After shouting for a while, no one came out.
Tang Yimian anxiously searched around again.
But still, not a single soul was in sight.
With a frown, Tang Yimian regrouped with Lin Yu, and they both shook their heads.
"Junior Lin Yu, could this be an abandoned gas station?"
The answer was obvious—no need to even ask.
It seemed that, subconsciously, Tang Yimian was preparing to trap the two of them in this desolate no-man's-land.
Their only hope turned out to be an abandoned, unmanned gas station.
Such a minor issue was nothing for Lin Yu.
He picked up the nearby fuel gun, ran his fingers over the nozzle, and said,
"Maybe the person running the station just stepped out for a bit. There's still gas here."
"How about we fill up first and leave the cash we owe?"
Tang Yimian’s gift of gab found another opportunity to shine:
"But we’ve already spent all our cash! What do we do now?"
"If we take the gas without paying, wouldn’t that count as theft?"
"Stealing someone else’s property is wrong, don’t you think?"
"Junior Lin Yu, maybe we should just wait here a little longer."
"Who knows? Someone might come back soon."
"That little convenience store up ahead seems empty too."
"I just can’t get past the guilt. What if the owner returns while we’re fueling up? How would we explain ourselves?"
"... (a thousand words of nervous rambling omitted) ..."
Lin Yu: "..."
Such noble principles!
On the brink of dying in the wilderness, and she’s still hung up on moral boundaries.
At least this was "wilderness fiction," not "apocalyptic fiction."
If Tang Yimian were tossed into a post-apocalyptic world, with her mindset, she wouldn’t survive past Chapter 2.
Did a dream really need to be this strict?
At this critical moment, it fell to Lin Yu to patch up the dream’s plot holes.
He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills.
"Lucky me, I still have some cash left."
"Should be around... ten or twenty thousand here?"
Tang Yimian’s eyes widened: "???"
Then—
"Bzzz… bzzz…"
A faint buzzing noise echoed in Lin Yu’s mind.
Lin Yu: "!!!"
A warning sign—the dream was destabilizing?
It was subtle, but unmistakable.
Lin Yu quickly added:
"This is the advance I just got for my writing this week. I figured cash might come in handy during the trip, so I withdrew it beforehand."
As soon as he said it, the faint buzzing faded away.
Lin Yu exhaled in relief, glancing at Tang Yimian.
Too close.
Thankfully, he’d reacted fast enough with a plausible excuse.
Otherwise, after all that effort, the dream would’ve shattered before they got anywhere!
Just one tiny, slightly illogical detail had nearly made Tang Yimian realize she was dreaming.
Since when were web novel heroines this sharp with logic?
This was a wake-up call for Lin Yu.
From now on, he had to make sure everything played out more convincingly.
Otherwise, tonight’s dream infiltration would be a wasted effort.
"That’s amazing, Junior Lin Yu!"
"So that’s how it is. Thank goodness you’re here with me."
"Let’s use your cash to pay, and I’ll transfer my share to you later."
Lin Yu politely declined, but in the end, couldn’t stop Tang Yimian from sending the money.
Not that he didn’t want to—he just didn’t dare drag it out.
They had bigger priorities.
No time to waste on trivialities.
This wasn’t exactly a stable dreamscape.
Lin Yu’s minimum goal for tonight was to close the emotional distance between them—just enough to strike decisively next time.
After refueling, Lin Yu and Tang Yimian "shopped" for supplies, again leaving cash behind.
Clearly, his senior was starving and parched.
She downed three bottles of water, two packs of bread, and a bag of instant noodles before finally sighing in satisfaction.
To avoid raising suspicion, Lin Yu matched her pace, eating and drinking just as much.
Once they loaded the remaining supplies into the car, it was time for the main event!
Lin Yu wiped the sweat from his brow and dusted off his clothes.
While Tang Yimian looked fresh and clean, Lin Yu’s dream-world outfit was pure "desert chic."
But that worked in his favor.
At least it gave him the perfect excuse for what came next.
"Senior, I checked that little motel over there."
"They’ve got showers inside."
"The next stop with supplies might not come until we’re out of this wasteland."
"With all this sand and wind, driving could take days."
"Why don’t we wash off the dust and rest up a bit?"
"Who knows? Maybe the gas station owner will return, and we can ask if there’s a shortcut."
"Even if no one shows, we’ll at least be in better shape before hitting the road again."
"What do you think? Makes sense, right?"
Lin Yu’s lengthy pitch was packed with reasons Tang Yimian couldn’t refuse.
She glanced at the shipping-container-turned-motel and hesitated.
She’d seen the interior earlier.
The so-called shower was just a black water bag mounted on the roof, with a hose leading to a showerhead inside.
As for accommodations?
A bed, a table, and a temporary lamp—that was it.
In the middle of nowhere, you couldn’t afford to be picky.
But taking turns showering with Junior Lin Yu in there…
Awkward much?
But if she let him go in alone…
That’d be worse.
Like she was disgusted by him or something.
So torn!
Lin Yu could guess what she was thinking.
But he also knew her weakness—
Tang Yimian was… a goddess of soft-heartedness!
So—
Thwap! Thwap!
He exaggeratedly slapped his clothes, sending sand flying everywhere.
"It’s fine, Senior. If you’re uncomfortable or think it’s too rough, we can just leave."
"I can tough it out. No big deal."
Then he flashed her a polite, understanding smile.
Nothing was more lethal than weaponized sincerity.
Instantly, Tang Yimian’s resolve hardened.
“Junior Lin Yu, of course I’m not being picky!”
"In a place like this, finding any shower is a miracle."
"Let’s go. We’ll rest inside for a few hours—I saw a chair besides the bed."
"Then we’ll drive out refreshed!"
...
(Second update today. More coming soon! If you’re enjoying this, check the author’s profile for discussion channels. Welcome!)
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...
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
