Lifting Long Aotian's shirt, Li Qingxue saw a large red swelling on the right side of his back, with a faint scar across it—though it had stopped bleeding by now.
"Long Aotian, were you beaten up?" Li Qingxue's voice trembled as she took in the sight of the injury.
Long Aotian turned and lightly flicked her forehead with a scoff. "Do I look like someone who gets bullied easily?"
"You can't even see it yourself. It's so swollen—no wonder you were in so much pain."
Li Qingxue didn’t fully understand men’s resilience. For her, even a minor scrape could hurt for ages. Seeing such a large bruise on his back, she could only imagine how much it must ache...
"Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s not what you think." Long Aotian then explained everything—how after registering for school, he’d gone out to eat with his roommates and ended up intervening when he saw someone being harassed.
"You idiot! Always sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. But did you even stop to think? What if that lunatic had thrown a knife instead?..."
Li Qingxue huffed, though she knew this was just who Long Aotian was. Only he would do something so reckless.
Wasn’t that how they’d first met, after all?
Back when she was at her lowest, a meddlesome boy had said just one thing—and she’d remembered him ever since...
"I’ll go buy you some ointment. Wait here."
"Heh, look what I’ve got!" Long Aotian pulled a tube of cream from his pocket and waved it in front of her.
"You’re still laughing? I thought you’d been hurt, and here you are grinning like an idiot!"
Long Aotian’s smile faded as he lifted his shirt for her to apply the medicine.
"Qingxue, don’t tell Yuying about this, okay?"
"Ouch—be gentle!"
"Oh, so you *do* feel pain?" Despite her words, her touch softened, and she even blew lightly on the wound to help the ointment absorb.
"Yuying worries too much. If she found out, she’d cry—and I can’t stand seeing her cry. You have no idea how long that girl can go on sometimes." A faint smile tugged at his lips, as if recalling something.
"I know. The way you forced yourself to act normal at the restaurant—I could tell you didn’t want Yuying to notice."
"But I think Hu Yuying is stronger than you give her credit for." Li Qingxue said this based on how Yuying carried herself at school.
"That’s good."
"‘That’s good’? You’re always thinking of others—why can’t you care about yourself for once?"
"Pfft, it’s just a scratch. My skin’s thick. It’ll heal in a couple of days."
Li Qingxue jabbed a finger near the edge of the bruise. "Then why hide it from Yuying?"
"You’re the most stubborn person I know."
Long Aotian tugged his shirt back down. "It’s not stubbornness. There’s no point making a fuss over nothing. I’d just look weak."
"You’d rather suffer than swallow your pride."
"So you *want* to see Hu Yuying cry?"
"No."
"Exactly. Why worry her over nothing?"
"And you’re one to talk! The way you were earlier, anyone would think I’d done something terrible to you. So dramatic." Long Aotian laughed.
Li Qingxue rolled her eyes and sat beside him. "You’re really good to Yuying."
"Yeah, well, call me ‘Big Brother Long,’ and I’ll take you on as my second sidekick."
"As if!" She smoothed her clothes, stealing a sidelong glance at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something but hesitated.
A quiet moment passed.
“Let’s head back. Nothing else to do here, and we’ve got military training soon.” Sitting this close to Li Qingxue for so long, Long Aotian suddenly felt awkward.
In his memories, Li Qingxue was always bright and cheerful, as if all the world’s joy lived in her. Just being near her was enough to lift anyone’s spirits.
But now, arms crossed and lips pursed, she radiated an uncharacteristic tension.
Long Aotian turned to study her.
Noticing his gaze, Li Qingxue fidgeted. "Wh-what are you staring at?"
"Your makeup’s smudged."
"Huh? Really?" She touched her face—girls took these things seriously. "I only wore a tiny bit today, it shouldn’t be—"
Mid-sentence, she caught his smirk and pinched his waist. "Jerk! Making fun of me!"
She knew he was just trying to lighten the mood. What a fool...
Her laughter dissolved the tension.
"Let’s go."
Watching Long Aotian walk ahead, Li Qingxue felt both amused and exasperated. In many ways, he was wonderful—helping Hu Yuying grow, saying the words she’d needed to hear, stepping in when others were bullied.
Yet when it came to himself, he brushed everything off like it was nothing. A strange guy.
He seemed out of place in this world, yet he kept trying to belong.
He looked like any other eighteen-year-old, but there was something undeniably different about him...
---
**Room 301, 3rd Floor, Girls’ Dormitory 12**
Hu Yuying bit her lip hard, her clenched fists turning white at the knuckles.
"Yuying, you’re back?" a roommate called.
Forcing a smile, Hu Yuying murmured a quiet "Mm" and retreated to her bed.
She tried to steady her breathing, but tears spilled over anyway.
As Long Aotian’s most devoted follower, no one understood him better than she did.
If Li Qingxue had noticed, how could *she* have missed it?
The instant his body had stiffened, she’d known.
But Long-ge had kept smiling, pretending everything was fine—so she pretended, too.
If he didn’t want her to know, she wouldn’t let him know she knew.
She’d seen Li Qingxue texting him secretly.
Even if Li Qingxue hadn’t, *she* would have.
So she’d overheard his words.
Seeing that bruise on his back—her heart ached more than she could bear.
But Long-ge knew her too well. He feared her worry, her tears, so he played it off like it was nothing.
He was always looking out for her. When Li Qingxue mentioned she was doing well at school, he’d just smiled and said, ["That’s good."]
One thing he’d said was true: her heart *was* small.
Too small...
"Brother Long, before I met you, I thought life was just like that—nothing special. But after meeting you, I’ve forgiven all the hardships the world has thrown at me."
Gazing at the photo of herself and Brother Long happily linking pinky fingers, Hu Yuying carefully pressed the picture against her chest.
"Meeting you felt like... I just really, really like you..."
"You wanted to see me grow stronger, become better—so I will. I’ll grow stronger, become better. One day, I’ll climb over that wall in your heart..."
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
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!
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
