Returning to her room,
Hu Yuying glanced at the time on her phone.
After a brief hesitation, she sent a message to Long Aotian.
After all, Long-ge had told her to text him once she got home safely.
"Long-ge, I'm home."
As soon as she sent the message, Hu Yuying took a deep breath. At this hour, Long-ge was probably already asleep.
But the moment she set her phone down, a notification chimed.
Her beautiful eyes sparkled with joy. "Goodnight, Long-ge."
Clutching her phone, she lay on the bed. Though the room was small, it filled her heart with warmth and security.
A sweet, comforting feeling blossomed inside her.
On the other end, Long Aotian stifled a yawn as he read Hu Yuying's goodnight message. He exited the Snake game but didn’t even have time to put his phone away before drifting off to sleep.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Long Aotian had been happily lazing around, enjoying his free time.
That day, while watching TV, he received a message from Li Qingxue.
After a quick glance, he turned off the TV, slipped on his shoes, and headed out.
By the time he arrived at Riverside Bay, Li Qingxue was already waiting.
It was hard to miss her.
At that age, girls were at their most radiant—her slender figure, the effortlessly tied bun atop her head, exuding both elegance and charm.
"What’s up?" Long Aotian asked as he approached.
Hearing his voice, Li Qingxue turned, her red lips curling into a playful smile.
"I’m leaving for the capital earlier than planned. I wanted to hang out with everyone, but Hu Yuying went back to her hometown."
"Here, these are for you—one for you, one for Hu Yuying. And don’t you dare steal hers again! Last time, she didn’t even get to taste my cookies."
As she spoke, she handed him two carefully prepared jars of cookies.
Long Aotian’s lips twitched as he eyed the containers. "Well... thanks for the trouble..."
Li Qingxue chuckled, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes. "No trouble at all. Try one—see if they’re good this time."
"They’re good," Long Aotian replied instantly.
"You haven’t even tasted them yet! You always brush me off like this."
"Come on, just one bite. Please?"
Under Li Qingxue’s eager gaze, Long Aotian sighed and opened one of the jars, picking out a bunny-shaped cookie.
He hesitated, mouth half-open.
"Eat it, hurry up!" Li Qingxue pressed, her eyes fixed on his hesitant expression.
"Hold on, this bunny’s too cute—I need to figure out where to take the first bite!"
Crap, she’s watching closely.
If I don’t eat it, she’s not gonna let this go...
Well, she went through the effort. Even if it’s rock-hard, I’ll just say it’s delicious.
With that thought, he took a bite.
The moment he did, Li Qingxue bounced in front of him, hands behind her back, leaning in with a sly grin. "Well? Good?"
Long Aotian chewed slowly, the sweet flavor spreading in his mouth. He smiled. "Yeah. Really good."
"Hmph! I knew they’d turn out well this time." A faint blush colored her fair cheeks as she giggled. "Thank you."
Last time, Long Aotian had snatched the cookies she’d made for Hu Yuying.
Back then, Li Qingxue had naively assumed it was because they were delicious. But when she tried the leftovers at home, she couldn’t even bite into them—they were that hard.
That was when she realized:
Long Aotian had known all along. He’d taken them from Hu Yuying just to spare her the embarrassment.
This rough-around-the-edges guy... was actually really kind.
Watching Long Aotian reach for a second cookie, Li Qingxue stretched lazily. "Alright, I’m off now."
"And don’t you dare eat Hu Yuying’s share!"
"Yeah, yeah, stop nagging." Long Aotian waved her off, watching as she walked away.
Once Li Qingxue was gone, the surroundings fell into silence.
When he first crossed into this world, Long Aotian had loved the quiet.
But now... maybe a little noise wasn’t so bad.
The peaceful days rolled on.
The registration deadline crept closer.
One morning, after finishing breakfast at his usual spot near the rental building, Long Aotian’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He frowned, taking a second look.
A girl in a floral dress stood there, her crescent-moon eyes brimming with laughter. Her delicate, innocent-yet-alluring face carried a dreamy, first-love charm—the kind that made you want to tease her mercilessly.
Maybe even push her until those eyes glistened with tears... That’d be a sight to behold.
"Long-ge." The girl beamed, walking straight toward him.
She stopped right in front of him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, a shy smile playing on her lips. "Long-ge... I’m back."
Long Aotian pinched her soft cheek.
"Eep—!" Hu Yuying’s eyes instantly welled up, reddening at the corners.
"Ha! Welcome back. Why didn’t you tell me ahead of time?" Long Aotian grinned, utterly delighted by her teary-eyed reaction.
Rubbing her cheek, Hu Yuying felt no anger—just a flutter of fondness. She turned away slightly, murmuring, "I wanted it to be a surprise."
Then, her eyes lit up as she gestured to a woven bag beside her. "Long-ge, I brought some things for you and Uncle."
She darted over to the bag, proudly pointing. "I know your family doesn’t lack meat, but these are all free-range—much tastier than store-bought!"
Her grandparents, knowing how often Long-ge shared meat with her, had insisted she bring some home-raised chickens, ducks, and fresh vegetables from their farm.
Long Aotian hoisted the bag. "Alright, let’s go."
With that, he led Hu Yuying back to the rental building.
Once inside, he carried the bag to the kitchen.
Unpacking it, he found four cleaned chickens and ducks, along with bundles of garden-fresh vegetables.
Meanwhile, Hu Yuying—now inside Long Aotian’s home for the first time—sat stiffly on the sofa, too nervous to move.
Soon, Long Aotian returned from the kitchen.
"We can’t finish all this. Take some back."
"No, it’s all for you," Hu Yuying insisted.
"Exactly—so take it back and cook it for me. Spicy stir-fried chicken and duck blood vermicelli soup."
Hu Yuying nodded, smiling. "Okay! I love cooking for you, Long-ge."
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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.
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?!
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!
