As dusk fell,
Lin Yu returned alone to the apartment.
Shen Buyao, despite being "severely injured," insisted on reopening her shop at Ghost Market Street.
She knew Shen Jiuyi was there.
If she didn’t open for business today,
Shen Jiuyi would undoubtedly assume Lin Yu had "broken" her.
To salvage what little remained of her dignity, Shen Buyao had no choice but to tough it out despite her injuries.
Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Lin Yu didn’t even have time to retreat to his room.
Parked outside the courtyard gate was a familiar vehicle—
A black Mercedes G-Class.
Lin Yu recognized the license plate.
It belonged to Museum Director Xia Xiashan!
Since delivering Maomao,
Lin Yu hadn’t seen this "defeated elder sister" visit in days.
Had she deliberately chosen this time, knowing he wasn’t home, just to check on Maomao?
As he entered the first-floor lobby,
Lin Yu was still pondering how to casually drop by her room.
But then—
Right there on the communal sofa, Xia Xiashan, Xia Yiwei, and Maomao were chatting away!
"Well, well, Director Xia! What a rare guest!"
"Welcome!"
Lin Yu greeted Xia Xiashan the moment their eyes met.
Today, the museum director was dressed in a crisp white bandeau top and form-fitting black athletic shorts.
The moment she stood from the sofa, her outfit radiated cool, effortless charm.
Xia Xiashan’s response was awkward—a stiff nod and a half-hearted wave.
Then,
she shot a glare at Xia Yiwei and Maomao.
Her eyes screamed:
You two tricked me!
Didn’t you say Lin Yu wasn’t home?!
Why is he here?!
Xia Yiwei and Maomao instantly averted their gazes, refusing to meet hers.
As the man who had once reduced her to tears,
Xia Xiashan had spent the past few days haunted by "that humiliating defeat."
In all her years, no one—not even her uncle—had ever beaten her like that.
Proud and headstrong, she still couldn’t face Lin Yu calmly.
That’s why she always checked if he was home before visiting Maomao.
This was only her second visit since moving in.
The first time,
Lin Yu hadn’t even known.
"Big sis, my little master is greeting you so warmly," Xia Yiwei teased, grinning.
"Why that look? Like you’ve seen an enemy."
"What, itching for another fight?"
She taunted her sister boldly, knowing Xia Xiashan wouldn’t dare act up here—this was their turf.
Besides,
her sister genuinely feared Lin Yu now.
"Shut it. Don’t stir the pot," Xia Xiashan snapped back.
"Or I’ll deal with you first."
When she turned to Lin Yu again, her discomfort deepened.
She couldn’t decide whether to force a smile or maintain her aloof expression.
Lin Yu stepped closer, extending a hand with a warm smile.
"Yiwei, stop teasing your sister."
"There’s no bad blood between Director Xia and me."
"Last time was just me helping you out. It won’t happen again."
Seeing his politeness, Xia Xiashan reluctantly reached out to shake his hand.
The moment their hands touched,
both froze.
Xia Xiashan: "!!!"
Trembling…
She was trembling uncontrollably…
The fear of being overpowered seemed to surge through Lin Yu’s grip, flooding her body and mind.
This wasn’t the first time she’d felt it.
During training lately,
whenever Lin Yu crossed her thoughts, her muscles would tense involuntarily.
She’d even consulted the martial arts center’s physiotherapist, desperate for a solution.
The diagnosis?
Yips.
A common sports disorder among professional athletes.
Psychogenic cases often stem from subconscious trauma—reliving past failures mid-action,
rendering them unable to perform specific movements.
For golfers, baseball players, tennis pros—once the yips strike,
it’s practically a career death sentence.
Xia Xiashan had brushed off the diagnosis…
Until now.
That handshake convinced her—
This was pathological fear.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu’s surprise came from—
[Ding!]
[Xia Xiashan]
[Age: 29]
[&%￥#@￥￥……]
[…]
[(Prerequisite quest incomplete. Details locked.)]
Well, well.
Turns out the museum director was another long-lost "sect sister"!
Before the system’s prompt, Lin Yu had felt a twinge of guilt over their clash.
After all,
Director Xia had never provoked him.
Yet he’d shattered her pride with a single flick, reducing her to tears.
But with the "Lost Sect" label in play?
Everything changed.
What made it worse—
That evasive gaze…
That uncontrollable shudder…
Director Xia was terrified of him.
When you suddenly realize
a woman you once tread carefully around
now fears you yet can’t resist you…
That’s when the other beast awakens.
Especially when she’s a renowned
martial arts heir!
Avoid her?
No chance.
He’d seek more contact.
"Director Xia, how’s the injury from last time?"
Lin Yu kept his tone gentle, masking his excitement.
Xia Xiashan’s eye twitched.
Lin Yu really knows how to pick his words, huh?
Salt in the wound—intentional or not?
His face gave nothing away.
At least he seemed concerned.
Gritting her teeth, she suppressed her dread and replied:
"Fine. It healed the same day."
"Maybe… we’ll spar again sometime."
Just uttering "spar again" took immense courage.
Xia Yiwei, oblivious to her sister’s turmoil, pounced on the opening:
"Spar? Sis, taking turns hitting each other is a spar."
"One hit from him and you’re down—that’s called fraud."
Xia Xiashan’s brow furrowed: "..."
If she couldn’t teach Lin Yu a lesson,
she could at least discipline her little sister.
Just wait—Xia Yiwei’s reckoning would come.
Lin Yu stayed out of their squabble, his gaze shifting to Maomao.
Throughout the exchange, Maomao had stayed silent, her brows knitted with worry.
Not just silent—she seemed detached,
as if mentally absent from the conversation.
Something’s wrong.
Definitely trouble brewing.
...
(Extra chapter delivered! More tomorrow. Hope you’ll support this little author with ads or power-ups!)
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
