"I heard that during my absence, you all slacked off?"
An executive cautiously replied, "President Luo, those are just rumors. We've been wronged."
Luo Yao's calm yet icy voice continued, "I've also heard plenty of idle gossip."
She had no idea what had actually happened in the company while she was away, nor had she asked her assistants to report. Her demeanor was just a bluff to test these people.
Finally, one executive cracked under the pressure, feeling almost suffocated. Every meeting felt like walking to the execution grounds for them. Even if Luo Yao did nothing, her presence alone was oppressive.
"President Luo, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have spread nonsense. Punish me—cut out my tongue if you must."
Luo Yao raised an eyebrow, surprised there was actually something to uncover. "What exactly did you say?"
The executive, a woman in her thirties, hesitated. Luo Corporation’s management was half female, which unfortunately came with the downside of too much gossip.
"I... I said you disappeared to make a baby with Young Master Lin. I’m sorry, wuwu..."
Luo Yao froze. She hadn’t expected that rumor.
Lowering her head, she considered it. It was technically misinformation. She had gone out with A'Ran, and they had done things that could lead to a baby—but that wasn’t the purpose, and she couldn’t get pregnant anyway because of the medication she was taking.
"Hmm. Not entirely accurate, but close enough. Go out now and clarify that your statement was false. Say that A'Ran and I were actually... getting engaged."
"Engaged?!"
The executive blinked. "But... President Luo, hasn’t the whole internet known about this for a while?"
They were all confused. The two had already registered their marriage, so why hadn’t they held a wedding yet? And why was the proposal only happening now?
Was this some kind of "marry first, love later" trope?
But that didn’t make sense either—during their variety show appearances, they’d proven they were childhood sweethearts.
A cold glint flashed in Luo Yao’s eyes.
"I told you to clarify, not ask questions."
What, just because the whole internet knew, she couldn’t reinforce the message?
"Understood, President Luo."
The meeting ended in collective bewilderment. The moment it adjourned, Wang Fang immediately called Liu Meng.
"Wang-jie, what’s up?"
Liu Meng knew Wang Fang wouldn’t call without good reason.
"Assistant Liu, just now..." Wang Fang recounted the meeting’s events.
"What should I do now?"
Wang Fang deeply respected Liu Meng, especially when it came to deciphering Luo Yao’s intentions.
"Simple. Think—what does President Luo love most?"
"Scaring people."
A brief silence from Liu Meng’s end. "...I meant, what is she most invested in?"
Wang Fang pondered.
"Probably Young Master Lin?"
"Not ‘probably’—definitely. She loves him, and she loves flaunting it. She wants to claim him openly at every opportunity. So, play into that. Give her the emotional satisfaction."
Wang Fang had an epiphany. "Thank you, Assistant Liu. I know what to do now."
Liu Meng added, "One more thing—President Luo doesn’t like scaring people. If you think she’s just bluffing, you might already be in real danger."
Wang Fang stiffened. What did that mean?
After a moment, her pupils shrank in realization.
"So that’s how it is... I’ve survived this long purely on luck."
Grumbling, she got to work.
Under Luo Corporation’s official banner, she announced Young Master Lin and President Luo’s wedding date and repackaged clips from Lin Ran’s Douyin videos for a grand re-release.
The internet exploded—again.
[So What’s Even Real Anymore]: Wait, didn’t Young Master Lin just post this? Now Luo Corp’s official account is doing it too? Are they targeting single people like me on purpose?
[Happy-Go-Lucky Fool]: Holy hell, just when I’d forgotten about this, it comes back to sucker-punch me. Is being single a crime? If it is, arrest me—don’t torture me with this couple’s fluff.
[Lin-Luo Baby-Making Team]: Am I the only one melting? Their fairy-tale romance is everything. No shame—I’m a full-blown "Luo Descends Upon Lin" shipper.
[Escaped Parisian Karen]: Should they really be hogging public resources like this?
[Karen Slayer]: Oh look, another sewer rat. Who asked you? What ‘resources’ are they hogging?
Meanwhile, at Nuanyao Group, Lin Ran had just left when Zhang Xinyan rushed in with the news.
"President Wu, look at this!"
Wu Zhishang scanned the updates and froze.
"Should we... do something similar?" Zhang Xinyan asked. She’d completely revised her opinion of Lin Ran lately, even joining his fan club as a senior member.
"We’re here to work, not indulge in nonsense."
"Understood—"
"...But this is work-related. Post something. Just keep it low-key—don’t overshadow Luo Corporation."
"Got it."
Nuanyao Group followed suit, nearly copy-pasting Luo Corp’s announcement.
None of this had reached the two leads yet.
When Lin Ran arrived at Luo Corporation, he noticed everyone sneaking glances at him.
This was odd. He’d visited many times before—people knew him. Why the secrecy? And why was no one greeting him?
"Young Master Lin, you’re here?"
Security guard Old Liu approached, but before he could say more, a hulking figure cut him off.
Old Liu bristled. He’d been the first to befriend Lin Ran here—who dared disrespect him?
Then he met the man’s bone-chilling stare and gulped, instantly backing down.
"Old Liu, why’s everyone staring?"
This was Lin Ran’s first visit to Luo Corporation since returning to the capital—and his first during working hours. He couldn’t figure out the strange atmosphere.
Old Liu hesitated, now too afraid to get close.
"Young Master Lin... you don’t know? At our company, you’ve been labeled the ‘ruinous beauty.’"
"The what?"
"The one who..." Old Liu glanced around and whispered, "The seductive distraction leading President Luo astray."
Lin Ran frowned. "Where’d that come from?"
He wasn’t having it. Sure, he and Luo Yao were clingy, but they never interfered with her work.
Take last life, for example—without him, Luo Yao spent seven days in Shanghai.
This life, with him by her side? Still seven days in Shanghai, but she accomplished far more.
That was the difference. But of course, these people wouldn’t know.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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?!
