The Shen Residence.
In one of the guest rooms.
Du Wanyi and Ye Cheng sat across from each other at a small tea table, locked in a staring contest that had lasted nearly five minutes.
Du Wanyi had the bigger eyes—not just in size, but also in the way her pupils dilated as she scrutinized Ye Cheng as if he were a delicious piece of meat.
The "big eyes" belonged to Madam Du, while the "small eyes" naturally belonged to Ye Cheng. When it came to staring contests, Ye Cheng was unfazed—in fact, back in school, he had been the undisputed champion.
Due to working night shifts, he often dozed off during the day. To sleep more comfortably, he had "built a wall" of towering textbooks on his desk to block the teacher's view—and, inadvertently, his own future.
Or so you’d think.
nOnOnO (waggling a finger). If that’s what you assumed, you’d be oversimplifying things. That kind of "narrative" only applied to ordinary underachievers.
As it happened, Ye Cheng was anything but an underachiever. On the contrary, his grades were so outstanding that teachers suspected he might’ve been "hacking" reality.
Damn it, this kid’s full of flaws—never pays attention in class, yet still tops the school rankings. It’s like the moment I try to correct him, he’ll expose my teaching mistakes. Unbelievable! Better not risk it, or I’ll lose all credibility… and so went the delusional, hot-blooded internal monologues of his teachers.
Relax, minor hacks don’t count!
Ye Cheng’s future was so bright it kept him awake at night—at least, that’s how his teachers saw it. "This kid? I watched him grow up. Always been a little… eccentric… ahem, I mean, brilliant! Bound to succeed, no doubt about it!!!"
The real issue wasn’t that Ye Cheng slept in class or built his "Great Wall of Textbooks." No, the problem was that he did it right next to the teacher’s podium, leaving his instructors utterly speechless.
Why was he seated by the podium? Simple—his classmates had collectively ostracized him. Even the "throne" next to the trash bin couldn’t suppress his antics, so the teachers had to station him between their "left and right enforcers."
It was like a demon child’s descent into the mortal realm. The teachers trembled at the sight of him.
Now, back to the staring contest. The reason Ye Cheng was the undisputed champion was that he’d been forced to adapt after being caught sleeping one too many times. Sure, he could sleep standing up, but it wasn’t as comfortable as lying down.
So… Ye Cheng evolved.
Yep, you heard that right. Through the power of Darwinian evolution, trigonometric functions, the Pythagorean theorem, and maybe even a dash of "Balala the Fairies"... somehow, he achieved the impossible: sleeping with his eyes wide open.
A perfect offense and defense, rendering him invincible. The teachers could only nod in begrudging respect.
The staring contest itself wasn’t the problem. What unsettled Ye Cheng now was the way Madam Du was looking at him—with an intensity that rivaled his own gaze when spotting free braised chicken legs in the cafeteria.
From their earlier brief exchange, Ye Cheng—ever the keen observer—had quickly deduced that this "married lady" was none other than the young mistress’s mother. A closer look revealed a seventy to eighty percent resemblance.
But while the young mistress exuded an icy, unapproachable aura (despite her pleasant fragrance), Madam Du was the polar opposite—a "sunshine girl" incarnate.
He’d expected an older, colder version of the young mistress. Instead, he got this… unexpectedly contrasting personality.
After a prolonged silence, Madam Du finally broke first. She’d realized she was no match for Ye Cheng’s unblinking stamina.
Minutes had passed, and his eyelids hadn’t so much as twitched.
Madam Du deliberately accentuated her "charms," waiting to see if Ye Cheng would react with a lustful gaze. But… no such luck.
Ye Cheng’s eyes radiated pure, untainted innocence—the kind that suggested he hadn’t even unlocked the concept of desire.
Logically, Madam Du should’ve been pleased. Yet, for some reason, she was fuming. Had she really become an unattractive, middle-aged woman to the younger generation?
Wuwuwu, how cruel… wuwuwu…
This was her classic method of testing character. Granted, her daughter’s personality naturally filtered out those with poor morals. But what if someone was just exceptionally good at pretending? What if this guy had fooled her precious, lonely Little Hanhan?
If he swindled her out of money and virtue, wouldn’t the next step be… chopping him into mincemeat?
No matter what, as her beloved "mommy," she had to protect her daughter from deception. A thorough inspection of Ye Cheng was necessary. And if there happened to be some… accidental physical contact during the process, well, that was just part of the procedure, right?
"I’m Little Hanhan’s mother. You can call me Mommy."
Madam Du smiled, her tone dripping with innuendo.
Ye Cheng: "…"
Hold on, let him process this. This seemingly unserious lady was the young mistress’s mother, and now she wanted him to call her "Mommy"? Wasn’t this moving a bit too fast?
So.
"Got it, Mommy! Understood, Mommy!" Ye Cheng replied without a hint of hesitation, crisp and decisive.
Madam Du: "???"
Her smile stiffened, then faded. So… she’d met her match today?
Madam Du hadn’t yet grasped the true weight of the phrase "slightly eccentric behavior" in Ye Cheng’s profile. Its significance was at least three or four stories high!
"But, Chengcheng, you don’t even know my name yet. Isn’t calling me 'Mommy' a bit too soon?"
Madam Du tried to steer the conversation back on track. After all, she was the one who’d derailed it earlier. If she didn’t correct course now, things would spiral into even weirder territory.
No no no, not acceptable—I’m a married woman, I shouldn’t…
"Not at all, Mommy! I don’t think it’s too soon. We’ve known each other for… almost half an hour now."
Ye Cheng checked his phone, confirming the time with utmost seriousness. His logic was airtight, leaving Madam Du utterly speechless. She regretted her opening move—clearly, she’d miscalculated.
What Madam Du failed to notice was that Ye Cheng now seemed much more "normal" compared to the initial encounter, where his presence had been almost hypnotic.
"Slightly eccentric behavior" might’ve been a negative trait for others, but for Ye Cheng, it was oddly advantageous.
Earlier, his silence had made him seem like a succubus in Madam Du’s eyes. Now, thanks to his "techniques," his charm had dialed down to merely human levels.
"Bastard, don't you dare underestimate a wild genius, huh?!
You think Ye Cheng is on the first level? Well, he’s actually on the third. You think he’s on the third? Nope, he’s in the stratosphere. You think he’s in the stratosphere? Well, actually…
To put it simply—hey, check behind you. No, really, check behind you. I mean it, check again…"
A classic nesting doll opener. Ye Cheng forcefully steered this bizarre, one-sided conversation that had gone off the rails right back on track.
"Alright, enough fooling around, Cheng-Cheng. If you really call me 'Mom,' Little Hanhan will get jealous…" Du Wanyi’s tone was faintly teasing, having snapped out of her "charmed" state.
But… snapped out of it? Not entirely. Her eyes still gleamed as she stared at Ye Cheng, her admiration only growing stronger. This kid really clicked with her vibe.
…
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.
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...
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
