“Well, well, if it isn’t the lady-killer?” Su Su sounded slightly surprised.
Her expression was exaggerated, one hand covering her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with shock…
Shen Ming: “…”
Whoever had come up with that nickname had better not let him catch them. Otherwise, he’d beat them into meatballs.
Shen Ming had actually learned about this teasing nickname a long time ago, but no outsider had ever dared say it to his face. Su Su was the first.
Well, Madam didn’t count. She was family.
When Shen Ming first found out about the nickname, Madam had been the one to tell him. He still remembered it clearly: on a beautiful, sunny morning, Brother Doudou—who hadn’t even fully woken up yet—was hung up and given a thorough beating.
Shen Ming: “…”
“Not bad, Doudou. A few seconds without seeing you, and you’ve gotten quite capable. You’ve even become a lady-killer. Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
Shen Ming: “???”
Then Shen Ming had stared silently at the nickname attached to him on his phone—Dahai City’s lady-killer.
“Wanyi, listen to me explain.”
“Explain? Heh. I’d call that making excuses. Shut up. I can’t be bothered to explain—just listen. Prepare to face my Fangs of Madam. Ora!!!”
Shen Ming: “…”
Doudou’s resistance to blunt-force trauma +1 +1 +1…
Mm… That was more or less how it had gone. So whenever he heard the title Dahai City’s lady-killer now, he nearly went into a conditioned response and immediately started hissing.
“Big Sister-in-law, you’re joking. I don’t have that kind of ability,” Shen Ming said helplessly, forcing a bitter smile.
Su Su raised an eyebrow. “That may not be true. After all, in the eyes of those people outside, I count as nothing more than a lightly written footnote in your glorious record…”
Shen Ming: “…”
So this was still about that blind date from all those years ago?
The corner of Shen Ming’s mouth twitched. He sighed and was just about to explain when Su Su interrupted him first.
“All right, enough. Don’t say anything unnecessary. I’m not going to forgive you!”
Shen Ming: “???”
I wasn’t even planning to apologize…
In the past, Shen Ming had considered apologizing and clearing up the misunderstanding. But later, his mindset changed. What was the point?
Naturally, that change in attitude had a lot to do with Madam’s earnest guidance—the kind that came with fists to the flesh.
“Pah! You useless old fool. If I ever catch you bowing and scraping to apologize to someone again, don’t blame me for breaking your legs!”
Shen Ming: “…”
As the son who had restored the Shen family to prominence, Shen Ming had received an excellent upbringing. He wasn’t capable of doing anything especially extreme, but neither was he indecisive or weak. His excessive rationality, however, had made him the sort of person who always left room to maneuver.
Madam’s aggressive personality happened to make up for that shortcoming. If Madam had been here, Brother Doudou wouldn’t have been subjected to this sarcastic mockery…
Du Wanyi: Damn it, you old hag! How dare you bully my Doudou? Who do you think you are?!
Mm… That was more or less the script.
Between the two members of the Dongfang family, both Su Su and Dongfang Zhan had developed a certain amount of psychological trauma because of Madam. Dongfang Zhan went without saying—he had been beaten since childhood, so there was no longer any need to calculate the area of his psychological shadow.
Su Su was keeping a low profile too, not daring to confront Madam head-on. Who knew when that little demon would secretly stick it to you?
As the saying went, you should never offend a petty person… Unfortunately, Madam was exactly that kind of person. She never cared what anyone around her thought. Elbow whoever you wanted, elbow them without hesitation, elbow them to your heart’s content.
Thinking of this, Shen Ming began missing Madam again.
When would Wan Yi be back? Sigh…
Brother DouDou’s train of thought: +1, +1, +1…
If Ye Cheng had been here, he would definitely have given a big thumbs-up and said, “Damn, you’re an M-bean too!”
Shen Ming: “…”
“Have you found any clues over there?” Su Su asked. Naturally, she was asking about Ye Cheng.
Her question immediately pulled Shen Ming’s wandering thoughts back. He shook his head. “No.”
Then he fell silent again.
Answer only what was asked. The more he said, the more likely he was to say something wrong. Better to keep quiet and avoid causing his precious daughter any unnecessary trouble.
Su Su narrowed her eyes and stared motionlessly at Shen Ming, who had just claimed he knew nothing. She naturally didn’t believe him. If he truly knew nothing, then why had he come to the orphanage in the middle of the night for no apparent reason?
There wasn’t a single truthful sentence out of his mouth!
Su Su snorted coldly and crossed her arms—the exact same pose as the president.
“When are those two going to finish talking?” Su Su looked toward the tightly closed office door in the distance. That was Director Chen Youliang’s office—the only office in the entire orphanage.
After the three of them came upstairs, Lin Tianxiong briefly explained his relationship with Chen Youliang and recounted some of their past experiences. He then suggested that the other two give him some time to ask a few questions.
Shen Ming and Su Su exchanged a glance, thought it over for a moment, and agreed.
After all, this was Lin Tianxiong’s territory. The three of them working together might not be as efficient as him working alone. In the workplace, one of the biggest taboos was the mistaken belief that the more people there were, the greater the strength and the higher the efficiency.
More people could actually slow things down. In certain situations, when opinions differed, there needed to be one decisive voice.
And given how urgent the situation was, Lin Tianxiong was clearly the best candidate.
Shen Ming shook his head. “I’m not sure. But given Brother Lin’s usual way of doing things, he should be quick. Let’s wait.”
Su Su was getting a little restless, but there really was no better option at the moment. She wasn’t stupid. That old man hadn’t said more than two truthful sentences, and she might not have handled things as well as Lin Tianxiong.
Lin Tianxiong had been dealing with him for so many years, and he was an old fox in his own right. Naturally, compared with her, he was much more at ease in this sort of situation…
Just as Shen Ming had said, all they could do now was wait.
“Why haven’t I seen Wan Yi come over?” Su Su seemed to think of something and brought up the matter again.
Shen Ming’s heart sank, but he still maintained the calm demeanor of an old veteran. He said lightly, “She went on a business trip.”
Su Su: “…”
Did he seriously expect her to believe that?
Shen Ming: “…”
Obviously not. I don’t believe it myself!
Neither of them spoke, but each understood the meaning in the other’s eyes. The silence between them grew heavier...
That was what it was like dealing with smart people: you know that I know that you know; I know that you know that I know; I know that you know that I know that you know...
Ahem. That was roughly how it went. Now, take a look behind you.
Then look behind you again. And again, and...
An endless nesting doll loop...
Inside the tightly shut director’s office.
You could have heard a pin drop. The silence was terrifying. Beads of cold sweat formed on Chen Youliang’s forehead, and his face had gone noticeably pale. He still had not recovered from what Lin Tianxiong had said earlier.
After a long while, Chen Youliang finally spoke.
“Boss Lin, you’re wronging me here. After all these years, don’t you know what kind of person I am, Boss Chen?”
Chen Youliang put on the helpless, bitter smile of an honest man, looking as though he had been falsely accused.
Lin Tianxiong said nothing. He merely sat with one leg crossed over the other, smoking his cigarette. The tobacco burned, smoke drifting slowly upward, casting light over the dark, brooding look in the man’s eyes...
Seeing Lin Tianxiong like this, Chen Youliang could not help feeling panicked and uneasy. Every time they had met before, Lin Tianxiong had been cheerful and cordial, without the slightest hint of the airs one might expect from a billionaire boss.
But now...
It was as though the difference in their standing had been made clear.
They were no longer equals. One was above, and the other below...
The donor and the recipient.
No, that wasn’t right.
The thief and the one who had been robbed.
The pressure emanating from someone in a position of power filled the room, crushing Chen Youliang until he could barely breathe.
Honestly, even now, Chen Youliang did not understand what he had done. How had he suddenly managed to provoke so many important people? Even Lin Tianxiong, who had always been so mild-mannered, seemed like a completely different person.
Was he here to settle accounts with him?
Still, Chen Youliang was somewhat relieved. Over the years, whenever he had lined his own pockets, he had been extremely “careful,” leaving behind no trace of evidence. Otherwise...
“Of course, Director Chen. I know exactly what kind of person you are,” Lin Tianxiong said calmly.
Chen Youliang let out a breath of relief, failing to notice the strange glint that flickered deep in Lin Tianxiong’s eyes.
“Boss Lin, what exactly is going on outside today? It looks like everyone is searching for Xiao Cheng. Did something happen to him?”
Everything he had said earlier had been calculated, but this question alone came straight from Chen Youliang’s heart.
He truly wanted to know what had happened. What was wrong with Ye Cheng?
He even suspected that the whole situation had been arranged by Ye Cheng—a disappearance staged to kill with a borrowed knife... With anyone else, it might have sounded absurd. But if the person in question was Ye Cheng, then it all made sense.
A kid who had dared to blow up a toilet at the age of three—did you really think he was incapable of something like this?
Lin Tianxiong narrowed his eyes. With one hand, he took the cigarette from between his lips and flicked away the ash.
“Yes. Xiao Cheng has gone missing. There’s something wrong with his health. If nothing unexpected happens, he doesn’t have much time left to live.”
“What?!” Chen Youliang’s face turned deathly pale, as if struck by lightning.
If this had happened before, he would have been delighted to hear it. But now…
So many dangerous big shots had all come looking for Ye Cheng, only for Ye Cheng to disappear. Wasn’t that just putting him over a fire to roast?
For all these years, he and Ye Cheng had maintained a delicate balance. If Ye Cheng was gone, that balance would be shattered, and he’d be finished!
No joke—finished in the literal, physical sense.
Chen Youliang suddenly understood why Lin Baizhi had beaten him like a madwoman earlier. So Ye Cheng had gotten into trouble…
That made everything add up.
Even back when they were in the orphanage, Chen Youliang had already seen that Lin Baizhi was an extreme person—and that her methods could be rather underhanded.
She used means and schemes far beyond what anyone her age should have possessed to deal with the people around her, especially the girls who appeared near Ye Cheng…
She attacked them all without discrimination.
At the time, Chen Youliang hadn’t thought much of it. After all, Ye Cheng really was handsome—the kind of handsome that stood out wherever he went. That was even more obvious in an orphanage full of ugly ducklings like theirs.
It was normal for people to like Ye Cheng…
They were just children. Being a little stingy with the things they liked, being a little possessive—that was normal…
Normal my ass!
As time passed, Lin Baizhi became more and more of a complete lunatic!
When Lin Tianxiong came and took her back, Chen Youliang’s fear reached its peak. Lin Baizhi liked Ye Cheng, and Ye Cheng wanted to destroy him. Put the two together…
Lin Baizhi wanted to destroy him too!
Anyone who wasn’t afraid of that would have to be a ghost!
Fortunately, the situation had remained stable. Ye Cheng wouldn’t act recklessly because of those “little Pokémon” from the orphanage. The two of them had maintained the last shred of civility between them, and Chen Youliang had been somewhat restrained as well.
There was a saying that went something like this: If you discovered that parents who had been harsh and vicious in their youth suddenly became kind, gentle, and considerate in their old age,
it wasn’t because they had found their conscience, or because they suddenly loved you. It was because they were getting old, and had begun to fear you as they watched your wings grow stronger and stronger!
Chen Youliang did have cards to play, that much was true—but they were cards he could only use against Ye Cheng. The two of them had maintained a balance.
But now, damn it, several “big shots” had appeared out of nowhere…
Crossing-the-river dragons?
The few cards he held were nothing but flimsy paper in front of them!
At his age, this was the first time Chen Youliang had truly experienced what it meant to be manipulated by capital!
Chen Youliang was powerless—so powerless that he couldn’t even summon the will to struggle. It was the same feeling countless children in orphanages, whether they were aware of it or not, experienced when they were weak…
The helplessness they felt before the colossal figure known as “Director Chen.”
“Old bastard, just wait for death. I’ll have you dead within three days!”
Chen Youliang: “…”
It all made sense. Everything finally made sense!
Chen Youliang instantly realized that the current situation was no coincidence. It was Ye Cheng’s revenge!
Compared to when he had blown up the toilets back then, Ye Cheng had become even more sinister!
No wonder he had stayed quiet all these years. So he had gone off to seduce some rich young ladies, then disappeared, leaving those seduced heiresses to come and deal with him…
What a bastard!!!
Chen Youliang’s face twisted with pain… “That bastard Ye, you’d better come back to me! Whatever you do, don’t let anything happen to you. You have to live to a ripe old age!”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
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."
