"Aunt Qi Meng, did you and Aunt Ru Xue stay up late chatting again last night?"
"Why hasn't she come down yet? It’s almost eight o'clock."
Lin Yu asked curiously.
Aunt Ru Xue wasn’t the type to be late.
She was the one who had set the time herself.
By all logic, she should have appeared by now.
Chen Qimeng shook her head with a smile and said,
"No, we went to bed early last night and slept... very well."
"Ru Xue should be almost ready by now."
"But don’t be shocked when you see her later."
Lin Yu: "???"
Da Xiao and Er Chi: "???"
Shocked?
What did Aunt Qi Meng mean by that?
Was Aunt Ru Xue going to come downstairs wielding a kitchen knife?
Just as they were puzzling over this,
Aunt Ru Xue’s voice came from the living room...
"Sorry, I had to take a quick shower because of my hair."
"We’ll be out all day today, and if there were stray hairs sticking to me, it’d be annoying."
Lin Yu, Da Xiao, and Er Chi curiously stepped out of the dining room.
The moment they saw Du Ruxue, all three froze in place.
Her hair...
She had cut it short!
No wonder Aunt Qi Meng had said that.
And what was with the sportswear?
Paired with the baseball cap in Du Ruxue’s hand,
If they ran into her on the street, they’d never connect her to the elegant woman they’d met just days ago.
If outsiders would be stunned,
Xia Yiwei and Maomao were even more shocked.
"Aunt Ru Xue, your... your hair..."
Xia Yiwei stammered, unable to form a complete sentence.
Du Ruxue had always been meticulous about her appearance.
Even something as simple as a haircut—
For years, she had only trusted one stylist.
Every trim was nearly identical, with no major changes.
How much resolve had it taken for her to cut her hair short today?
"Aunt Ru Xue..."
"You look really good like this."
Maomao’s reaction, aside from shock, included genuine praise.
She didn’t know why Aunt Ru Xue had cut her hair or why she was dressed this way,
But something felt... different about her now.
"Qi Meng’s haircutting skills are just so-so, so bear with it."
"Maomao, today, no one can help you."
"Today’s test is just between you and me."
As soon as the topic shifted to the day’s challenge, everyone snapped back to attention.
Maomao, the one being tested, didn’t find it strange at all.
Yesterday,
Without everyone’s help, she never could have completed the task alone.
Today’s rule—limiting it to just her—was completely expected.
She didn’t say anything, just waited quietly,
Listening for Aunt Ru Xue to continue.
At the same time,
She couldn’t stop admiring Aunt Ru Xue’s sportswear.
From childhood until now, she had never seen Aunt Ru Xue wear athletic clothes.
This outfit had to be Aunt Qi Meng’s.
The size looked about right,
But if you looked closely, the pant legs were just a bit too short.
Aunt Ru Xue never bought clothes with sizing flaws.
Du Ruxue walked up to Maomao and held out her hand.
"Maomao, give me your phone."
Maomao didn’t ask why or what for.
She obediently handed it over, even entering her passcode so Aunt Ru Xue could see it clearly.
Du Ruxue pocketed the phone, then took out her own and handed it to Maomao.
Maomao took it hesitantly, her face full of question marks.
Du Ruxue pointed at the phone.
"No passcode. There’s enough money in Alipay and WeChat."
"Today, you’re the adult. You’re taking me out for a day in Pingchuan."
"Eat, drink, bathroom breaks—everything except sleep—we’re doing it all outside!"
Maomao took a deep breath, her expression unreadable.
Yesterday’s test was about whether she knew how to spend money wisely—
What was worth paying for, what wasn’t.
Today’s test was basically...
To see if she could take care of someone!
If she couldn’t even look after Aunt Ru Xue, whom she knew well, in a single day,
How could she possibly take care of herself living alone?
Aunt Ru Xue’s reasoning made perfect sense.
Lin Yu nearly laughed out loud at the request.
What kind of test was this?
Wasn’t this just an excuse to go out and have fun with Maomao under the guise of a challenge?
And making the inexperienced Maomao take care of her?
Hahaha—
Could this even be called a proper outing?
Maomao had no way out. Even though she felt this task was even harder,
Her only option was to agree.
Du Ruxue added,
"No need to rush. I’ll give you an hour to prepare."
"You can ask them for advice or look things up online."
"At least figure out what we’ll be doing today."
"Don’t push yourself into something you’re not good at—it’ll just cause unnecessary trouble."
Maomao’s tension eased a little.
Aunt Ru Xue was so kind!
She was giving her time to prepare.
That made it much less daunting.
If they had to leave right now, Maomao would be completely lost.
Snap!
Xia Yiwei flicked her fingers and gave Maomao a thumbs-up.
As a local, she knew exactly where to go and what to do to kill time.
This was no challenge for her!
......
At 8:30 a.m.,
Lin Yu and Aunt Qi Meng arrived at the shopping street.
Maomao didn’t need Lin Yu to stay and help.
With the Xia sisters’ tips, things seemed to be going smoothly.
Lin Yu had come to Mao Ruirui’s pet shop, so he and Chen Qimeng left together.
"Yu, these bags are light. I can carry them to the shop myself."
"Go see Ruirui. She’s been at the shop since early morning—she’s probably been waiting for you."
"Be careful training the dogs. Don’t get scratched or bitten."
Chen Qimeng insisted on taking the bags from Lin Yu so he could tend to his own business.
A few rolls of wrapping paper weren’t heavy enough to need his help.
"Alright, I’ll head straight to Ruirui’s then."
"I’ll come by the shop at noon to bring you lunch. Don’t go out."
Lin Yu glanced around—no familiar faces on the street.
Then,
He quickly kissed Chen Qimeng on the cheek.
Chen Qimeng’s face flushed instantly, and she turned and hurried across the street.
......
(Second update for today. More coming soon!)
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)
] [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!"
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?!
