Originally, Su Bai was mentally critiquing the purple handicraft project that "Lord Shanghai" (Chu Mingzhe) was working on when he suddenly noticed Chu Mingzhe's overly enthusiastic expression. He couldn’t help but feel it was… hard to describe.
A person’s "first time" — how much is it really worth? It’s complicated and depends on the context. Take the art industry, for example. The debut works of later-famous artists often hold significant value, even if the craftsmanship was crude at the time. Thanks to the celebrity effect, they can fetch astronomical prices.
But judging by Chu Mingzhe’s handicraft skills… well, he probably wasn’t destined for that kind of fame.
"It’s fine. A precious first attempt—Leilei will probably like it, right? Though you might want to pair it with something else when gifting it."
"I get what you mean. After all, ours isn’t some ordinary, shallow relationship. Gifts are about sincerity, not price tags."
With that, Chu Mingzhe dove back into his feverish crafting session.
Su Bai’s lips twitched. Hard to describe indeed.
Speaking of which… does Leilei even know about your so-called "transcendent, non-conventional relationship"?
Su Bai couldn’t shake the feeling that Chu Mingzhe was being a bit too idealistic.
Then again, he had no interest in deciphering the mind of someone nicknamed "Landmine Girl."
He just believed that any form of romance ultimately had a material foundation.
Sure, exceptions existed, but the odds were so low they might as well be negligible.
Take today, for instance—Su Bai had a great time with Yangyang. Their connection wasn’t materialistic. But if Su Bai were broke, would he even have gotten close to a woman of Yangyang’s caliber?
Setting aside Chu Mingzhe for now, Su Bai turned his attention to Wang Haoran. The guy was, as usual, grinding away at his gacha games. But after watching for a moment, Su Bai noticed something odd.
Wait—this wasn’t just casual grinding. He was playing Genshin Impact and Arknights simultaneously!
"How the hell are you doing that?" Su Bai was baffled by Wang Haoran’s multitasking.
Only then did Wang Haoran, still wearing headphones, realize Su Bai was there.
"Oh, Bai… It’s simple. Keyboard for one, controller for the other. Just remap the inputs."
"…"
"By the way, Bai, you’re really joining the anime club?"
"Yeah, it’s settled. I’ve even got the sponsorship money ready. Why?"
"Nothing much. Just that an upperclassman from my hometown is in the club too. Lately, he’s been pestering me to introduce you to some of the girls there. You know… the usual."
Damn.
Those cosplayers were pulling out all the stops to get close to Su Bai.
To be fair, Su Bai didn’t have many friends at school. Wang Haoran was pretty much his only real buddy.
So it wasn’t surprising they’d try to approach him through Wang Haoran.
"Tell them to chill. I’m not interested. We can be regular club friends—no need for extra drama. Keep it casual."
"Got it."
Wang Haoran actually respected Su Bai’s stance.
From what he’d observed since starting college, a lot of people joined clubs just to find a partner.
Some of the bigger clubs were even jokingly called "matchmaking associations" by students and faculty alike.
College wasn’t like high school. Even in balanced majors, class bonds were weak, leaving few avenues to meet the opposite sex. Clubs were basically the main social hunting grounds.
The anime club was one. Then there were hiking, cycling, badminton… all prime territories for singles on the prowl.
Maybe Su Bai was just too used to high standards, Wang Haoran mused.
And he wasn’t wrong. Su Bai had already scanned those cosplayers with his "system." The results?
Not a single one had fewer than three exes.
Horrifying.
Su Bai preferred girls with zero dating experience, so naturally, he wasn’t interested.
To each their own, though. Some guys enjoyed short flings with experienced girls—plenty of rich dudes played that game.
But Su Bai? His tastes were different. He liked collecting blank slates and enjoying them one by one.
After dropping his bag, Su Bai swung by the neighboring dorm to set up a basketball game with some teammates.
When he returned, Chu Mingzhe had paused his crafting, complaining about hand fatigue.
So Su Bai asked if he’d heard anything about Xue Tao.
As local rivals, Chu Mingzhe would surely be stalking Xue Tao’s social media while the latter vacationed in Thailand with his girlfriend.
That’s what rivals did—watch each other like hawks!
“Oh, Su Bai, now this is a topic worth discussing.” Chu Mingzhe’s expression lit up. “Got the scoop last night. Xue Tao and Liu Yuanyuan hit up a trendy night market, and Liu Yuanyuan fell for a jade bracelet. Turned out to be fake. Honestly, Xue Tao’s so uncultured—how could he not spot a counterfeit?”
"…Wait, you know about jade, Old Chu?"
"A thing or two."
Chu Mingzhe puffed out his chest proudly. But judging by his clueless demeanor, Su Bai suspected he’d have gotten scammed too. There wasn’t much difference between "Lord Shanghai" and "Local Man" in terms of absurdity.
"Hold up, Xue Tao got duped? I only saw Liu Yuanyuan’s bracelet pic. How’d you find out?" Wang Haoran removed his headphones and joined in.
Su Bai blinked. "Wait, you’re following this drama too?"
"Uh, just saw it while scrolling. You know how it is—long holiday, people posting wild stories left and right." Wang Haoran scratched his head sheepishly.
Chu Mingzhe grinned. "Xue Tao DM’d me to vent. Funny, right? We might clash normally, but when it counts, he turns to me. Goes to show he secretly respects my taste."
"…So they fought over the fake jade?"
"Pretty much. More like the last straw? Those two were never a good match—no soul connection, unlike me and Leilei."
"…"
What soul connection?
She literally used her family as an excuse to keep you out of her social media posts, Lord Shanghai!
Su Bai’s inner monologue was a whirlwind of sarcasm.
Travel mishaps leading to fights were nothing new.
Being in an unfamiliar place tested both crisis management skills and wallet depth.
That’s why so many couples broke up after trips—travel had a way of revealing truths.
Explosive Plot Song Gua crossed over into another world, bringing along a whole crew of his doppelgangers—all of them mischief-makers. This was a world where everyone could choose a class. Song Gua became a "Bondweaver," capable of borrowing power, while his doppelgangers took on a wide variety of classes, covering just about everything. The number of doppelgangers grew day by day, each one a talented individual with a charming way of speaking. Under Song Gua's brilliant leadership, they would "greet" each other daily and engage in friendly "sparring," pulling off one major scheme after another on Earth. Sometimes they were bandits—stealing bosses, plundering mines, snatching resources. Sometimes they were saviors—descending like divine warriors to face world bosses threatening to massacre cities. Sometimes they even went undercover, infiltrating various major factions to stir up trouble from within, keeping their enemies constantly on edge. To prevent their doppelganger abilities from being exposed, Song Gua made them wear masks with mahjong tile patterns and don Taoist robes in various colors. "Remember, in front of outsiders, call me 'The Dice.'" "Got it! Boss!" "Not 'Boss'—it's 'The Dice.' Think about the vibe, pay attention to the vibe." "Yes! Boss!" "For crying out loud..." From then on, whenever they appeared, they would have their own theme song playing: ~Hey~ paying respects at the mountain stronghold at night~ whose arm is draped over whose shoulder~ gather your courage and follow along...
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
o a martial world and obtained a system that allowed him to draw one entry per year. Unfortunately, all he drew were useless white-tier entries. The probability for high-quality entries was extremely low, with the highest-tier mythic entry having a mere 0.001% chance! To increase the probability, he had to improve his martial realm, but he lacked the innate talent for cultivation. At the age of eighteen, Chen Yi fell into the hands of a gang and was forced into hard labor. Just as his life seemed destined for a bleak end, on his 18th entry draw, he actually pulled a mythic entry—Simulator! In the simulation, he could also draw one entry every year that passed, and upon ending the simulation, he would inherit all entries and his martial realm! In his first simulation, Chen Yi struggled desperately just to survive, knowing that living one more year meant one more entry draw! Finally, with hair turned white, he drew the entry he had longed for—Low-Grade Innate Talent! "Hahaha! Don't bully the old and poor! Time to cultivate and inherit my cultivation base!" ... From then on, Chen Yi continuously simulated and drew entries, his martial realm soaring higher and higher! Epic, legendary, and even mythic entries were gathered into his collection one after another! "What demon race or devil race? What dark turmoil? I don't know anything about that. They just charged at me screaming 'How can you possibly ascend to immortality?!' and got stuck to my fists, unable to be shaken off. Blind spots, speed bumps... go talk to my simulator. We're all struggling to survive out here. I'm trying so hard, so how are they still alive?"
