"Son, are you still in touch with that little girl?"
Suddenly hearing Old Han mention her name, Hu Yuying, who had already been fidgeting nervously on the side, immediately tensed up, her eyes darting anxiously toward Long Aotian.
Long Aotian couldn’t help but smile at her nervousness. Gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, he replied, "We are. We keep in touch often."
The tender touch of his hand eased some of the tension in Hu Yuying’s heart.
"That’s good. A young girl like her, all alone in a strange place—you should help her however you can. Don’t mess things up again."
Old Han had heard about Hu Yuying from Long Aotian before.
A girl like her really had it tough, and the fact that his son had managed to get into university was largely thanks to her.
"Here, take a look at who this is." Long Aotian quickly turned the video call toward Hu Yuying, genuinely afraid Old Han might say something earth-shattering.
"Uncle," Hu Yuying greeted timidly, her small hands clenched tightly as she stared at the screen.
Old Han’s expression was nothing short of exaggerated. At the sight of Hu Yuying, he froze for a moment.
Then, hearing her call him "Uncle," he broke into a wide grin, his teeth on full display.
"Little Teacher." The warmth in that title alone made it clear how genuinely happy he was.
His son’s transformation and the fact that he was now attending university—Old Han was truly grateful to the "Little Teacher" Long Aotian had spoken of.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said what he just did.
Hearing Old Han call her "Little Teacher" with such delight, Hu Yuying blushed furiously, her cheeks blooming with a rosy hue—both radiant and shy.
He had called her that before, and though it had embarrassed her then too, it felt different now.
Stealing a glance at Long Aotian, whose eyes were filled with nothing but adoration as he looked at her, she quickly averted her gaze.
"You and Aotian should go out together during the break." The more Old Han looked at Hu Yuying, the more pleased he felt.
His son’s behavior during those days was still fresh in his memory.
The way he had been listless, as if his very spirit had been drained—all because of this girl. Though his son had tried to hide it, nothing escaped a father’s notice.
Hu Yuying nodded softly and let out a quiet "Mm."
She knew it might seem impolite, but right now, she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
"Good, good, very good..."
With every "good" Old Han uttered, the blush on Hu Yuying’s cheeks deepened.
Did this mean Uncle approved of her too?
The thought made her even more reluctant to lift her eyes to the screen.
Ahem. "Old Han, we’re still eating here," Long Aotian interjected, sensing Hu Yuying’s discomfort as he turned the phone back toward himself.
The moment the screen shifted away, Hu Yuying visibly relaxed—so much so that it was almost comical.
That small, flustered gesture of hers was impossible for Long Aotian to ignore.
Old Han rambled on for a bit longer, emphasizing how important it was to treat the "Little Teacher" well.
Long Aotian agreed to everything before finally ending the call.
"That’s just how Old Han is. He’s not the best with words, but his heart’s in the right place," Long Aotian explained.
"I know." Of course Hu Yuying understood. The fact that Uncle had asked about her and told Long Aotian to look out for her spoke volumes.
But after saying this, she realized Long Aotian had fallen silent.
When she cautiously looked up, she found his smiling eyes fixed intently on her.
Flustered, she turned away and whispered, "Long Aotian, why... why are you staring at me like that?"
"You’re beautiful when you blush." It was something he’d wanted to say for a while now—the way Hu Yuying’s cheeks flushed was just unbearably adorable.
Biting her lip lightly, she lowered her lashes. No one disliked being complimented, especially by someone they liked.
Hu Yuying was no exception. Gathering her courage, she lifted her gaze, letting him see her properly.
He stared at her so intently that, for a fleeting moment, she thought she saw something deeper in his eyes—desire.
It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but she was certain.
Desire was the beginning of attraction. Crude as the saying might be, it was an undeniable truth.
There were many kinds of affection—love for a toy, fondness for a delicate doll, a parent’s love for their child...
But when desire mixed into that affection, it was no longer just about happiness or care.
Everything changed.
"I really did stumble upon a treasure." Long Aotian reached for her hand.
His heart swelled with an indescribable feeling. She was so shy, yet she still mustered the courage to show him her best side.
How foolishly endearing...
——
"Let me tell you something—the liquor of the night ruins your stomach, but the porridge of the morning warms your heart all day." As he spoke, a confident smirk curled at the corner of his lips.
Sometimes, a single gesture or phrase could elevate one’s presence effortlessly.
This was something Ye Liangchen had learned over time.
Xue Shaohua flicked his hair, but his gaze suddenly froze mid-motion.
Ye Liangchen, who had been about to further embellish his wisdom, noticed Xue Shaohua wasn’t following.
He stopped and turned. "Xue Shaohua, are you even listening? These are my spontaneous reflections, the profound musings of my soul. If you could grasp even a fraction of it, just a fraction, it would be life-changing for you. Pay attention, will you?"
But Xue Shaohua remained petrified, staring blankly to the left.
Ye Liangchen frowned, annoyed. There was no fun in grandstanding—er, sharing his wisdom—without an audience.
Walking over, he followed Xue Shaohua’s line of sight—and his frown softened.
There she was, her face alight with a shy, blissful, yet bashful smile.
Ye Liangchen’s lips curled unconsciously, reminded of a dream from his past life—running freely beneath the setting sun.
That was the youth he had lost.
But in the next second, that idyllic scene shattered.
The smile on his face stiffened, then faded entirely.
In his vision, a hand reached out and pinched that girl’s cheek.
"Ugh—!" Ye Liangchen suddenly clutched his chest, staggering back as if struck. His face twisted into a pained grimace, as though wearing a mask of agony.
Slowly, he closed his eyes. A single tear of regret slid down his cheek.
"So this is the path you’ve chosen? Even if he pinches you, even if he scolds you, even if you know full well he’s up to no good..."
"Heh, heh..." Wiping the tears from her face, she walked toward that breakfast diner...
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
