Once he started, there was no turning back. A gambler's mentality is always to crave more after winning and chase losses after losing. He kept saying it was his last time, but in truth, there would never be a last time.
So he stole the family's savings and even borrowed money from the gambling den. When he couldn't repay it, his legs were broken as punishment. The loan sharks warned him they’d come back for their money.
Chen's Mother looked as if she had been struck by lightning after hearing this. Chen's Father, who had remained silent until then, stepped forward and started hitting him, only to be stopped by Chen's Mother after a few blows.
"Enough! Are you trying to kill him? Who will take care of us in our old age if he dies?"
Chen's Father glared furiously at his good-for-nothing son.
"What do we do now?"
Chen Azhi's eyes darted around before he suggested, "Find Chen Xiaoxiao!"
A glimmer of hope flashed in Chen's Mother's eyes.
Gu Xiaoxiao was called out of class by a schoolmate and found her birth parents waiting at the school gate. Chen's Mother scrutinized her while showering her with praise, making Gu Xiaoxiao uncomfortable. They had only met once before—why were they here today?
Sure enough, after a few pleasantries, Chen's Mother cut straight to the point and demanded money.
Gu Xiaoxiao was furious. "Why should I give you money? I have nothing to do with you!"
Chen's Mother froze, her eyes reddening as she wiped away tears. "You're our daughter! How can you say that? Xiaoxiao, you can’t be so heartless."
Her sobbing drew the attention of passersby.
Gu Xiaoxiao panicked. "Keep your voice down!"
"They took our daughter away, and you never came back! And now you won’t even acknowledge us? Heaven help us!" Chen's Mother wailed even louder.
"That’s not true! My parents gave you money!" Gu Xiaoxiao shouted.
But Chen's Father suddenly stepped forward and slapped her across the face. "Talking back? You’re my flesh and blood, understand?"
Gu Xiaoxiao was stunned.
"Money? Can money cut blood ties? You’re our daughter! Back then, if we hadn’t let you go to live a better life and help your brother someday, do you think you’d be living as a city girl now?"
More people gathered, and Gu Xiaoxiao spotted her classmates among them, wishing she could disappear into the ground.
"Talk to her properly, don’t hit her," Chen's Mother intervened. "Our daughter has always been filial."
Gu Xiaoxiao didn’t hear a word of it, clutching her stinging cheek, her eyes burning with hatred.
"You old monsters! I’m not your daughter!" she suddenly screamed before turning and running away.
Chen's Father was livid but didn’t dare chase her into the school.
Gu Xiaoxiao locked herself in her dorm room as her phone buzzed incessantly. She checked it—another message from that unknown number.
"Xiaoxiao, don’t blame your father for hitting you. Your brother is in the hospital and needs money. Please, help him."
Her heart turned to ice. So it had been her birth mother messaging her all along!
Trembling, she called Gu Xiuyuan, who dropped everything and rushed to pick her up.
The moment she saw him, the humiliation of being slapped overwhelmed her, and she threw herself into his arms, sobbing.
Gu Xiuyuan stiffened for a second before tightening his embrace, his eyes turning cold. Whoever had hurt his sister would pay.
But Gu Xiaoxiao never expected to see those two waiting in her home when she and her brother returned.
"Oh, Xiaoxiao’s back!" Chen's Mother greeted her with exaggerated delight.
Chen's Father stood stone-faced, as did Gu's parents.
"Dad, Mom, what’s going on?" Gu Xiuyuan had already heard the story on the way and was disgusted by anyone who harmed his sister.
"Hmph, ask your sister," Gu's Father said coldly, his voice dripping with resentment.
Gu Xiaoxiao’s heart skipped a beat—her father had never spoken to her or her brother like that before.
Gu Xiuyuan looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head frantically, clueless.
"Xiaoxiao, you... sigh." Gu's Mother also sighed in disappointment.
Chen's Father spoke up. "You already know the truth. I’m not an educated man, but blood is thicker than water. Our daughter has lived with your family for so long, yet she still remembers us. Now that her brother is in trouble, of course she should help."
Gu Xiaoxiao shook her head repeatedly but forced herself to maintain composure in front of her parents. "I... I cut ties with you long ago. I’m grateful you gave birth to me, but the ones who raised me are my real parents..."
Chen's Father’s face darkened.
Chen's Mother added, "Xiaoxiao, your father and I are right here. No need to pretend. You’ve been secretly saving your allowance to send us money because you worried about us. I was so touched."
Gu Xiaoxiao was stunned.
So was Gu Xiuyuan. Gu's parents stared at her in silence.
"What are you talking about? I never gave you money!" Gu Xiaoxiao panicked. She knew Gu's Father better than anyone—he had once berated Gu Panxi for supposedly still caring about her birth parents. His love was conditional.
"No wonder you suddenly asked for so much allowance before college," Gu's Father said icily. He despised being deceived most of all. "So you could support your birth parents."
"Old Gu! Is it wrong for a child to be filial?" Gu's Mother cut in.
"Filial?" Gu's Father scoffed. "Filial to people she’s met once? Using my money to play the dutiful daughter? Do you know how much she spent?" He stormed off to his room.
"No, that allowance was—" Gu Xiaoxiao wanted to explain but stopped abruptly. How could she say it? Admit she gave the money to Fang Zhiyi to bully Gu Panxi?
She was trapped. Who had impersonated her to send money to her birth parents? Was it Gu Panxi? Impossible—Gu Panxi had no money!
Seeing her distress, Gu's Mother sighed. "Xiaoxiao, talk things over with your birth parents. Once you’ve settled it, let me know, and I’ll try to calm your father down."
Gu Xiaoxiao’s mind was in chaos.
Chen's Mother reached for her hand. "Daughter, let’s go see your brother now."
Gu Xiaoxiao recoiled, but Gu Xiuyuan shielded her.
"No! I don’t acknowledge you!" she screamed before bolting out of the house. Gu Xiuyuan hesitated, then chased after her.
Gu Xiaoxiao wandered the streets, crying uncontrollably, with Gu Xiuyuan trailing behind.
"Let’s go home, Xiaoxiao."
She turned to him, eyes red. "Do I even have a home anymore?"
Gu Xiuyuan’s heart ached for her.
She bought alcohol with the little cash she had, checked into a hotel, and started drinking. Gu Xiuyuan couldn’t stop her, so he joined her. Soon, both were drunk.
The turning point of the original plot had arrived ahead of time.
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.”
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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."
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
