"Life is often unsatisfactory, eight or nine times out of ten, and one can only grow by constantly breaking free from adversity. You're already doing great," Long Aotian said softly. "At the very least, you've shown me your resilience and independence."
The bitterness in her heart came and went quickly. Hu Yuying sniffled, no longer crying or feeling wronged.
"Will you come for dinner tomorrow, Brother Long?" Hu Yuying gradually loosened her grip around Long Aotian and asked in a small voice, stealing glances at his expression as she spoke.
"Hm?" The sudden shift in topic was a bit too abrupt.
One moment she was tearful, and the next, she was worried about whether he’d come for dinner?
Still, Long Aotian replied, "We’ll need to report to the university soon. These next few days, let’s clear out the remaining stock first to free up some time. Don’t you still have to go home for a bit?"
Hearing this, Hu Yuying nodded gently. "Mm, thank you, Brother Long."
"What for?" Long Aotian chuckled.
"For remembering," Hu Yuying said earnestly.
Seeing her serious expression, Long Aotian lightly tapped her head. "Don’t be so naive. And don’t let yourself get carried away just because someone shows you a little kindness. Never underestimate the ugliness of human nature."
"Then is Brother Long a bad person?" Hu Yuying asked, her eyes glimmering with amusement.
The question made Long Aotian pause. Faced with the trust in her gaze, he hesitated before saying, "I have my bad side too."
"But I believe in you, Brother Long." There was a touch of endearing innocence in her voice as she expressed her pure, unwavering trust.
Long Aotian found it somewhat amusing that she could trust him so completely. "What if I sold you off one day? You’d probably still naively count the money for me."
"That’s fine. I’d just run back myself."
"What if you couldn’t?"
"Then I’d wait for Brother Long to come find me."
"Are you stupid? If I sold you, why would I come looking for you?"
Hu Yuying smiled sweetly. "Because I believe in you."
Long Aotian didn’t know how to respond.
He could feel Hu Yuying’s unconditional trust in him.
In a way, it wasn’t good—trusting too much could be dangerous.
Yet, in another way, it was comforting—being trusted so completely.
Humans are such conflicted creatures, constantly torn between choices, tangled in their own contradictions...
"Get some rest early. Tomorrow, we start our money-making plan!"
"Okay!" Hu Yuying clenched her fists, full of determination.
"Goodbye, Brother Long." She waved vigorously as she watched Long Aotian’s retreating figure.
"See you tomorrow." He waved back before disappearing into the alley.
This time, his departure felt different.
There was a sense of lightness, as if a weight had lifted.
"I’m back." Pushing open the door, Long Aotian saw the old man munching on braised pork. "You shouldn’t eat greasy food before bed. I’ve already eaten, so I’ll just wash up and sleep."
The old man hesitated mid-bite, then burst into laughter. "Brat, you seem to be in a pretty good mood today."
After showering, Long Aotian lay in bed, frowning slightly at his phone. "Why hasn’t she asked if I got home yet?"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a message arrived.
Li Qingxue: "I just checked—T University isn’t too far from A University. How are you planning to get there?"
"My dad’s driving me. Since we’re heading the same way, we could ride together."
"It’s our first time in a city so far from home. It’d be nice to have someone familiar around."
Long Aotian thought for a moment before replying: "Thanks, but no need to trouble you. We’ll catch up once we’re in the capital."
He appreciated the offer, but accepting a ride would mean adjusting to their schedule. Since Li Qingxue’s family was driving her directly to the capital, they’d likely leave days early—enjoying the journey as a trio, sightseeing along the way.
Even if she meant well, he couldn’t just tag along with Hu Yuying in tow.
He’d already looked it up—there was a direct train from Haibin City to the capital. He and Hu Yuying would take that.
Li Qingxue: "No worries. It’s just nice knowing someone in a strange city."
After sending the message, she hesitated, fingers tightening around her phone before finally adding: "Oh, by the way… have you finished the cookies? I could bring you more tomorrow."
The moment she hit send, Li Qingxue dove under her blankets, cheeks inexplicably warm. She didn’t know why, but asking something like that made her feel… shy.
Reading the message, Long Aotian smirked. As if reminded of something, he pulled a rabbit-shaped cookie from his pocket, squeezing it lightly to test its firmness...
"Maybe another time. Tomorrow’s all about work—gotta clear out the remaining stock before we leave."
Under her covers, Li Qingxue heard her phone chime.
Peeking out cautiously, the flutter in her chest gradually settled. "Selling clothes?"
"Yeah, selling clothes."
"Where?"
"A bit far—Pingchang Town."
"Oh." She pouted slightly. Pingchang Town was quite a distance. "I’ve been to the market there once, but it was ages ago. I barely remember it now."
"I’ll take pictures for you tomorrow."
Seeing this, Li Qingxue’s lips curved into a smile. "Promise?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
She clenched her fists. "You always tease me like I’m a kid, like you think I’m silly..."
After sending it, she huffed at her screen. "I’m not silly at all!"
Exiting the chat, she opened her photo gallery, scrolling through today’s snapshots.
Her gaze lingered on one—a silhouette of a boy against the sunset, arm raised high. Unconsciously, her eyes softened into crescents.
......
Long Aotian set his phone aside, pulling a blanket over his stomach as he prepared to sleep.
Just as he closed his eyes, another notification chimed.
He reached for his phone.
Hu Yuying: "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he replied.
In the dark room, the glow of the screen illuminated a youthful yet faintly alluring face.
"Sweet dreams, Brother Long," the girl whispered into the darkness, her voice tender and lingering.
That night, it felt as though everything had returned to how it once was...
'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.
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.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
