The woman looked no older than thirty.
Could it be that money preserves youth, keeping her well-maintained?
With Maomao listening behind him, Lin Yu couldn’t afford to space out for too long.
He pulled himself together and prepared to ask seriously:
"Excuse me—"
He had barely gotten two words out when Auntie Ru Xue cut in:
"So you’re the boy who took Maomao away? Your name is Lin Yu, right?"
Her tone was neither warm nor angry—completely unreadable.
Clearly, in Maomao’s subconscious,
when Auntie Ru Xue arrived at the apartment, she must have already investigated everything about Maomao’s recent life.
Lin Yu replied politely:
"Are you Ms. Ru Xue? My apologies, but I really can’t bring myself to call you ‘auntie.’"
"Please, have a seat and some tea. Maomao probably isn’t here right now."
"I’ve heard Maomao mention often how close she is with ‘Auntie Ru Xue.’ Would you mind sparing some time to talk?"
This was all just polite chatter.
Lin Yu treated it as a rehearsal.
He wanted to see if, in Maomao’s subconscious, his courteous approach could resolve anything.
A woman who practically wore the word "elegance" on her sleeve couldn’t possibly be unreasonable, could she?
"No wonder Maomao was fooled into coming here with you."
"Smooth-talking, sweet-mouthed; pretending to be polite while secretly gauging reactions."
"Hah, what a silver-tongued little boy..."
Whether she was angry or not, Lin Yu couldn’t tell.
But that faint smirk on her face? He understood that perfectly.
It was unmistakable disdain.
And...
there seemed to be something else mixed in, something Lin Yu couldn’t quite decipher.
Then, Auntie Ru Xue continued:
"Maomao, you’re hiding somewhere on this floor, aren’t you?"
"Do you really think you can escape me?"
"All these years, have you ever managed to slip away even once?"
"Using some wet-behind-the-ears kid as a shield—is this your answer to me?"
"Will you come out on your own, or do I have to drag you out?"
"..."
"Bzzzzzz..."
Lin Yu: "!!!"
The buzzing? Already?
It wasn’t intense, but it was undeniably there.
A sign that if Lin Yu did nothing, the dream world would soon collapse.
Just by standing in the hall and raising her voice, this woman could exert such overwhelming pressure on Maomao’s psyche?
Even stranger...
As Auntie Ru Xue spoke, rippling halos of light pulsed around her.
Like some kind of "Lion’s Roar" kung fu from a movie, relentlessly blasting out!
Seriously?
This was clearly Maomao’s imagination at work!
It had transcended physics entirely—straight-up magical attacks now!
Standing in front of Auntie Ru Xue, Lin Yu felt his own head throbbing in sync.
Maomao, if you’re scared, fine, but did you really have to imagine your "Lion’s Roar" affecting Lin Yu too?
Was this necessary?
Lin Yu barely resisted the urge to shout: Master, spare me the lecture!
But once Auntie Ru Xue started, she went on and on like Senior Sister Tang, with no intention of stopping.
By the second half, Lin Yu couldn’t even make out her words anymore.
Was this how it ended?
A perfectly good chance to explore the dream, wasted just like that?
Steeling himself...
Magic attacks, huh?
Then he’d fight magic with magic!
"Auntie Ru Xue, please don’t take Maomao away... she’s carrying my child!"
The moment those words left his mouth,
the hall fell dead silent.
It was as if someone had hit pause—Auntie Ru Xue stared at Lin Yu, stunned speechless.
Lin Yu: "..."
It wasn’t that "Auntie Ru Xue" had frozen.
Rather, in the straightforward flow of Maomao’s consciousness,
a critical BUG had suddenly appeared.
To fix it in such a short time,
a series of command inputs would be needed.
For example:
First, input "Auntie Ru Xue’s character settings."
Then, the corresponding "scene" and "atmosphere."
Next, re-import "Lin Yu’s BUG statement."
Finally, reboot the paralyzed system.
If not for his familiarity with Maomao’s personality and habits,
faced with this kind of system crash, he’d have already looked for a high place to jump off and escape the dream.
A dream world that could blue-screen... unbelievable.
When Auntie Ru Xue finally spoke again, Lin Yu fully grasped
what Maomao had meant by "she has psychological issues."
"The child will take the Du family name, and you’ll marry into our household."
"Money won’t be a concern in your life."
"As long as you don’t cause trouble, I can guarantee you’ll want for nothing."
"It seems today I’ll be taking more than just Maomao home..."
"but also the father of her child!"
Auntie Ru Xue’s gaze bore into Lin Yu, devoid of any warmth.
Lin Yu: "!!!"
Holy—
What kind of plot twist was this?!
While waiting for the "dream system" to reboot,
Lin Yu had braced himself for many possible responses.
Auntie Ru Xue might fly into a rage, vowing to ruin his life.
She might frantically search for Maomao, determined to "break the couple apart."
Or maybe she’d pull out a checkbook to shut him up and send him packing.
And so on...
He’d prepared for all these worst-case scenarios, even rehearsing his counterarguments.
But of all possibilities,
he never expected "take him home as a live-in son-in-law" to be the outcome?
How was this a thing?
If only he’d known sooner!
"Auntie Ru Xue, I’m sorry... I’ve embarrassed you..."
At the same time,
Maomao, who had been hiding all this while, inexplicably stood up on her own.
Lin Yu: "???"
Why are you coming out now?!
"I’ve embarrassed you"—
wasn’t that basically confirming his claim?
Maomao’s move made Lin Yu wonder:
This absurd "take him home as a son-in-law" plot...
was it really Auntie Ru Xue’s psychological issue, or just Maomao’s own subconscious desire?
The latter seemed far more likely!
Auntie Ru Xue’s expression darkened as she addressed Maomao:
"Maomao, we’ll discuss your behavior later."
"As for this Lin Yu, my records show he’s a young man of decent character, education, and ability."
"A mistake is a mistake, but at least your taste isn’t completely hopeless."
Lin Yu: "..."
Hah, typical Maomao...
Now he’s a "promising young talent"?
Auntie Ru Xue even had a dossier on him?
At this point,
Lin Yu could see the truth:
This was entirely Maomao’s subconscious calling the shots!
Who knew this little wildcat had been hiding such ambitions?
The moment he threw out that BUG statement, her mind went straight to "make him a son-in-law"!
Well, if Maomao wanted to play it this way...
he’d play along.
"Wait, Auntie Ru Xue, before we leave, could I speak with Maomao alone?"
"It won’t take long. Just give us a moment outside."
...
(Second update today, with more to come later. Your support is much appreciated!)
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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?"
