"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.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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?!
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)
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
