Xia Yanchun felt completely overwhelmed. It felt like ten thousand gazes were focused on her side of the room. She didn't even dare to lift her head, forcing herself to act calm and indifferent as she took tiny bites of her cake.
Realizing something, she hurriedly let her hair down to cover her burning ears.
"Why are you guys... looking at me..." she said in a tiny voice.
If Shen Nian didn't speak up and draw their fire soon, she was going to punch him twice.
"Ahem, w-well... eat the cake, why is everyone so quiet?" Shen Nian scratched his head, at a loss for words for a moment.
Coming right out and saying that he and Xia Yanchun were already in that kind of relationship, that they were officially dating... somehow felt a bit too awkward.
"You two..." Chen Minyue covered her mouth.
"What's wrong, Auntie?" Xia Yanchun quietly peeked up.
"Are you... dating?"
"Mm..."
"Mm." Shen Nian nodded along.
Well, he had overestimated himself a bit. Although he wasn't blushing as furiously as Xia Yanchun, his face was still red.
With both sets of parents staring right at them, he couldn't exactly act like nothing had happened.
Chen Minyue stared at the two in astonishment, then looked over at Wen Zhining, winking and making faces. As neighbors of twenty years, the two mothers had their own unique way of communicating.
Wen Zhining nodded, and Chen Minyue immediately understood what she meant. So Wen Zhining already knew—no wonder she didn't have much of a reaction.
After seeing Xia Yanchun feed his son a piece of cake, Shen Shi's expression went through a series of shifts.
From happy, to overjoyed, to absolutely ecstatic.
Great job, Shen Nian!!!
In a minute, your old man is going to talk some serious trash to your Uncle Xia.
Chen Minyue was still very curious. "When did this happen?"
"Around New Year's. Shen Nian, he specifically came to find me, said he liked me, confessed his feelings, and then... I agreed..." Xia Yanchun rushed to get the words out.
This was the one point she had to emphasize: Shen Nian was the one who confessed to her!
Shen Shi, who had been feeling incredibly smug, suddenly felt his triumphant spirit die on the spot.
Xia Herui, who had been feeling a bit depressed, suddenly wasn't depressed at all. He slapped his big hand onto Shen Shi's shoulder and sighed repeatedly, each sigh louder than the last. "Sigh, sigh, oh man, sigh, well, sigh..."
It seemed it wasn't your son who swept my daughter off her feet, but my daughter who hooked your son like a helpless fish.
What a joke. What else was there to say? The bride price was getting cut in half.
Shen Shi: "..."
Even though Xia Herui hadn't said a single word, Shen Shi felt like he was being ruthlessly mocked.
Damn it, the corners of his mouth were practically reaching his ears! If that wasn't mocking, what was?
Shen Nian, you're such a disappointment. Tonight, your dad is the one who's going to get trash-talked by your Uncle Xia.
"Shen Nian, is that true?"
"Pretty much." Shen Nian took a tactical bite of cake.
"You two, really. Not saying a word about something this big."
Chen Minyue put her hands on her hips. Sometimes she really wanted to scold them. Their families were so close, couldn't they have just mentioned they were dating? Was anyone going to stop them?
Treating their parents and aunties and uncles as part of their little game, huh?!
But then again.
The two kids knew everything about each other, and they knew each other's family situations inside and out. Them dating was something to be highly celebrated!
Finally, a normal older-sister-younger-brother next-door neighbor relationship.
Asking this and asking that, for the first time, Shen Nian felt that his mom talked too much.
Mom, you should just go scroll on your phone. I'll never complain about you being on your phone again.
For the rest of the birthday party, Xia Yanchun barely spoke. She kept her head down shyly, her movements small. After eating some cake and drinking a couple of glasses of juice, she couldn't take the atmosphere anymore and made a sparkling escape.
Back in her own room, she patted her chest with her little hands, and her tense emotions slowly began to settle.
We... we confessed...
Now their relationship was completely out in the open. In the future, if they did anything affectionate, they wouldn't need to find legitimate excuses. Every action would be perfectly justified. Maybe after today, Shen Nian wouldn't ever have to sneakily climb over the balcony again...
Xia Yanchun pursed her lips and threw herself onto the bed, curling her cute, round toes together and letting her calves swing back and forth.
She lay there for a while until her phone vibrated, bringing her back to her senses.
It was a QQ message from Shen Nian.
[Shen Nian]: You little rascal, pulling a huge stunt like that without even giving me a heads-up.
Xia Yanchun typed a reply at lightning speed.
[Xia Yanchun]: Do I have to notify you about what I do? When you confessed to me, you said you would obey my every command.
[Shen Nian]: ?? Are you living in a parallel universe, Xia Yanchun? (Middle finger emoji)
[Xia Yanchun]: Whether you said it or not, I've decided you said it.
[Shen Nian]: ...Alright, alright. I salute the legendary master of imagination, Xia Yanchun.
[Shen Nian]: Are you still coming over? There's one piece of cake left.
[Xia Yanchun]: Save it, I'll eat it tomorrow.
[Shen Nian]: Okay baby. Now I'm going back to my room to fiercely tear open your present.
[Xia Yanchun]: (Pig) (Pig) (Pig)
Xia Yanchun puffed her cheeks in annoyance. How could he make opening a present sound so weird?
If she had known, she wouldn't have given him so many things. She should have just bought him a giant stuffed pig to deal with him.
Knock knock.
The sudden knock on the door made Xia Yanchun instantly tense up.
She didn't even have to think to know it was her mom coming to interrogate her!
"Come in."
"You left so early, I thought you were going to sleep." Wen Zhining walked into Xia Yanchun's room carrying a bowl of sliced watermelon.
The sound of the porcelain plate being set on the desk was a bit muffled but crisp, and Xia Yanchun felt a bit muffled and panicked herself.
"Oh my, Little Chun has grown up. Now that she has a boyfriend, she's forgotten all about her mother. Her mother brings her fruit and she doesn't even acknowledge her."
"Mom, what are you talking about!"
"Hehehe, just joking. But our Little Chun really has grown up. She's so bold now, daring to show off her affection in front of so many people."
"I wasn't showing off!" Xia Yanchun wrapped herself in her blanket, exposing only half her face as her big, dark eyes blinked rapidly.
Wen Zhining's eyes curved in a smile.
After eating a piece of watermelon, she asked, "So you two have been dating for this long... let's see... just over half a year."
"Mm-hmm."
"Over half a year..."
The two kids were stuck to each other every day. Holding hands, kissing cheeks, kissing on the lips... without a doubt, they had definitely done all that.
Given this timeframe...
"When you guys practice driving, does the car have air conditioning?"
Wen Zhining suddenly changed the subject. Xia Yanchun was a bit confused and replied softly, "No, but there's a small fan."
"The sun has been very hot lately. Remember to buy Shen Nian a bottle of water to drink so he doesn't get heatstroke. And don't drive too fast when practicing. You absolutely must pay attention to safety."
"Mm-hmm, I always drive slowly."
"Mm." Wen Zhining poked Xia Yanchun's forehead and repeated, "Pay attention to safety, okay? Mom is going downstairs to hang the laundry."
"Mom, hurry up and go out!"
Catching the hidden meaning in her mother's words, Xia Yanchun huddled softly in her blanket, not daring to peek out.
Only when the door was closed by Wen Zhining did Xia Yanchun start squirming on the bed.
Ugh.
She wasn't a little girl anymore, she didn't need her mom to remind her about that...
So embarrassing, so embarrassing!
...
In the room, Shen Nian carefully unwrapped Xia Yanchun's gift box. Lifting the lid, a whole pile of things was revealed before him.
The first thing to catch his eye was a colorful greeting card.
'Wishing my little brother Shen Nian happiness every day, and a happy nineteenth birthday!'
Shen Nian couldn't help but chuckle.
She just had to take advantage of me even on my birthday. Chunbao really doesn't miss a single chance to get the upper hand.
First came a huge pile of colorful ribbons mixed with some spicy snacks. The next layer down revealed a neatly folded summer shirt wrapped in a bag, and it was even from a famous brand. Beneath the clothes was yet another layer: an Xbox game controller.
Chunbao, you rascal. Even knowing that I can't be bothered to pay attention to you when I'm gaming, you still bought me a controller?
I'm actually tearing up.
Could it be that Chunbao is truly a peerlessly good woman?
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?"
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.
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
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.”
