Upon returning to the dormitory door, I was startled by the commotion coming from inside before even opening it. "Damn, have these guys lost their minds?"
Pushing the door open, the blaring music from a phone hit me. Three shirtless guys were inside—one wiggling his butt in a bizarre dance, another spinning a T-shirt in the air, and the last, cigarette in mouth, scribbling furiously at the desk.
"It’s a miracle the neighbors downstairs haven’t come up to complain."
The three grinned. "Long Aotian, you’re back!"
"So, what’s got you all so hyped up today?"
Xu Shuai stopped his butt-wiggling and exclaimed excitedly, "I sat at the same table as Wang Lijuan today! We even talked!"
Li Longlong tossed his shirt aside. "Same! I finally spoke to Han Xiaojing. It wasn’t as hard as I thought."
Long Aotian nodded, then turned to Huang Fei. "And you?"
Huang Fei exhaled a puff of smoke, stubbed out his cigarette, and picked up his notebook. "Aotian, check this out—my notes. Spending time with Shen Mengjie today made me realize gaps in my theories. I’m revising them. Once I win her over, I’ll publish this. I’ll be the grandmaster of romance!"
Long Aotian gave a solemn nod. "Solid plan."
He walked to the balcony and opened the window, letting the smoke escape. Gazing at the sky, he stretched. "The moon’s really bright tonight."
"Yeah," Hu Yuying murmured, looking at the moon on the horizon. "It’s so beautiful."
"Yuying, did you know you look just like Long Aotian right now?" Li Qingxue teased beside her.
Hu Yuying froze for a moment, then smiled. "Really?"
"Mm-hmm," Li Qingxue nodded. "Back at the bay, when Long Aotian watched the sunset, he had the same expression. Your mannerisms and tone are so alike."
Hearing that she resembled Long Aotian sent a warm flutter through Hu Yuying’s heart. Propping her chin on her hand, she gazed at the moon. "I wonder what he’s doing now?"
They were still in the same city, not far apart, yet they couldn’t meet as freely as before.
So, Hu Yuying missed him. She missed him often, restless with the urge to see him, even if just to sit quietly together.
The longing didn’t fade with time—it only grew heavier.
"Ugh, that guy’s fine wherever he goes. He’s way more adaptable than us."
But then she remembered how, after asking him to wait for her at the school gate, girls had swooped in for his contact the moment she stepped away. The thought soured her mood.
At this point, Li Qingxue bit her lip and hesitantly asked, "Yuying... you’ve known Long Aotian for a long time. Do you..."
She trailed off, struggling for words, her ears tinged pink with nerves.
Finally, in a small voice, she asked, "Do you know what kind of girls he likes?"
The question left her face flushed, a delicate shyness coloring her features.
Hu Yuying was stunned by Li Qingxue’s confession and the vulnerability in her demeanor.
Some words were hard to say, but once spoken, they brought relief.
Li Qingxue met Hu Yuying’s gaze earnestly. "I know you’re close to him, that he cares about you most. Please tell me. I... I think I might like him."
After admitting it, she fidgeted, as if her deepest secret had been laid bare, leaving her bashful and briefly exposed.
Hu Yuying’s smile stiffened. Li Qingxue’s bluntness was jarring, stirring something indescribable in her chest.
Her eyes dimmed slightly, and a hollow feeling spread inside her—weightless, like the emptiness she’d felt before meeting Long Aotian. It was disorienting, almost suffocating.
Qingxue... likes him?
The idea had never crossed her mind. Li Qingxue had always seemed to treat him as just a friend. The revelation left Hu Yuying’s mind blank.
"Yuying? Are you okay?" Li Qingxue’s momentary shyness faded as she noticed Hu Yuying’s dazed expression.
Hu Yuying shook her head instinctively, her voice quiet. "You... like him?"
Though embarrassed, Li Qingxue pressed her lips together and nodded. "Yes." The coyness of a girl in love looked enchanting on her flawless face.
"At first, I thought you two were together. But when you said you weren’t, I decided to try."
Li Qingxue had her pride. If Long Aotian and Hu Yuying had been a couple, she would’ve buried her feelings and kept her distance—remaining a friend who joked, bickered, and shared meals without crossing lines.
Long Aotian was easy to like. Falling for someone like him felt almost inevitable.
She’d considered waiting, giving it more time. But seeing other girls approach him for his number or ask him out made her impatient.
She understood how those girls felt—the ones Long Aotian had helped.
She’d been one of them, by the bay. She knew the warmth of that stolen light in her heart.
The memory of him pulling her into his arms had planted a seed in her, quietly growing ever since.
Faced with Li Qingxue’s eager sharing, Hu Yuying shook her head on instinct. She didn’t want this. A surge of unease and dread rose within her.
"You don’t know either?" Li Qingxue assumed Hu Yuying was saying she didn’t know Long Aotian’s preferences.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
. 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!"
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'!"
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
