As they approached the town entrance, Xia Yanchun let out a small whimper, her hand lazily twitching. "The computer's slow to reboot, cut me some slack," she mumbled.
Shen Nian exhaled in relief—finally. Holding the same position for so long had been torture. Right now, all he wanted was to put some distance between himself and Xia Yanchun. No more cuddling for the time being; he could live without it.
Being pressed close to Xia Yanchun had been nice at first, but after a while, it became unbearable. What started as pleasant turned into discomfort within an hour or two.
"Wow, woke up just in time. I was about to shake you awake," Shen Nian said, poking Xia Yanchun’s head. His shoulder had gone stiff from her leaning on him.
"Had a great nap. Gonna text my mom," Xia Yanchun mumbled sleepily, removing her earbuds and typing on her phone with both hands.
When the bus stopped at the town entrance, Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun got off together. Many of the passengers were locals, though Shen Nian didn’t recognize any of them.
The town’s education standards were lacking, and the place was full of wannabe tough guys—seven out of ten wore tight-fitting clothes. Shen Nian never fit in with that crowd, so he didn’t know many people.
By now, he’d lost touch with most of his middle school classmates. If they crossed paths in town, they’d just nod and exchange names before moving on.
The local middle school wasn’t ranked highly in the province, but Cinan No. 2 High School was one of the best. Back then, their class had two top scorers, which thrilled their homeroom teacher. The school even put up an honor roll at the entrance after graduation—Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun’s names were on it.
Soon, a black sedan pulled up slowly.
The window rolled down, revealing Xia Yanchun’s mother, Wen Zhining, wearing sunglasses and looking effortlessly cool. "Finally back. Get in."
"Auntie Wen, hello!" Shen Nian straightened up like a soldier.
"Oh, Shen Nian! It’s been so long—you’ve grown so tall," Wen Zhining said, removing her sunglasses to give him an approving once-over.
"Mom, let’s go," Xia Yanchun cut in, tossing her backpack into the backseat before sliding into the passenger seat. After being squished against Shen Nian the whole ride, she wasn’t about to sit next to him again.
Shen Nian obediently took the backseat beside Wen Zhining. With her there, he didn’t dare mess with Xia Yanchun.
They arrived in town quickly.
The house was spotless, and Shen Nian’s room had clearly been cleaned recently. After tidying up a bit, he texted his parents to let them know he’d arrived safely.
Both houses were three-story homes. Shen Yue’s room was on the second floor, while Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun’s rooms were on the third.
No window bars.
As a kid, Shen Nian used to sneak into Xia Yanchun’s room to play—risky as hell. If he’d been caught, his parents would’ve tanned his hide.
By seven in the evening, Shen Nian’s parents were back. Chen Minyue hadn’t seen her son in ages and immediately circled him like a hawk, pleased to see him in good spirits.
"Mom, what’re you staring at?" Shen Nian scratched his head, feeling awkward.
"Can’t I check how you’ve changed after being gone so long? You didn’t even come home all summer—stayed at your sister’s the whole time. If we hadn’t called, would you have ever come back?"
"Eh, home’s boring. If you wanted to see me, you could’ve just driven over. You’ve got a car."
Chen Minyue saw right through him. This level of filial piety deserved a reward—like a taste of the belt.
Too bad he was too old to spank now.
"So you’d rather have your parents drive half a day just to see you? You little rascal..."
Shen Nian: ???
The first question mark was confusion, the second was disbelief, and the third was outright offense.
"Mom, delete Douyin. If you don’t, I’ll do it for you."
The moment "rascal" left her mouth, Shen Nian knew Chen Minyue was a lost cause. The internet had ruined her.
"No way. If I delete it, I’ll have nothing to watch. I love those cat memes—they’re hilarious."
"Fine, watch them. But stop using cringe slang. You sound like a knockoff."
It was too surreal. In front of his own mother, Shen Nian felt like a rookie.
Who could understand the existential dread of being called "rascal" by your own mom? Shen Nian was deceased.
"You’re still young. When you’re my age, you’ll get it. What’s the harm in keeping up with trends? Cat memes are adorable. If you don’t stay current, you’ll be left behind."
The new generation pushes out the old, and Chen Minyue just wanted to ride the wave. No harm in that.
She refused to be the "out-of-touch old lady" in young people’s mouths.
The new era had no ship for her, so she built her own.
Top 0.01% of her peers.
Using memes made her feel 20 years younger.
"Enough. Where’s Dad?"
If he didn’t stop her now, "Hakimi" would be next.
"Outside chatting with your uncle," Chen Minyue said, smiling. "Go say hi. I’ll start dinner."
"Why bother? I’ll help you cook instead. Xia Yanchun’s been craving your food—especially your stir-fried pork with peppers and garlic oysters."
Chen Minyue’s smile vanished. She swatted his back to shoo him away. "I’ve got it. I never said it before to spare your pride, but you and your sister are just in the way in the kitchen. You take forever to wash veggies and still do a half-assed job."
"..."
Rejected by his own mom. Perfect.
As everyone knows, the first day back home after a long absence is golden.
Since she insisted, Shen Nian happily accepted his free pass.
Just as he turned to leave, Chen Minyue called after him, "I saw your midterm scores in the parents’ group chat. Big improvement."
"Ahem. Obviously. I’ve always been smart," Shen Nian grinned, thrilled she’d asked. "620 was a walk in the park—didn’t even try. Next time, 650 minimum."
"All talk, no proof."
"Dead serious. One day, I’ll even surpass the girl next door—just you wait."
"Comparing yourself to Xia Yanchun? She scored 700. Dream on."
Ambition was good, but delusion wasn’t. 600+ was achievable with effort, but 700+ required real talent—something Shen Nian lacked, given his middling grades in earlier years.
"Way to kill my confidence, Mom. Fine, penalty: give me 50 bucks." Shen Nian brushed it off.
"You little..."
Seeing his attitude, Chen Minyue couldn’t bring herself to crush him further. "Alright, do your best. I believe in you!"
"Give me 50."
"..."
Stubborn brat. Asking for a spanking.
Chen Minyue nodded, then sent him a WeChat image of a 50 RMB bill.
This was something she saved from TikTok—every Thursday, tons of people post about it, and today it finally came in handy. See, you can actually learn things from TikTok.
Shen Nian's lips twitched, but before he could say anything, the system task interface abruptly popped up.
【Hidden Quest Completed: [Lucky Star]
Quest Progress: Pray to the Goddess of Fate (1/1)】
Huh?
Mom, you have that kind of identity?
·
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits overwhelming the server, we now recommend switching to other big-name 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?"
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.
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.”
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
