There was a bookstore near the school.
These days, it seems people aren’t too fond of reading in bookstores. The spacious shop had only a handful of customers—students, middle-aged folks, elderly people—but no office workers, since it was a Tuesday and everyone was at work.
Shen Nian wasn’t much of a reader either. He only dropped by occasionally, or when the school required him to buy workbooks.
Today, he was here for the air conditioning. Heh.
The owner was a kind soul—three yuan would let you read books all day, with purchases priced separately. It was hard to tell if the place even turned a profit.
Shen Nian generously handed over six yuan, inviting Xia Yanchun into the bookstore for a nap.
"Sleep as much as you want. This one’s on me," Shen Nian whispered close to her ear.
Her ear tingled, warm and ticklish. Xia Yanchun rolled her eyes prettily. "What, am I supposed to repay you with my body for three yuan?"
"Nah. Just be my cow or horse in the next life. Not interested in you now."
"I’ll bite you to death outside."
Most bookstores didn’t allow drinks inside to avoid staining the books, but privately owned shops were more lenient—if you dirtied something, you had to buy it.
Shen Nian had already finished his iced fruit tea before even entering the store, while Xia Yanchun had only taken a few sips, delicate as a little bird.
Boys: Consumed one beverage.
Girls: Equipped one beverage.
A stereotype, sure, but Shen Nian felt he fit it perfectly.
Carrying her small backpack, Xia Yanchun found a secluded spot, took a sip of her tea, wiped the table clean with a wet wipe, and then fluffed up her tiny pillow.
A fan that didn’t blow hot air, air conditioning set at 24°C—bliss!
With a math exam in the afternoon, she needed her brain in top shape. A sweet, lovely nap was in order.
She settled down gracefully, then cracked her eyes open just a sliver to peek at Shen Nian, who had just returned with a book.
Shen Nian had somehow dug up an English textbook and was flipping through it seriously. Xia Yanchun frowned slightly.
Dummy Shen Nian. Not napping before a math exam is a death sentence.
"Seriously, you’re not even a little sleepy?"
"Not really. That’s just how us sunny, cheerful guys are," Shen Nian said with a grin. "Got any earphones?"
"Left my Bluetooth ones at home. Only have wired ones..."
"Hand them over. Gonna listen to something rage-inducing."
"..." Xia Yanchun reluctantly passed him her white wired earphones. "Clean them before giving them back."
Shen Nian nodded, slipping them on. But this time, he didn’t listen to English—instead, he pulled up an instrumental playlist.
There was some logic to listening to music while studying. If you could hear the songs, your efficiency was low. If you tuned them out, you’d entered a flow state—maximum productivity.
Results varied, but Shen Nian found it passable. Thanks to his system, his mental state was always sharp. Staying focused wasn’t hard; the challenge was staving off boredom.
Xia Yanchun filled that gap perfectly.
Her soft cheeks sank into the fuzzy pillow, squishing into an adorable curve. Her lips looked tender too, her almond eyes blinking slowly, Shen Nian’s reflection swimming in her pupils.
Gotta admit, Shen Nian’s profile was kinda handsome. Hmm...
Time to sleep. Good afternoon.
The midday sun was harsh, its light seeping through the curtains, bright behind her eyelids. Her lashes fluttered as the sound of pages turning—Shen Nian’s and others’—drifted into her ears.
Sometimes, absolute silence wasn’t the best for resting.
Her mind wandered, and in a fleeting dream, she saw herself and Shen Nian in their hometown, gazing at each other through windows across a narrow alley. In the hazy dream, she spotted a tiny Shen Nian—so, so cute.
Wanted to pat his head.
As she ran toward him, little Shen Nian raised his hand. A hug? Aw, it’s okay if little bro wants a hug from big sis.
Wait. Two middle fingers?
Are you telling me,
In my own dream,
I got flipped off by a mini Shen Nian?
Totally something Shen Nian would do. Fits his character.
Xia Yanchun cracked her eyes open, grumbling, a hint of grumpiness clinging to her. Felt like biting someone.
A glance at the clock: 1:50 PM. Just over an hour of sleep, but she felt refreshed. That was a good nap...
"Up already?" Shen Nian poked her fair arm, his fingertip sinking into cotton-soft skin.
"Yeah, slept enough." Xia Yanchun pressed her lips together, covering a yawn. Her breath didn’t smell, but her lashes felt sticky. A quick wipe with a wet tissue fixed that.
The post-nap drowsiness had vanished.
The bookstore was empty except for the two of them. Even the owner was nodding off at the counter.
Bored, she lazily propped her chin on the table and chatted with Shen Nian. "Finished memorizing the rest of the vocab?"
"Yep. Three thousand five hundred words—child’s play."
"Pfft. Getting cocky after memorizing a few, huh?"
Shen Nian shrugged, removing the earbud closest to Xia Yanchun. "Wanna listen?"
"Give me the other one."
"No."
"This side’s gonna be cramped..." Xia Yanchun sighed. Was his cerebellum shrinking or something?
"I know." Shen Nian was utterly nonchalant, not a hint of mischief or innuendo in his tone. "I just wanna be closer to you. I keep thinking—we’re childhood friends, so why do we argue all the time?"
"Not like I want to..."
"Then let’s stop. C’mere, Chun-bao."
"...Your head’s pointy."
Who was it that said they weren’t interested earlier? Now suddenly he wants to get close. Hmm, wonder who that could be.
Must be all that morning exercise Shen Nian’s been doing. Working out makes your head pointy and your brain cells fight each other.
Xia Yanchun took the earbud and slipped it into her other ear. The instrumental music was light and breezy, like drifting clouds.
Shen Nian’s slender fingers tapped the wooden table in time with the melody, rare tranquility in the moment.
He hadn’t lied to Xia Yanchun, nor was he trying to tease her now. His words were genuine—though there might’ve been some ulterior motives, he truly enjoyed being close to her.
Baby, you’re so soft and sweet. How did I never notice before?
Sunlight spilled over the bench by the window, painting everything warm. The distance between her and Shen Nian depended on the length of the earphone wire. If she pulled away, he’d scoot closer until their shoulders touched.
The AC was cool; Shen Nian was warm. Xia Yanchun’s mind buzzed faintly. She shifted away slightly, quietly analyzing Shen Nian’s intentions.
If you don’t wanna argue, does that mean you have to stick to me? Couldn’t even come up with a better excuse to take advantage. Who’s your best friend, huh?
"Mom wants me to go back home for National Day. You coming?" Shen Nian spoke abruptly, closing his book.
Xia Yanchun hummed. "Sure."
"Great. Then buy some fruit for my parents—a couple of durians or jackfruits. They love those. I remember yours like bananas, so I’ll get two bunches for them. Fair trade, right?"
"Go to hell!"
...
After tidying up her small backpack, Xia Yanchun yanked off her headphones and stuffed them back inside, cutting off Shen Nian’s listening session.
"Could you be a little gentler? You’re really something," he grumbled.
"Before demanding gentleness from others, maybe you should try being gentle yourself," Xia Yanchun shot back irritably.
"Who says I’m not gentle?" Shen Nian protested, gesturing animatedly. "Us fire-type players—when we’re about to win, we always send a head-pat emoji to comfort the opponent. It means ‘Don’t be discouraged, keep trying next time.’ Isn’t that gentle?"
"I don’t get it. Still not gentle."
Xia Yanchun, who rarely played games, often couldn’t keep up with Shen Nian’s meme-filled banter. Her gut told her it wasn’t anything good.
She might not know much about that Naruto stuff, but she knew Shen Nian well enough.
From a distance, the school’s midday break-ending anthem drifted over. Shen Nian had never voluntarily listened to "Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies," but now he could practically sing it by heart. And that other one—"I’m Still That Same Boy..."—played on loop endlessly, grating on his ears.
The sun glared painfully into his eyes. "Where’s the umbrella? Hand it over, I’ll hold it."
"Go stand in the sun."
"Damn, don’t be so cruel, babe." Shen Nian refused to budge, squeezing under the umbrella with Xia Yanchun, one arm hoisting it up while the other draped over her smooth shoulders. "Let’s stick close."
"Who wants to stick close with you?!"
"Twelve-year-old you did."
"Absolutely not!"
Xia Yanchun tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, the soft wisps half-hiding her flushed cheeks.
Her heart fluttered guiltily. What kind of person was he, always bringing up childhood memories? She’d just made the same mistake every older sister inevitably makes.
Wasn’t it partly Shen Nian’s fault for being so adorably clueless back then?
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for 3 million+ daily visits straining the servers, we now recommend switching to other providers’ 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?"
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.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
