"Flowers shed tears~"
"They'll wither~though beautiful~"
"Time flies silently erasing their fragrance~"
"We no longer chase~"
"Chasing whom~dragging whom~"
"Just youthful recklessness leaving exhaustion behind~"
"……"
Inside the small bar.
A bespectacled middle-aged man sat on the makeshift stage in slippers, strumming his guitar and singing.
His weathered voice seemed to narrate stories of bygone youth—
Beautiful yet bittersweet.
Seated nearby, Fang Xinran held her glass, softly singing along:
"Your someone~"
"My someone~leaning on whom~"
"Now scattered to the ends of the earth, becoming whose someone~"
"……"
She swayed gently while watching the stage.
Yet upon closer observation, it was clear—
Fang Xinran's gaze wasn't focused at all.
After the chorus ended, Fang Xinran sighed and remarked:
"Such a beautiful song. It always paints vivid images in my mind."
"Don’t you think so?"
Tang Yimian took a small sip of her cocktail, cheeks flushed as she covered her face:
"It is, though it feels quite melancholic—makes me reminisce about so many things."
Fang Xinran then looked expectantly at Lin Yu, as if waiting for his thoughts.
Lin Yu replied bluntly:
"La-la shedding tears~will wither~la-la-la~"
"The only image that comes to mind is..."
"Watching legal dramas, tasting the flavors of life?"
"Must’ve been... last year, when Aunt Qimeng was crying while watching TV. I wondered what moved her so much."
"Then I ended up binge-watching a whole series of legal dramas with her."
"Gotta admit, they were pretty good."
Memories flooded back.
In his past life, after Aunt Qimeng passed away,
Lin Yu often revisited their time together, realizing there were no particularly standout moments.
Now, discussing it—
Those mundane, everyday fragments were actually the most precious memories.
Back then, he took them for granted.
Never thought to cherish those scattered scenes.
Perhaps only when life truly slows down can one appreciate the small joys in the ordinary.
Tang Yimian lowered her hands, suddenly animated:
"That’s it! I knew it sounded familiar."
"Just couldn’t place where I’d heard it before!"
"Lin Yu, your memory is seriously impressive!"
Lin Yu studied Tang Yimian’s smiling face: "..."
Definitely tipsy.
Such straightforward praise was very un-Tang-Yimian-like.
And after speaking, she didn’t even avert her eyes?
She was holding his gaze directly!
The usually timid Tang Yimian would never be this bold.
This had to be the alcohol talking.
In this relaxed atmosphere, surrounded only by close friends,
Who knew what reckless thing she might do next?
Lin Yu decided not to provoke Tang Yimian for now. Instead, he turned curiously to Fang Xinran:
"Senior Fang, maybe it’s just me, but..."
"You seem different today?"
"Is something on your mind?"
"The three of us are friends, right? If you’re comfortable, you can share it with us."
Before Fang Xinran could answer,
Tang Yimian’s conflicted expression gave it away.
So it was true!
There really was something—Lin Yu wasn’t imagining things.
To her credit, Tang Yimian remained a loyal friend.
She only communicated through her eyes, never speaking for Fang Xinran.
After all—
A friend’s business is theirs to share.
Who has the right to speak for them?
Fang Xinran raised her glass and downed the entire beer in one go.
With a bright smile, she declared:
"I knew I couldn’t hide it from you, Lin Yu."
"Actually, it’s nothing bad—in fact, it’s something to celebrate. Yimian already knows."
"Lin Yu..."
"I’ve decided to quit my job!"
Lin Yu: "!!!"
Fang Xinran’s announcement genuinely shocked him.
He knew she was ambitious, unwilling to settle.
But he never expected her to act so decisively.
She hadn’t even finished her teaching internship at the elementary school before making this choice.
Such a free-spirited attitude was rare among girls from small mountain towns.
She must’ve...
Finally identified what was trapping her, hadn’t she?
Fang Xinran refilled her glass and topped up Lin Yu’s:
"Lin Yu, Yimian, don’t look at me like that."
"You should be happy for me!"
"This decision took every ounce of courage I had."
"Don’t make it seem like I’m making a mistake—at least right now, I don’t think I am."
Tang Yimian grabbed Fang Xinran’s hand, shaking her head:
"Of course not! I’d never think you’re wrong."
"It’s just... I’ll really miss you."
"Xinran, when you told me yesterday, my mind went blank."
"I never got the chance to ask—what’s your next step?"
At school, Tang Yimian’s introverted nature made close friendships hard to come by.
Finally finding a kindred spirit, only for her to leave—
How could she not feel heartbroken?
Fang Xinran shook her head honestly:
"I haven’t figured that out yet either."
"I just know teaching elementary school isn’t for me."
"My rough plan is to head back south first!"
"Maybe I’ll stumble around, try different things, and eventually settle for a government job."
"Who knows..."
Her tone was carefree,
But Lin Yu could see the underlying unease about the future in her eyes.
In the prime of youth, when dreams outweigh practicality,
The desire to break free and explore is natural.
Ninety-five percent of people eventually return to ordinary lives after hitting walls,
Entering that middle-aged phase where survival takes precedence.
Yet the world is vast, and miracles do happen.
If she truly breaks through—
She might genuinely change her life’s trajectory.
Truthfully,
In his past life, Lin Yu hadn’t lived much longer than Fang Xinran’s current age.
He had no right to stop her—no right to restrain a restless heart.
The only thing he could do was offer blessings and encouragement.
Clink.
Lin Yu tapped his glass lightly on the table and raised it to Fang Xinran:
"Senior Fang, I admire your courage and envy your boldness."
"As a friend, I wish you happiness—may you find a wonderful life and a bright future."
Tang Yimian hurriedly lifted her glass too:
"Me too! Xinran, I also wish you the best. I believe you’ll find work you love."
"Remember when you first came to school, we..."
(1,000-word speech omitted)
Fang Xinran: "..."
Lin Yu: "..."
......
(First update today. There’ll be bonus chapters later—this time, I won’t break my promise. Absolutely!)
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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?!
