Yan Beichen left without saying a word.
Two days later, he returned, accompanied by the owner of the cake shop.
"From now on, this shop belongs to President Yan. Everyone, greet him properly!"
The staff were stunned—was he really this loaded?
Yan Beichen spoke calmly, "Starting today, Xiao Ruoruo is fired."
Xan Ruoruo froze for a moment, then took off her uniform and walked out.
"Where are you going?" Yan Beichen asked.
"None of your business! Do you think money is everything? I can support myself!" Xiao Ruoruo ran off again.
In the vice president's office, Yan Nanzhe stared dumbfounded at the stack of contracts handed to him by his newly hired secretary. "What?"
The secretary replied cautiously, "President Yan bought a cake shop, then a milk tea shop, a clothing store, a flower shop... All paid through the company's accounts."
Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected such absurdity. "Isn’t the finance department losing their minds?"
The secretary nodded. "The finance manager is cursing up a storm in his office." As she pushed the door open, the sound of hysterical yelling echoed from outside.
Yan Nanzhe wanted to say something, but after catching Fang Zhiyi’s look, he simply nodded. "Alright, got it."
Eventually, Xiao Ruoruo returned, walking hand-in-hand with Yan Beichen into the office. Someone immediately came to report.
Yan Nanzhe eagerly grabbed a tablet to check the surveillance feed. Seeing the two cuddled up sweetly, his face twisted in disgust and confusion. "Bro Fang, I used to think my older brother was impressive. Now I realize I never really knew him."
Fang Zhiyi thought to himself, No kidding! He only seemed impressive because the old man was always cleaning up his messes!
The board of directors had raised objections over the reckless shop purchases, but the old man had forcefully silenced them.
Fang Zhiyi was too curious not to ask his system, "Did Yan Beichen save the old man’s life or something? Why is he still covering for him?"
The system hesitated for a long time, so Fang Zhiyi cut straight to the point. "I’ve got enough points saved up. Worst case, I’ll just coast, and your little brain will stay stunted forever." (The system grew stronger only by completing tasks assigned by Fang Zhiyi.)
"Fine, I’ll tell you secretly," the system whispered mysteriously. "Yan Beichen is actually the son of the old man and his first love. Yan Nanzhe is the child from the later marriage. Since Yan Nanzhe’s mother died young, no one ever brought it up."
"Holy shit! How could you keep such crucial info from me?" Fang Zhiyi was furious.
The system sounded defensive. "Well, it wasn’t relevant to your tasks. Why dig into it?"
"I don’t care. From now on, if you want me to complete missions, you’d better give me all the details. Fair enough?"
The system finally relented.
"Also, Yan Beichen knows the truth," the system added as a bonus.
"No wonder."
News of President Yan’s engagement spread throughout the company. Everyone received an invitation—Yan Beichen wasn’t stingy about it. Most importantly, he wanted the entire company to know Xiao Ruoruo was his fiancée!
Staring at the invitation on his desk, Yan Nanzhe grumbled again. "He still has the nerve to get engaged? I’m drowning in work! I’m not going!"
Fang Zhiyi smirked. "You should go. There’ll be drama."
"Nah. Just seeing Xiao Ruoruo annoys me. She’s a complete idiot."
"But Chen Wanting will probably be there."
"Bro Fang, what should I wear to look good?"
Watching Yan Nanzhe’s sudden change in attitude, Fang Zhiyi scoffed. "You’d look best naked!"
The engagement banquet was held at the city’s grandest venue, the Four Seas Restaurant. Yan Nanzhe, dressed to impress, stood at the entrance waiting for Chen Wanting, while Fang Zhiyi sat nearby, anticipating the show.
Many guests arrived, including the old man, who had been living it up abroad. He didn’t seem thrilled about his son marrying a girl from an ordinary family, but he didn’t interfere.
Yan Nanzhe shamelessly seated himself beside Chen Wanting, cracking jokes that kept her laughing. For the first time, she gave the younger Yan heir a proper look, her earlier gloom over Yan Beichen’s engagement fading.
But halfway through the ceremony, a woman carrying a child walked in.
"Yan Beichen."
The hall fell silent.
Onstage, Yan Beichen’s expression twisted in shock.
Tears glistened in Xie Yutang’s eyes as she gently smoothed her child’s hair. "Niantang, this is your father." The baby, too young to speak, seemed to understand, reaching out toward Yan Beichen for a hug.
A collective gasp swept through the room. Even Yan Nanzhe, who had been laser-focused on Chen Wanting, was stunned.
Fang Zhiyi, having struck a deal with his system, studied the child—the same one who, in the future, would use his genius hacking skills to bring Yan Nanzhe down.
Xie Yutang, maintaining her composure, smiled tearfully at the baby. "Alright, you’ve seen him. Let’s go." With that, she turned to leave.
After a heavy silence, a figure leaped off the stage and sprinted toward the exit, leaving Xiao Ruoruo sobbing on the floor.
Fang Zhiyi tossed aside the melon seeds he’d been snacking on. Glancing at Yan Nanzhe, who had already refocused on Chen Wanting, he slipped away quietly. Today was Yan Nanzhe’s chance to shine—Fang Zhiyi still had work to handle.
Later, back in the office, Fang Zhiyi was surprised to see Yan Nanzhe walk in. "What’s up? No date?"
"Date my ass. Big bro ran off, the old man’s furious, and I got chewed out for no reason. I didn’t even get to see Chen Wanting off."
"Hey, Bro Fang," Yan Nanzhe grumbled, "do you think I was adopted? It’s not like I ran away, yet he still blamed me."
Fang Zhiyi’s pen paused. "You weren’t adopted. The old man is definitely your father."
Yan Nanzhe gave him a strange look. "Bro Fang, do you know something?"
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "No."
"Come on, we’re bros! Don’t hold out on me!"
Fang Zhiyi feigned hesitation, though inwardly delighted—this was the perfect opportunity. He’d been worried Yan Nanzhe might hesitate, but now...
"Back when I worked for your brother, I overheard him say a few things while drunk," Fang Zhiyi said carefully. "Take it with a grain of salt, alright?"
Yan Nanzhe’s face turned serious. "Tell me."
Fang Zhiyi revealed the truth about their different mothers—with some embellishments, of course.
Yan Nanzhe sat in silence for a long moment before collapsing onto the couch. "That explains everything. No matter what crap my brother pulls, he gets praised. Meanwhile, nothing I do is ever right."
Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Fang Zhiyi knew the timing was perfect.
"So, about that plan..."
"Do it, Bro Fang. I trust you’ve got everything prepared, right?" Yan Nanzhe grinned, back to his usual playful self.

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."

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.”

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?!