After answering the phone, Maomao immediately asked for their location.
Lin Yu briefly described where they were—which shop on the third floor.
After giving the store name, he still couldn’t help but add a reminder:
"If you can’t find the place, just ask any mall or store staff for directions."
People are usually happy to help with something as simple as pointing the way.
Maomao repeatedly said "Okay," and only then did Lin Yu hang up the phone, reassured.
A few minutes later.
Aunt Ruxue and Aunt Qimeng walked out of the store hand in hand.
They were carrying a few more shopping bags.
Seeing how much Lin Yu was holding, Chen Qimeng said sympathetically:
"Let me take these two. Little Yu has too much in his hands… he can’t possibly carry any more."
Du Ruxue glanced at Lin Yu and remarked:
"Dreamy (Qimeng), don’t treat Little Yu like a child. Shouldn’t you ask him first before assuming he can’t handle it?"
Lin Yu, listening nearby: "……"
Alright, alright.
So there’s no chance to say no, huh?
He could only hope Aunt Ruxue would keep this same energy when Maomao arrived.
Lin Yu stepped forward, eager to prove himself:
"Aunt Qimeng, Aunt Ruxue is right."
"Young people should work harder—leave these to me."
"None of this is heavy anyway. Feel free to browse some more!"
As soon as Lin Yu said this, Du Ruxue immediately caught on to his train of thought.
She glanced around and asked:
"Little Yu, Maomao must have contacted you by now, right? Has she arrived?"
Lin Yu silently marveled.
Aunt Ruxue was quick!
He’d barely set the trap, and she was already preparing to spring it.
There was truly no fooling her.
Lin Yu had no choice but to answer honestly:
"Yeah, Maomao just called me."
"I told her we’re on the third floor."
"Come to think of it… that was a few minutes ago?"
"She should be here soon!"
"Should we wait for her before heading to the next store?"
Internally, Lin Yu had already sorted the shopping bags in his hands.
He had a clear plan for which ones to hand over to Maomao when she arrived.
However.
Du Ruxue calmly pulled out her phone and said:
"Don’t bother waiting. She won’t make it here even if we wait till dark."
Chen Qimeng: "Is Maomao… bad with directions? I get lost outside too, but in a mall…"
Du Ruxue: "It’s not just being bad with directions. She has zero spatial awareness."
Lin Yu: "……"
Not being able to find a store in the mall was understandable.
But even after asking staff for directions—how could she still get lost?
Maomao didn’t seem… that hopeless, right?
Du Ruxue’s call connected, and she immediately put it on speaker:
"Aunt Ruxue…"
Maomao’s voice came through the phone, carrying a faint trace of panic.
Du Ruxue, however, didn’t seem the least bit surprised. She coolly asked:
"Yes, it’s me. Maomao, what’s in front of you? What’s behind you?"
"Answer the question directly."
Maomao replied pensively:
"In front is a path… and people ahead. Behind is also a path… and people behind."
Lin Yu: "……"
Maomao!
Now’s not the time for philosophy!
This was why having a guardian was essential.
One knew exactly how to ask, and the other knew exactly how to answer.
Anyone unfamiliar with Maomao would never think to ask so specifically—
And even with such precise questioning, who’d expect such an abstract answer?
Yet Du Ruxue seemed completely unfazed.
"Stay where you are. What’s on your left? What’s on your right?"
"Look for written signs and describe them exactly."
Maomao responded quickly.
Once given clear instructions, she could follow them precisely:
"On the left is a store called , selling toys for kids and young people."
"On the right is a railing and glass panels."
Du Ruxue looked at Lin Yu and Chen Qimeng.
As locals, they’d surely know where Maomao was describing.
Lin Yu’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief:
"How did Maomao end up on the fourth floor?!"
He was certain he’d given clear directions—store name, floor, even a backup plan if she got lost.
Looking for them on the fourth floor? No wonder she couldn’t find them!
Seeing Lin Yu’s reaction, Du Ruxue knew they had their answer.
"Alright, stay right there. Don’t move."
"We’ll be there soon."
After hanging up, the three quickly made their way to the fourth floor.
They found Maomao standing by the railing.
Looking slightly flustered but dead serious, Maomao explained to Lin Yu:
"Yu, I did what you said."
"I asked a staff member how to find your store."
"They said to take the elevator down, so I…"
"Was looking for the elevator down!"
Lin Yu: "……"
Listen to this.
Does that even make sense?
Looking for the elevator?
Then how did you get up here in the first place?
Could it be that the elevator down is right next to—or across from—the one you took up?
The way she said it made it sound like Lin Yu’s directions were the problem.
Chen Qimeng patted Maomao’s shoulder and said warmly:
"If you can’t find us next time, don’t wander around."
"How about we go eat first?"
If they kept shopping, she’d only end up costing Aunt Ruxue even more.
Now that Maomao was here, the group was complete.
It was finally Chen Qimeng’s turn to take charge.
As Du Ruxue watched Maomao standing beside them, an indescribable feeling rose in her chest.
It was like…
Watching a naive little lamb and a certain someone hovering around each other.
Nothing major had happened, yet she felt inexplicably irritated.
Maomao had arrived at the mall but didn’t call Du Ruxue first.
And after being found, the first person she tried to explain herself to wasn’t her either?
Was this what it felt like when a girl started growing up?
She’d never experienced it herself, so she couldn’t begin to guess what was going through Maomao’s mind.
"Aunt Ruxue, is it… just the four of us for dinner?"
Recalling what Xia Yiwei had said in the car earlier, Maomao couldn’t help but ask.
Du Ruxue nodded.
"That’s right, just us four."
"Since we’re already on the fourth floor, no need to go back down."
"Most of the mall’s restaurants are concentrated here."
"Dreamy (Qimeng), don’t worry about mine or Maomao’s preferences. Just pick a place you think is good."
Originally, Du Ruxue had done some research on which restaurants in the mall were worth trying.
But after Maomao’s little adventure, she’d completely lost her appetite.
Lin Yu, who knew about her preparations, guiltily averted his gaze: "……"
Suddenly they were going with "whatever"?
Was Aunt Ruxue about to transform again?
...
(First update for today! There’ll be an extra chapter tonight. Hope you’ll support with free "power stones"—appreciate it!)
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
