Alright, normally no one gets to pinch my cheeks whenever they want, but today I’m in such a good mood—pinch away if you must.
"Once the windows and doors are installed, we can move in temporarily. Then you can all come over, and we won’t have to worry about being harassed anymore."
"If I hadn’t run into Ye Liangchen, I’d really like to ask him what right he had to bully Li Qingxue!" Lin Wanning clenched her little fists indignantly. "What kind of man does something so shameless?"
"I really wish you hadn’t met him. You have no idea what he’s become—always insisting on ‘saving’ me. I told him I don’t need his salvation, but he wouldn’t listen. Why would I need saving anyway?" Just thinking about it made Li Qingxue feel terribly wronged.
"There, there, don’t be upset." Hu Yuying found Li Qingxue’s pouting expression utterly adorable.
"From now on, as long as we’re together, no one will dare bully us." Lin Wanning playfully blinked at Li Qingxue.
Li Qingxue smiled sweetly and leaned closer to Lin Wanning. "Alright then."
"It’s still early—should we go out for a bit?"
The suggestion was unanimously approved.
"Let’s go to the mall. We can check out what we need to buy."
"Mhm, at the very least, we need a bed big enough for three." Li Qingxue even gestured with her hands to emphasize just how big it needed to be...
At the mall, they quickly found a furniture floor where Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning picked out a spacious bed—more than enough for three people to lie comfortably.
"How about this one?" Li Qingxue asked with a smile.
"It doesn’t feel as soft as the bed in your sister’s room," Lin Wanning answered honestly.
She had slept in that bed just yesterday, and the mattress was so plush it felt like sinking into a cloud.
This bed was soft too, but nowhere near as comfortable as the one back home.
Hu Yuying chuckled. That bed had been bought by Long Aotian, and the price had nearly given her a heart attack at the time.
Even though running the online store had earned her some money now, thinking back on that price still made her hesitate.
Glancing at the price tag of this bed, it was still over nine hundred yuan cheaper than the one Long Aotian had bought.
But it wasn’t exactly cheap either.
Luckily, the house wasn’t fully renovated yet, so this trip was just to browse ahead of time.
After some consideration, Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning decided they’d come back for the three-person bed once the room was ready.
They’d both saved up quite a bit from the online store, so splitting the cost was manageable for them.
"Not going to look around more?" Hu Yuying suggested. "We could check other places—maybe find something more affordable."
"But we don’t have time today. Let’s settle on this for now, and if we find a better deal later, we can reconsider. What do you think, Wanning?" Since it wasn’t just her decision, she wanted Lin Wanning’s input.
Lin Wanning nodded. "Yeah, sis. When we have time off, we can explore other options. For now, this one meets our expectations, and the price is reasonable."
"Alright then." Hu Yuying didn’t push further. They could always revisit the idea during their next break.
"Ah, Yuying, you’re just too frugal. Long Aotian is lucky to have you—he’s getting the better end of the deal," Li Qingxue teased.
"It’s not like that! Money doesn’t come easy, so we have to spend wisely."
Those who’ve known hardship tend to be thrifty, and for a little money-saver like Hu Yuying, saving was far more satisfying than spending.
Life was unpredictable—you never knew when you might need it.
Suddenly, a small hand took hers. Hu Yuying turned to see Lin Wanning holding it gently.
"Things will only get better from here," Lin Wanning said softly.
The words struck a chord, and Hu Yuying nodded lightly. "They will."
She never wanted to relive the days when her grandparents had to borrow money just to pay her high school tuition.
That’s why she studied hard and took on side jobs to save up. Now, bit by bit, life was improving—and it would keep getting better.
"Got it. I’ll be more mindful with money too," Li Qingxue declared, taking both Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning’s hands earnestly. "We’re all going to thrive!"
"Back then, my parents gave me spending money, but now that I’m earning my own, I’ve gotten a bit carried away... If it weren’t for the online store, I’d never dare splurge like this..."
"But it’s made me realize how important financial independence is for women. Otherwise, we’d always hesitate before buying what we love. So yes—we’ll only keep getting better!"
"Look at you, all proud. Business must be good this month, huh?"
"Just a little."
Ever since Hu Yuying introduced the cashback promotions, the three of them had been doing fairly well each month.
"Long Aotian said financial independence is something worth being proud of, so we should keep pushing forward." That’s what he’d told her when teaching her how to run the store.
He said money was a vulgar thing, but it gave people courage. He wanted her to do well—to keep improving.
So she never dared give up. If she was going to do something, she’d do it right, no matter the obstacles.
Thankfully, she’d made it—not to perfection, but her life was no longer the struggle it once was.
And the one who’d helped her change everything was Long Aotian...
He’d done so much for her, more than she could ever count...
"Pfft, we know how wonderful your Long Aotian is. It’s always ‘Long Aotian said this, Long Aotian said that.’ When will it be ‘Li Qingxue said’ instead?" Li Qingxue teased.
"Long Aotian spends money on me. Will you?"
"Of course! I’ll go buy you both something right now."
"Save it. Sis and I have our own money..."
By the time they returned from the mall, the workers had already left.
Back in the room, Li Qingxue collapsed onto the recliner. "It’s been so long since we went out together. Today was really fun."
"Every day with you is fun." Lin Wanning stretched out on the bed before flopping down completely.
Hu Yuying undid her hair, clipping it up with a shark clip, then turned to the other two. "Want to go shower?"
Three days ago, Long Aotian had worked her into a sweat, and today’s long outing had left her feeling sticky again.
"Agreed!"
"Let’s go!"
On the way, Li Qingxue tugged at Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning’s hands, pouting. "I don’t feel like going back tonight. Let’s get a room instead?"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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.
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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!
