When Shen Nian got home, Shen Yue was already asleep. As usual, he took a shower and then locked himself in his room to read.
Around 11:30 p.m., his phone rang.
"Hey, Mom, why are you calling so late?"
His mother's voice came through the phone.
"Haven’t seen you in ages. Why don’t you come back to town with Little Chun during the National Day holiday?"
Shen Nian paused. He hadn’t been home since summer break, and counting the second semester of his sophomore year and now September, it had been almost half a year since he last visited. During that time, he hadn’t even made a single video call.
Even though he lived off-campus, to his parents in town, it made little difference—they still rarely saw him.
"Yeah, I’ll come back for a few days during the holiday," he said with a laugh.
"Good, good."
"Miss me that much, huh? Why don’t you just come visit instead?"
"Who misses you? Come back and help with chores."
"..." Shen Nian’s lips twitched as his mom continued nagging.
"I saw in the parents’ group chat that you guys have midterms coming up soon?"
"Yeah."
"How’s studying going?"
"Not bad."
"Do well on the exams. If you don’t, I’ll treat you to a ‘bamboo shoot roast’ when I get back."
"?"
Now that’s a real mom for you.
...
The next day, Tuesday—exam day.
The classroom, now cleared of textbooks, felt oddly spacious. Some students were diligently reviewing, while those who hadn’t bothered bringing books were napping at their desks. A few, too restless to sleep, stared blankly at math problems, their souls already leaving their bodies.
Shen Nian had only slept for four hours, yet he was bursting with energy—terrifyingly so. He could probably wolf down three big bowls of rice in one go.
He’d never taken midterms seriously before, but this time, he was ready. Intermediate-level monsters, your daddy’s here!
At 9 a.m., the exams began. Students flooded the hallways, crowding the narrow staircases. Shen Nian flipped his seat around, grabbed his pen, and stood in the corridor for a moment—some people really didn’t mind squeezing through like sardines.
Chen Dong shared his sentiment. "I’m so damn tired..."
"Did you stay up late?"
"Nah, just tired for no reason."
"Definitely stayed up late."
"You’re such an idiot. Not everything is about staying up late," Chen Dong scoffed. "Sometimes you just feel exhausted even if you slept normally. Meanwhile, you pull all-nighters and still look fresh as hell the next day. Seriously, you deserve to die."
"Why do I deserve to die now?"
"Dunno, just following procedure."
"..."
Once the crowd thinned, Shen Nian and Chen Dong headed to their respective classrooms.
Some students lingered in the hallway, cramming last-minute notes—mostly ancient poetry for the Chinese exam. Shen Nian even spotted someone scribbling cheat sheets on their palm.
He’d already memorized most of the required poems. Aside from English, he didn’t really have any weak subjects. And now, even that biggest weakness was gone. He was the complete dragon.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Li Shiyan leaning against the railing, letting the breeze ruffle her hair. The airhead girl stood straight, her bangs occasionally blowing into her eyes or mouth. She’d puff her cheeks and swat them away in frustration.
Adorable.
Shen Nian sidled up to her, cleared his throat, and called softly.
"Li Shiyan."
Li Shiyan froze. That familiar voice saying her name—she must’ve misheard. If it were Shen Nian, he’d definitely call her "Loli Girl" or "Loli Chick" instead.
Just thinking about it made her mad. Who was the real loli here? She had curves, damn it!
Ugh, maybe she should ask the proctor for extra scratch paper and force-feed Shen Nian some more "red stones" later.
When she didn’t react, Shen Nian tried again.
"Loli Chick?"
"Ah!"
Li Shiyan nearly jumped out of her skin. Since when did Shen Nian spawn next to her?
Shen Nian stroked his chin. Earlier, she’d hated being called that, yet she only responded to "Loli Chick." Tsundere much?
"You… why are you here?"
"We’re in the same exam room. Didn’t you know?"
"Oh… right."
"What’re you standing around for? Let’s go in."
"Okay…"
"Wait." Shen Nian stopped her again.
Li Shiyan stiffened, caught between fleeing and staying. Whatever Shen Nian wanted, it couldn’t be good.
In their first two years, they hadn’t interacted much—just casual classmates who chatted occasionally. But since senior year, their encounters had increased.
Not that they were pleasant. She kind of wanted to die.
"What… what is it?"
If Shen Nian was about to mess with her, she’d drop to her knees and beg him to stop, then hang herself from his desk the next day.
Shen Nian pondered for a moment before grinning. "Are you usually lucky?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Like, do you ever step in dog poop or find money on the street?"
The sudden shift in topic made Li Shiyan relax slightly. She had no clue where this was going, but she thought it over.
"I used to find money a lot as a kid, but not so much now. Never stepped in dog poop, though."
"Tch." Shen Nian frowned. So she wasn’t the Goddess of Fortune after all.
"But I often get Meituan coupons that inflate to 15 bucks off. Does that count?"
"?"
Holy crap. This girl’s definitely hacking.
People who won the lottery bragging about luck? Shen Nian would scoff. But someone who regularly got 15-off coupons? He’d kill for that.
That’s the real deal.
Coupons inflating to 15, cashback deals netting 400 bucks—Li Shiyan was capital’s worst nightmare. A few more like her, and corporations would go bankrupt.
If this wasn’t the Goddess of Fortune, Shen Nian would move into a mansion with two silver-haired maids.
"What’s wrong?" Li Shiyan tilted her head, clueless.
Shen Nian straightened up. "Hey, can you wish me luck for the exam? Like, ‘May you soar to new heights, guess all the right answers, and ace every question’?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, the exam’s about to start."
"..." Li Shiyan bit her lip. "May you soar to new heights, guess all the right answers, ace every question, and score higher with each test."
Shen Nian stayed silent, staring at her intently.
Or rather, at his system’s response.
Nothing. Zip. Nada. Either he’d messed up, or Li Shiyan wasn’t the one.
Damn system. If someone who hacks coupons for 15-off and racks up 400 bucks in cashback isn’t lucky enough, what is?
Do the coupons need to inflate to 18?
Do drinks need to ring up for 1 yuan every time?
Does Alipay need to hand out free purchases daily before you’re satisfied?
System, get out here. We need to talk.
"Anything else…?" Li Shiyan whispered, barely daring to breathe.
"Nah, we’re good." Shen Nian waved her off. A week in, and still no leads on the Goddess of Fortune. Might as well focus on the exam.
"I’ll head in, then."
Shen Nian nodded and followed her into the classroom. The warning bell rang, and the clack of the proctor’s heels echoed down the hall.
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily visits causing excessive server pressure, we now recommend switching to other top-tier sources.
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.
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
ey change clothes. Li Chuan contributed all his possessions, only to find that things were not as they seemed. Almost a year after joining, he hadn’t managed to get a single Daoist consort. Thinking he had been deceived, he was approached by a stunning senior fellow disciple who asked if he would like to form a spiritual bond. For those who don’t practice cultivation, they might not know what “forming a spiritual bond” is. Let me put it this way: A long-term relationship is called a “Daoist consort,” while a short-term relationship is known as “forming a spiritual bond.” From then on, Li Chuan discovered the true way to interact with the Yin-Yang Sect’s Daoist consorts. As long as he had enough spirit stones, he could form a spiritual bond with anyone, Whether it’s Senior Sisters, aunts, Daoist consorts of aunts, female elders, Daoist consorts of elders, or even the Daoist consort of the sect leader, anyone can form a spiritual bond as long as there are enough spirit stones.” I've already joined the Yin-Yang Sect, and you're telling me to focus on cultivation? Do you even know what the Yin-Yang Sect is all about?
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
