"Have you heard?"
"They say Young Master Huo has feelings for the young lady. Their families even arranged a marriage pact when they were children. Now that he's back, he might try to take her away."
"Don't worry, Xiao Li," a maid named Little Hong said confidently. "The young lady is so devoted to Young Master Lin—she wouldn’t even glance at another man. So, I don’t think Young Master Huo poses any threat to him."
"Besides, in terms of looks and ability, Young Master Lin is far superior. With someone like him around, how could the young lady ever be interested in Young Master Huo?"
Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.
So, this so-called Young Master Huo had returned so soon?
Well, he’d have to meet him properly then.
"Ahem." Lin Xuan deliberately cleared his throat.
The maids froze when they saw him.
They had just been discussing Young Master Huo right in front of Young Master Lin—even mentioning the arranged marriage between him and the young lady.
They were doomed.
"Young Master Lin," they greeted nervously.
Lin Xuan walked past them calmly, then suddenly stopped and turned around.
Cold sweat broke out on their palms.
He was stopping to punish them…
"What’s your name?" Lin Xuan asked one of the maids.
"Young Master Lin, I—I’m Little Hong," she stammered.
Lin Xuan said, "I’ll have a word with Butler Wang and tell him—"
Little Hong’s heart leapt.
Was he going to have her fired?
Thud!
Before Lin Xuan could finish, Little Hong dropped to her knees.
"I’m sorry, Young Master Lin! I shouldn’t have gossiped about the family. I know I was wrong, and I swear it won’t happen again. Please give me another chance!"
She even kowtowed.
The other maids trembled in fear—they had joined in the discussion too.
The Night Garden paid well, the young lady was kind, and Young Master Lin treated them fairly, unlike other employers who deliberately made things difficult.
They couldn’t afford to lose such a good job.
Lin Xuan frowned. "When did I say I was punishing you?"
Little Hong replied, "We were talking about Young Master Huo… and the arranged marriage with the young lady."
Lin Xuan chuckled.
"Do I really seem that petty?"
Little Hong was stunned.
So… he wasn’t going to punish her?
Lin Xuan continued, "I just wanted to say—you were right. Hua only has eyes for me. No other man stands a chance. So if Young Master Huo still has feelings for her, he’ll just be a clown, no threat to me at all."
"And one more thing—you were right about that too. I, Lin Xuan, am indeed exceptional in both looks and ability. With someone like me around, no other man could ever catch Hua’s attention."
Little Hong: "…"
Was it just her, or was Young Master Lin being a little full of himself?
Then again, men always seemed to compete, especially when it came to love rivals.
Well, not that Young Master Huo even counted as one—the young lady didn’t spare him a second glance.
"I asked for your name," Lin Xuan added, "because I planned to tell Butler Wang to give you five times your usual bonus this month."
Little Hong: "!!!!"
Not only was she not punished—she was getting a huge bonus?!
She couldn’t help but think…
Maybe she should praise Young Master Lin more often in front of him. Things like "the young lady only has eyes for you" or "you’re far more outstanding than other men."
The other maids looked at her enviously.
If only they had sided with Young Master Lin earlier—they could’ve gotten a bonus too.
After settling the matter, Lin Xuan left the villa.
Before he could get into his car, he ran into Butler Wang.
"Young Master Lin, where are you headed?" Butler Wang asked curiously.
Lin Xuan replied, "Yundu City First Central Hospital. The Jiang family asked for me."
Butler Wang looked puzzled.
Since when did Young Master Lin have dealings with the Jiang family?
Lin Xuan closed the car door, started his Lamborghini, and drove straight to the hospital.
Inside the hospital…
"Eldest Cousin, Second Cousin, you’ve been watching over Grandpa for so long—you must be hungry. Let me go buy you something to eat," Lin Li offered.
Jiang Manting said, "Cousin, there’s no need to trouble yourself. I’ll have someone else handle it."
"It’s no trouble. I don’t have anything else to do right now. You two wait here for the miracle doctor—I’ll be back soon."
With that, Lin Li left the ward.
Jiang Yutong scoffed. "What a show-off."
Jiang Manting sighed. "He’s quite well-behaved and thoughtful. Why do you dislike him so much?"
"I just can’t stand him. Something about his obedient act feels fake," Jiang Yutong said.
"Is that your intuition talking?" Jiang Manting glanced at her.
"Yes," Jiang Yutong nodded firmly. "Eldest Sister, a woman’s intuition is often scarily accurate. Don’t dismiss it."
Jiang Manting shook her head helplessly.
Jiang Yutong muttered, "Even though Lin Li is my cousin, I just can’t bring myself to like him. If only Lin Xuan were my cousin instead."
Jiang Manting chuckled. "If you want him as a brother so badly, just ask him."
"I did. He refused," Jiang Yutong pouted.
At least Lin Xuan had invested in her company—they’d still have plenty of chances to interact.
After parking, Lin Xuan stepped out of his car. A staff member sent by Jiang Yutong checked his photo before approaching.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Lin Xuan?" the man asked respectfully.
"Yes," Lin Xuan replied.
"I was sent by Second Miss Jiang to escort you. Please follow me."
The man led Lin Xuan to the ward.
"Mr. Lin, you’re finally here!" Jiang Yutong exclaimed excitedly.
Jiang Manting studied Lin Xuan closely. The last time she accompanied her grandfather to thank him at Tianmu Group, he hadn’t shown up.
This was her first time seeing him in person.
Strangely, she felt an intense sense of familiarity with him—and Yutong had mentioned feeling the same.
Now, Jiang Manting understood why her sister was so fixated on having Lin Xuan as a brother.
He really would make a perfect… younger brother.

lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.

【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!

Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"