Ghost Market Street, Treasureless Pavilion.
After parking the car in the underground lot and stepping out,
Shen Buyao felt like every step was a struggle.
Damn Lin Yu!
Couldn’t he have shown some restraint?
Didn’t he know she was coming back tonight and had to open the shop at Ghost Market Street?
Of course,
running the shop wasn’t the scary part.
The scary part was facing the Big Cow!
For as long as she could remember,
every time Shen Buyao lied or hid something out of guilt,
Shen Jiuyi would sniff it out immediately.
Not only that,
she could even piece together the truth just from Shen Buyao’s wording.
It wasn’t that sleeping with Lin Yu was something she couldn’t tell Shen Jiuyi.
She just didn’t want her to know.
That after their very first date, she hadn’t kept her pants on.
At the very least,
she should’ve waited till their fourth or fifth date before admitting they’d slept together.
That was the normal pace for couples, right?
Shen Buyao wasn’t entirely sure herself.
All her "knowledge" came from the internet.
Arriving at the shop entrance,
Shen Buyao patted her cheeks, loosening the tension in her face.
Don’t panic, don’t panic…
No matter how much the Big Cow suspected or what questions she asked,
Shen Buyao had one golden rule:
Deny till death!
After steeling her resolve, she swung her arms with exaggerated nonchalance and strode into the shop.
The moment she entered, she spotted Shen Jiuyi lounging in a chair in the main hall.
"I’m back, Big Cow!"
"Did you eat yet? Or were you so helpless without me you couldn’t even feed yourself?"
Shen Buyao sauntered over with exaggerated flair.
Spotting the full glass of water in front of Shen Jiuyi,
she snatched it up with feigned brattiness and downed it in one go.
What’s with that look on the Big Cow’s face?
Grief? Melancholy? Resentment?
Why does she look like she’s the one who lost something today?!
Already prepared with counterarguments,
Shen Buyao resorted to a tactical water break, buying time to avoid verbal sparring.
As soon as she finished drinking, Shen Jiuyi asked out of nowhere:
"How’d it taste?"
Shen Buyao’s eyes widened. "???"
"What do you mean? It’s just water!"
"Unless you slipped something in it?"
Shen Jiuyi replied with eerie calm:
"Mhm. I did. Morning-after pills."
Shen Buyao: "…"
"!!!"
"Goddammit—!!"
"Gag…"
For a second, Shen Buyao considered playing it cool.
But then it hit her—
knowing the Big Cow’s unhinged personality, she might’ve actually done it!
Who the hell takes morning-after pills so casually?!
"Alright, stop gagging."
"I was just messing with you."
"Though your reaction suggests you want to get pregnant."
Shen Buyao slowly pulled her fingers out of her mouth,
murder in her eyes.
Right now,
she couldn’t tell which was the real joke:
the pills being in the water, or not being in the water.
She’d prepared for countless ways Shen Jiuyi might grill her.
But never in her wildest dreams did she expect
the conversation to take this turn!
Thrown completely off balance, she had no idea how to respond.
Well… freaking out over possibly ingesting morning-after pills was a normal reaction, right?
Stick to the original plan—double down!
"Big Cow, what the hell is wrong with you?!"
"You think any woman wouldn’t freak out over that crap?!"
"Listen, if you’re gonna judge me, I just took Lin Yu to check out the old house."
"Pregnant? Don’t even joke about that, you hear me?!"
"Cough…"
Shen Buyao touched her throat and asked again with lingering unease:
"You really didn’t put any in, right?"
"If I dared to, you’d better believe I’d pay you back with something way stronger!"
Shen Jiuyi remained silent.
It seemed she had no intention of continuing the discussion on this matter.
However.
Just as Shen Buyao was about to let her guard down—
Shen Jiuyi suddenly blurted out:
"Buyao, I think we should be honest with each other about everything."
"Just like how I never hid Old Liang’s whereabouts from you."
Shen Buyao: "..."
Oh no!
The emotional card!
Since when did this big cow start playing moral blackmail?
Wasn’t she always the type to deduce the truth from answers?
Now.
She’s resorting to such shameless tactics?
Shen Buyao’s heart wavered:
"W-what exactly do you want to ask?"
"Stop beating around the bush with all this nonsense."
"If I have no morals, you can’t blackmail me!"
Shen Jiuyi stood up and walked to the table.
Right in front of Shen Buyao, she pulled a pill-shaped object from her pocket and dropped it into an empty glass.
Then.
She picked up the water pitcher, poured half a glass, and asked coldly:
"I’ll only ask this once. If you lie or refuse to answer, I won’t ask again…"
"Did he bring one today?"
Shen Buyao: "!!!"
"I’ll bring you—"
Before the curse could fully leave Shen Buyao’s lips,
the glass with the pill was thrust in front of her.
Shen Jiuyi’s gaze was icy, her voice razor-sharp:
"I’m not joking. I just want the truth."
"You…"
"Do you really want to bring a child into this world, only for them to suffer the same childhood as yours?"
"The pain of growing up without a father—no one understands it better than you."
"Do you think Lin Yu’s fate can withstand how many more times?"
Every word Shen Jiuyi spoke was deadly serious.
And.
It struck right at Shen Buyao’s deepest wounds.
Growing up without a father by her side,
even though her mother and grandparents had given her endless love,
a gaping void of paternal care still lingered in her heart.
Back then,
the reason Shen Jiuyi discouraged Shen Buyao from getting too close to men
was partly due to fate,
but also because Shen Buyao couldn’t tell what truly made a good man.
Countless real-life examples had proven it:
Girls who lacked a father’s presence from childhood to adolescence
often grew up too trusting of men once they entered society.
This was something Shen Jiuyi had laid bare to Shen Buyao before.
On the surface, Shen Buyao had brushed it off with a defiant, "I’m a great judge of character!"
But deep down,
she had no confidence at all.
"Buyao, do you really think I’d ever harm you?"
Seeing the confusion in Shen Buyao’s eyes,
Shen Jiuyi pressed on.
Her tone hadn’t sharpened,
yet the words sent a shudder through Shen Buyao.
Her gaze drifted for a long moment before she slowly raised her hand,
reaching for the glass Shen Jiuyi held out…
But then—
Shen Jiuyi abruptly pulled the glass back and downed the water and pill in one go.
Shen Buyao: "???"
Shen Jiuyi: "Gulp, gulp…"
Shen Buyao: "Y-you… what was that?"
Shen Jiuyi: "Lunch with Old Liang was a bit greasy. A digestive pill might help."
Shen Buyao: "…"
Shen Jiuyi: "…"
Shen Buyao lunged forward fiercely:
"You damn cow, I’ll fucking kill you!!"
Shen Jiuyi had anticipated this, effortlessly dodging around the hall’s pillars like the Emperor of Qin evading assassins, all while taunting:
"Buyao, are you so overwhelmed with pleasure that you’d silence your own aunt? I never forced you to admit anything."
"Relax, Lin Yu won’t die trapped in there, and he definitely won’t kick the bucket later."
"I’m dying to know—what kind of moans are we talking about? Traditional Chinese style or full-on Western?"
...
(First update today! There’ll be bonus chapters later, folks. Take a sec to check out an ad—thanks a million!)
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?"
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...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
