The note read: "[Marry me when we grow up]."
The characters for "when we grow up" were scribbled in a childish, unsteady hand, while the word "me" was written with elegant, firm strokes—clearly the handwriting of two different people.
Lin Ran froze.
Could this have been written by Luo Yao?
No, it must have been written by a man. If it were Luo Yao, it would say "Marry you when we grow up" or "Marry [someone's name]."
But regardless of who wrote it, the fact that Luo Yao kept it as a keepsake—what did that imply?
Did Luo Yao have another "first love" besides him?
And that childish handwriting—it was clearly written when they were young.
Lin Ran was certain he had no memory loss; his childhood recollections were vivid. He had never met Luo Yao before, nor did he even vaguely recall any girl from his past. So, he definitely wasn't Luo Yao's first love. Which meant...
Perhaps that person looked like him. Or worse—he looked like that person.
The thought that he might just be a substitute made Lin Ran's chest tighten with inexplicable pain.
He carefully refolded the note, placed it back into the small bottle, and returned it to its spot.
Sitting in his executive chair, his mind went blank, as if crashing, leaving him speechless for a long time.
Then, a voice came from outside the office.
"President Luo, Mr. Lin is here—he's in your office."
Unsure how to face Luo Yao, Lin Ran closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
When Luo Yao entered, she saw him slumped in the chair, seemingly asleep.
Her gaze shifted to the small bottle on the desk, then back to Lin Ran. Without hesitation, she scooped him up effortlessly—a surprising feat for someone so petite—and carried him to the restroom, moving with such care as if afraid to wake him.
Lin Ran kept his eyes shut, but his heart gradually settled.
Luo Yao's tenderness, her affection—none of it felt fake. Was he really just a stand-in?
Yet he was absolutely certain he had never known her before.
Feeling her gentle touch, the slight coolness of her fingers against his cheek, Lin Ran's resistance melted away.
If Luo Yao was here with him now, didn’t that say everything?
Even if he was a substitute, he’d play the part perfectly—until the day she no longer wanted him.
It was what he owed her.
But the thought of Luo Yao one day leaving him to return to her first love sent a sharp pang through his chest.
Pretending to stir awake, he found Luo Yao gazing at him intently.
"Sweetheart, did you carry me to bed?"
Luo Yao stayed by his side, her eyes fixed on him as if his very existence in her life was a miracle.
"Yes!"
"Ha! You’re stronger than you look."
Luo Yao flexed her small fist. "I’ve trained for it."
Lin Ran pulled her into his arms, making her lie beside him.
"Ah—!"
A sudden, sharp pain shot through his long-healed wound.
Luo Yao tensed, her hand immediately reaching to soothe the spot. "What’s wrong? Does it hurt?"
The worry in her eyes, the urgency in her voice—none of it could be faked.
"It’s fine, just pulled it by accident."
Luo Yao nestled against him, whispering, "I’m sorry, A'Ran."
"Then you’ll have to make it up to me."
"How?"
"What do you think?"
"But I don’t want you to overexert yourself..."
"I won’t move. Promise."
Luo Yao’s gaze turned sultry, catching Lin Ran off guard.
"Wait, I didn’t mean right now—Mmh!"
Luo Yao cut him off with a kiss. "You started this fire. Now you’ll put it out."
Lin Ran thought, Good lord, why is the office always the setting for these miracles?
And the door isn’t even locked this time, woman!
Luo Yao couldn’t care less. If anyone dared knock now, they’d regret it.
As they lost themselves in each other, Lin Ran felt the undeniable truth of her love.
What first love? What unattainable ideal? None of it mattered compared to the warmth in his arms.
——
Two hours later, they finally left the office.
Passing through the assistant team’s area, they noticed everyone keeping their heads down—though occasional glances flickered their way.
Instead of returning to the estate, they dined out—at Pan Gu Hotel, owned by Lin Ran himself.
Last time he’d visited, he’d barely eaten. Tonight, he intended to make up for it.
Upon learning the owner and President Luo were dining there, the manager—Ye Lingling, the same woman from last time—personally attended to them.
Polished and well-respected in the culinary world, Ye Lingling rarely appeared unless for VIP guests.
She arranged a private dining room on the top floor, but Lin Ran insisted on a semi-private booth.
Reserving an entire room for just two felt wasteful—especially when the hotel was his. Extravagance didn’t sit right with him.
Even the booths here weren’t for ordinary guests. The restaurant’s hierarchy was clear: standard seating downstairs, semi-private booths above, and exclusive rooms for the elite.
Such was life—some were born in Rome, others spent theirs as beasts of burden.
Seating Luo Yao, Lin Ran caught her gaze—full of nothing but him.
When someone truly loves you, you can see it in their eyes, he mused wryly. Maybe he’d overthought things.
Whether in this life or another, Luo Yao’s love had never wavered. No shadows of a past love, no haunting "first love."
"Yao Yao," he finally asked, "why do you love me so much?"
It was a question he’d long wondered but never voiced—until curiosity got the better of him.
Luo Yao’s eyes narrowed playfully. "What? Planning to use the answer to escape me?"
Lin Ran chuckled. "Impossible. If anything, I’m afraid you’ll leave me one day."
"Then stop worrying. The only way you’re leaving is if I lock you up and devour you piece by piece."
Lin Ran pressed on. "I’m just curious. I’m not exceptionally talented—handsome, maybe, but so are countless others. I’m not rich, nor am I romantic. What’s the reason?"
Luo Yao cupped his face, her voice earnest. "Don’t say that. To me, A'Ran, you’re the best person in this world. Just having you by my side—that’s the most romantic thing of all."
The most romantic thing...
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?!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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!
