"You knew all along, didn't you!"
"Wuwu... you knew from the very beginning!"
"You've been teasing me, playing with me... admit it, yes or no!"
"..."
Small, feeble fists pounded against Lin Yu's back and waist.
As if that wasn't enough,
she pulled them back and started hammering his chest wildly.
The rainstorm of tiny punches couldn't exactly be called painful—more like completely ineffective.
Even so,
Lin Yu pretended to be in agony, gritting his teeth and groaning:
"Oww... ugh..."
"I'm dead, dead, dead... totally finished."
Only then did Chi Qingshui stop, her delicate hands retreating behind her back as she stood before Lin Yu with her head lowered.
Just a minute ago,
her only thought had been to bring Lin Yu back no matter what.
But now, after revealing her true identity,
she hadn't given a single thought to how this relationship would unfold.
The only certainty was
the overwhelming peace in her heart at this moment.
Especially when she realized Lin Yu had known all along that "Sinking Dream Listening to Rain" was her—it filled her with... hundreds of times more relief.
It proved one thing:
Everything Lin Yu had said and done regarding Lv Rou
was just an act to make her reveal herself.
He hadn't actually imagined a "lover" into existence in real life.
Lin Yu leaned closer, gently wiping the tears from Chi Qingshui's eyes:
"If we're talking about playing games, Qingshui, you're the real master."
"A single WeChat alt account fooled me for over a year."
Chi Qingshui's pupils trembled: "!!!"
"I—I wasn't fooling you..."
"It's just that I..."
At this point,
Chi Qingshui couldn't bear the thought of Lin Yu doubting her feelings.
Maybe at first, it really had just been curiosity driving her to reach out.
But... wasn't that how most couples' relationships started?
Only in the past few days
had Chi Qingshui fully realized:
It wasn't that Lin Yu couldn't live without her—she was the one who couldn't live without him now.
"Hold off on the explanations. Let me think about how to punish you first."
Lin Yu rested his chin on one hand, as if racking his brain for ideas.
Chi Qingshui stayed silent, head still bowed.
From Lin Yu's perspective,
she had known his identity all along while pretending to be his cold, tsundere classmate.
So being punished now... was only fair.
"The rain's so heavy today—the roads are practically flooded."
"Taking a cab back doesn't seem very safe right now."
"Got it! Your punishment is..."
"Let's find somewhere warm to rest for a while?"
"Just the two of us."
"Only us!"
Chi Qingshui: "!!!"
This conversation...
This request...
It felt... exactly like her dream?
Had she somehow dreamed a "prophetic dream" last night?
For a moment,
Chi Qingshui couldn't tell whether she was awake or still dreaming.
Acting on impulse,
she pinched her own cheek.
"Ouch...!"
It hurt!
Not a dream.
An outsider might not understand her actions,
but Lin Yu knew exactly what she was thinking.
He quickly added:
"Hey hey hey, self-harm doesn't count as punishment!"
Chi Qingshui bit her lip and whispered, almost inaudibly:
"Where exactly is this 'only us' place?"
Lin Yu smirked.
Internally, he felt immensely grateful.
Thankfully, in his girlfriend's dream last night, he'd maintained a positive, wholesome image—no wild misbehavior.
That subconscious priming was paying off now,
making the usually cautious honor student less guarded than usual.
......
The underground parking lot of Wanda Plaza was massive.
A security gate connected directly to the neighboring Century Grand Hotel.
Given the steep prices of high-star hotels,
apart from business travelers and tourists,
locals rarely chose such places for... private meetings.
Lin Yu and Chi Qingshui descended to the parking level,
walking slowly through the dim space, their closeness palpable.
When alone, they held hands intimately;
when passing someone who might be a fellow student, they'd separate and walk side by side.
They might as well have been the leads in a teen romance film, stealing secret touches on campus.
The thrill of secrecy gave Lin Yu a rush of youthful exhilaration.
Inside the hotel,
it was Lin Yu who handled the check-in, presenting his ID at the front desk.
Chi Qingshui stood nervously far away, unable to even meet the receptionist's eyes.
They'd agreed—just staying for a short while.
Once the rain stopped, they'd take a cab home together.
Unfortunately,
Chi Qingshui didn't know:
This downpour would last well into the night.
There would be no natural end to the rain—only their own decision to leave.
The elevator carried them up to the sixth floor.
Chi Qingshui clung anxiously to Lin Yu's hand, her voice uneasy:
"Over five hundred? The cheapest room is really over five hundred?"
"We're only staying an hour or two—there's no need to spend so much."
"Lin Yu, let's get a refund?"
"We could just sit at KFC for a while, couldn't... couldn't we?"
The more she learned about the room's cost,
the more restless she became.
KFC might not offer privacy,
but at least they could sit together for hours for just a few dozen yuan.
She knew Lin Yu had earned substantial royalties from his writing,
but she hated the thought of wasting his hard-earned money.
In reality,
five hundred was just the tip of the iceberg.
The actual price of this luxury suite exceeded fifteen hundred.
If Chi Qingshui knew the real cost,
she'd probably snatch the key card and beg for a refund herself.
"Hotel rooms can't be refunded once booked."
"If you're uncomfortable here, we don't have to stay. We can go to KFC downstairs instead."
"Let's return the key."
With that,
Lin Yu made a show of turning to leave.
"Wait!"
"Five hundred yuan though..."
Chi Qingshui immediately grabbed his arm.
Leaving without even entering would be a complete waste of money!
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Yu said:
"Qingshui, this was your own decision to stay."
Chi Qingshui: "..."
......
"Beep."
The key card unlocked the door.
They stepped inside one after the other.
Before them,
the understated luxury of gray-and-white decor drew a soft gasp from Chi Qingshui.
Nothing like the dingy motel from her dream—this looked like a setting straight out of a high-end fashion spread.
Paired with the gloomy rain outside, the atmosphere was... dangerously romantic.
"Expensive hotels really are different—even the TV is huge."
"Lin Yu, what do you like to wa—AH!!"
Before she could finish,
Lin Yu swept her up in a sudden bridal carry.
Caught off guard, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, terrified of falling.
When she regained her bearings,
the intimacy of their position and the heat in Lin Yu's gaze left her breathless.
"Lin Yu, you... what are you doing? I thought we were just resting..."
Chi Qingshui asked, her eyes fluttering nervously.
Lin Yu stared unblinking at her lips:
"You call me 'Lin Yu' in public because others are around."
"But now it's just us—still using that name?"
"You never called me that when we chatted privately."
Chi Qingshui: "!!!"
......
(Bonus chapter delivered! More to come tomorrow—will polish the writing carefully to pass Shenhe's standards in one go.)
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.
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
