"Click!"
A new photo appeared on Shen Yiyue's phone. She and Ning Yu were sitting on the sofa, leaning against each other, both wearing the same gold pocket watches around their necks.
Shen Qianqian squeezed herself between her two older sisters, making a "Y" shape with her fingers and flashing an innocent smile at the camera.
"Sister, you made my face look so big."
Being the closest to the camera lens, Shen Qianqian couldn't help but complain.
"Sorry, it's just your natural look," Shen Yiyue teased mercilessly, already adding cute stickers to the photo.
After much deliberation, she added a pair of pink cat ears to Ning Yu and then added a pair for herself.
"Ugh, Xiao Yu is just too cute!!"
Shen Yiyue turned to look at Ning Yu, her eyes already turning into the shape of ><.
"Um... Sister, could you help me slim down my face..."
Shen Qianqian waved her hands beside her, trying to grab the phone to edit herself, but Shen Yiyue kept dodging her.
"Wait, wait a moment..."
Shen Yiyue continued adding stickers, ignoring her sister's request.
"Hmph! I get it, I'm just a tool. You're such a mean sister, I don't like you anymore!"
Fed up with her sister's indifference, Shen Qianqian turned and climbed into Ning Yu's embrace, curiously opening the pocket watch around Ning Yu's neck.
There, she saw the familiar family photo inside, featuring Ning Yu's parents and Ning Xuan.
"Wow!! This is Ning Yu's..."
Shen Qianqian's eyes widened as she looked at the photo of Ning Xuan, who looked almost identical to Ning Yu, with only the eye color serving as a slight distinction.
"My sister."
Ning Yu handed Shen Qianqian a cookie as she watched her.
Shen Qianqian took it with practiced ease and then continued to ask, "So Ning Yu has a sister too. You must be really nice to her! Unlike my sister..."
Shen Qianqian glanced sideways at Shen Yiyue, who was still tapping away, completely ignoring her complaints.
What a lame sister!
Ning Yu didn't know what to say at this point. Perhaps more details about her childhood could only be asked of Ning Xuan.
Finally, Shen Yiyue finished tweaking the photo and showed it to the two of them.
"Sister! Slim my face! Slim my face!!"
Shen Qianqian pointed disapprovingly at her face in the photo. Ning Yu looked as well and noticed that it wasn't actually that big, just round like most kids her age.
"Alright, alright, I got it."
Shen Yiyue finally dragged the editing tool over Shen Qianqian's face, making her chubby cheeks look a bit slimmer.
"If you ate less, you wouldn't be so round and then blame me," Shen Yiyue teased, showing her the result with a chuckle. She reached out to pinch Shen Qianqian's cheek but was quickly dodged.
"Hmph, mean sister."
Satisfied with the outcome, Shen Qianqian quickly scampered back to her room, closing the door behind her but leaving a small crack open.
"What book were you reading earlier?"
Ning Yu suddenly reached out and picked up the book Shen Yiyue had been reading. The cover depicted a snow-covered house, with snow so deep it seemed to be over 10 centimeters thick.
The title on the cover read "Snow Country" in big letters.
"I found it at a second-hand book stall."
Shen Yiyue had already saved the photo and leaned in to take a look.
"Don't you think the cover is beautiful? The name is so poetic too."
Ning Yu had just flipped to the title page when she heard Shen Yiyue's words and couldn't help but smile. This silly girl picked books like this?
As she flipped through a few pages, a line caught her attention:
【Her eyes, overlapping with the light, were like glowing, beautiful fireflies dancing in the afterglow of the sunset.】
Ning Yu read the beautiful sentence and couldn't help but glance at Shen Yiyue, whose eyes sparkled like the Milky Way on a summer night, filled with brilliance and light.
"Your eyes are just as beautiful as this."
Ning Yu pointed to the sentence in the book for Shen Yiyue to see.
Following Ning Yu's finger, Shen Yiyue read the line and blushed.
"Do you always speak so directly, Xiao Yu?"
"Yes, why not compliment your beautiful eyes?"
Ning Yu replied and continued flipping through the pages.
【He knew it wouldn't be in vain for this woman, yet he blurted out "in vain." After saying that, he felt her existence even more pure.】
In vain?
Ning Yu thought of the serene, snow-covered landscape on the cover and guessed the type of story this book might be.
【Koma sat alone on the floor, offering the only cushion to Shimamura.】
After flipping a few more pages, Ning Yu closed the book.
"This might be a sad story."
She seemed to have reached a conclusion and handed the book back to Shen Yiyue, noticing the bookmark was still near the beginning, indicating she had just started reading.
"It's okay!"
Shen Yiyue took the book, turned around, and lay sideways in Ning Yu's embrace, letting her silky hair fall onto Ning Yu's clothes.
Ning Yu gently inhaled the fragrant scent from her hair and couldn't help but pick up a strand, curling it around her fingers.
The smooth texture felt delightful, as Shen Yiyue always washed her hair carefully, even when washing it for herself.
Ning Yu placed her black hair next to her own silver strands, mixing them together to create a subtle blend of colors.
"If you read enough tragedies, then every moment of life feels like a joy."
Shen Yiyue said this while swinging her small, delicate feet at the end of the sofa, gently lifting them up and down. She then opened "Snow Country" and began reading.
"I didn't realize you were such an optimist."
Ning Yu didn't know why, but she suddenly thought of the night at the small supermarket when Shen Yiyue came to talk to her.
"Not really... I mean, wait, why 'optimist'? I'm a girl! Mean Xiao Yu!"
Shen Yiyue caught the tail end of that sentence and turned her head from the book, pouting at Ning Yu.
"Alright, alright, optimistic girl."
Ning Yu picked up the unfinished mixed nuts bag from the table and took some, leaving out the raisins, which she found too sweet.
"I want some too~"
Shen Yiyue, now engrossed in her book, heard Ning Yu's movements and began to pout for a snack.
Ning Yu carefully picked out the raisins and fed Shen Yiyue the other assorted nuts.
"Hehe~"
Shen Yiyue felt incredibly happy. Ning Yu always indulged her little whims.
Watching Shen Yiyue read so intently, Ning Yu couldn't help but take out "The Stranger" from her bag, a book she hadn't read in a long time.
Come to think of it, the last time she read it was... well, the last time.
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'!"
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
