The third floor of the cafeteria.
The Little Secretary carried her tray, her small brows furrowed in distress, seemingly agonizing over what to eat for lunch today.
Right now, her mind was entirely occupied by the thought of her young mistress, Dongfang Zhixia, increasing her allowance by a hundred yuan. The Little Secretary had already mentally converted that hundred yuan into ten-yuan hand-pulled pancakes.
Ten yuan was the price of her usual meal. If she went for the deluxe version, it would cost twenty. So, if she stuck to the basic ten-yuan option, a hundred yuan would buy her ten pancakes. But if she splurged on the deluxe version, she’d only get five.
Her head was spinning with visions of winged pancakes circling around her, the aroma nearly intoxicating. The Little Secretary could only lament—why didn’t the cafeteria sell hand-pulled pancakes?!
All her money went toward buying junk food from outside, and the reason was simple: Dongfang Zhixia forbade her from eating it. She’d lecture about high calories, unhygienic oil, carcinogens… and a whole slew of other issues.
Like a fretful mother, she’d ramble on and on, but the silly Little Secretary only ever retained two words from the entire spiel: "food."
The rest was automatically filtered out. In the Little Secretary’s gospel, if it tasted this good, how could it possibly harm her?
And then, for uttering those very words, Dongfang Zhixia had docked her a hundred yuan from her allowance. Originally, her monthly allowance was a thousand yuan, but after repeated deductions, it had dwindled to six hundred.
It kept shrinking—until today, when she finally seized an opportunity to convince her young mistress to increase it. Naturally, the Little Secretary wasn’t about to let that slip away.
She had to perform well.
Before coming up, she remembered her young mistress saying, "I’m hungry," which meant she needed a lot of food. So… this, this, and this—all of it went onto the tray!
The Little Secretary was utterly lost in the joy of piling her plate high, still not watching where she was going as she stared longingly at the delicious dishes behind the glass, practically drooling.
Everything looked so tasty… slurp, slurp.
Thud!
Not paying attention, the Little Secretary bumped into someone again—except this time, it wasn’t her who got knocked over, but the girl in front of her.
"Oww… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…" Whimpering in pain, the Little Secretary immediately activated her "automatic apology mode," bowing repeatedly.
Due to her childhood experiences and her own timid nature, no matter whose fault it was, the Little Secretary would always apologize first, hoping to placate the other person and prevent them from getting angry.
She was terrible with words—couldn’t even scold someone properly, let alone deliver a sharp retort. The harshest insult she’d ever managed was calling Ye Cheng a "dummy," a term she’d picked up from mimicking her young mistress.
That was the worst thing her little brain could come up with.
Hurriedly setting her tray aside, the Little Secretary helped the girl she’d knocked over back to her feet.
"I’m sorry, are you okay, sis?" she asked in a small, timid voice, her confidence sapped by the fear of being yelled at.
The girl on the ground fell silent at being called "sis" by the Little Secretary. If she remembered correctly, the Little Secretary was actually two years older than her.
Shaking her head gently, the girl offered a soft smile. "It’s fine. I was lost in thought and wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m the one who bumped into you—sorry about that."
The Little Secretary blinked, her pupils widening.
She was a classic single-core processor, incapable of processing too much complexity. Hearing that the girl she’d knocked over not only didn’t blame her but even took full responsibility herself, the Little Secretary was deeply moved.
Instantly, she classified the girl in front of her as a good person—a very, very good person!
The Little Secretary was on the "larger" side—or, as her young mistress put it, "a walking pile of useless fat." Compared to her, the girl before her seemed frail.
Delicate, as if a gust of wind could knock her over. Her skin was unnaturally pale, almost sickly, giving her a somewhat unhealthy, listless appearance.
Seeing this, the Little Secretary’s heart ached even more, her eyes turning slightly red. After helping the girl up, she kept apologizing, then pressed her plump cheeks against the other’s face in an affectionate nuzzle.
"Waaah, I’m sorry, sis… Did it hurt? Waaah…"
The sight of the Little Secretary’s chubby face rubbing against Lin Baizhi’s delicate, porcelain-like features was oddly comical.
Lin Baizhi: "…"
Feeling the softness against her cheek, Lin Baizhi blinked, as if contemplating something.
No wonder the Dongfang family’s young mistress disliked others touching her things—except for the Little Secretary here. Given the Little Secretary’s personality, she’d probably touched everything the moment she arrived, whether she was supposed to or not. Once everything had been touched, the question of permission became irrelevant.
And… this young lady from the Li family really was adorable.
A strange glint flickered in Lin Baizhi’s eyes as she curved her lips into a gentle smile, patting the Little Secretary’s back. "It’s really okay. My body’s just weak—I fall over at the slightest touch. I’ll eat more from now on, so next time, I won’t go down so easily!"
She sounded so optimistic, even cracking a joke, that the Little Secretary was overwhelmed with gratitude. She felt like she’d met the kindest person in the world—aside from her young mistress and her family, of course. Waaah…
A few minutes later.
"Here, eat more! This one’s good too! And this sea cucumber…"
The Little Secretary kept piling her "gout-inducing" seafood feast onto Lin Baizhi’s plate until it resembled a small mountain, teetering precariously with every step.
Lin Baizhi: "…"
This Little Secretary… was really something.
"Thank you, but I might not be able to finish all this. It’d be a waste. This is more than enough—I appreciate it." Lin Baizhi smiled, her eyes curving into crescents as she thanked the Little Secretary.
Encouraged, the Little Secretary nearly handed over her entire tray. How could there be such a wonderful person in the world? Waaah…
"Let’s sit over there." Lin Baizhi wasn’t very strong, and after holding the heavily laden tray for a while, she was already feeling fatigued, needing to rest.
The Little Secretary nodded eagerly. "Mhm, okay—wait, no! Sis, I can’t eat with you. I have to go back to my young mistress. I’m sorry!"
Acting without thinking, she’d nearly forgotten the task Dongfang Zhixia had assigned her, instinctively about to follow Lin Baizhi to eat. Luckily, the sight of the tray reminded her.
Her young mistress needed her!
Her eyes filled with sudden determination, as if she were about to embark on a grand, earth-shattering mission.
Lin Baizhi smiled softly. "Mm, it's alright. No need to apologize. You’ve already kept me company for so long—this is enough."
"Big sis, you're so kind, wuwuwu..."
The Little Secretary looked deeply moved. She quickly rushed forward and hugged Lin Baizhi again, nuzzling her plump cheeks against the other girl’s face with unrestrained affection.
"Big sis, I’ll be going now! Eat more, okay? Eating more helps you grow stronger, and when you’re healthy, you won’t get sick. Bye-bye!"
"Mm, see you."
Holding two trays in her hands, the Little Secretary bid farewell with visible reluctance, her eyes reddening as she walked away—proof of her deeply sentimental and loyal nature!
Lin Baizhi responded politely, her face still adorned with that gentle, faint smile, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons when she laughed.
Only after the Little Secretary had left did Lin Baizhi fall silent, staring at the mountain of food piled before her—all of it lovingly served by the Little Secretary.
Because the Little Secretary thought Lin Baizhi looked too thin, she assumed she wasn’t eating well. So, she insisted on giving Lin Baizhi more food while eating less herself, believing that a plumper body would prevent her from falling over the next time she bumped into someone!
The Little Secretary’s thoughts were simple and innocent. Though this was their first meeting, Lin Baizhi quite liked her.
At least she wasn’t as unpleasant as Dongfang Zhixia.
Lin Baizhi’s dislike for Dongfang Zhixia was straightforward: Dongfang Zhixia was the person Ye Cheng had confessed his feelings to, and worse, she had rejected him, humiliating her brother in front of the entire school.
That alone was enough to make Lin Baizhi despise her.
Earlier, Lin Baizhi hadn’t been lying—she really hadn’t been watching where she was going when she collided with the equally distracted Little Secretary. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as sturdy and ended up knocked to the ground.
The Little Secretary hadn’t been looking because she was too busy eyeing the delicious food in the cafeteria windows. Lin Baizhi, meanwhile, had been searching for someone—her brother.
She had received word that Ye Cheng had been eating on the third floor of the cafeteria these past few days with the young master of the Shen family. With her company duties wrapped up, she had come straight over, hoping for a "chance encounter" with her brother and, if possible, to drive away that annoying Shen heir.
But after wandering around for what felt like forever, Lin Baizhi still hadn’t spotted Ye Cheng on the third floor. It seemed he hadn’t come today.
A pang of disappointment and gloom settled over her.
Lin Baizhi picked up her fork, spearing a small portion from the towering pile of food on her plate and bringing it delicately to her lips, chewing slowly.
Every movement was exquisitely graceful, almost like a performance—one could watch her eat for an entire day and never grow bored.
A breeze drifted through the window, tousling her silky hair. She reached up, tucking the stray strands behind her ear.
"Hmm... Maybe I should give brother a gift he’ll never forget?"
She murmured to herself. Ye Cheng’s birthday was coming up—though most people didn’t know, she remembered clearly. Children from the orphanage were all foundlings, with no real birthdays to speak of.
Soon, it would be the anniversary of the day Ye Cheng had been taken in. She wanted to give him something truly memorable.
Preferably something personal, since boys liked that sort of thing. Her brother had gone all these years without a girlfriend—surely he must indulge in the same things other boys did, right?
If she gave him something from a pretty girl, he’d probably be happy. And when he used it, he’d definitely...
Lin Baizhi wasn’t the type to cross lines—she’d never do anything illegal. Ye Cheng was law-abiding, and she didn’t want him to dislike her. So... she’d give him something of her own. Someone else’s belongings were out of the question.
She had already made up her mind but pretended to deliberate, agonizing over which item would be best.
She glanced down.
Hmm... Not quite right. A little lower... Ah, that might work, but it lacked a sense of surprise. Maybe a bit more...
"Actually, I’ll just give him a whole set~"
She giggled to herself, her lips curling into a smile as she swung her slender legs contentedly.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
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...
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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!
