After a round of intense back-and-forth,
Lin Yu was settled by Shen Buyao onto the chair where she had just been drying her undergarments.
Shen Buyao herself insisted on washing some fruit,
even though they had just finished eating.
It was unclear whether Shen Buyao genuinely had a big appetite or simply felt compelled to uphold the etiquette of hosting a guest.
Seeing that he couldn’t stop her, Lin Yu resigned himself to waiting patiently.
Ding!
His phone chimed with a WeChat notification.
He couldn’t guess which of his fellow "clan friends" might have sent it.
Lin Yu pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen—
Wang Biao?!
Why would he suddenly message Lin Yu?
And with a voice message, no less—one that was over twenty seconds long.
Hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom,
Lin Yu didn’t bother being overly cautious. He turned the volume down slightly and played the voice message out loud.
Wang Biao (Voice Message): "Hey, Yu, buddy, y’all closed up shop early today at the flower store, huh? Thought at least Boss Chen would still be around. A pal of mine gave me some jasmine tea, and since I was passing by your place, I figured I’d drop some off for you two. Saw you weren’t there, so I left it with the neighbor. Get it from ‘em tomorrow."
Lin Yu: "……?"
Was this… a gift?
They’d only met twice—hardly the kind of friendship where someone would casually drop off treats.
Even if they were at that stage,
Wang Biao was still the older, more established "big bro" in their dynamic.
If anything, Lin Yu should be the one bringing gifts.
After some thought,
Lin Yu figured Wang Biao’s sudden shift in attitude must be tied to their run-in at Gui Street’s Gui Xing.
Back then, Lin Yu had been accompanied by "Antique Sis" and the "King of Dirty Jokes,"
effectively letting him "borrow their prestige like a fox borrowing a tiger’s might."
But even so—
Would Wang Biao really go as far as sending gifts just because he wasn’t sure about Lin Yu’s connections?
At most, he’d send a WeChat message now and then to check in.
There had to be something else going on!
Lin Yu (Voice Message): "Thanks, Biao-ge. You’re makin’ me feel bad now. Let’s grab drinks sometime when you’re free!"
Lin Yu (Voice Message): "Biao-ge, was there something you needed from me today?"
Whether or not the gift had actually reached him,
he had to acknowledge the gesture first.
"When you’re free" might never happen, but it was the polite thing to say—
a way of accepting the "gift" and the implied favor.
Only then could he ask what this was really about.
True to form, Wang Biao proved himself a down-to-earth guy.
A reply came through in no time.
Wang Biao (Voice Message): "Listen, buddy, I’m not one for beating around the bush, so I’ll just say it straight. If you ever come across any top-tier, rare goods in the future, skip Gui Xing and bring ‘em straight to your ol’ Biao-ge. I’ll make sure you don’t walk away empty-handed!"
Ah.
So that was it—the little "gift" was a play for the "treasures" Lin Yu might have.
Wang Biao’s nose was sharp as ever!
Though Lin Yu had only interacted with Huang Feirong’s mother, Sister Hong, once at Gui Xing,
his first impression of her wasn’t the type to casually leak client info.
So Wang Biao’s intel was likely his own guesswork.
This message was both testing his theory
and feeling out what kind of person Lin Yu was—whether he’d spin tall tales or not.
Before Lin Yu could reply,
Shen Buyao returned with a plate in hand.
"Didn’t have much fruit left—just some blueberries. They’re sweet, though."
"Were you chatting with someone outside earlier?"
Seeing Lin Yu nod,
her expression turned complicated as she added:
"I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I turned off the water and caught a bit of the voice."
"Sounded like some old man."
"Lin Yu, you’ve been living in a den of women for so long…"
"Don’t tell me you’ve started thinking you’re one of them?"
Lin Yu: "……"
What kind of nonsense was this?
He was this close to giving her a hands-on lesson in the difference between men and women.
Remembering that Shen Buyao knew Wang Biao, Lin Yu decided to get her take.
So, under the guise of "proving his innocence," he played Wang Biao’s voice message again.
"Oh, it’s just Old Wang. Was wondering who you were talking to."
"Him saying stuff like that doesn’t surprise me at all."
"That guy’s a smooth operator—well-connected all over Pingchuan."
"Though I am a little surprised you two know each other."
After listening, Shen Buyao’s face relaxed slightly.
Lin Yu: "……"
She’d completely missed the point!
He nudged the conversation back on track:
"Seems Biao-ge’s got good intel, figuring out so fast that I’ve got ‘goods’ on me."
Shen Buyao didn’t bat an eye. Calmly, she said:
"If you’d met before and he only knew you as a college student, it’s no shock he’d peg you as the seller."
"Gui Xing hasn’t seen antiques of that caliber in ages."
"The regulars there all know each other—and they definitely know the state of Pingchuan’s antique market."
"If it wasn’t one of the old hands selling, it had to be an outsider or a newbie with something special."
"You showed up at Gui Xing for the first time, and the very next day, Sister Hong put out the promo."
"Wang Biao putting two and two together? Totally normal."
Her words confirmed Lin Yu’s own suspicions.
What Shen Buyao didn’t know was that Lin Yu had already flashed a hint of his "financial power" in front of Wang Biao—back during the rent negotiation.
That was probably why Wang Biao was so sure it was him.
At this point, keeping up the act with Wang Biao was pointless.
Lin Yu went ahead and replied:
Lin Yu (Voice Message): "Biao-ge, didn’t realize you were into this stuff too. Next time I get my hands on something new, I’ll come straight to you."
It didn’t take long for a response:
Wang Biao (Voice Message): "That’s what I like to hear, buddy! You’re my kind of guy. Anything you need in Pingchuan, just say the word."
Remembering Wang Biao’s status as a real estate big shot, Lin Yu smirked to himself.
Lin Yu (Voice Message): "Biao-ge, hope you don’t mind me asking, but there is a little favor I could use your help with. Heh. You heading to Gui Xing tonight? Let’s talk in person?"
Watching Lin Yu’s expression, Shen Buyao guessed:
Was this guy planning to pull out another antique to sell?
Normally, she’d have pressed him for details.
But today, she stayed quiet—just pulled over a chair, straddling it backward.
She folded her arms over the backrest and rested her chin on them,
watching him with idle curiosity.
……
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.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
