Lin Qingwan stood still, frozen in place.
Living in such a small room, she had never noticed before... He was the young master of the Lin Family, after all.
Lin Qingwan went through Lin Xuan's belongings and found that he had left very little behind in the Lin Family's home. There were only two pairs of sneakers, both worn out and full of holes, clearly having been used for years. His summer clothes consisted of just two sets, and his wardrobe for other seasons was equally sparse, all of it visibly old and well-worn. Apart from the bare necessities, the room was empty.
In contrast, Lin Li's room was filled with his favorite carvings, he bought twenty to thirty pairs of shoes a year, and his walk-in closet was packed with clothes. There was even a whole wall of expensive wines.
She remembered that when Lin Xuan left, he took nothing with him.
"Madam Wang, has Lin Xuan always had only these clothes and shoes?" Lin Qingwan's voice trembled slightly.
"Yes, Miss. It's always been like this. The young master's monthly allowance was only four hundred yuan. While the rest of you had drivers, he had to take the bus to school every day. He couldn't afford to buy new clothes or shoes, and Madam and Sir never bought him any either."
"In the past, the young master only had a few school uniforms that he rotated. It wasn't until he graduated from high school and started working part-time that he managed to get a few more sets of clothes."
Madam Wang's heart ached for Lin Xuan.
"You're saying Lin Xuan worked part-time to earn money? And his allowance was only four hundred yuan a month?" Lin Qingwan was stunned.
Four hundred yuan... The other children in the Lin Family received tens of thousands of yuan each month. After starting university, their allowances were raised to two hundred thousand yuan a month.
"That's right. After starting university, the young master took on two part-time jobs while studying," Madam Wang explained.
Hearing all this from Madam Wang, Lin Qingwan couldn't help but wonder, what had Lin Xuan gained from the Lin Family? Care? Love? A comfortable life?
Nothing at all!
It was suffocating, utterly suffocating.
Before today, she hadn't thought much of it. But after seeing Lin Xuan's living conditions with her own eyes and hearing Madam Wang's account, she realized how much the Lin Family had failed him.
Lin Qingwan walked downstairs.
"Big sister, what's wrong? Your eyes are red—have you been crying?" Lin Qingyan asked curiously.
"Have any of you ever been to Lin Xuan's room?" Lin Qingwan asked, her voice choked with emotion.
"Big sister, why would we go to Lin Xuan's room?" Lin Qingyan sneered, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She wouldn't set foot in that filthy place.
"Dad, Mom, second sister, I went there today. I saw how Lin Xuan lives. Do you know what his room is like?" Lin Qingwan's voice broke, and tears welled up in her eyes as she recalled Madam Wang's words.
The Lin Family frowned in unison.
"Lin Xuan's room is tiny, just a few square meters. It can barely fit a desk, a bed, and a small wardrobe. His clothes and shoes are all old and worn out. Dad, Mom, he's your own son, the eldest son of the Lin Family, and this is the life he's been living."
"Compare that to the other siblings, each living in spacious rooms over a hundred square meters, with attached studies and walk-in closets filled with endless clothes and shoes. Lin Xuan has none of that. His allowance was four hundred yuan a month, which wasn't enough, so he had to work part-time to make ends meet." Tears finally streamed down Lin Qingwan's face.
Lin Chang frowned and turned to Jiang Shuqin. "You're in charge of household matters. Why did you assign Lin Xuan such a room? And why didn't you buy him clothes or give him a proper allowance? Four hundred yuan a month?"
Jiang Shuqin felt even more disdain for Lin Xuan.
He had already cut ties with the Lin Family, yet he was still causing trouble for her!
"I was trying to teach him resilience and perseverance. He spent so many years in an orphanage. Did he suddenly forget how to endure hardship after returning to the Lin Family? Besides, life here is a thousand times better than in an orphanage!"
Jiang Shuqin spoke with conviction. "Even with this, he developed a habit of petty theft. If we gave him more money, who knows what he would do!"
"Look at how he's always chasing after Qin Ruoyao. No matter how much money we gave him, he would just spend it all on her. Even without a comfortable life, he's still managing just fine!"
Lin Chang frowned. What she said made sense.
"Enough. He's no longer part of the Lin Family. Qingwan, let's eat. From now on, we won't discuss Lin Xuan's matters. He cut ties with us for Qin Ruoyao's sake. There's no need to concern ourselves with him anymore," Lin Chang declared.
Lin Qingwan wanted to say more but hesitated.
Didn't Lin Xuan marry into the Qin Family because he was deeply hurt by the Lin Family?
But seeing Lin Chang's stern expression, Lin Qingwan ultimately remained silent.
Her parents and younger sisters held deep prejudices against Lin Xuan.
She didn't want to see her own brother cast aside. She would find a time to talk to him properly and try to mend things.
"Dad, Mom, there's something I've been keeping from you," Lin Li said nervously.
"What is it?" Lin Chang frowned.
"Actually, Lin Xuan didn't marry Qin Ruoyao," Lin Li revealed.
"What?" Lin Chang was stunned. "Why didn't they get married?"
"A friend of mine attended their wedding. He said a wealthy woman showed up with over a dozen bodyguards and took Lin Xuan away from the ceremony. I didn't want to worry you, so I kept it to myself," Lin Li explained.
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.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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?"
