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.
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?"
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
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.”
