During lunch break, the playground fell quiet.
Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun decided to eat off-campus. Since Xia Yanchun needed to change her sanitary pad, she grabbed a shared e-bike to ride home and ended up napping there at noon.
Shen Nian wasn’t sleepy. While Xia Yanchun dozed, he took the e-bike to a nearby vehicle shop to browse options. In a few days, he’d own his first-ever car.
Taking it step by step wasn’t bad—starting with an e-bike meant he could chauffeur Chunbao to and from school every day in the future.
Xia Yanchun hadn’t fully fallen asleep yet. She lay sideways on the bed, face buried in her pillow, her teddy bear clamped between her legs. Since she was home alone, her little skirt had already been tossed onto the desk.
A rare, private moment where no one could see her, comfortably napping in her room.
The curtains were open. Through the window, the sunlight made her squint. Hmm…
What kind of eyeshadow is "sun-colored"? Wouldn’t that just blind you?
Wait—no!
Xia Yanchun tightened her grip on the teddy bear, which now seemed a little lifeless. Should’ve just let it rot in the factory.
When did Shen Nian become so smooth?
It wasn’t until her phone alarm buzzed that she realized she hadn’t slept much after lying down.
Her mind was full of thoughts about Shen Nian. All his fault, suddenly bringing up that nonsense about "sunlight eyeshadow."
Her heartbeat quickened. Xia Yanchun grumbled as she struggled to get up.
Later, she’d use her period mood swings as an excuse to pinch him—fair and square.
In the afternoon, Xia Yanchun tied her usual little ponytail, only for Shen Nian to play with it the entire way, until her irritation melted away.
"Stop it, I’ll go bald…"
"How bold! If I can’t play with your hair, should I play with you instead?"
"…" Xia Yanchun huffed, "I’ll pluck your hair out and use it for a voodoo doll."
"What a vicious woman."
Xia Yanchun stayed silent. She was used to it.
Just as she pulled a parasol from her bag, Shen Nian shamelessly squeezed under it, one hand resting on her shoulder—borderline inappropriate.
"What, Mr. Tough Guy needs to hide from the sun like some delicate flower?"
Xia Yanchun pursed her lips. If her shoulder strap started slipping, she’d pinch his waist hard.
Shen Nian glanced at her. "What’s with the stereotypes? Since when can’t guys use parasols?"
"You’re the one who said it," Xia Yanchun shot back. "Somebody loved showing off as a kid, claiming only ‘sissies’ used parasols, then deliberately walked in the sun instead of the shade."
"Whoever said that must’ve been a total hunk."
"A total dumbass, you mean."
"Chunbao, let’s get along. No need for such aggressive gender attacks."
"Then can you stop kneading my shoulder?"
"This isn’t an attack."
"……?"
You’ve got an answer for everything, huh? What’s left for me to say?
Annoyed, Xia Yanchun swatted his hand away, scowling. "You’re giving me period cramps."
Shen Nian grinned. Mission accomplished—warmed her right up.
"Here, just bought this." He pulled a plain white mini fan from his backpack, pressed the button, and warm air blew through Xia Yanchun’s hair.
"For you," he said.
"Did you break Shi Yan’s?"
"Nope, it’s in my bag. I’ll return it later. Bought one for myself too—can’t have you borrowing the loli girl’s all the time."
"…At least you’ve got some conscience."
Little flowers bloomed in her heart. Xia Yanchun felt the cramps ease, her lips curling slightly. A small cloud drifted over the sun, as if the sky itself was looking out for her.
They walked mostly in silence. At some point, Shen Nian’s hand was back on her shoulder, occasionally twirling her hair. His other hand held the parasol steady—maybe out of consideration for her period. For once, the shade didn’t tilt; she stayed perfectly centered under it.
Dummy Shen Nian, it’s just my period, not cancer. I’m not that fragile!
This time, she noticed: his arm around her shoulder really did make her strap slip. Even without him moving, she could feel it sliding toward her arm.
My bad, Shen Nian. Misjudged you.
A rare, conflict-free moment. If there really was such a thing as the world’s best childhood friends, this might be it.
At school, they arrived early. The playground was nearly empty; only the two of them were at their class’s spot.
Xia Yanchun stretched her legs out on her chair, drowsy. All Shen Nian’s fault, bouncing around in my head at noon.
Bored, Shen Nian kept himself busy—comparing skin tones with her, then finger lengths, then who could last longer without blinking. Every contest was wordless. Between rivals, a single glance was enough to spark competition, as if not settling the score would be fatal.
Shen Nian propped his chin up, shamelessly eyeing Chunbao’s calves. Slurp slurp. Then he stretched his own leg beside hers and smirked. "Mine’s longer."
"Wow, what an achievement, Shen Nian."
She yawned, eyelids drooping. "Sleepy."
"Sleepy? More like a sneaky ‘Kun’ fan, huh?"
"?"
Found the glitch in Shen Nian’s programming.
Life was hard. Chunbao sighed.
After a pause, Xia Yanchun spoke again, feigning nonchalance.
"That thing you texted—about us being the best childhood friends ever—was that real? Or just an excuse to mooch off my AC?"
Shen Nian froze, then bared his teeth. "You worried about it?"
"Not really. Just occurred to me. You’ve been acting weird lately."
"Weird how?"
She thought. "Dunno."
"Then why bring it up?"
"It’s just… weird."
They used to be real rivals, always at each other’s throats. Even now, things weren’t much different, but the edge was gone.
At the very least, they weren’t true enemies anymore.
And he’d started calling her "Chunbao." Unthinkable before. Who’s your ‘baby’? I’m your elder sister!
Plus, Shen Nian had been weirdly diligent lately—studying, working out, even taking her hair tie for some mysterious reason. Hard not to find it suspicious.
"You’ve been trying so hard lately. Doesn’t feel like you."
"Maybe my second personality woke up. Let me see those legs."
"Ah, there’s the real you."
Shen Nian: "…"
So I’ve gotta be a creep or it’s not me? Can’t win. Effort’s a crime now? Gonna develop a corn allergy at this rate.
Xia Yanchun pulled her legs back, leaning forward to pluck at the grass like a delicate cat.
"You do care. I see right through you," Shen Nian teased, scooting closer from whoever’s chair he’d stolen. "Tsundere, huh? Heh."
"You belong on The Rap of China, not in school. Wasting your talent."
A group of chatting girls arrived at the class spot, cutting the conversation short.
The mini fan whirred softly. An autumn breeze scattered leaves, tangling them into messy clumps.
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato Novel’s request for 3M+ daily updates straining servers, we now recommend switching to other sources.
] [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!"
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
