"Did he take the bait?" Fang Zhiyi asked Little Hei without turning his head.
Little Hei stared intently: "He took it, he took it. His eyes are practically spitting fire right now."
"That's good." Fang Zhiyi smiled.
Seeing him smile, Sun Xiaomei was a bit puzzled: "What are you smiling at?"
Fang Zhiyi looked at her: "Nothing, I just thought of something happy."
"What happy thing?" Sun Xiaomei was very satisfied with Fang Zhiyi after spending these past few days with him. Not only did he understand her well, but he could also accurately help her roast those colleagues of hers and that best friend.
She just didn't know why he hadn't confessed his feelings to her yet. Was he shy?
Fang Zhiyi immediately changed the subject: "Hungry, right? I'll treat you to some local specialties today."
Looking at the small hole-in-the-wall restaurant beside them, Sun Xiaomei frowned. She didn't say anything, but her opinion of Fang Zhiyi shifted slightly.
The two continued to talk, but the conversation lacked the earlier enthusiasm. Fang Zhiyi counted silently in his head: "Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three..."
"Eh? Zhiyi, you're here?"
The stone in Fang Zhiyi's heart dropped, but he turned around with feigned surprise: "Lin Zhou? Where have you been lately?"
Lin Zhou glanced at the girl and flashed his watch somewhat smugly: "Where else? Doing some engineering projects with my Big Brother. And this is?"
Fang Zhiyi moved to introduce them, but Sun Xiaomei took the initiative: "I am Sun Xiaomei."
"Hello, hello. I'm Lin Zhou, Zhiyi's brother. We grew up together."
Fang Zhiyi was overjoyed inside. Yes! Just like that!
These two people before him shared a specific characteristic: if they saw a best friend or brother living happily, they would do whatever it took to break them up and take their place. This was the most fundamental trait of a "tiger's thrall"—a parasite.
"Zhiyi, how are you doing so poorly that you're eating at a place like this?" In reality, Lin Zhou might not usually be able to afford much better, but with a girl present, he couldn't afford to lose face.
Fang Zhiyi looked at him with a complicated expression.
Seeing his expression, Lin Zhou instantly felt he had guessed correctly.
"Say, haven't you found a job since you got fired? Do you want to come work with my Big Brother?"
Fang Zhiyi turned his face away.
Sun Xiaomei froze upon hearing this. Did this mean the Fang Zhiyi before her had no money? And had been fired? Her favorability toward Fang Zhiyi instantly plummeted by a large margin.
"I'm going to the restroom." Fang Zhiyi stood up as if to escape. Lin Zhou was delighted inside; this was exactly how it should be!
Fang Zhiyi deliberately gave the two plenty of time to talk. Sure enough, when he came out, the way Sun Xiaomei looked at him had changed.
Lin Zhou, on the other hand, said: "What took you so long? Hurry up and sit down to eat." He continued to act as if he were the host.
Fang Zhiyi couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore. He leaned in close to Lin Zhou's ear and said: "Lin Zhou, you cover the bill in a bit. I just... realized I didn't bring any money."
Lin Zhou exaggeratedly raised his voice: "You came out on a date without money? Nice one, brother!"
Sun Xiaomei's face went completely cold.
Seeing his goal achieved, Lin Zhou quickly patted Fang Zhiyi's shoulder: "It's fine, I'll treat you. Who told us to be brothers, right? You can roll with me from now on!"
After the meal, with Sun Xiaomei present, Lin Zhou actually did pay the bill. However, when Fang Zhiyi said he was heading in a different direction, Sun Xiaomei's reaction was cold.
Fang Zhiyi didn't mind. What he wanted was to destroy the goodwill he had accumulated over the past few days; otherwise, being entangled with this creature would be troublesome.
"Lin Zhou, could you walk Xiaomei home for me?"
Lin Zhou thumped his chest: "No problem!"
Watching the two walk away, with Lin Zhou buzzing around Sun Xiaomei like a fly, Fang Zhiyi finally let out a sigh of relief.
What happens when two parasites get together?
Lin Zhou certainly didn't disappoint Fang Zhiyi. After badmouthing Fang Zhiyi quite a bit, he won Sun Xiaomei's approval. The two of them roasted Fang Zhiyi together, criticizing everything from his hairstyle to his way of speaking, which ironically gave them a common language.
Lin Zhou still had some money on him. To suppress Fang Zhiyi and to save his own face, he generously paid for Sun Xiaomei several times. Sun Xiaomei, taking advantage of the situation, immediately warmed up to him.
In just a few days, they hurriedly confirmed their relationship.
Fang Zhiyi had a hand in this as well. To ensure they didn't take a break, he frequently contacted both of them, just to remind them to complain about him.
So, when Lin Zhou stood before Fang Zhiyi with Sun Xiaomei looking happy on his arm, Fang Zhiyi was inwardly thrilled. It really worked!
Lin Zhou patted Fang Zhiyi's shoulder: "Brother, sorry about this. I actually didn't want to... but you understand, right?"
Sun Xiaomei pinched him: "What are you saying? He and I were just ordinary friends to begin with!" She was now very glad that Fang Zhiyi hadn't confessed to her during those few days.
Listening to Fang Zhiyi's blessings, Lin Zhou walked away with his head held high like a victorious rooster. How many years had it been! How many years! Finally, there was a time when Fang Zhiyi was beneath him!
He also knew how to put on a show effectively, so he always had his "Big Brother" on his lips, and he even gritted his teeth and took out a loan to buy a second-hand luxury car. Perhaps due to their matching natures, Sun Xiaomei actually fell for Lin Zhou.
Fang Zhiyi, for his part, hoped the two of them would stay locked together forever.
His life became much quieter now. Because he acted destitute, Lin Zhou looked at him with a face full of superiority and sometimes even took the initiative to come and show off, seemingly having forgotten that the money in his hand came from mortgaging his house.
But once the novelty wore off, Lin Zhou's calculating heart became active again.
The reason was that his money had bottomed out.
He also discovered something: when he went on dates with Sun Xiaomei, he was always the one paying. Although Sun Xiaomei would also pay, it was always for small things, like a bottle of water or a pack of tissues.
Previously, he had been immersed in the excitement of dating, and especially the excitement of crushing Fang Zhiyi, so he had been almost obedient to this seemingly nice girlfriend, enjoying the way Sun Xiaomei worshipped him.
"Sigh, brother, what do you think I should do?" Lin Zhou looked distressed. As the freshness faded, his true nature resurfaced.
Fang Zhiyi, meanwhile, looked like he was constipated.
Little Hei was laughing uncontrollably: "Hahahaha, I didn't expect this! He actually has to deal with this move!"
"That day we talked about marriage, and despite my family's situation, she actually asked for a bride price of 380,000..."
"She's so materialistic. She wants this today, that tomorrow..."
"I used to think she was pretty good, but now she seems a bit selfish. When I eat with her, she only buys me a drink! On Valentine's Day, she asked me to give her a designer bag, and she gave me an ugly hat, saying she made it herself and it represented her heart."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.
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."
] [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!"
