The servant brought out the dishes prepared by Lin Ran, and Luo Yao’s appetite instantly perked up at the sight.
Lin Ran fed her bite by bite, and Luo Yao ate with quiet focus.
After the meal, the private doctor came to check on her again and found that Luo Yao’s condition had improved significantly. Her fever had already subsided in just one day, and the doctor estimated she would fully recover in another two days.
Luo Yao’s cheeks were still slightly flushed, which Lin Ran knew was due to her illness. He held her in his arms as they sat on the balcony of the bedroom, gazing at the sky.
He couldn’t understand why Luo Yao loved stargazing so much.
Lin Ran: "The stars don’t move."
Luo Yao: "But hearts do."
Though she still felt a little unwell, being this close to Lin Ran under the stars made the discomfort seem trivial.
Being sick wasn’t so bad after all.
Because of her condition, the two didn’t do much—just held each other quietly.
Eventually, Luo Yao fell asleep, and Lin Ran prepared to carry her back to bed.
"Meow!"
Lin Ran stiffened, turning his head to glare and whisper sharply,
"Don’t wake her up."
"Meow!"
Damn it, why wouldn’t this cat listen?
Gently, he lifted Luo Yao, carried her from the balcony to the bedroom, and laid her down with care.
The black cat remained on the balcony, watching motionlessly.
After tucking Luo Yao in, Lin Ran pressed a light kiss to her forehead before returning to the balcony.
"What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be asleep?"
He immediately felt silly—cats were nocturnal, after all.
"Meow!"
"Are you some kind of peeping Tom-cat? Spill it—do you always watch us when we’re... you know?"
"Meow!"
Whatever. Life was dull, and cats didn’t understand humans.
He returned to bed and fell asleep with Luo Yao in his arms.
In his dream, he stood in a primal forest, where a pair of eerily unnatural eyes stared at him—motionless, unblinking.
Lin Ran reached for his phone to illuminate the darkness but realized he hadn’t brought it.
Just as he was about to speak, the eyes beneath parted to reveal a grotesque mouth that sent chills down his spine.
It resembled a human mouth, yet wasn’t quite human.
Blood dripped ceaselessly from it, impossible to tell whether it was the creature’s own or someone else’s.
Lin Ran jolted awake in a cold sweat.
That dream again—the second time now, though clearer this time.
He took a deep breath and grabbed his phone to search:
[What does it mean when dreams continue from previous ones?]
After scrolling through countless bizarre theories from online forums, he sighed.
"Ran, what’s wrong?"
Lin Ran turned to see Luo Yao awake, her eyes soft with concern. He patted her back gently. "Nothing. Just a nightmare. I was looking it up. Did I wake you?"
Luo Yao nuzzled into his chest. "Dreams are just illusions. The only real thing is the person beside you."
Lin Ran smiled, soothing her back to sleep before closing his own eyes.
The nightmare resumed...
He woke with a start to morning light, Luo Yao sitting by the bed, her fingers lightly brushing his cheek.
"Ran, another nightmare?"
Lin Ran inhaled deeply, the scent of Luo Yao calming him. He sat up abruptly, meeting her gaze.
Unbrushed, her hair was adorably tousled, her cheeks flushed. Her eyes—no longer their usual icy detachment—sparkled with unspoken warmth.
The sight hit him like a knockout punch. Lin Ran admitted it: he was utterly enchanted by her.
When he first returned from rebirth, he’d only wanted to cherish Luo Yao. But gradually, that turned into dependence—he craved her presence every second.
Now, having tasted her love, he couldn’t live without her.
How had he been such a blind fool in his past life to miss her magic?
Seeing Lin Ran recover, Luo Yao relaxed and made to leave, only for him to grab her hand.
"Don’t go. I haven’t had my fill of looking at you yet."
She leaned down, pressing her cheek to his. She adored this version of Lin Ran—the one who clung to her endlessly—and despised the one who’d once looked at her with disgust.
"Alright. I’ll stay until you’re satisfied."
Truthfully, she didn’t want to leave either. She longed to stay with him forever, but she couldn’t. She had to climb higher, to the very top, before she could rest.
She had something crucial to do. She was waiting, too.
They lingered in silent admiration until time forced them apart. Lin Ran finally released her with a reluctant sigh.
After Luo Yao left, Wang Bao arrived, introducing several elite bodyguards from the security team.
From their rugged, dependable faces alone, Lin Ran felt reassured. He had them dress in plain clothes and follow at a discreet distance.
That day, Lin Ran headed straight to the real estate company and summoned Wu Zhishang for a meeting.
Thanks to Xu Kai’s expertise as a lawyer—and the backing of Luo Corporation—all the company’s paperwork had been finalized two days prior with remarkable efficiency.
Lin Ran cut straight to the chase with Wu Zhishang.
"Between brothers, let’s skip the formalities. Our future’s boundless—after all, I’ve got capital behind me. You can’t deny that, right?"
Wu Zhishang winced. "Lin, just say what you mean. No need to keep rubbing salt in the wound."
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
