Chi Qingchi immediately wiped her face upon hearing this:
"That's because earlier, my sister was..."
Halfway through her sentence, Xiao Chi realized the deeper meaning in Lin Yu's words:
"Hey! Xiao Lin!"
"Are you calling me a dog?!"
Lin Yu chuckled innocently, spreading his hands:
"Honestly, that wasn’t my intention at all, I swear!"
The clever Chi Qingshui chimed in:
"It was Zhu Bajie who helped eat the mountain of noodles in heaven."
Hearing this, Chi Qingchi puffed up even more, looking ready to settle the score with Lin Yu:
"Xiao Lin, I hate it most when people make fun of my 'hobbies'!"
Seeing Xiao Chi charging over, ready for a "big reckoning," Lin Yu muttered softly:
"Just the other day, when I took someone out shopping..."
"What did someone promise me?"
"Something about sore hands and feet, wasn’t it?"
At Lin Yu's words, Chi Qingchi immediately made a shushing gesture.
If her sister found out
that she’d gone so far as to "play servant" just to get Lin Yu to take her out,
she’d definitely get an earful once they were back in their room.
Luckily, Chi Qingshui, busy at the stove, didn’t catch their whispers.
Chi Qingchi quickly clasped her hands in a pleading gesture:
"Brother Xiao Lin, the dining area’s crowded—can we talk about this later?"
Watching Xiao Chi turn into a "tree statue," Lin Yu rolled his shoulders and lowered his voice:
"Tsk, my neck and shoulders are really sore."
"A person should always take responsibility for what they say, you know."
Chi Qingchi didn’t have time to think it through and hastily whispered back:
"When no one’s around, okay? I promise—I’ll take full responsibility!"
Lin Yu stood up.
With his back to Aunt Qimeng and Chi Qingshui, he lightly tapped the back of Chi Qingchi’s head three times.
Chi Qingchi: "..."
After all her efforts to guard against boys,
she still ended up trapped in Xiao Lin’s grasp.
Now it felt like "You wouldn’t want others to know, would you?" had become her reality.
Who could blame her? She’d been desperate to visit the anime district and ended up verbally signing a "servitude contract" with Lin Yu.
Chi Qingshui had no time to notice her sister’s antics.
The dough drop soup she’d made was already done.
All it needed was a splash of vinegar to perfect the flavor.
It could be served to everyone any moment.
But she still hadn’t figured out how to bring it up with Lin Yu.
She’d run through several excuses in her head,
but none satisfied her.
No matter which one she picked,
it would sound like more than just "ordinary classmates" or "ordinary neighbors."
The more she worried about Lin Yu reading too much into it, the more she spiraled into overthinking.
Lin Yu, watching his little girlfriend absentmindedly swirling the vinegar bottle, teased her on purpose:
"Smells amazing—who knew you had a talent for cooking?"
[Ding!]
[Masterful move! Compliments between lovers deepen bonds!]
[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]
"Don’t act like you know me so well. There’s plenty you don’t know," Chi Qingchi retorted, her tone haughty but her heart secretly delighted.
Little did she know,
her tiny crush had been completely exposed by the system.
If he let his tsundere girlfriend stay happy too easily, where was the fun in that?
Lin Yu continued:
"Tsk, what a shame."
"I don’t like the taste of vinegar, or I’d definitely have a bowl."
"You two enjoy it. I’ll grab a rolled egg pancake and eat upstairs."
Chi Qingshui: "!!!"
He… doesn’t like vinegar?
So Lin Yu has that kind of dietary restriction?
She actually had no idea at all!
Was Lin Yu leaving already?
He was already on his way out!
What should she do?
If she really let him go, wouldn’t all her morning preparations be for nothing?
It wasn’t like she even liked vinegar that much.
In the dough drop soup, vinegar wasn’t a must-have ingredient anyway, so maybe…
Noticing Lin Yu had already started talking to Aunt Qimeng, seemingly about to leave,
Chi Qingshui didn’t have time to overthink it:
“No, it’s fine without vinegar too!”
Lin Yu almost couldn’t hold back his laughter:
“Oh? Really?”
Chi Qingshui: “!!!”
What an idiot she was.
What was she even saying without thinking?
Now it sounded like she wanted Lin Yu to eat her… dough drop soup!
[Ding!]
[Masterful move! Your partner is willing to compromise and make concessions for you, subtly affirming your dominance in the relationship!]
[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]
Lin Yu listened to the system’s notification.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
But being the top student she was, her mind worked quickly.
Realizing her words had exposed her true feelings,
she immediately backtracked to fix the slip-up:
“You look like you really want to try it. If I didn’t let you have any just because the vinegar isn’t added yet,
it’d make me seem petty—and I’m not a petty person.
Besides, didn’t you treat me to food yesterday? Consider this returning the favor.”
Lin Yu mentally gave himself a thumbs-up.
Oh really?
That’s how you wanna play?
Sooner or later, he’d have to check if her mouth was the hardest part of her.
Well then, let’s keep going…
“Thanks! Today’s not just about enjoying Aunt Qimeng’s breakfast,
but also getting to taste our top student’s cooking. What a great day.
Mind if I take a picture first?”
Chi Qingshui didn’t stop him: “…”
Dough drop soup wasn’t exactly photogenic food.
And he still wanted to take a picture?
Was he planning to send it to her alternate account later?
Just as Chi Qingshui suspected,
after snapping the photo, Lin Yu returned to the table with his phone,
wearing a “blissful” smile as he typed away.
Chi Qingshui’s mood was complicated.
For online couples, actively sharing every little detail of daily life could indeed feel sweet.
But taking a picture of “another girl’s” breakfast to send to his “girlfriend”…
What exactly was Lin Yu planning to say?
The top student began rationally analyzing. There were only three possibilities:
1. Claim it was his own breakfast without mentioning who made it.
2. Emphasize it was his breakfast and say either he or Aunt Qimeng made it.
3. Straight-up admit it was his female roommate’s cooking, just to tease her and stir up some jealousy.
Translated, that meant…
1. Avoidant lying.
2. Intentional lying.
3. Zero emotional intelligence and sheer narcissism.
“Let’s all sit. The soup’s ready—I’ll serve it.”
Chi Qingshui gestured for everyone to take their seats.
While fetching spoons and bowls,
she swiftly and skillfully switched to her alternate account, eager to see what Lin Yu had sent.
Naturally, she didn’t forget to mute her phone first.
A top student’s talents shone in every aspect.
Her ability to serve soup while secretly checking messages under three pairs of eyes?
She definitely had the makings of a spy.
[Lin Yu: (Picture of dough drop soup)]
[Lin Yu: Saw my roommate’s soup this morning and thought of your stomach issues. Wanted to try a bowl and learn how to make it for you.]
"Lin Yu: If... just if, I had the chance to see you, I could make it for you myself."
"Lin Yu: I was worried you'd get jealous, so I specifically told my roommate..."
"Lin Yu: Don't add vinegar!"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.”
