"Let's just take the bike!"
Making her run a kilometer to the park early in the morning, only to have to walk back afterward? She would literally die of exhaustion!
Xia Yanchun didn't care about Shen Nian's opinion; she had already run to the parking shed on her own and straddled Shen Nian's bike.
"You're taking the bike for such a short distance? You're lazy as hell."
"So what? What about it?"
"I'm speechless. I ought to punch you, believe it or not." Shen Nian fished the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her. "If you want to take the bike, you're driving. I'm not doing it."
"Fine, I will."
Shen Nian nimbly hopped onto the back seat, his hands slipping from her shoulders down to her waist.
Xia Yanchun rode carefully and quite slowly, especially since she was carrying a passenger.
The sky hadn't completely brightened yet. At this hour, the only people out were those exercising or opening breakfast stalls; they hardly saw a soul along the way.
"Let's grab breakfast on the way. We won't come back; we'll head straight to school."
"Huh? Aren't you coming back to shower?"
"I'm not doing any intense exercise, so I won't sweat."
"Oh, okay."
They bought soup dumplings and corn on the cob, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the park.
Whether it was the park for fishing or the one for daily exercise, Shen Nian hadn't visited in a while, and he suddenly felt a bit nostalgic.
Looking at the other middle-aged men exercising—love to see it.
Looking at the park's resident NPC grandpas—love to see it.
Looking at the aunties square dancing—love to see it.
"Yo, I thought you stopped coming."
"It's cold out. When it's cold, I don't really feel like coming."
"Young people afraid of the cold? Back in my day, I was chopping wood shirtless in twenty degrees below zero."
"Grandpa, since when did the south ever hit twenty below?" Shen Nian was exasperated.
*This damn old geezer is really acting tough. He'll learn his lesson when no one gives up their seat for him on the bus.*
"You don't know jack." The old man stroked his beard. Noticing the girl following behind him, he looked her over curiously and smiled. "Your girlfriend?"
"I'm his older sister!" Xia Yanchun corrected him.
"Is that so..."
Xia Yanchun leaned in close to Shen Nian and whispered, "How do you know him? Is he a relative?"
"I don't know. We just started chatting and it ended up like this."
Shen Nian rubbed his chin. Forget names—he didn't even know the old man's surname. Yet, they had somehow become familiar enough to chat a bit every day during his workouts.
The old man wasn't exactly a decent fellow, but luckily, neither was he. It was a case of birds of a feather flocking together. Every now and then, they'd exchange some crude banter, and the old man often said things that made Shen Nian's face turn dark.
"You seem pretty close. You really don't even ask for names?"
"Guys are just like that. I once met a teacher online who taught me a lot of things. We talked a lot, but in the end, I never knew his name."
"What kind of teacher?"
"He taught me how to download Galgames," Shen Nian sighed with emotion. "Now that was a true mentor..."
"Why do I feel like I don't understand?"
"It's normal that you don't. This is a bond between men. Heroes don't ask about origins or background. Sometimes, a name really isn't that important."
Xia Yanchun rolled her eyes, unable to hide her disdain. She knew just by thinking about it that it definitely wasn't anything good.
She heard boys would form small groups to share websites and resources. It was so creepy; reporting them would definitely get them banned.
The old man had already turned around, hands clasped behind his back, to watch the square dancing. Shen Nian took off his outer jacket and draped it over Xia Yanchun's head. "Hold this for me. I'm going to run a bit to warm up."
"Mmh."
Xia Yanchun folded his jacket, hung it over her arm, and sat down on the nearest bench.
While Shen Nian warmed up, she sat nearby eating breakfast in small bites. Her eyes followed Shen Nian; when he ran further away, she would look down at her shoes, waiting for him to run back from the other side.
The warm-up run didn't take long. For Shen Nian, a casual few hundred meters was enough. It only took two or three minutes. When he returned, he saw Xia Yanchun gnawing on a corn cob.
There were bits of corn on the corner of her mouth. She looked like a silly roe deer, her big, dark eyes staring his way. She didn't speak, just ate.
*So cute.*
Shen Nian didn't say a word. He just did his own workout, pretending Xia Yanchun didn't exist.
Because the exercise intensity wasn't high, he didn't break a sweat at all. Since he was heading straight to school, it was best to control the sweating.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to snuggle with Chunbao at noon; Chunbao would be disgusted with him.
After running laps for about ten minutes, Shen Nian went over to the fitness equipment, planning to do two sets of pull-ups.
He hadn't done many when Xia Yanchun followed him over, standing to the side drinking soy milk and watching him.
"Go on, I'll count for you."
"The moment you came over, I lost the urge to do them."
"Tch, then I won't watch." Xia Yanchun turned around glumly, popping a small soup dumpling into her mouth.
Hearing the sound of a jump behind her, she immediately spun back around.
Shen Nian had merely hopped in place. Mimicking Xia Yanchun's tone from earlier, he teased, "Yo, yo, yo, I won't watch anymore~"
Xia Yanchun stomped her foot in embarrassment, glaring daggers at him. "People who parrot others usually have weak kidneys!"
"Someone's triggered."
"...!!"
She was going to cough up blood. Xia Yanchun felt that her period next month was bound to come early from being so angry at Shen Nian.
Fortunately, Shen Nian didn't continue to provoke her. Otherwise, she would have secretly ridden the bike to school while he was exercising and let Shen Nian walk there slowly!
"Then help me count. Don't shortchange me."
"Just start already. I'm so done with you."
Shen Nian leaped onto the highest bar, hanging from it. With a standard overhand grip, he pulled himself up again and again.
Three, four, five...
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty...
*It's one thing to be good at push-ups, but how is he so good at pull-ups too?* Xia Yanchun pinched her own arm through her clothes. It was soft; she felt like she had no muscle at all.
They had been tested on pull-ups in P.E. class too. Back in the second year of high school, Shen Nian could only do four or five. He had used momentum to jump up for the first one, and the rest were a struggle. Now he was really amazing; Shen Nian had been working out all along!
Yet she was still the same weakling, likely to be punched into a wall by Shen Nian so hard she couldn't be pried out.
"Phew, I'm exhausted. It's all your fault." Shen Nian pretended to be completely worn out, bracing his hands on his knees and gasping for air, his lungs burning.
"What does it have to do with me?"
"With you watching, I wanted to do a few extra. I almost went to failure."
"Who told you to show off? Caring about that little bit of pride in front of me... stupid pig." Xia Yanchun hurriedly draped his jacket over him. "If you're tired, stop training. Let's get to school a bit early today!"
"Whatever you say. Let's go. By the way, how many did I do just now?"
"Thirty-four. I guess you're pretty tough."
"You just realized? I've known for ages."
"Hmph. Next time you do push-ups, I'm going to ride on your back."
"Are you a grandmaster in the field of back-stepping massage?"
"If you keep spouting that nonsense meme stuff, I'll stuff my shoe in your mouth."
Shen Nian smiled faintly, nudged her to the side, and helped himself to the leftover breakfast in her hand.
The soup dumplings and soy milk were meant for two, but the corn on the cob was something Xia Yanchun had bought for herself. She had gnawed through more than half of it, leaving only a bit at the bottom unfinished.
"I can't eat anymore," Xia Yanchun spoke up first. "You finish it off for me. Don't let it go to waste."
"You really remind me of my sister..."
"I am your big sister."
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
Xia Yanchun looked up at Shen Nian, imaginary pink and white flowers blooming around her in abundance.
Big sister. I'm the big sister!
This time, Shen Nian admitted it with his own mouth! With absolutely no threats or coercion, Shen Nian actually acknowledged that I'm the big sister!
Xia Yanchun’s eyes curved into happy crescents, her smile dazzling. "Heh heh, heh heh..."
Shen Nian gnawed on the leftover corn on the cob. Seeing how happy she was, he held it out to her. "Have a bite."
Xia Yanchun opened her mouth and took a tiny bite, her lips moving rapidly as she chattered, "I already told you to finish the rest, so why are you feeding it to me? You dummy."
"Well, you ate it anyway, didn't you?"
"That still makes you a dummy."
The pale light of dawn hung on the horizon. The six o'clock sky, usually the most dreaded sight, could occasionally look this beautiful with its azure expanse and drifting clouds.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
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!
