"No rush, I'm not sleepy yet," Old Master Su replied.
"Hua Bao," Lin Xuan chimed in, "Old Master Su is still in high spirits right now. If we don’t satisfy his curiosity, he’ll probably have an even harder time sleeping tonight. Let me chat with him a bit longer. Once he gets tired, he’ll naturally want to go back."
Su Hua glanced at Old Master Su, then at Lin Xuan.
It didn’t take long for her to figure out Lin Xuan’s intentions.
Ah Xuan was avoiding her.
A faint smile flickered in Su Hua’s eyes.
Well then, she’d play along with him.
"Alright, Ah Xuan, you can keep chatting with Grandpa," Su Hua said generously.
"Hmm?"
Lin Xuan gave Su Hua a puzzled look.
Hua Bao wasn’t stopping him from talking to Grandpa anymore? She was being so understanding—why did he feel like there was something off about this?
Lin Xuan racked his brain but couldn’t figure out what Su Hua might be up to.
Besides, Su Hua was just sitting on the sofa, playing with her phone, looking completely normal.
He must be overthinking it.
Reassured, Lin Xuan continued chatting with Old Master Su.
As Lin Xuan recounted the things he had done at Starlight Group, Old Master Su burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!" Old Master Su nodded approvingly. "Not bad, not bad at all, Xiao Xuan. Your methods are quite cunning—very much like how I used to be in my younger days."
"Old Master Su, you don’t think my tactics are too underhanded?" Lin Xuan was worried Old Master Su might see him as scheming and manipulative.
After all, Old Master Su was Hua Bao’s grandfather. Even if Hua Bao wouldn’t care about his grandfather’s opinion of him, Lin Xuan still wanted to leave a good impression.
"What’s wrong with that?" Old Master Su waved his hand dismissively. "In the cutthroat world of business, you have to play dirty sometimes. If you always act like a gentleman, you’ll be devoured without a trace."
Old Master Su had built the Su family’s empire and held his position as the family head firmly—he was no stranger to ruthless tactics himself.
If Lin Xuan had played by the rules in business without any tricks up his sleeve, Old Master Su would’ve doubted his ability to survive in the corporate world.
Su Hua glanced at the clock on the wall—it was already 12:15 a.m.
She yawned and stood up.
"Ah Xuan, I’m a bit sleepy. I’m going to bed first," she said, her voice laced with drowsiness.
Lin Xuan frowned.
Hua Bao was already tired?
This… this wasn’t like her at all.
But judging by her expression, she really did seem exhausted.
"Hua Bao, go ahead and rest. I’ll come up soon," Lin Xuan said gently.
"Okay."
Su Hua nodded, then headed upstairs.
Lin Xuan watched her retreating figure and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
If Hua Bao was going to sleep, she wouldn’t be luring him into bed tonight.
He could finally relax.
"Xiao Xuan, tell me more about what happened between Starlight Group and Skyveil Group," Old Master Su asked eagerly.
"Alright." Lin Xuan continued his story.
Before they knew it, it was already 1:00 a.m.
Old Master Su glanced at the clock and said, "Xiao Xuan, let’s call it a night. You should get some rest."
He could tell Lin Xuan was getting tired.
Though he himself was still wide awake, he couldn’t keep the young man up just to chat with an old man like him.
"Grandpa, it’s so late already. Why don’t you stay the night here?" Lin Xuan suggested.
"Sure." Old Master Su nodded.
Perfect—he was still craving Lin Xuan’s cooking. Staying here meant he could mooch a few more meals.
Besides, the old mansion was too quiet and boring.
At least here, he had Xiao Xuan to keep him entertained.
"Then goodnight, Old Master Su. See you tomorrow." Lin Xuan bowed slightly.
"Goodnight, see you tomorrow."
Old Master Su smiled warmly.
"Master, are you sure you want to stay?" The butler from the old mansion hesitated.
"Yes, I’m staying," Old Master Su confirmed.
The butler gave him a meaningful look.
The young miss probably wouldn’t be happy about this.
Earlier, while Old Master Su and Young Master Lin were talking, the look on Su Hua’s face had been downright stormy.
If Old Master Su stayed at Night Garden for a few more days, she might just toss him out—along with his bedding.
"Come on, let’s go to the room." Old Master Su was in an excellent mood.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for some.
Jiang Yutong tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
At 1:00 a.m., she got up and knocked on Jiang Manting’s door.
"Sis, are you still awake?" Jiang Yutong called through the door.
"Not yet. Come in," Jiang Manting replied.
Jiang Yutong entered the room. The lights were off, but she could make out Jiang Manting’s silhouette by the floor-to-ceiling window.
She turned on the light.
"Sis, why are you standing there? Can’t sleep either?" Jiang Yutong frowned.
"Yeah." Jiang Manting rubbed her temples.
"Sis, are you thinking about Xiao Xuan too?" Jiang Yutong asked.
"Yes." Jiang Manting nodded.
Before seeing those documents, she had assumed Lin Xuan’s excellence came from a happy family.
But the truth was, his life in the Lin family had been worse than that of a stray dog.
She couldn’t fathom how he had endured it.
"Sis, I can’t sleep because of Xiao Xuan either," Jiang Yutong admitted.
She plopped down onto a chair.
"Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Xiao Xuan being tormented by the Lin family. Those people are absolute monsters! He was their own flesh and blood—their real son and brother! How could they treat a morally bankrupt adopted child so well while treating their own kin like trash?"
Lin Xuan’s life in the Lin family had been worse than his time in the orphanage.
If he had stayed with them, he never would’ve become the outstanding man he was today—just more broken down.
Talking about Lin Xuan’s past brought tears to Jiang Yutong’s eyes.
If only she had met him sooner, she would’ve taken him back to the Jiang family.
Then he wouldn’t have suffered so much.
If Jiang Shuqin weren’t their blood-related aunt—and if anything happened to her, Grandpa would be devastated—she would’ve made sure the Lin family paid dearly.
"Tongtong." Jiang Manting gently ruffled her sister’s hair. "Don’t dwell on it. It’s all in the past. Xiao Xuan is doing well now, isn’t he? His achievements surpass both yours and mine."
"And didn’t you say he’s dating someone who loves him dearly? He’s happy now, right?"
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for 3 million+ daily visits, server pressure is too high. We now recommend using other sources from fellow enthusiasts.
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…
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
