Faced with the little girl’s teasing, Long Aotian chuckled lightly, “Yeah, a bit absent-minded.”
He took her to a small restaurant in the backstreets.
This place had been recommended by Xu Shuai—affordable and tasty.
“Two bowls of rice noodles, please.” After ordering, Long Aotian turned to the little girl. “My roommate recommended this place. Said the rice noodles are great. Let’s give them a try.”
“Okay.” Hu Yuying glanced at the price list on the wall and nodded cheerfully. Five yuan a bowl—definitely a good deal in her eyes.
To her, taste was secondary; affordability mattered most.
“Long-ge, let me tell you…” She launched into sharing amusing anecdotes from her time at A University, as she always did.
Watching her animated expressions and endless chatter, Long Aotian’s heart grew heavy.
As she spoke, their steaming clay-pot rice noodles arrived.
Long Aotian wiped a small bowl clean, ladled in some rich broth, added a dash of sesame oil, and placed it before Hu Yuying with a smile. “Try it.”
“Long-ge, can I add some chili?” The vibrant red chili oil looked irresistibly appetizing.
“Of course.” He quickly drizzled some in for her, indulging her every whim.
“You should eat too, Long-ge.” Hu Yuying took a bite and beamed. “So delicious!”
She always radiated warmth, trusting him wholeheartedly, caring for him unconditionally.
The more he thought about it, the more Long Aotian wanted to slap himself.
To him, she was a rare treasure—precious beyond measure. What an incredible girl she was.
And what a despicable, shameless bastard he was.
His guilt twisted inside him. If Yuying ever found out, she’d be devastated. He’d become irredeemable in her eyes.
Yet from the moment he decided to keep it hidden, his conscience had been in turmoil.
It showed plainly.
Before, conversations with her flowed effortlessly. Now, he hesitated to speak, afraid.
So much so that today, he barely tasted the noodles at all.
In the car, her arms wrapped around his waist.
“Long-ge, is something bothering you?”
He shook his head, forcing a laugh. “No.”
“Liar.”
Those two words made his body stiffen instantly.
“I might not be able to help, but I can always listen,” Hu Yuying murmured, pressing her cheek against his back. “Didn’t you tell me once? Keeping things bottled up plants thorns in your heart. But sharing them—whether solved or not—brings relief.”
Long Aotian feigned nonchalance. “Really, it’s nothing. Just tired from poor sleep this afternoon.”
One lie demanded countless others. He knew that. But he couldn’t bear her disappointment. Right now, he felt utterly spineless.
“Long-ge, you don’t have to pick me up every day. I’m not a kid—I can get home myself. I used to come find you all the time, remember? I won’t get lost.”
Her tone was playful, careful not to burden him.
If she could manage alone, she wouldn’t weigh him down.
Her kindness was innate—especially toward her Long-ge. For him, she’d give everything.
“Not a chance. Escorting my Yuying is a dream come true.” He emphasized “my” deliberately.
Greed changes people. Long Aotian was no exception. He clung to her desperately, unwilling to let go.
A vile thought whispered: if he buried this secret deep enough, she’d never know. He could pretend it never happened. How wretched.
“Life’s busy, but I love it.”
He freed one hand to clasp hers around his waist.
“You know me—I can’t sit still. Never could.”
His voice softened. “Though… Yuying could stand to be a little greedier sometimes.”
Hu Yuying laughed brightly. “I’m already plenty greedy.”
To her, promising herself to Long-ge—sworn and sealed—was greed enough.
This greedy heart of hers was already overflowing.
“Just a tiny bit more.”
“Too much greed is indigestible. I only want Long-ge. Even that’s already too much… but I’m so happy.” She spread her arms, her quiet voice brimming with joy.
“What if… one day, the little girl finds out her Long-ge did something bad?” he ventured.
“Then I’d smack the back of his head,” she answered thoughtfully, “to knock some sense into him. So he stops doing bad things.”
“That’s… all?”
She nuzzled against him and nodded firmly. “Mhm. Because Long-ge treats me so, so well. Someone like me… to be cherished by the one I love…”
“You’re a good person. The very best.”
Her words only deepened his shame. I’m not half as good as you think.
Before he knew it, they were home.
The door swung open, and Hu Yuying dashed back to his side. “We’re home!”
“Yeah. Home. Our home.”
In the yard, he gazed at the half-renovated rooms. “By winter, this’ll be ours.”
“I’ll make dumplings for you then.”
“I’ll roll the wrappers.”
Hu Yuying gaped. “Long-ge can roll dumpling wrappers?”
“Hey, what’s that look? That tone—you think I’m an idiot?”
“No, no! Long-ge’s super smart!”
“Too late. Punishment time.”
She backed away, grinning but pretending fear. “Nooo, don’t punish me~” Then darted off laughing.
Under the lamplight, Long Aotian held her close, breathing in her scent, feeling her heartbeat. “The moon’s beautiful tonight.”
But it wasn’t the moon. The one in his arms outshone it entirely.
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.
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!" "......"
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."
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?”
