"Ouch... damn it..."
Ye Liangchen emerged from the drainage ditch, muttering, "This rock is so rough, it actually hurt me!"
Taking a deep breath, he tried to ignore the discomfort in his body. He glanced at Hu Yuying's tightly shut door and decided to head back home to clean himself up. He figured he must have scraped his skin.
The pain between his buttocks was burning, making him extremely uncomfortable.
"This is unbearable. Next time, I’ll make sure to carry tissues with me. There’s not even a tree around here, not a single leaf in sight. I’m really fed up. If it weren’t for the treasure girl, I wouldn’t even come to this place."
Mumbling to himself, he left the area. His home was quite far, and he hadn’t eaten lunch yet. Now, he was both hungry and in pain.
"I’ll just wait until Monday when we’re back at school. I’m sure Hu Yuying will be moved to tears when she finds out everything I’ve done for her."
"That kind-hearted treasure girl is like that. Even the slightest bit of kindness from others can make her emotional for a long time."
As he spoke, Ye Liangchen left the alley.
......
After lunch, Hu Yuying went to wash the dishes, while Long Aotian got up and took a walk outside.
He opened the door and stood on the street, looking around.
At this time of day, the streets were mostly empty. In this rural alley, most of the residents were elderly, so the area looked deserted.
After finishing the dishes, Hu Yuying also stepped outside.
"He probably left after realizing he couldn’t get the door open," Hu Yuying said, looking at the empty street.
"Those kids are really getting out of hand. Do you have a phone?" Long Aotian asked.
"Mm-hmm, I do," Hu Yuying nodded and then hurried back to her room.
Long Aotian glanced up at the blazing sun and, after a moment of thought, followed her inside.
He walked into the living room.
The door to the bedroom on the right was already open.
Soon, Hu Yuying came out, carefully holding a touchscreen smartphone. (It was second-hand, bought with great difficulty so she could stay in touch with the elderly villagers.)
Seeing the phone in Hu Yuying’s hand, Long Aotian quietly slipped his own button phone back into his pocket.
"Ahem, add my QQ number and save my phone number too," he said.
"From now on, if anything happens, just call me. We’re close by anyway."
The residential compound and this village were only separated by a market.
It took about twelve or thirteen minutes to walk over.
If you rode a bike, it would be even faster.
And if he happened to be helping out at the market, it would be quicker still.
Hu Yuying didn’t say anything, but she added Long Aotian’s QQ and phone number.
Looking at the first friend on her list, Hu Yuying felt a little flutter of excitement in her heart.
Seeing the smile on Hu Yuying’s face, Long Aotian thought to himself that happiness could be quite simple.
Ding-ling-ling~
Hu Yuying’s phone rang.
She turned off the ringer and placed the phone back under her pillow.
"Big brother, do you need anything?"
"Not really. I’ll be heading off then," Long Aotian said. After all, he was an adult at heart.
When the host said something like that, it usually meant they had things to do, and it was time for the guest to take the hint and leave.
Seeing Long Aotian about to leave, Hu Yuying realized she might have said the wrong thing and quickly explained, "Big brother, that’s not what I meant. I meant, if you don’t have anything to do this afternoon, I could help you with your studies."
As she spoke, she pointed to the exercise book on the coffee table.
She set daily study tasks for herself.
It was study time now.
Since big brother was here, they could study together, and she could even tutor him.
"Alright," Long Aotian nodded. He didn’t have anything to do back home anyway.
It was better to stay here with Hu Yuying and see if those guys would come back in the afternoon.
Seeing Long Aotian agree, Hu Yuying quickly cleared the table and handed him one of her exercise books.
She had already marked several problems in it. These were basic knowledge questions, which she had originally planned to give him on Sunday afternoon when they returned to school.
But now was a good time.
These were the same problems Hu Yuying had explained to Long Aotian on Friday.
Long Aotian wasn’t slow. Recalling the methods Hu Yuying had taught him, he started solving the problems.
Seeing how quickly big brother got into the rhythm, Hu Yuying also focused on her own studies.
Before, she had always studied alone, but now, with someone by her side, the feeling was completely different.
Taking a deep breath, she stole a glance at Long Aotian, then looked back down and continued writing.
In their third year of high school, they were reviewing all the topics from the first and second years.
Hu Yuying had a clear plan and full confidence in her studies, so she was willing to spend more time explaining things to Long Aotian and giving him practice problems.
"This problem has a simpler method. Let me show you. It’ll save you time," Hu Yuying said, pointing to the last problem.
This one was slightly more challenging than the previous ones.
Hu Yuying explained the problem in great detail. Long Aotian watched her, a slight smile forming on his lips. This was the only time she seemed truly confident.
This confidence would gradually seep into her daily life and her personality.
From this point on, Hu Yuying would walk a path entirely different from the one in the original novel.
Long Aotian had hesitated at first, unsure whether what he was doing was right or wrong.
But now, seeing the smile on Hu Yuying’s face, he felt that it didn’t matter. Hu Yuying’s life should be her own, free and unrestricted.
It shouldn’t be confined to a few lines of text or arbitrarily defined limits.
Hu Yuying paused mid-explanation and glanced at Long Aotian.
"Big brother, what are you smiling at?" she asked, her lips pursed as she awkwardly looked away.
"I’m smiling at you."
Hearing this, Hu Yuying’s face turned red without her realizing it.
"Hu Yuying, remember this happy feeling. Stay happy for the rest of your life. Your life is your own, and I hope you’ll always approach the world with hope and love."
At these words, Hu Yuying felt as though something inside her had shattered.
Silently, it broke.
It was as if a lock that had been holding her back had been undone, or perhaps it was something else entirely. Regardless, Hu Yuying slowly began to accept the world around her and started to develop her own hopes and dreams.
"Thank you, big brother. I will. I’ll love myself wholeheartedly and cherish everything in this world that deserves to be loved."
"I’ll learn to change myself step by step. I... am actually a good person. My existence still has meaning in this world."
These were the things Long Aotian had been teaching her over the past few days. She hadn’t forgotten, and she didn’t dare to. This was everything she aspired to now...
Change wasn’t just about words; it required action.
And Hu Yuying was determined to prove her transformation through her actions...
......
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.
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
