"Yaoyao, you forgot the first time we met, didn't you? That day, after my dad beat me, I was crying outside, and you handed me a tissue," Luo Yuan said.
He had found a secluded spot to cry and ran into Qin Ruoyao.
Qin Ruoyao handed him a tissue, and when he looked up, he saw her pure and innocent face. At that moment, he felt like he had seen an angel.
From then on, he became a devoted follower, ever chasing after Qin Ruoyao.
He even transferred to her school.
Damn it, his youth had been utterly wasted!
Thinking about his past self, Luo Yuan couldn't help but want to give himself two big slaps.
He had been so stupid.
If it weren't for Qin Ruoyao revealing her true colors after his family went bankrupt, he probably would've kept licking her boots indefinitely.
Qin Ruoyao's lips curled into a smile. "You're one of my most important friends. How could I forget the day we first met?"
"Yaoyao, do you remember if it was sunny or cloudy that day?" Luo Yuan asked.
Qin Ruoyao frowned. "Who remembers such details? It's been so long. I only remember you that day."
In the past, Luo Yuan would have been moved to tears.
Now, all he felt was cold mockery.
He had been spinning in circles, tricked by Qin Ruoyao's sweet words.
"Yaoyao, let's not talk about other things. Let's eat some cake together."
Luo Yuan cut the cake and handed a piece to Qin Ruoyao, but she only managed to eat a small portion before she couldn't finish it.
Luo Yuan then poured her a glass of wine. "Here, Yaoyao, have some wine. This bottle costs a whopping $150,000, and I heard it's really good. You should try it."
As he handed her the glass, just as it was about to reach her hand, Luo Yuan suddenly let go, and the glass fell onto Qin Ruoyao's skirt, staining her white dress red with wine.
"Yaoyao, are you okay?" Luo Yuan asked anxiously.
“I'm fine,” Qin Ruoyao shook her head, looking down at her wine-stained skirt with distress.
This was a dress she had spent $30,000 on, and now it was ruined...
"Yaoyao, I thought you had grabbed the glass. I must have let go too early," Luo Yuan said, sounding genuinely guilty.
"It's fine, I'll just change into another one," Qin Ruoyao said, not wanting Luo Yuan to see her in such a state. She quickly got up and headed to her bedroom to change.
Seeing this, Luo Yuan swiftly picked up Qin Ruoyao's phone from the table.
He accurately entered the password and started searching for videos.
When he found one, he tapped it open, his eyes lighting up. It really had been recorded!
Luo Yuan sent the video to his own phone, deleted the record, and then placed Qin Ruoyao's phone back in its original spot.
Soon, Qin Ruoyao returned to the living room.
Luo Yuan stood up from his seat. "I have something to do. I'm leaving."
Thank goodness, he didn't have to keep being Qin Ruoyao's lapdog anymore.
Luo Yuan held the roses in his hand. He wasn't going to leave them for Qin Ruoyao, not even in the trash. Not just the roses, but also the wine and the cake were coming with him.
He would take the cake home for his parents to eat, and such expensive wine certainly wouldn't be left for Qin Ruoyao.
Qin Ruoyao watched as Luo Yuan picked up all the things he had brought, her face filled with confusion.
"Luo Yuan, what are you doing...?"
Luo Yuan: "Are you blind? Going home! These are things I bought, so I can take them with me if I want to."
With that, he left Qin Ruoyao's house, carrying all his belongings.
Qin Ruoyao frowned.
Why did she feel that Luo Yuan's attitude toward her was so different from before?
Thinking about it, Qin Ruoyao shook her head. It was probably just her imagination.
But for some reason, she felt a heaviness in her heart, as if something was slipping away from her...
Later that afternoon, Luo Yuan stood under a tree, waiting for Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan got out of the car. His clothes were a bit messy, and there was a noticeable lipstick mark on his neck.
Everyone around gave him teasing glances.
"Ah, Xuan," Su Hua stepped out of the car and walked over to Lin Xuan. Standing on her tiptoes, she began to straighten his clothes.
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow, Ms. Su is so gentle with Lin Xuan, it's unbelievable! She's like a completely different person compared to when she came to our school to give a speech."
"Wow, I wish I could be Lin Xuan! Ms. Su only has eyes for him!"
"Don't mention it, jealousy is making me hideous."
After Su Hua straightened Lin Xuan's clothes, she placed a quick kiss on his lips, just a brief touch.
"Wow~"
Someone couldn't help but let out a gasp.
"This is a goodbye kiss," Su Hua said, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "Xuan, wait for me tonight. I'll come pick you up and we'll go home together."
"Okay," Lin Xuan nodded.
Luo Yuan felt his teeth ache from the sourness.
Back in the day, both he and Lin Xuan had been chasing after Qin Ruoyao. Now, Lin Xuan had married a rich, beautiful woman and was living the high life, while his family was now so poor they could barely make ends meet.
Damn it!
How could the gap between people be so huge?
Su Hua left, and Lin Xuan began walking towards the classroom building.
"Lin Xuan," Luo Yuan called out.
Lin Xuan approached Luo Yuan.
"What is it?" Lin Xuan asked.
"Everything you wanted is here. These should be enough to expose Qin Ruoyao's relationship with Lin Li," Luo Yuan said, handing a USB drive to Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan took the USB drive.
"Well done. This is faster than I expected," Lin Xuan nodded.
"Lin Xuan, when are you going to get the money back from Qin Ruoyao?" Luo Yuan asked eagerly, already anticipating the moment when Qin Ruoyao would fall from grace.
"There's no rush. We'll wait until this matter comes to light."
By then, Lin Li and Qin Ruoyao would have completely fallen out.
Only then would they pressure Qin Ruoyao for the money, and with no way out, she would have to sell her house to pay the debt.
That would mark the beginning of Qin Ruoyao's nightmare.
These days, Luo Yuan had been leading Qin Ruoyao through a life of luxury. As the saying goes, it's easy to get used to a life of luxury, but hard to adapt back to a simple life.
Qin Ruoyao wouldn't be able to satisfy her material desires, and she would fall into decadence on her own.
"Alright," Luo Yuan nodded.
"By the way, Lin Xuan, why are you helping me like this?" Luo Yuan couldn't help but ask.
Back then, his father had been in the ICU. If it weren't for the money from Lin Xuan, he might not be alive now.
And he, perhaps, might have already jumped off a building and killed himself.
Lin Xuan: "First, you were easier to manipulate and get close to Qin Ruoyao. It was clear she wouldn't be suspicious if you spent money on her."
"Second," Lin Xuan smiled slightly, "Like you, I was once a devoted follower of Qin Ruoyao. I just wanted to pull you out of that situation as well."
If it weren't for the chance to be reborn, his fate might have been even worse than Luo Yuan's.
At least in the previous life, after Luo Yuan saw through Qin Ruoyao's true nature, he managed to live his own life.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
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.
