The New Year's Eve dinner began, and the kitchen was filled with the strong aroma of alcohol.
A lot of beer, baijiu, and Moutai Prince liquor were consumed. When relatives gathered for a meal, it was nothing more than bragging and drinking.
Even Shen Nian drank two glasses of beer, finding it bitter and awfully unpleasant to drink.
"What grade are you in this year, Shen Nian?"
"Second Uncle, I'm a senior in high school this year..."
"Ah? Oh my, why did I think you were still in sixth grade?"
Shen Nian couldn't help but laugh, taking it as a compliment that he looked young.
Although eighteen was indeed still young. If one were to talk about being old, he'd at least have to wait until he was thirty to become a Grand Magus.
"This brat is amazing now. He scored over 700 points on the college entrance exam. Isn't that awesome!"
Shen Shi was a bit tipsy, talking nonsense and rambling. Seeing that everyone's topic had shifted to Shen Nian, he couldn't help but chime in.
At an age where people competed over their younger generation, what was the point of having such an impressive son if he didn't brag about him?
"Dad... I haven't taken the college entrance exam yet..." Shen Nian sweatdropped.
"Anyway, he can score seven hundred points!" Shen Shi waved his big hand, feeling very proud.
"That impressive? Shen Nian will definitely have a bright future!" a relative laughed.
A barrage of praise showered over Shen Nian, making him feel a bit embarrassed.
Someone casually brought up, "Shen Nian is already a high school senior... Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Uh, not yet."
"Hey, this kid definitely has one, he's just not telling us."
"Hahahaha..."
"Hahaha..."
"I'm full, you guys take your time eating." Shen Nian smiled cheerfully. He was quite talkative and didn't mind these relatives gossiping about him.
A few comments wouldn't hurt. The annoying ones were the preachy types who lacked real skills but excelled at lecturing. Shen Nian had been scolded at the dinner table in the past two years. This year, they probably held back knowing he had scored high marks.
The older generation valued seniority. When someone of higher seniority spoke, you had to listen carefully... Shen Nian would nod repeatedly when being lectured, but mostly let it go in one ear and out the other.
The New Year's Eve dinner lasted until nine o'clock. The relatives left one after another, and the chore of cleaning up the kitchen waste fell to Shen Nian and Shen Yue.
Shen Nian simply told Shen Yue to go out. He had promised to take care of all the chores, and even if he did it alone, washing dishes wasn't that tiring.
Ever since he acquired High Spirits, the word 'tired' had faded from his world.
After finishing, the skin on Shen Nian's fingers was all wrinkled. He took a shower, leaving only two hours until the New Year.
"Sigh, a year just passed by leisurely. I feel like I didn't do anything this year." Shen Shi and Xia Herui stood outside enjoying the breeze, lamenting about life.
Two middle-aged men with established families were talking at length about the past and the future. It was best not to disturb them at a time like this.
This was when the fireworks came in handy.
As soon as Shen Nian brought out the fireworks, Shen Yue eagerly snatched a large handful. Being timid, she didn't dare use a lighter. She only dared to light a stick of incense and use its tip to ignite the fireworks' fuses.
The Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers firework was placed between the two houses. Once lit, colorful sparks quickly sprayed out, reaching higher than Shen Nian.
"Wow, wow!"
"Don't get so close," Shen Nian warned.
"It's fine, I'm not a kid."
"..."
Shen Nian couldn't be bothered to retort. He glanced sideways and caught sight of Xia Yanchun, who had just stepped out of her house and was standing on the threshold.
Washing hair on New Year's Eve and not washing it on New Year's Day was a local tradition. Xia Yanchun's hair was wet, but she wasn't wearing pajamas. She had on a light-colored jacket over an inner shirt paired with black pants, giving her outfit a very layered look.
Her delicate and smooth skin was dyed in various colors by the fireworks. Shen Nian felt a subtle shift in his mood. Before he could go to her, Xia Yanchun ran over, practically sparkling.
A fragrant little breeze brushed past, making Shen Nian feel refreshed.
"Shh—" Xia Yanchun made a hushing gesture.
"Pfft—"
Xia Yanchun held back her laughter and hurriedly ran back into the house. "I'm going to dry my hair!"
Two question marks popped up in Shen Nian's head.
He was certain that sound didn't come from Xia Yanchun's mouth, nor was it a fart from himself.
Wait, why is there a bad smell?
The fragrant little breeze had turned into a stinky little breeze, bleh!
Damn it!
Running over intentionally just to fart. It was hard to imagine that a sweet and cute-looking girl would do such a thing.
This crazy Yanchun, absolutely no manners, completely disregarding her image, huh.
"Right..."
The smell quickly dissipated. Shen Nian remembered the necklaces, turned around, went upstairs to get them, and stuffed them into his pockets.
Waiting until Shen Shi and Xia Herui's deep talk about life ended, Shen Nian shouted, "Dad, Mom, come here for a second."
"What is it?" Chen Minyue, who was right nearby, looked over curiously.
"Mom, a surprise for you." Shen Nian pulled out a gift box.
"This..."
"Jewelry I bought with my scholarship money. Weren't you always nagging about it before? Now I've bought it for you."
"...?"
Chen Minyue took the gift box hesitantly. She opened it carefully and saw the sparkling, brilliant necklace inside.
It's really a necklace?
Her son, who hadn't even graduated from high school, had bought her jewelry...
Chen Minyue looked at Shen Nian, then at the necklace. By the time she looked up again, her eyes were gradually turning red.
"What did you call me for?" Shen Shi also came over.
"Dad, this one is yours."
"What's this..." Shen Shi opened it and froze for a moment. "A necklace?"
"Hehe, it was quite expensive. Don't wear it when you go to the farm; my heart will ache if you lose it."
"..."
Shen Shi and Chen Minyue looked at each other. Compared to Chen Minyue's tears of joy, Shen Shi appeared much calmer, though his delight was still beyond words.
How could they not be happy?
How could they not be happy?
Shen Nian was truly a filial son!
"How much was it?" Chen Minyue tugged at Shen Nian's sleeve. "Do you still have money for living expenses?"
"Mom... I have money. The scholarship was a lot, and I can also make a lot of money from fishing, really."
"Hey, you, you didn't even tell us in advance."
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you in advance."
Shen Nian scratched his head, looking carefree.
His parents, who never had wedding rings, received their first pair of gold necklaces today.
Even though they weren't that expensive.
"Wu..." Chen Minyue was really about to cry.
"Cough cough, Mom, don't cry. I'm going over to hang out with Xia Yanchun."
Now that the necklaces were given, Shen Nian wanted to slip away. Even if they were tears of joy, he didn't want to see his parents cry.
Let the old couple slowly digest it.
Passing by Shen Shi and Chen Minyue, Shen Nian saw Shen Yue watching from the doorframe.
In Shen Yue's eyes, he could see three parts confusion, three parts bewilderment, and four parts relief.
Oh no, it's the female CEO Shen Yue!
Since Shen Yue was standing there, she definitely heard everything that was just said, so Shen Nian didn't explain further.
If asked, it was the scholarship. If asked, it was making big bucks from fishing.
Next door, the house smelled fragrant. Xia Yanchun had long finished drying her hair and was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, playing on her phone.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Shen Nian cleared his throat.
"If you have phlegm, just spit it out, okay?" Xia Yanchun curled her lips.
Shen Nian sat next to Xia Yanchun without any hesitation. He stretched his two large arms over the back of the sofa like a boss, "I just gave the necklaces to them."
"What was your parents' reaction?"
"Happy, surprised, crying tears of joy."
"That's it?"
"That's it. What other reaction were you expecting..."
Xia Yanchun shook her head; she was just a little curious.
Uncle Xia was outside, and Aunt Wen was nowhere to be seen—she was probably taking a shower or hanging up the laundry. Shen Nian leaned in close and whispered into Xia Yanchun's ear.
"Chunbao, it's almost the New Year."
Xia Yanchun's ears turned slightly red. It was hard to tell if it was from the cold or the heat, but her expression was quite unnatural.
The hidden meaning behind those words was far too obvious!
"There's still an hour left!"
"Well, that means it's almost time."
Like a little spider, Shen Nian used all five fingers to creep his hand up onto Xia Yanchun's shoulder.
If anyone saw this, their ambiguous relationship would definitely be exposed. Xia Yanchun quickly swatted his hand away, puffing her cheeks in anger.
"Do you have a death wish if someone sees us?!"
"I checked our surroundings, we're perfectly fine." Shen Nian stood up. "Come on, let's go set off some fireworks."
"I can't deal with you. I'm going to burn through every single one of your fireworks!"
Xia Yanchun quickly caught up with Shen Nian, already plotting in her mind. Later on, she absolutely had to make Shen Nian say a few sweet romantic lines.
A confession needed to look like a proper confession. Without one, she had no intention of becoming Shen Nian's girlfriend!
If Shen Nian didn't confess to her later, she would just beat him to death.
·
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.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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?"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
