting next year, you’ll work full days. You can earn eighty bucks a day!” Hu Xiulian, unusually, picked up a piece of vegetable and placed it in Fang Xiaolian’s bowl.
Fang Xiaolian’s heart went cold. The day had come, just as she had feared.
She said nothing, only silently shoveling rice into her mouth.
Seeing her stay quiet, Hu Xiulian didn’t think much of it. After all, Fang Zhiyi hadn’t opposed the idea. This little brat’s opinion didn’t matter anyway.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
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?"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
