Fang Zhiyi looked at his dust-covered daughter with a strange expression.
"What's the rush?"
"Dad? What happened to our house?" Fang Xiaoyu glanced around in confusion.
Fang Zhiyi smiled and introduced, "Come, meet your uncle—he's also the village chief."
Fang Xiaoyu turned to the middle-aged man in bewilderment. The man nodded kindly at her. "Last time I saw you, you were just a little girl. Now you’ve grown into a young woman."
Fang Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. So, it wasn’t about the video thing?
Fang Zhiyi cleared his throat and raised his hand. "This concludes my summary of the path to prosperity. Everyone here has been so good to us, so I can’t keep secrets. But before we proceed, we need to do our best to beautify the village environment."
The village chief led the applause.
The villagers buzzed with discussion.
"I always knew Fang Zhiyi was a smart one."
"Before, I only heard about internet celebrities and videos. Today, I finally learned that our very own village has a big influencer."
Everyone turned to look at Fang Xiaoyu, who suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
The village chief cleared his throat. "Zhiyi already discussed this with me beforehand, so I’ve applied for a government support fund—and it’s been approved!"
The villagers cheered.
"Starting today, we’ll all follow Zhiyi’s lead. This is the road to prosperity for everyone. If anyone dares to oppose it, don’t blame me for being harsh!"
"If anyone messes with my brother, I’ll curse their whole family for three days and nights!" Aunt Zhang shouted, hands on her hips.
"Count me in," a burly man said firmly. Fang Xiaoyu remembered him—rumor had it he wasn’t someone to trifle with.
Fang Xiaoyu turned to her father in disbelief. Was his charisma always this strong? She’d never noticed before. In her memories, he was just an ordinary, hardworking man...
The village soon became a hive of activity. Every household was busy cleaning up, preparing for the upcoming renovations.
Fang Zhiyi himself was often nowhere to be seen, only occasionally appearing to film videos or help when Fang Xiaoyu needed to sell fruits and vegetables from her space.
Fang Xiaoyu was also swamped—one moment she was on the mountain, the next she was in her space. Thankfully, her father had hired a few villagers to assist, or she’d have collapsed from exhaustion. Before she knew it, the village had transformed. Nearly every house had been renovated in the same style as theirs. The roads were repaved, and even several recycling bins had appeared at the village entrance.
The feisty Aunt Zhang patrolled everywhere with a red armband—apparently, the village had assigned her the duty.
For the first time, Fang Xiaoyu stepped out of her own world and began to think. But she couldn’t figure out what her father was really planning, so she chose the simplest solution: asking him directly.
"Hmm? The village houses? They used our blueprints," Fang Zhiyi said, sprawled on a recliner. He’d been exhausted lately. Seeing Fang Xiaoyu’s puzzled look, he sat up.
"A tree that stands tall gets blown down by the wind. No one can live apart from society—where there are people, there’s conflict."
"Human nature is a strange thing, so let’s not dwell on it. After we renovated our house, at first it was fine, but over time, what would others think? Jealousy is a negative emotion everyone has. So, we had to find a way to raise the average standard," Fang Zhiyi explained calmly. "Then, with your influence, we could lift the whole village up. That’s how we make it work."
Fang Xiaoyu was stunned. "So you thought of this before we even renovated our house?"
"Of course," Fang Zhiyi replied, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "You just focus on what you love. Leave the rest to your old man."
Fang Xiaoyu paced around, studying her father. He felt unfamiliar—too unfamiliar. No wonder he’d returned to their hometown! This wasn’t just for her—it was for himself!
Fang Zhiyi’s plan succeeded brilliantly. During one of her shoots, the location was "accidentally" revealed, prompting a flood of netizens vowing to visit the picturesque place.
The very next day, the village welcomed its first wave of tourists. Thanks to a meeting Fang Zhiyi and the village chief had held the night before, the villagers were well-prepared.
"Hello, the flower fields are this way," someone directed, pointing toward the path leading to the fields where Fang Xiaoyu had transplanted flowers. Afterward, Fang Zhiyi had installed swings and benches there.
"Pick-your-own fruit is over here," another villager said, gesturing toward the local orchards. Fang Xiaoyu’s own orchard wasn’t open to the public yet.
"Fishing is available at the eastern pond."
Some visitors immediately asked about the internet celebrity Fang Xiaoyu.
Aunt Zhang narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Xiaoyu? She’s been busy planting flowers these days. She’ll probably be back in the afternoon."
The netizens had come hoping to see Fang Xiaoyu, but since that was the case, they figured they might as well enjoy themselves. And once they started exploring, they were amazed—the village was beautifully planned, with fresh air, idyllic scenery, and uniquely charming courtyards. Every angle was photo-ready!
Soon, videos and photos were posted online.
Some even shared snapshots in Fang Xiaoyu’s comment section.
This sent those who hadn’t visited into a frenzy.
"No way, I thought this was just another influencer marketing stunt, but it’s actually this gorgeous?"
"How come I’ve never heard of a place like this before?"
"I have to go. I absolutely have to!"
Then came photos of someone enjoying barbecue, captioned: "Authentic farm-raised pork—delicious and generous portions!"
The netizens’ attention shifted again.
"Whoa, look at that barbecue!"
"Did no one notice the fish that guy in the back is holding??"
"Of course the anglers would focus on that."
"No way that fish is real. It’s photoshopped!! Unless you give me the address."
"Some anglers need their eyes checked. The location tag is right there, and you still missed it."
"Hold on, guys. Let me scout it out first."
"Yeah, right. You just want it all to yourself."
By evening, Fang Xiaoyu finally descended from the mountain path, hoe in hand. She froze at the sight of the lively village but quickly remembered what her father had told her the day before. Though surprised, she thought it was a good thing.
"Look! It’s Fang Xiaoyu!" someone shouted.
"Wow! She looks exactly like in her videos!"
"Xiaoyu! Can we take a photo together?"
Fang Xiaoyu felt awkward. She’d known she was an internet celebrity, but she’d never considered how to face her "fans."
From the shadows, Fang Zhiyi watched his daughter pose for photos. Then his gaze shifted elsewhere.
The bait had been cast. He was certain the fish would bite.
"Alright, alright, our Xiaoyu has worked hard all day. Let her rest, won’t you?" Aunt Zhang pushed through the crowd.
Fang Xiaoyu smiled. "Feel free to visit again whenever you like."
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.
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?!
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."
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...
