In the residential community where Miao Haixin rented an apartment.
After getting out of the taxi, Miao Haixin led Lin Yu all the way to a small park.
It was almost dinnertime.
Most of the elderly and children had already gone home, leaving the park nearly empty.
Miao Haixin guided Lin Yu to a stone chess table.
Judging by the pieces on the table, this was likely a regular spot for the neighborhood elders.
Seeing Miao Haixin sit down and start arranging the chess pieces, Lin Yu feigned impatience and asked:
"Ms. Miao, can you finally explain now?"
"Why were you in that alley?"
"Don’t tell me…"
"You and Ms. Yan were in cahoots from the very beginning?"
Miao Haixin: "!!!"
What kind of logic was that?!
How could she possibly be working with someone like Yan Miaozhu?
The very thought was absurd!
But Lin Yu’s wild guess wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
After all, from the moment they met until now, she hadn’t given him a proper explanation.
A reckless, clueless college student jumping to conclusions—whatever he guessed was understandable.
The real reason Miao Haixin had appeared in that alley near the motel was so complicated that guessing it correctly would take nothing short of divine insight.
However.
Miao Haixin had no idea.
Standing right in front of her was, in fact, a "true god."
Everything unfolding now was under the "true god’s" control.
Even as Lin Yu pressed her with questions, Miao Haixin continued setting up the chessboard without pause.
If she stopped now, they’d just be sitting face-to-face, talking awkwardly!
It would be unbearable!
She had no idea how to face Lin Yu like that.
So.
Miao Haixin had thought of chess.
A ready-made prop to divert their attention.
This way, they wouldn’t have to stare at each other while talking, and their minds could partly focus on the game.
It was similar to discussing business over a chess match—just as effective.
And the best solution she could come up with under the circumstances.
"Lin Yu, I know you have a lot of misunderstandings about me."
"You know how to play chess, right? Let’s sit and talk while we play."
Lin Yu didn’t refuse. He took the seat opposite her and began swiftly arranging his pieces in sync with her words.
So, the advisor was trying to distract him!
The more focus and time spent on the game, the easier it’d be to shift his attention.
Lin Yu saw right through such a simple tactic.
Too bad.
Miao Haixin could never have imagined the caliber of the chess player sitting across from her!
"Clack!"
The moment the pieces were set, Lin Yu slammed down his "central cannon," aggressively seizing the first move.
The forceful strike against the board was a clear message—he was still furious.
Miao Haixin didn’t fight for the initiative. Instead, she made her move and began speaking:
"Lin Yu, on the way back, I considered whether I should make up an excuse to brush this off."
"But I know you’re a smart guy. A flimsy lie would only deepen the misunderstanding between us."
"So, I decided to tell you the truth…"
(Clack!)
The moment Miao Haixin placed her piece, Lin Yu responded just as quickly with another sharp "clack!"
His move practically screamed:
Go on, then. Let’s hear this "truth."
Miao Haixin tensed slightly but continued speaking between the rapid "clack, clack, clack…" of their moves, recounting the day’s events.
Lin Yu, who already knew everything, couldn’t help but admire Miao Haixin’s honesty.
Facing her student—just a naive young man—she had every opportunity to embellish or fabricate the story.
With him unaware of the full picture, she could’ve easily tweaked motives and details to make herself look better.
A tale of an advisor protecting her student’s safety didn’t need to be so raw and unvarnished.
Yet despite having every reason to sugarcoat it, Miao Haixin chose to lay everything bare.
Every detail, every thought in her mind—she laid it all out with painful clarity.
Hearing Yan Miaozhu’s voice message, suspecting it might be Lin Yu from the day before, confirming it was him…
And why she guessed it was him so quickly—because of a dream she’d had the night before…
Every single detail matched the information Lin Yu already knew perfectly!
Even something as trivial as a dream—something she didn’t need to mention at all—she included without hesitation.
At that moment, Lin Yu finally understood the greatest weapon this advisor possessed…
Unadulterated sincerity!
In human interactions, sincerity was the ultimate trump card.
For a moment, Lin Yu couldn’t even keep up his angry act.
Continuing to pretend would just make him look like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.
Completely unreasonable.
If anything, this chessboard confession helped Lin Yu finally understand why Miao Haixin had been in the office yesterday.
She was one of the few colleagues who knew Yan Miaozhu was married.
And she had personally witnessed Yan Miaozhu—wearing a hat—leaving a hotel with an unfamiliar man.
Secret marriage + checking into a hotel with a stranger.
That alone had cemented Yan Miaozhu’s character in Miao Haixin’s mind.
Then, hearing from other advisors that Yan Miaozhu always favored male students as class representatives…
And that she seemed unusually close to them?
When she learned Lin Yu had been called into the office alone, Miao Haixin’s reaction made perfect sense.
"I said it…"
"Whew… That wasn’t as hard as I thought."
"Lin Yu, if you’re angry because I didn’t warn you earlier to be wary of Ms. Yan…"
"Or because I took it upon myself to follow her and ended up running into you…"
"If you feel deceived or kept in the dark, I want to apologize. Sincerely."
"I…"
"Huh? Ch-checkmate?!"
Miao Haixin didn’t consider herself a terrible chess player.
She hadn’t even spent that much time talking.
How had she been cornered without even realizing it?!
Was Lin Yu really this good even when he was angry?
Lin Yu set down the piece he had just captured and walked over to Miao Haixin.
She stood up, ready to deliver a proper apology.
Even if she hadn’t done anything wrong, she felt obligated to acknowledge her student’s feelings.
But before she could speak, Lin Yu pulled her into a tight embrace.
Miao Haixin: "!!!"
Wh-what was happening?!
Frozen in place by the strength of Lin Yu’s arms, Miao Haixin didn’t know how to react.
Pushing him away mid-apology…
Would seem incredibly rude.
For a long moment, her arms hung awkwardly in the air, unsure where to go.
"Ms. Miao, thank you!"
"Thank you for protecting me. I was so stupid—I almost misunderstood you."
"I’ve never been in a situation like today’s. When I was alone in that room with Ms. Yan, I was terrified."
[Ding!]
[Masterful move! The Saint’s unfiltered emotional display greatly boosts the Faction Elder’s favor!]
[Reward: 20 Spirit Stones]
...
(Second update today. Bonus chapter coming soon!)
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?"
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!
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
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...
