"Going home?" Shen Qinghan's eyes showed a hint of confusion.
Ye Cheng nodded his head like a little chick pecking at rice, bobbing up and down without stopping.
"Yes, miss, as the saying goes, you should visit home often. I've been at school for a while now, and suddenly I'm feeling a bit homesick, so I thought I'd go back for a visit. Turned out Xiaxia was heading the same way, so I shamelessly hitched a ride with her."
"Your face must be pretty thick then." Shen Qinghan said expressionlessly.
Head Maid: "..."
What a cold joke. What made it even harder for Head Maid to hold it together was that neither of the two in front of her seemed to find anything wrong with what had just been said.
The fierce, menacing interrogation session had been effortlessly defused by Ye Cheng.
It happened so fast that Head Maid didn't even have time to react. The back-and-forth between the two seemed to have become a daily routine already, leaving her as an outsider feeling somewhat at a loss.
Head Maid furrowed her brows slightly.
What a high level of compatibility.
She was beginning to understand now why the cold-faced crime boss's daughter was so fixated on Ye Cheng and wouldn't let go. With that kind of thinking, the only person who could keep up was probably Ye Cheng himself.
It really was a case of "miss your chance and wait a lifetime." And clearly... the crime boss's daughter in front of her had no intention of loosening her grip.
Anyone else who came along would get a combo punch thrown at them.
The scene at the hospital was still vivid in her mind. Even that other arrogant, aggressive "little all-rounder" had been beaten down and couldn't lift her head. Others didn't stand a chance.
Thinking about it, Head Maid felt a shadow fall over her heart. This was going to be difficult.
The odds were too low. Of course, when she said "odds," she meant the odds for her young miss...
"Aren't you an orphan?" Shen Qinghan asked.
Ye Cheng's expression stiffened, and he coughed awkwardly a couple of times: "Ahem, ahem, miss, what are you saying? Orphans are people too, you know. The welfare home is my home. The people there are all talented, they talk real sweet, and I love it there!"
Shen Qinghan: "..."
"Let me see it." Shen Qinghan reached out her hand.
"See what?" A question mark appeared above Ye Cheng's head.
"The photo." Shen Qinghan said.
"What photo?" Ye Cheng continued asking.
"Thump."
"Oh, oh, right, the photo! Yeah, I've got it, I've got it. Let me find it."
After taking a knock on the head, Ye Cheng's eyes became noticeably clearer. He crouched down by the roadside, looking through his phone for his "family photo," wondering whether he should just give a single-person photo to pass it off.
After all, one person could still count as a family.
But considering that if he brought that back, he might get beaten into a pulp by the miss, he thought better of it. He decided not to be cheeky this time and just looked for the photo honestly.
And so the situation became awkward again. Head Maid stood off to the side, not knowing whether to leave or stay, like she was being put on the rack. The worst part was having to endure the interrogation of the young miss's gaze.
Most people couldn't handle it.
If she had a clear conscience, it wouldn't matter, but right now Head Maid couldn't really claim to have a clear conscience.
Head Maid already had a pretty strong mentality. If it had been Tang Yuyao, she would've slipped away the moment things got dicey, grabbing her title of "Cowardly Lizard" and bolting off at full speed.
Not even one second of delay, or she'd be disrespecting her own title.
Compared to that, Head Maid was practically a warrior.
Shen Qinghan walked over and looked at the many papayas on Head Maid's little electric scooter. "Do you really need these?"
Shen Qinghan's gaze lingered on a certain spot. Clearly... the young miss knew everything. She was quite perceptive.
Head Maid: "..."
"Speak plainly" was one thing, but this was a little too blatant, wasn't it?
Head Maid's lips twitched. She took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and explained: "There will be someone who needs them."
After saying that, Head Maid subconsciously glanced at the young miss. She actually wanted to add another line, but thinking that the young miss might blow up or make her a target, she decided against it.
She gave up on the counterattack and just silently straightened her posture a little.
Mm... impressive natural gifts.
Shen Qinghan: "..."
Shen Qinghan narrowed her eyes and looked for a moment, then withdrew her gaze and went back to pressuring Ye Cheng.
Head Maid breathed a sigh of relief, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly into a barely noticeable smile. At least... on this point, she was quite confident.
If she only counted the people around them, the biggest threat should be that arrogant President. She was too young, and her body was in too good a shape.
Most importantly, there was Su Su serving as a successful example with her mother status as a reference template. It would be hard not to succeed with that kind of prospects.
Of course.
Nothing was absolute.
If prospects alone could determine the future, wouldn't their young miss be invincible too?
Thinking of her young miss—so small and petite—Head Maid fell silent again, and could only sigh inwardly... People's joys and sorrows really don't translate across the board.
"So, miss, aren't they all talented people?"
Ye Cheng pulled out the photos he had taken today from his phone.
There were quite a few photos. Ye Cheng swiped through them, and Shen Qinghan looked at them very carefully. Many people appeared in the photos, but Ye Cheng was nowhere to be seen.
Ye Cheng must have been the one taking the pictures. The other person who appeared frequently was Head Maid, standing among all those strange-looking people, looking completely out of place.
The people in the photos all looked at the camera with light in their eyes, looking very happy. But Shen Qinghan only felt a strange sense of sorrow.
Especially the way Ye Cheng said it in such a light, casual tone—the weight he was carrying behind it was nothing that could be shouldered in a day or two.
The little resentment she had felt about Ye Cheng running off all day and not coming back disappeared.
Shen Qinghan rolled her eyes at Ye Cheng: "Not good-looking. Ugly."
"Hey, miss, harsh words wound the heart, kind words build good karma. Take another look?" Ye Cheng raised an eyebrow and kept trying to sweet-talk her.
Shen Qinghan took his advice and very seriously looked again, and then...
"Ugly."
Ye Cheng: "..."
Man, miss, you really are something else. Truly a cold, selfish woman!
"Take one more look?"
"Ugly."
"One more look, again?"
"Ugly."
"One more..."
Head Maid: "..."
Watching the two of them doing their little routine back and forth, Head Maid felt a strange sense of crisis rising up within her.
Wasn't anyone going to do something about this crime boss's daughter?
"Ring ring ring..."
Amidst the weird equilibrium, Head Maid's phone rang, breaking the balance. Glancing at it, it was her young miss calling.
She answered the phone.
"Xiaxia, when are you coming back? I miss you so much." Xia Tongxin's soft, fluffy voice came through the phone, sounding a bit drowsy, like she had just woken up.
"Mm, okay, I'll be right back, about five minutes. Young miss, watch some cartoons first..."
Head Maid arranged things methodically over the phone.
"Xiaxia, is Grandpa Niu coming back today?"
Head Maid: "..."
The sudden remark made the Head Maid freeze, and the atmosphere became awkward for a brief moment. She instinctively glanced toward the young lady, who had been playing off Ye Cheng in a duet moments ago, only to find that Shen Qinghan had already been looking at her.
Head Maid: “...”
How absurd.
The Head Maid could also feel the fear of being dominated by the young lady—three top-tier Conqueror's Haki shades all converging. If she didn't get tripped up by this, it would be a miracle!
Although she had no idea what a “Grandpa Niu” was, intuition told Shen Qinghan that this person Ye Cheng mentioned was probably some idiot or other...
“Take another look?”
“Hey, young lady, it's your turn now—why aren't you saying anything?”
“Thud.”
Ye Cheng: “...”
Alright, staying quiet was fine too—it helped maintain that cold and aloof persona. Good, good... except his head was starting to hurt a little. Must be because he didn't sleep well last night.
Take a deep breath. Dizziness is perfectly normal.
Just as the Head Maid hung up the phone and was about to make her getaway, her little electric scooter was seized.
The Head Maid's face stiffened.
Ye Cheng had already been KO'd by the young lady—a classic chokehold. His eyes had turned into two X's, his tongue was hanging out, looking like he was done for. Shen Qinghan said flatly: “He wants to come along to eat with us.”
Head Maid: “...”
Ye Cheng: That's right, I'm here voluntarily.
Head Maid: “...”
So the question became: how could the two of them, who perfectly fit on the scooter, fit a third person?
Answer: Squeeze in.
Due to well-known reasons, the young lady didn't like others touching her—she had severe germaphobia, equally toward both men and women—so... the young lady rejected the plan proposed by the Head Maid.
The plan where the young lady sat at the front, the Head Maid in the middle, and Ye Cheng at the back—a hamburger-style arrangement.
It was the optimal solution, no doubt, but she simply didn't want the Head Maid touching her, so the plan was vetoed. Thus, a second version emerged.
The young lady at the front, Ye Cheng at the back, and the Head Maid at the bottom.
Oh, and by the way, “at the bottom” meant walking on foot—not sitting on the vehicle.
Head Maid: “???”
This was going too far!
When the Head Maid heard this plan, she doubted her own ears. How could any human being say something like that?
After all, it was her scooter, wasn't it? Why should she get off and walk? Even if someone had to walk, shouldn't it be the others?
Why should she be the one walking? No way!
For the first time in a long while, the Head Maid's stubborn side flared up. She couldn't swallow this indignation. Otherwise, she might as well join the cheerleading squad... may the celebratory toast be poured for you, but don't get too excited just yet...
The Head Maid firmly insisted: either everyone squeezed together, or they figured something else out—but she was not getting off that scooter!
The standoff locked in place. In the past, the young lady would have just turned around and left, but now she wanted to see what this “Grandpa Niu” person named Ye Cheng really was.
So she refused to leave either. The two were glued to the spot. As for Ye Cheng... he was squatting off to the side, scrolling through brain-rot short videos, waiting for the two to reach a final decision.
Yeah, right—did they really think he was that clueless? In this situation, the smartest move was clearly to just watch the drama.
Say one wrong thing, and he'd end up as either meatball or minced meat. He wasn't stupid... heh, brain-rot videos. Good stuff. He loved them.
But strangely enough, as he watched, Ye Cheng suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
How weird?
Ye Cheng scratched his belly, about to scroll to the next video, when he suddenly saw the reflection of the young lady in his phone screen—along with the Head Maid right beside her.
Ye Cheng: “...”
Silently, Ye Cheng put his phone away, stood up straight, and put on an authoritative look.
“Ahem, regarding this electric scooter riding and seating arrangement issue, allow me to say a few brief words. First of all...” The old-timer cleared his throat, ready to make his speech.
“Thud!”
Half a minute later, the three of them were squeezed onto one scooter, heading toward the villa.
Well... how to put it? All three of them were satisfied.
Shen Qinghan took up the largest space at the front, Ye Cheng was in the middle, replacing the Head Maid's previous “hamburger patty” position, and the Head Maid was at the back, holding onto Ye Cheng...
Shen Qinghan avoided any contact with the Head Maid, while the Head Maid gained more contact with Ye Cheng—and perfectly legitimate contact, out in the open at that... Everyone was happy.
As for Ye Cheng, his mind was down to just one word.
Talent. Talent. Talent...
Tonight's talent is truly beautiful... oh wait, the sky is beautiful tonight!

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?!

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"

and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!

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!