Hospital.
"You got him here just in time. The explosion didn't hit any vital areas, just some burns. He needs..."
The doctor rattled on with a bunch of medical jargon. Ye Cheng listened, nodding along, but in summary, it all boiled down to one sentence: the guy was fine, just some superficial injuries, though he'd need to rest for a few days.
"Hey, why are your hands black too?" The doctor was checking on Old Gong, who was lying in the hospital bed, when he suddenly noticed the "rabbit spirit" beside him also had pitch-black hands. Looking at the state of them, they weren't much better than Old Gong's lying there!
Probably just touched the source of the explosion, right?
"Oh, it's nothing, a minor issue. Just need to wash my hands," Ye Cheng said with an air of nonchalance. The doctor didn't think much of it and nodded. After all... surely the patient wouldn't be unclear about his own condition, right?
In reality, these two geniuses, Ye Cheng and Old Gong, had both been hit, one after the other. But Ye Cheng reacted quickly, and coupled with his good physical fitness, it was basically like he'd just taken a flashbang—his hands were a bit blackened, but everything else was perfectly intact.
Old Gong wasn't so lucky. A useless middle-aged man, if Ye Cheng had taken a "flashbang," then Old Gong had practically held the flashbang in his hand. It was a miracle his hand was even still attached.
Not long after the doctor left, Old Gong, lying in the bed, woke up.
Before Old Gong could even speak, Ye Cheng was the one who acted more excited, grabbing Old Gong's other hand. "Old Gong! Thank goodness you're alive! Oh, by the way, you can settle the registration fee with me now..."
Old Gong: "..."
The familiar routine. The moment he opens his eyes, someone's asking him for the registration fee. That familiar, faint sense of the "absurd." Looks like he really was okay, at least not dead.
He couldn't possibly be dead and still being chased for payment, right?
"Forget it, just pretend I'm dead. And kid, what the hell did you have in your phone? It really freaking exploded. I've been fixing phones for over ten years, and today I've truly seen it all..." The first thing Old Gong did upon waking wasn't to worry about his own condition, but to question why the phone had exploded.
Today's incident really proved the saying: it's usually the swimmers who drown.
Ye Cheng rubbed his smooth chin, putting on a thoughtful expression. "Didn't have much in it, really?"
"Just a few 512GB memory cards, modified five SIM card slots, added an extra battery, tweaked the circuit board, rearranged the CPU..."
Old Gong: "..."
"Alright, alright, stop!" Old Gong hurriedly raised a hand to cut him off—well, the hand that hadn't been blown up.
He forcefully interrupted Ye Cheng's smooth, rapid-fire list that sounded like a menu recital. What are you doing, stacking buffs here?
Modifying everything!
He knew Ye Cheng was outrageous, but he didn't know he was this outrageous. Why even bother going to school? Just go apply to the national defense industry! Don't say a word, just slam the phone down in front of the interviewer. The phone will do the talking for you!
No need to question the skills!
"Hey, what's the deal with my hand? It's not crippled, is it?" Old Gong sighed, looking somewhat somberly at his hand, which was wrapped up like a zongzi.
A cool breeze happened to blow in from outside the room, perfectly setting the mood, as if hinting at some not-so-great outcome.
Ye Cheng first let out a sigh, putting on a "as your bro, I don't want to lie to you" face, preparing to tell the truth. Seeing this expression, Old Gong's heart instantly sank to the pit of his stomach.
Thud!
Ye Cheng gave a solid kick to the half-open hospital room door, shutting it. At the same time, a thumping sound came from outside, as if something had bumped into it?
But because he kicked with too much force, the door shut instantly. The sound of the collision and the sound of the door closing happened almost simultaneously, with the former being drowned out by the latter.
Only after securely closing the door did Ye Cheng continue: "Oh, the doctor said you're fine. Just rest for a couple of days."
Old Gong: "..."
"Dammit, kid, couldn't you just say that straight out? Scared the hell out of me!" Old Gong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Isn't that exactly what I just did? You're so hard to please. I really don't like playing with you smelly men, so crude..." Ye Cheng put on the airs of a "delicate little woman," fiddling with his grimy, blackened fingernails.
Old Gong: "..."
"Alright, stop. If you feel bad about it, just find me some videos of beautiful women to watch. Oh, and project it on the TV. I like them... big."
Hearing he was fine, Old Gong immediately let his hanging heart settle back into his stomach. He found a comfortable position on the bed, crossing his legs, ready to enjoy the "spicy" videos of beautiful women Ye Cheng was about to project. Men... they just have these little hobbies.
Of course, you can only sneak a peek when nothing's going on. If his better half found out, he'd be skinned alive even if he didn't die. Now was the perfect chance to lie down properly for a couple of days, rest up, all legitimately...
Click.
The hospital room door opened.
A woman who looked to be around thirty, her eyes red, walked in holding the hand of a cute little girl with short hair. Old Gong's wife and daughter.
At that moment, Ye Cheng was still over there picking videos on the TV, getting ready to play Old Gong's favorite "beautiful women" videos. And Ye Cheng was very seriously following Old Gong's requirements, searching for women who were "big."
"This one's not bad..." Ye Cheng transmitted the "big" beauty he'd selected to the TV, adjusting the volume while asking,
"Old Gong, is this big enough?" After saying this, Ye Cheng realized no one was answering him. He turned his head and saw two extra people had appeared in the room at some point.
Ye Cheng: "..."
Old Gong: "..."
Old Gong's wife, whose eyes had originally been red and teary with worry after hearing her man was injured, instantly cooled her gaze upon hearing the two of them discussing "big beauties."
A very innocent voice, belonging to the little girl named Duoduo, chimed in: "Mommy, what are Uncle and Daddy saying about big or not big?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Your uncle is asking if the TV volume is loud enough. Old Gong, do you think it's loud enough?" The woman asked with a "gentle" smile on her face, looking at Old Gong who was lying comfortably on the bed with his legs crossed, all ready to enjoy himself.
Old Gong: "..."
"Loud... loud enough..." Old Gong stammered, forcing a smile onto his face—a smile reminiscent of the infamous "eating shit" meme from Fire Punch—as he answered his wife.
"Xiao Ye, could you step outside for a bit? Old Gong and I need to have a little chat..."
Ye Cheng: "..."
Ye Cheng looked at Old Gong, who seemed like he was about to "die" and was frantically signaling with his eyes for him not to leave... Silently, Ye Cheng nodded.
"Sure!" Ye Cheng replied very straightforwardly.
Old Gong: "..."
"Duoduo, here's five yuan. Later, treat Uncle to an ice pop, one each, okay?" The woman squatted down, took out a five-yuan bill, handed it to her daughter, and gently patted her head.
"Okay, got it..." Duoduo nodded obediently, holding the five-yuan bill.
"Bang!"
The hospital room door closed. What followed were the kind of "heart-to-heart" words a couple needed to say behind closed doors.
In the corridor at the hospital's corner.
By the vending machine, Ye Cheng reached into the machine and pulled out two ice pops. He peeled the wrapper off one and handed it to Duoduo.
"Thank you, Uncle Ye, mwah~" After taking the ice pop, the little girl quickly darted over and planted a kiss on Ye Cheng's cheek.
Not far away, Tang Yuyao, who had been secretly "observing from the shadows," felt her face grow warm with irritation at the sight.
"Click-clack, click-clack!"
The sound of high heels became rapid, swiftly moving toward Ye Cheng!
How dare she just kiss him like 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.”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
