But his illusions were quickly shattered.
Before dawn the next day, someone woke him up rudely. Fang Zhizu opened his eyes blearily to see his eldest brother, Zhang Xiong.
"Big Brother?"
"Still sleeping! Get up and feed the chickens!" Zhang Xiong said impatiently. He tossed the basket in his hand onto Fang Zhizu’s bed, muttering curses as he returned to his own room.
Fang Zhizu was dazed. Me? Feed the chickens?
By what right? Fang Zhizu lay back down indignantly. He was the youngest son of the family! They expected him to work the moment he returned?
By now, the novelty of his return had begun to fade. What filled his mind instead were his biological father’s cold eyes, his angry shouts, the dilapidated house, and his crude eldest brother... He had never been treated like this back at the Fang household!
The more Fang Zhizu thought about it, the angrier he became. He grumbled about one person then another, eventually pulling the covers over his head to go back to sleep.
But before long, his door was kicked open with a loud bang. Zhang Daming stood at the threshold, fuming with rage. "You little brat! You dare to slack off when I told you to feed the chickens!" As he spoke, he stepped forward and ripped the quilt off Fang Zhizu.
Fang Zhizu jolted upright and shouted back, "Why should I have to do it? Why don’t Big Brother and the others do it?"
Zhang Daming was so enraged he raised his hand to strike him. Fortunately, Wang Ling hurried forward to pull him back, though she also said, "Sangou, just be a good boy and go feed the chickens. Don’t make your father angry."
Last night, after counting the gift money they had collected, she had discussed the matter with her husband. Their conclusion was to send Fang Zhiyi to town to find a job. He was educated; surely he could find a good position. But as for this third son... he was a bit disobedient and needed to be properly disciplined.
Watching Fang Zhizu climb out of bed with a pout, muttering, "I have a name, it’s not Sangou..."
Zhang Daming exploded. He kicked him hard in the backside. "You don’t have the surname Zhang? Let me tell you, don’t think that just because you ate city food for a few years, you’re actually some young master!"
Fang Zhizu was stunned. Things hadn't been like this just yesterday. The pain brought tears to his eyes instantly.
At that moment, he saw Fang Zhiyi walking past while stretching. He couldn't help but point at him and ask, "Then why doesn't Brother have to feed them?"
"Oh, Ergou is up?" Wang Ling noticed Fang Zhiyi getting up and immediately smiled. "What would you like to eat? Mom will make it for you."
Fang Zhiyi looked over at the scene. Seeing Fang Zhizu clutching his rear, he laughed inwardly. Whether in the original plot or now, you’re just a tag-along. Did you really think you were someone special?
"Anything is fine."
"Alright then." Only in this moment did Wang Ling act more like a biological mother.
Seeing Fang Zhizu standing there in a daze, Zhang Daming gave him another kick. "Still staring? Get lost and feed the chickens!"
"Brother..." Fang Zhizu was starting to feel regret.
But Fang Zhiyi looked at him and said, "How can you make Mom and Dad angry the moment you get home? You have to be obedient." He even shook his head, wearing an expression of profound disappointment.
Fang Zhiyi’s words immediately signaled his stance to Wang Ling and her husband. From that point on, they no longer showed any courtesy to Fang Zhizu.
While Fang Zhiyi finished his breakfast and did some light exercise, Fang Zhizu finally finished feeding the chickens. Since he had never done such work before, he naturally received another round of scolding.
"Brother..." Fang Zhizu had clearly been crying. He walked over to Fang Zhiyi’s side sheepishly. "Take me home..."
Fang Zhiyi was taken aback. This was only the beginning. He couldn't even last a single day?
"Go back to what home? Isn't this your home?" Fang Zhiyi raised his voice. "You can't be like this, Sangou. Mom and Dad worked so hard to bring you into this world and went through so much trouble to find us. You want to leave as soon as you get back?"
The three people inside the house heard him clearly.
Fang Zhizu was stunned, looking at Fang Zhiyi in disbelief.
"You little brat, what do you think you’re doing?" Zhang Daming was the first to jump out. He kicked Fang Zhizu’s backside, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Yesterday you were calling us Mom and Dad, and today you refuse to do a single thing for the family? You want to go find the human traffickers who kidnapped you, don't you?" Wang Ling dropped her facade completely. "They’re the ones who spoiled you!"
Fang Zhizu, after all, was someone whose rebellious phase had lasted nearly eight years. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "You said you would treat me well, but instead you hit me and make me feed chickens! They might be traffickers, but they never made me work! What kind of biological parents are you!"
Zhang Daming was furious. He reached for a thin bamboo switch. Seeing this, Fang Zhiyi hurried to stop him.
"No, no, no, no." He snatched the bamboo switch from Zhang Daming’s hand.
Fang Zhizu’s eyes brightened slightly. At least his own brother was still looking out for him.
"Use this." Fang Zhiyi handed over a wooden club instead.
........
Fang Zhizu received his first beating since being sold by his parents. Indeed, no matter how much he had acted out in the past, the Fang parents had never struck him once, always trying to persuade him with kind words.
Fang Zhizu’s miserable screams echoed through the surroundings. Unfortunately, their house was some distance from the village, so no one came to intervene.
Zhang Xiong had just woken up. He stepped out and laughed at the sight. "This little bastard should have been thrashed long ago." He was the one least happy about his two brothers returning. If it weren't for the thought that one could work and the other could make money, he would never have agreed to it.
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "I told you before, one must put filial piety above all else. How could you be like this, Sangou?"
Fang Zhizu lay prone on the bed that day, unable to move. Zhang Daming had struck with extreme cruelty, nearly breaking the wooden club. This beating truly terrified the usually fearless Fang Zhizu.
Not only that, but as he lay injured on the bed, no one brought him medicine or food.
"Medicine? What medicine? What child doesn't get a beating when they’re disobedient? Just endure it and it’ll pass." This was said by Wang Ling, the person he felt closest to.
Fang Zhiyi didn't know what his ungrateful younger brother was thinking in the room, but he felt very refreshed today. Truly, it takes a wicked person to deal with another wicked person.
"Son, when are you going to the town to look for a job?" Zhang Daming got straight to the point.
Wang Ling gave him a nudge and said to Fang Zhiyi with a smile, "You know that your father and I can't do much labor anymore, and your eldest brother has nothing to do. This family depends on you."
Zhang Xiong ate his meal with a dark face, saying nothing. If it weren't for the money, he would have flipped the table long ago.
Fang Zhiyi took a mouthful of rice and smiled. "Let me rest for a couple of days. I need to think carefully about how to make the most money—the kind that can make our family rich all at once."
Hearing the word "rich," except for Zhang Xiong who looked skeptical, the faces of the Zhang couple lit up. Wang Ling, in particular, wouldn't stop praising Fang Zhiyi for his capability.
The sounds of these praises reached the ears of the suffering Fang Zhizu in the inner room. He felt like killing Fang Zhiyi right now.
Why am I lying here while you’re out there eating? Why are we both their sons, yet they treat you so well and treat me like this?
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."
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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."
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.
