There was a reasonably large supermarket in the town, which even sold pork, chicken, and duck. When it was first built, the old supermarket in town basically lost all its customers.
Shen Nian preferred the new supermarket. It had a complete variety of goods, and the prices were clearly marked. In the old supermarket, many things didn't have price tags; you'd think a backpack was forty or fifty, but at checkout, it would turn out to be seventy or eighty. If you wanted to know the price, you had to ask the clerk.
"It's been a long time since I last came here." Xia Yanchun was in a good mood. Pushing a small shopping cart, she walked ahead and looked around. She had said they were here to buy a barbecue grill, but she took a detour to the food section first.
"Since we're here to buy a barbecue grill, I think I could have just come alone. Why did you tag along..." Shen Nian followed her with his hands in his pockets, unable to hold back his complaints as he watched her toss bag after bag of snacks into the cart.
"Are you blind? Can't you see I'm buying food? It's almost the New Year, and these are my own New Year's goods. If I don't buy more, are you going to eat sesame crackers?"
"Damn, Sister Chun has great foresight."
Shen Nian understood now. Whenever he saw a snack he liked, he tossed it into the small cart too.
Xia Yanchun blinked. The sudden "Sister Chun" made her feel a bit light on her feet, and two little peonies bloomed in her heart.
But girls need to be modest outside, so she only smiled secretly.
To think he actually called out Sister Chun today for the sake of the world's best treats? But unfortunately, calling her Sister Chun still wasn't quite enough.
Even calling her Mom wouldn't work.
Bag after bag, the small cart was half full in the blink of an eye. Most of them were those nitrogen-filled snack bags that looked huge but actually only contained a tiny bit inside.
As for those little biscuits, they couldn't afford them when they didn't have pocket money in the past. Now that they had pocket money, they didn't want to eat them anymore; just looking at them killed their appetite.
Next to make its debut was the highly authoritative fifty-cent spicy strip section.
"This seems to be in the wrong place," Shen Nian said with certainty.
"No, it's not? This whole area is for spicy strips."
"I mean, it shouldn't be here. It should be in my shopping cart."
Shen Nian couldn't bear to see the lovely spicy strips wandering homeless outside. Unfortunately, his budget was limited, so he could only adopt twenty-something bags.
Do not fail to do a good deed just because it is small.
Xia Yanchun: "..."
If you want to eat them, just say so.
"Don't buy so many. These small-workshop spicy strips aren't hygienic. If you want to buy some, get Weilong or something..."
"Nothing beats a stick of Lvshuang."
"..."
Xia Yanchun didn't want to buy spicy strips.
But she wanted to wait until Shen Nian paid and then swipe some of his.
After buying the young people's New Year's goods, Xia Yanchun looked at the huge pile of things in the cart with a worried face. "Buying so many heat-inducing snacks, I'm going to get scolded if I'm seen."
"As long as I'm not the one getting scolded," Shen Nian grinned.
"It's fine, I'll just say you dragged me to the supermarket and made me buy them."
"You blame everything on me. It was like this in the past, and it's still like this now."
"I will blame you. You were the one who drove me here in the first place."
"Alright, alright, blame me, blame me." Shen Nian leaned in close to Xia Yanchun, openly rubbing against her soft cheek, and smiled faintly. "Are you going to blame things on me for the rest of your life?"
Xia Yanchun turned her head, ignoring him. She pushed the cart and trotted ahead, putting a few steps of distance between her and Shen Nian before slowly stopping.
Even her ears were red. Haji Chun, you rascal.
Shen Nian stroked his chin. Teasing his neighbor sister and spending the rest of his life like this would be pretty good.
After buying the barbecue grill and various seasonings, they had only spent a little over fifty. But their snacks combined cost over a hundred.
Xia Yanchun had been called Sister Chun. Sister Chun was happy, so when they were out, there was no need for her little brother to pay. She quickly footed the bill.
In the end, they packed two large bags. They were so heavy.
"Do you really not need me to help you carry them?"
"No need, they're not heavy."
"You're tough." Since Shen Nian could carry them, Xia Yanchun wouldn't help him. The person who paid the bill should be the most relaxed, right?
With the barbecue grill and all sorts of snacks, the footboard of the electric scooter had no more room. So, the driver became Xia Yanchun. One bag was placed on the footboard, and Shen Nian sat on the back holding the other.
Xia Yanchun's hair smelled wonderful. Shen Nian buried his face and sniffed. One hand slipped onto Xia Yanchun's waist, though he was just holding onto her, and with her wearing a jacket, he couldn't feel anything anyway.
After returning home, Xia Yanchun followed Shen Nian up to the third floor. Like dividing spoils, she quickly picked out her own snacks and packed them into a smaller bag. These had to be hidden well.
Even though she was eighteen, buying so many heat-inducing snacks at once would inevitably earn her an earful if she was caught.
"Is this mine or yours?" Shen Nian held up a pack of Moyushuang.
"Mine."
"What about these duck feet?"
"Mine. Do you not even remember what you bought yourself?" Xia Yanchun pouted.
"What about this breakfast milk?"
"Mine."
Shen Nian smiled in relief.
"Bullshit. Haji Chun, you're not being honest. It's just a bottle of breakfast milk, and you still claim it's yours. Did you even buy it, and you're saying it's yours?"
Xia Yanchun felt guilty. The despicable Shen Nian had actually set a trap to frame Sister Chun.
"I paid for it, so what if you let me have it, you cheapskate." After Xia Yanchun finished speaking, she snatched the breakfast milk from Shen Nian's hand and stuffed it into her own bag.
"Well, you didn't let me have it either, aren't you a cheapskate too?"
"I'm not, you are." Xia Yanchun buried her head in searching for her snacks, angrily and secretly packing a few bags of Shen Nian's spicy strips.
Eating too many spicy strips causes internal heat; she just wanted to share a little of Shen Nian's burden. She was already tired of saying the phrase that Sister Chun's greatness goes without saying.
Shen Nian behaved himself and let Xia Yanchun scold him as she pleased.
She was already like this, why not just humor her?
"These are all mine now." Xia Yanchun tied up her bag and clapped her hands. "Will your parents come up to your room to look around?"
"No."
"Then I'll leave my snacks here. My mom occasionally comes up to the third floor to check, and such a big bag is hard to hide."
"Can't you split them up and stuff them in your drawers?"
"I have things in my drawers, they won't fit."
Girls often had to keep a few packs of sanitary pads in their drawers. Putting these two types of things together would be weird, and combined with various odds and ends, there really wasn't any space left to hide such a large bag of snacks.
Hiding them in Shen Nian's room was perfect. Her mom could come a thousand times and never find them. As for Shen Nian, if his mom happened to see his snacks, he was going to get scolded anyway. Since he was going to get scolded regardless, he might as well take the heat for her share of the snacks too.
Hiding snacks in Shen Nian's room carried one major risk: Shen Nian secretly eating them.
The safest place is the safest place, this needs to be jotted down in the notes.
"Alright, then I'm heading back." Xia Yanchun clapped her hands, pushed off her knees, and stood up.
"Do you still have things to do?"
"No."
"Then what are you going back for." Shen Nian drew the curtains. The sunlight filtered through the curtains, bathing the room in an ambiguous, tangerine-red glow.
What are you drawing the curtains for?!
Xia Yanchun really wanted to ask him this, yet she knew the answer better than anyone else, and she instantly felt shy.
Shen Nian pressed close, pulling Xia Yanchun onto the bed. He nuzzled her forehead and smiled faintly, "I feel like we've become a bit decadent. We haven't really read our books at all."
"And yet you're still doing this..."
"It's decided. Tomorrow we're going to study all day!"
Xia Yanchun wanted to gasp for air, but before she could even reply to Shen Nian, he lowered his head and buried his face against her. His hands refused to behave, wandering from her waist to her legs...
Who... who on earth does this kind of thing while claiming they want to study...!

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."

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?!

rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!