"Ding!"
"Green Bubble account received ten yuan!"
"Ding!"
"Green Bubble account received ten yuan!"
"Green Bubble account received ten yuan..."
Time passed minute by minute, and the notification sounds for Ye Cheng's earnings never stopped, dinging away nonstop. The little nephew nearby was thoroughly envious.
When would he ever make money this easily?
He glanced at Ye Cheng's method and speed of earning, then recalled how earlier that morning he’d stood outside his aunt’s door yelling to wake her up—only to make five yuan after half a day’s work. And now? He only had about two and a half yuan left in his account—basically a slave laborer!
Sigh...
The little nephew crouched nearby, patiently learning the chess techniques, planning to use them later to make money himself. His idea? Go back to kindergarten and hustle his classmates.
Ye Cheng charged ten yuan per game. Considering spending power, the little nephew figured he’d charge just one yuan per game.
But chess? Too hard for a kid in the last year of kindergarten. So he’d switch to Gomoku instead. Then he could rake in the cash!
Just as the little nephew was scheming about money-making, his sisters’ voices interrupted.
"Uncle-in-law, you’re so good—we can’t beat you... Could we maybe use a little outside help?"
The girls were clever little devils, already plotting to up the difficulty for Ye Cheng.
Despite their uncle-in-law’s slightly odd mannerisms, they had to admit he was easygoing—provided you didn’t offend him. Otherwise, you’d end up like their other unlucky brother, who was still squatting under the crooked tree outside, drawing circles in the dirt and muttering about some pendant or other.
A bet was a bet. The Tang family didn’t believe in one person defending another just because of age.
Outside help?
Old Master Tang, who’d been watching the whole time, smirked silently and straightened his back.
Ah, looks like it’s up to him to give them a fighting chance!
From his observations, Old Master Tang thought he’d figured out parts of Ye Cheng’s strategy. Aggressive offense, always aiming to finish the match as quickly as possible.
He guessed Ye Cheng played that way to speed through games and make money faster.
Impatience breeds mistakes, so Old Master Tang planned to scan ten yuan over to Ye Cheng for a game himself. That way, Ye Cheng would rush to finish it, thinking of the next ten yuan and the one after that.
In warfare, strategy is key—attacking the mind is the highest art.
This was part of a bigger plan. Tactics! Winning through wit!
Old Master Tang understood—head-on, he probably couldn’t beat Ye Cheng. So he changed his approach.
"Outside help? Not allowed," Ye Cheng said, shaking his head.
"Aww, how come?" the girls whined in unison. One clever girl, thinking fast, tested the waters.
"What if we pay for two people? Twenty yuan a game instead?"
Ye Cheng nodded. "Well now, outside help is only human—everyone faces tough times. But it's per person per price, got it?"
Everyone: "..."
Old Master Tang: "..."
Was this guy really so money-hungry?
But oddly enough, no one could dislike Ye Cheng for it. Maybe because he was so straightforward, no games or pretense. If you say yes, it’s yes. If you pay up, you play.
No pay? Forget it. Unless the bond was strong enough—then maybe he’d offer a twenty percent discount.
Even brothers settle accounts clearly!
Old Master Tang sighed, annoyed but resigned, standing up to challenge Ye Cheng.
"Uncle-in-law, you agreed, so don’t complain about us playing dirty. I’m turning on hard mode for this fight," one of the girls said nervously, pulling out her phone.
Outside help. So that was the help?
Old Master Tang silently sat back down, sighing as he watched technology leave him behind.
Ye Cheng waved dismissively. "Hey, no problem at all. Just give me twenty yuan. That’s the hard-mode price. If you want nightmare mode, it doubles."
The girls exchanged stunned glances.
He wasn’t upset about them cheating? He was thinking about the price first?
Uncle-in-law, you really are... special.
"Alright, Uncle-in-law! If you win this one, next round we’ll do nightmare mode—and we’ll pay extra!"
"Wonderful," Ye Cheng nodded, motioning for them to start.
Match one: Ye Cheng versus the AI. Game on.
"Uncle-in-law, I’m starting!" One girl handled the moves, another watched, and a third gave orders—they’d clearly been planning this forever, executing smoothly.
Move one, move two, move three...
"Smack!"
"Checkmate!"
By the twentieth move, Ye Cheng won. The girls gaped, gasping.
Their shock wasn’t just that Ye Cheng had beaten the AI—it wasn’t even the hardest AI; nightmare mode remained. No, what floored them was that Ye Cheng barely needed to think.
After each of their moves, he placed his piece instantly. Earlier, when playing with them, they’d assumed it was because they took too long, giving him extra thinking time.
Now they realized otherwise. His speed was the real deal. Even against AI, he was faster than the algorithm itself.
"Uncle-in-law, you won! Let’s play the next game."
"No problem. Scan the QR code right here," Ye Cheng said.
The girls stared blankly.
"Ding!"
"Green Bubble account received one hundred yuan!"
"Uncle-in-law, consider the extra yours. But we’re cranking it up to max difficulty this time. Don’t worry—you get to keep the money even if you lose."
These girls played by their own code. They knew their methods were shady, using AI as a crutch, so they wouldn’t demand a refund if Ye Cheng lost.
Ye Cheng’s eyes lit up. "Good! Straight shooters. I like people like you!"
Second match: Ye Cheng versus nightmare-mode AI!
Five moves in, Ye Cheng suffered a "narrow defeat."
"Oh well, I tried my best. Such a pity—the AI is just unbeatable. Sigh..."
Ye Cheng shook his head dramatically, pretending to be disappointed.
Everyone: "..."
"Uncle-in-law... are you sure you’re not throwing the match?" the girls fumed. They’d hoped for a tense showdown between Ye Cheng and the AI, a real nail-biter.
Instead, he lost in five moves, claiming to have "tried his best." Come on! Even the little nephew could last two more rounds just by sending pawns forward. Ye Cheng deliberately chose the fastest way to lose, acting like he’d given it his all.
What a sham!
Of course—win or lose, he got a hundred bucks. Why not speedrun it?
"Oh, come on, what game-fixing? Can't you see I gave it my all? It was tough, alright? Nightmare bots are no joke. You're only seeing the surface..."
Ye Cheng shamelessly rattled off nonsense without batting an eye.
The young girls all puffed up like blowfish, some even starting to doubt themselves—was it possible that the nightmare bots were actually playing at a level too high for their lowly skills to recognize?
"Little Uncle, five hundred bucks. If you beat us, it's yours. If you lose, you get nothing!"
Another challenge was issued, again requiring nothing from Ye Cheng to enter, but unlike before, this time if he lost, he'd walk away empty-handed.
The stakes had gone up again. Five hundred bucks this time—more than what Ye Cheng had painstakingly earned over half a day of gaming. His eyes practically bulged.
"Oh, this is just too generous..."
Muttering how embarrassed he was, Ye Cheng's thumb and index finger kept rubbing together frantically... asking for more cash.
Everyone was speechless.
"Uncle-in-law, here's a thousand. That's really all we've got. It's my entire allowance for next month..."
The girls pooled their money together, another thousand extracted and scanned over to Ye Cheng. Seeing no more cash to squeeze out of them, Ye Cheng finally agreed and started the game.
Old Master Tang, who had been watching from the sidelines, leaned in a little closer, curious to see what level these so-called nightmare bots were playing at.
How had they managed to replace him as the backup support?
Round three began: Ye Cheng versus the nightmare bots, no more holding back!
"Smack, smack, smack..."
In less than a minute, half the pieces on the board had become cannon fodder—Ye Cheng's side, and the nightmare bots' side too. The bots' side was a bit slower, since several girls were playing together, unable to match Ye Cheng's speed.
This round caught everyone by surprise.
The girls who had been accusing Uncle-in-law of cheating were dumbfounded. So... even when he wasn't sandbagging, the game was just as fast?
Could it be... that what Uncle-in-law had said earlier was true? That he actually lost the previous round because the nightmare bots were just that dangerous?
Old Master Tang, who had been standing nearby analyzing where Ye Cheng fell short, broke out in a cold sweat just watching the blinding speed of the play.
His face went pale. What was all this? Before he could even see why a certain move was made, the next move had already come across?
Old Master Tang had never encountered anything like this. Though the game had only been going for a minute, the situation was utterly incomprehensible.
On Ye Cheng's side, he only kept two cannons, ditching even the chariots. Meanwhile, the nightmare bots still had plenty of pieces left—looked like an advantage...
"Cannon leaps the mountain. Check!"
With barely two minutes on the clock, just as the girls were about to make their next move, the screen suddenly flashed: "You Win!"
"That's it? We won?"
"No way, this is ridiculous!"
The girls stared with disbelief in their eyes. Then they looked at Ye Cheng, stars practically sparkling all around him. He was just too cool!
"Uncle-in-law, you're amazing!!!"
The girls pocketed their phones and swarmed around Ye Cheng, buzzing with enthusiasm and already discussing tutoring plans for the evening.
"Uncle-in-law, let's start our tutoring session now! Our teacher left us some fiendishly tough problems, and I can't solve them..."
"Same here! Since you're so skilled, you must know the answers, right?"
"Uncle-in-law, I'll pay you a hundred if you do my whole homework sheet. It's such a drag..."
Old Master Tang was left speechless.
Did something strange just sneak into that conversation?
Yet, Ye Cheng was already being swept away by the girls, driven by the lure of cash, off to tutor them. Old Master Tang didn't even have a reason to stop him. After all, Ye Cheng's official reason for coming was the tutoring.
The chess game was just a side distraction. If he held things up, his Guilan would come looking for trouble later.
The courtyard fell quiet. Old Master Tang stared at the scattered board, silent for a long moment. Finally, he sighed deeply...
"Am I really just too old?"
Earlier, he had assumed Ye Cheng had given it his all... but it seemed that was self-deception. Still far too commercial.
"Oh? Xiaobao, you're still here?"
Old Master Tang noticed that his little nephew was still around, frowning as he studied the board seriously.
Old Master Tang's expression turned odd. "What... did you actually understand this?"
The little nephew nodded. "More or less..."
Old Master Tang was shocked. Really? How was that possible when he hadn't understood a thing? The moves were way too fast—he hadn't even caught most of them. And yet his little nephew understood? Was he truly that old?
A wave of frustration washed over Old Master Tang.
"About time for dinner, Grandpa. What did you say earlier?" The little nephew snapped out of his thoughts with an innocent expression.
He'd just been daydreaming about making big money playing Gomoku in class, impressing Xiaohong, and eventually winning her over...
Old Master Tang was left speechless again.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
