"Hua."
Lin Xuan stopped her. "You don't need to throw it away, really. I actually like this food. Although the flavor is average, since you made it with your own hands, Hua, I think it's delicious."
Su Hua pursed her lips and insisted, "Dump it."
She didn't want her Xuan to suffer.
Even if it was food she had prepared herself, she couldn't bear the thought of her Xuan forcing down something so unpalatable.
Seeing her persistence, Lin Xuan said helplessly, "Alright, throw it out then."
Once the servants had disposed of the food, the furrow in Su Hua's brow finally relaxed.
Lin Xuan couldn't help but ask, "Hua, back when you were an assassin going on solo missions, did you eat your own cooking then, too?"
"Mm."
Su Hua pursed her lips.
She had never really cooked much, nor did she enjoy it.
Only on rare occasions, when she had to fend for herself, would she prepare something to eat.
On missions in the forest, she would pick fruit.
When she absolutely needed meat, she once caught a rabbit and roasted it, but she ended up burning it.
Her stomach ached for a long time after that. Even for someone with her high pain tolerance, it was agonizing enough to make her roll on the ground.
After that, she just ate bloody, raw meat.
She would rather eat raw meat than attempt to cook.
She often ate raw meat until her mouth was stained with blood. Once, someone stumbled upon her and was literally scared into fainting by the sight of her blood-drenched mouth.
Su Hua was afraid Lin Xuan would find her terrifying, so she dared not tell him these things.
A look of heartache surfaced in Lin Xuan's eyes.
If that was the case, Hua must have been eating terrible food like this for a very long time.
And this current meal was made with a chef's guidance.
If Hua had no one teaching her and made it entirely on her own... he didn't dare imagine the result.
"Hua, there are still some vegetables and meat left in the kitchen. I'll teach you myself," Lin Xuan said gently, rubbing her hair.
"Okay." Su Hua nodded.
The two of them put on aprons and walked into the kitchen together.
There wasn't much produce or meat left in the refrigerator.
Lin Xuan decided to make a simple noodle dish.
"Hua, this is how you slice the meat."
Lin Xuan stood behind Su Hua, holding her hand as they sliced the meat together.
Su Hua's mind wasn't on slicing vegetables at all.
Her eyes were filled only with the figure of the man earnestly teaching her.
"Now that the meat is sliced, let's wash some vegetables and the king crab. Once everything is cleaned, we'll boil the soup base first, then add the noodles."
The servants watched the backs of Su Hua and Lin Xuan in the kitchen.
Cupping their faces, they couldn't help but gush, "Miss and Young Master Lin are just so, so sweet."
"Watching the Miss and Young Master Lin be so sweet these past two years, I ran off to fall in love, too. But reality slapped me right back to my original state. Ordinary people shouldn't fantasize about having a relationship as consistently sweet as theirs."
It was simply impossible.
Inside the kitchen.
The noodles were cooked quickly.
"Hua, come and taste the noodles you made." Lin Xuan served Su Hua a bowl.
It was hard to mess up seafood noodles, especially since he had personally taught Hua how to make them.
Su Hua took a bite, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
"How is it? Hua, does the seafood noodle soup taste okay?" Lin Xuan asked.
"Mm. It's quite delicious," Su Hua replied.
Lin Xuan comforted her, "See, Hua? It's not that your cooking skills are bad; it's that someone didn't teach you well."
The chef standing nearby: "..."
Was he catching a stray bullet just by standing there?
Even now, the chef was still wondering which step he had taught the young miss incorrectly to result in such terrible food...
When she was making the beef, he had stepped out to take a phone call, so he wasn't present. It was understandable that it turned out bad.
But how did the other dishes turn out so awful?
The chef racked his brains but couldn't figure out the reason.
"Young Master Lin, President Su, if you don't need anything else from me, I'll be heading back now," the chef said gloomily.
He truly regretted coming to find the Miss and Young Master Lin while they were eating.
He had thought he might get a reward. Who could have guessed that the Miss's cooking would be so unpalatable...
After dinner, it wasn't even ten o'clock yet.
Su Hua went back to work.
Lin Xuan was playing on his phone.
Feeling a bit bored, he tapped into the comment section of the novel he was updating. He wanted to see what everyone thought of his book.
This novel wasn't something he had plagiarized from another world; it was a story he had come up with himself.
Lin Xuan entered the comment section.
However, he didn't see any actual reviews. Instead, it was basically a sea of comments demanding updates.
—Author, you've stopped updating again! Where is the version of you that used to update hundreds of thousands of words a day and finished a million-word novel in just a few days?
—I want to lock the author in a dark room. If he doesn't write, I'll whip him hard with a whip dipped in chili oil!
—Author, you left us on a cliffhanger and haven't updated in days. Where is my 800-meter-long broadsword?! You'd better not let me find you!
—Ahhh, Author, please spare a thought for your poor little readers who are crying out for food.
—Is this the price of having a rich novel author? He updates when he wants and stops when he wants. He's too damn capricious!
Lin Xuan rubbed his nose.
Well then.
He had forgotten to update again.
He had actually written quite a backlog of chapters, but he had simply forgotten to publish them.
Right at that moment, Foxtail sent a message.
He didn't say anything.
He just sent a few screenshots.
One screenshot was of the update page, showing "Updated 4 days ago."
The other seven screenshots were all comments from readers frantically demanding updates.
Feeling guilty, Lin Xuan replied to Foxtail.
[Updating! I'll update right now!]
Foxtail: [Boss, a diligent author shouldn't need to be chased for updates! You should be more self-disciplined! Do you know I wait for your novel update every day until the flowers wither?]
Damn it.
It was all the Boss's fault for making his tastes so picky.
After reading the novel written by the Boss, he couldn't get into any other novels at all.
Lin Xuan: [I'll try hard to update on time in the future.]
Lin Xuan checked his backlog.
There were twenty-four thousand words.
Just enough for six days of updates.
Lin Xuan set up a schedule to publish four thousand words of his backlog per day.
Foxtail received the notification that Lin Xuan's novel had updated.
His eyes lit up.
The Boss finally updated the novel!
He was going to binge-read to his heart's content this time.
Foxtail found a recliner, lay back, and prepared to read the novel in comfort.
But... after reading just two chapters, it was over. It was over...
Foxtail immediately contacted Lin Xuan.
[Boss, why did you only update four thousand words this time? Is this how you treat us readers who are crying out for sustenance?]
Lin Xuan rubbed his nose.
Foxtail continued to frantically tap his phone screen.
[Boss, you know? A person should be diligent and not waste time...]
He typed out a huge paragraph of text and prepared to send it.
Suddenly, a red exclamation mark appeared.
Foxtail: !!!
Damn it!
The Boss actually blocked him!
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…
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
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.”
